The classic title for the series.

Background Information

Keys to the Kingdom is a fantasy series written by Garth Nix composed of seven books. It follows the adventures of Arthur Penhaligon, wh's chosen by the Will to become the Rightful Heir of the House, which is the epicentre of the Universe (also known as the Secondary Realms) as well as to other Worlds. To do so, he must wrest the Keys from the Seven Trustees, each of which is corrupted by a deadly sin and governs Creation on a different day of the week, from which they take their namesake (Mister Monday, Grim Tuesday, Drowned Wednesday, Sir Thursday, Lday Friday, Superior Saturday and Lord Sunday). On the way, he also fights with his growing power, and his desire to remain mortal (if he becomes an immortal Denizen, he'd no longer be able to be with his family).

Standing in the Battledome

Keys to the Kingdom is an incredibly powerful setting. The House serves as an Akashic Record of sorts, where everything in the Secondary Realms is recorded, from people to celestial bodies. Changing these records leads to what's being recorded changing and vice vera. The Trustees are capable of affecting entire star systems, and said power has been resisted by the likes of the Architects Children. Each Key has their own unique powers (the Second Key can copy or create anything, the 3rd Key can control any kind of fluid, and allows travel to different worlds through a body of water and so on). Just living in the House makes you an immortal superhuman, and grants non-sentient lifeforms sentience.

Both the House and the Universe where created by the Architect, who later seperated an aspect of herself known as the Old One to speed up the process of creation. They grew apart which lead to the Architect binding the Old One to his prison, which had repurcusions on her too. The series ends with the Secondary Realms being destroyed and Arthur becoming the New Architect to create a new Universe. As time flows at a drastically different pace between different realms, with different realms containing stars and being refered to as realities, this would make the Secondary Realms a multiverse. The Architect also created the Improbable Stair, which leads everywhere in time and space, as well as the Compleat Atlus of the House and Its Immediate Environts, which contains all information on the entire Universe.

Even low tiers are superhuman and immortal with incredible regeneration (being able to regrow severed limbs, reattach body parts and even regrow their entire body from just their head), with mere steel not being enough to penetrate two ordinary denizens in a row (the Sixth Parth of the Will mentions that authority takes a more important role in harming a Denizen than raw power), and can even survive being turned inside out with their innards crystalized for several months. Magic messes greatly with the Secondary Realms and its inhabitants, with even lesser Nithlings causing a disease equivilent of the Bubonic Plague just by being on Earth.

On top of just about everyone being an immortal superhuman, there's a myriad of hax to go around, including but not limited to reality warping, teleportation (via portals, the Seven Dials and the Improbable Stair), telepathy, mind control, telekenesis, hydrokenesis (and control over other elements), time travel and control over time, instant death (and resistance to it), flight, force fields, BFR to the Void (which disolves anything it comes in contact with), shapeshifting, density manipulation, possesion, intangibility, duplication, spatial manipulation, sound manipulation, summoning Nithlings, creating solid objects from abstract concepts (such as Toms Spear, which is made of Moonlight reflected through a Narwhals wake and Saturdays armour made of light) and good old turning enemies inside out.

Character Profiles

- Arthur Penhaligon

- Grim Tuesday

- Drowned Wednesday

- Lord Sunday

- The Architect

 

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