Arthur Penhaligon lives in a world that closely resembles our own - in fact may be our own in the near future. A deadly flu pandemic killed his parents when he was  a baby and also apparently allowed the federal government to assume sweeping powers, and his adoptive mother is a medical researcher. An asthmatic, Arthur suffers an attack when in gym class at his new school, and while he is waiting for medical assistance, two strangely garbed men give him what appears to be the minute hand of a clock. This simple action changes his life for good. Arthur now becomes the target of increasingly frightening attacks by mysterious men, some with faces that resemble dogs, and a new illness known as the "sleepy plague" appears in his town. He eventually finds his way into a bizarre realm known as the House, which turns out to be, essentially, the "Command and Control" center for the rest of the universe. He also learns that after creating the universe from Nothing (which is an actual substance in this "mythology"), the Architect mysteriously departed, leaving a will in the hands of seven trustees, the Morrow Days, who have become corrupt and are now running things to suit themselves. However, the first part of the Will, which is a living entity, has escaped and engineered the transfer of part of Monday's Key (the minute hand) into the possession of a mortal, Arthur, who is now the Architect's Heir. Arthur's only hope, if he is to survive and stop the plague in his own world, is to obtain the rest of the Key from Mister Monday and accept his status as Heir, however little he wants it. Garth Nix's originality, while not of the same type as Philip Pullman's, never ceases to amaze me. He also possesses a certain sly humor and, like Pullman and J. K. Rowling, makes numerous allusions to literary, mythical and cultural traditions far and wide. In the House, Arthur encounters Suzy Turquoise Blue, a cheeky Cockney girl from the 17th century of his own world and one of the "Piper's Children"; the personified Will itself in the form of a tiny frog with a penchant for jumping down people's throats; the "Old One," whose identity should be obvious to anyone with an interest in classical mythology, and assorted other Denizens. Arthur is a sympathetic but flawed character and Nix, without preaching or moralizing, manages to portray his compassion and a strong sense of right and wrong that truly make him worthy to be the Architect's Heir. Suzy, although a secondary character, is brave and resourceful as well as funny, and without her, Arthur probably would not have survived his first hour in the House. The Will, both in frog and human form, is wonderfully quirky and cranky, and even Mister Monday turns out not to be irredeemable. As with a lot of the best young adult books out there, some kids may find this series disturbing, and there are some scenes that contain a certain amount of violence
Arthur now becomes the target of increasingly frightening attacks by mysterious men, some with faces that resemble dogs, and a new illness known as the "sleepy plague" appears in his town