Sir Thursday by Garth Nix (4/5 stars)

This is the fourth book in the Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix. I think this is easily the best book in the series so far.

Arthur is anxious to return back to his own world when he finds out about the presence of the Skinless Boy. He finds he is unable to return to his world and has been drafted into Sir Thursday's Army. Arthur is also very concerned about the magical contamination he has received from using the keys. If he gets too much magical contamination he will turn into a Denizen and never be able to return home. As if this all wasn't complicated enough someone has started killing the former Days. Arthur needs to disable the skinless boy and get the 4th part of the will along with Sir Thursday's key but how will he do all of this from the Army's ranks?

This was a great book. Arthur is finally starting to grow up. At least in this book he only spent 20% of the time whining instead of 60%. I am glad the Suzi Blue was in the book more and even more glad that Leaf played a larger role in this book too. The book was a little slow in the middle but the end was full of non-stop action. I thought the role of the Piper was interesting. Also the mention of Lady Friday at the end of the book was very ominous.

My only real complaint in this book is (again) Arthur's whining. Also there are points in the book where he seems to be helpless and then suddenly he takes action; it seems a bit inconsistent. This book is still the best of the four so far. I am interested to see what happens in Lady Friday (the next book). I have found it interesting how the personality of the Will changes as more and more parts of it are found. This book does end with a bit of a cliff hanger that will have you wishing for the next book.