February 2015 - YA/MG: Mister Monday by Garth Nix

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

I'm about 10% done. This is good! I'm happy to join in on reading this selection, even though I am not a YA. I can tell already I'll be recommending this series.

[Nan]

I just started the audiobook version. So far, so good.

[Elise]

I have read this book last month. (view spoiler)[ I was not very much impressed by the story. It was a fun read, but nothing special. Also a very quick read! (hide spoiler)]

[Becky]

aPriL eVoLvEs (ex-Groot) wrote: "I'm about 10% done. This is good! I'm happy to join in on reading this selection, even though I am not a YA. I can tell already I'll be recommending this series."

Being YA isn't required to enjoy YA. LOL

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

Update: (view spoiler)[the excessive Christian tropes are annoying me, while the inventive creativity is drawing me on. I don't know how I'll feel about the book, now. It starts off so strong, and then the Christian symbols start. I don't buy the blurb describing this story as a 'Joseph Campbell Hero tropes' book link. Campbell was into world religious symbols, not only Christian thought. He was into myths, but not much of a believer. Of course, I realize that while this is turning ugly for me, the Christian thing might strongly appeal to others. Christian themes alone do not turn me away from a book. (hide spoiler)]

I think the book is aimed at 12-year-olds, give or take a few years, and it doesn't air brush things beyond reasonable age appropriateness. I'm ok with that.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon, Not a book hipster!]

aPriL eVoLvEs (ex-Groot) wrote: "I think the book is aimed at 12-year-olds, give or take a few years, and it doesn't air brush things beyond reasonable age appropriateness. I'm ok with that."

Yes. It's an MG book, so the age-range is roughly "9-12".


I read this book years ago, and really liked it at first. I grew a bit less enamoured with the series as it progressed, mostly because I felt some of the middle books were kinda filler.

That said, I might have to reread this because I don't recall finding the (view spoiler)[Christian symbolism to be overly egregious. Certainly not in the way I find, say, Narnia.

If anything, I would see the Architect as more a Demiurge type figure, in the Platonic sense. There are many pagan creation stories which start with the primal, unformed Chaos (Nothing), from which a being manifests itself and then creates the rest of being. (Greco-Roman, Hinduism, Egyptian, etc.)

Also, the Old One's punishment is very reminiscent of Prometheus, and the idea that the Denizens should not interfere with the Secondary Realms is vaguely Olympian - at least sometimes. (They couldn't seem to decide whether interference was good or not... )

Unfortunately, I can't really remember what aspects of the story come in later (well, I know the Mariner and the Pied Piper are all later), but I don't recall if the Old One is even mentioned in the first book or not.)

I won't say there aren't Judeo-Christian symbolisms - but, then, I'm also of the opinion that very little (if any) of Judeo-Christianity wasn't borrowed from other systems anyway. (hide spoiler)]

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

I couldn't finish it. Got about half way done. It had too much Christian theology for me.

[Elise]

colleen the contrarian ± (... never stop fighting) ± wrote: "aPriL eVoLvEs (ex-Groot) wrote: "I think the book is aimed at 12-year-olds, give or take a few years, and it doesn't air brush things beyond reasonable age appropriateness. I'm ok with that."

Yes...."

That is what I thought as well. (view spoiler)[There is definitely religious symbolism and a lot of borrowed mythology, but to say that it is overly Christian, no...

The Old One is in the first book, chained to the clock. But there is not a lot of information on him.

I am doubting if I want to read the rest of the series. (hide spoiler)]

[Graham]

just getting through this book 20% through. Really good read up to yet got the questionable mystery I'd want.

[Mark]

How many books in this series?

[Mark]

How many books in this series?

[Becky]

Mark wrote: "How many books in this series?"

7 - One for every day of the week.