Critical Reception
The book received generally favourable reviews. It is ranked 4 stars by Amazon users, and The Times stated "Nix's imagination is matched only by his prose style."
In particular, the book was praised for its originality, intricacy, action and characters. VOYA says that the book "..is well written, action packed, imaginative, and full of quirky memorable characters...", and Children's Literature agrees that "It is a readable choice..." The School Library Journal also extensively praised the book, saying "Reluctant or 'hard to fit' readers will find this series enjoyable, as Nix is able to create vivid pictures in the minds of his readers. Fans of the fantasy genre will appreciate these books for their strong continuity, believable characters, and edge-of-your-seat-action. This offering complements the series’ well-established structure."
The book did, however, receive consistent criticism. The most common complaint was on the speed of the plot – the School Library Journal summarises all the comments, saying that "the events move a little slower than in previous installments..." – and the difficulty in entering the series without reading all the previous books first: VOYA simply says "readers attempting to enter the series through this volume are likely to be quickly lost." Children's Literature also criticised the repetition of previous content, saying there is "..entirely too much front matter sags with the necessity of replaying earlier story lines."
Read more about this topic: Sir Thursday
Famous quotes containing the words critical and/or reception:
“The principle goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done; men and women who are creative, inventive and discoverers, who can be critical and verify, and not accept, everything they are offered.”
—Jean Piaget (1896–1980)
“Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own; which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world, and that so very few are offended with it.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)