Archer’s Goon

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Family. It's all about family: dysfunctional, chaotic, funny, surprisingly loving and surprisingly heartless. Umesto uvoda sledeće: negde na trećini knjige palo mi je na pamet da proverim kako je prevođen naslov romana i da li bi bilo adekvatno rešenje "Arčerov siledžija" ili ima neko bolje. Gudrids kaže da ruski odnosno nemački prevodi naslova glase "Zamka za čarobnjake" odnosno "Tajna sedmog čarobnjaka". Although each wizard ruled a section of the town, he or she was a prisoner in it. Each suspected that one of them held the secret behind the words, and that secret was the key to their freedom. Which one of them was it? The Sykes family become pawns in the wizards' fight to win their freedom, wrest control from one another, and fan out to rule the world.

Fifi reveals to Howard that she did not deliver the two thousand words as she was busy and gave them to one of Quentin's students at the college, Maisie Potter, to deliver. Howard, Awful and Fifi go to Maisie Potter's house to find out what she did with them.She tries to fob them off with excuses as to why the words were not delivered but they finally get the truth out of her: that she gave them to one of the wizard siblings, Dillian. The trio force her to take them to see Dillian. The characters. I didn't trust any of them, but... yeah. Hathaway was one of my favorites, as was Shine, which is weird I know but whatever. I also really liked Howard. Torquil is probably my second favourite character after the Goon. It's the surprising depth that does it, especially after meeting the other siblings. Although Shine is so distinctive that she holds a high place in my list of favourite characters as well. And in the end, you're left with so many questions--not the bad kind that leave things unfinished and bug you forever and indicate bad storytelling, but wonderful areas to imagine about. Like... Who ARE these people? Aliens? How did they get here? What are their parents like? (Must be amazing (in maybe an awful way) with children like those...) What will the people on the spaceship do? Will they survive and try to take over a different planet? Will Erskine try to farm the world? Will Awful try to farm the world with him? (I'm suspecting since Venturus is good with future stuff, maybe he can see the future to a certain extent and his intuition about Erskine was correct. Although maybe with Venturus's influence it will turn out differently.) Basically it broke my brain, mixed impossible things together extraordinarily well, had mind-blowing plot twists (SERIOUS. PLOT. TWISTS. WOW. *flail*) and was exciting and breathtaking and downright HILARIOUS!

It turns out that seven individuals, siblings all, are vying for total control of the world, having already farmed out among themselves various bits of city administration. It’s up to 13-year-old Howard, his younger sister Anthea (known as “Awful”), the mum Catriona and student Fifi (who must be a nod to the Fiona to whom the novel is dedicated) to discover how to resolve matters. And it’s urgent: the siblings have laid siege to No 10 Upper Park Road with music torture and continuous road excavations in an attempt to convince Quentin to yield up his 2000 words. Much of the action takes place in a town not too dissimilar to Bristol, the author’s home town, clues coming from (for example) street names like Corn Street, Zed Alley, Woodland Terrace, and Park Row (disguised as Upper Park Street). I just didn't understand the part where Howard was actually Venestrus? It came kind of out of nowhere and I don't appreciate it. ??

The book is not perfect of course, and there are a couple of notes in particular that stand out reading it as an adult (the reasoning behind Fifi’s final actions in the book, and a couple of moments which feel somewhat like fatphobia spring to mind), but in general, the book is an appropriate read for older children. It is a weird book. And not extremely deep with the most complex characters or anything. If you're looking for something that isn't funny, strange, light, subtle, and family-friendly, then you probably won't like this. The Harry Potter books are frequently compared to the works of Diana Wynne Jones. Many of her earlier children's books were out of print in recent years, but have now been re-issued for the young audience whose interest in fantasy and reading was spurred by Harry Potter. The accurate representation of authors was the greatest thing ever. Quentin was stereotypical but not so much so that he got annoying, and he was still very real and unique. He was one of my favorites.The Goon talks like Freddy from Cotillion, probably my favourite book by Georgette Heyer. For this reason, and because I often have a fondness for large, stupid people (especially when they're actually a lot cleverer than people think), the Goon is my favourite character. He's also surprisingly sweet, especially when you get to know his real motivations.

Nice Guy: Hathaway is the only one of the siblings who comes across as a completely decent person, although some of the others are trying to improve. One day, the Sykes family are disturbed to find the intimidating Goon (Morgan Jones) in their kitchen, demanding two thousand words of gibberish that Quentin apparently owes to Archer. This six-part children’s sci-fi comedy-thriller series was based on the fantasy novel by Diana Wynne Jones and won the BAFTA Award for Children’s Programmes in 1993. All in all, the book is okay. The story is interesting and worth reading, but it's not a fast-paced story and some might not be able to finish the book because of it. I like the fact that not once do the seven siblings get referred to as some kind of magic wielders, even though people like to simplify and categorize and I've seen them called "wizards". I like it that you don't really know who they are or where they come from.Erskine and Venturus's relationship. Erskine looks out for him! And understands him well enough to figure everything out about him when nobody else could. And Venturus is fond enough of him that he feels hurt and betrayed when the Goon turns out to be Erskine, and kind of likes him despite all this. When comparing all the rest of the siblings' attitudes towards each other, this is love indeed. Oba naslova su istovremeno spojlerična i zavode na pogrešan trag, što je stvarno redak uspeh. Jer dečja knjiga sa "čarobnjacima" u naslovu nekako priziva livadice i zamkove i bradate čike sa šiljatim šeširima. A Archer's Goon je zapravo vrlo realističan prikaz života u Britaniji za vreme Margaret Tačer. Čitav jedan nivo knjige (mada bi mi on verovatno promakao sa 10-15 godina) jeste vapaj protiv Tačerkine ekonomske politike. The rest of the plot is far too convoluted to briefly summarise, nor is it desirable to indicate how it may ultimately resolved; all we’re aware of is that it’s up to Howard, who dreams of designing spaceships, to investigate — with both help and obstacles from Archer’s Goon — and that the teenager is somehow key to all the mysteries. Amnesiac Dissonance: Venturus spends over a decade in a new identity, with no memory of his former self. When he starts encountering evidence of what he used to be like, he doesn't approve.