Archer’s Goon

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The anticipation was well worth it, too. The book starts immediately with the introduction of the Goon of the title (an oversized ogre of a man) crowding the Sykes household, which consists of the protagonist Howard, aged 13; his little sister Awful; their live-in sitter Fifi; their father Quentin, a writer; and their mother Catriona, a music teacher. Archer sent the Goon there to collect 2,000 words from Quentin, something that Archer...and Archer's brothers and sisters...believe is keeping them from ruling the world. Wait? What was that again? Lynn Bryant reviewed Archer's Goon in Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer No. 79. [2] Bryant commented that "Well written and original, a gripping read." [2] And now for one of my other favourite things besides families: lists! Here are some favourite bits, with liberal discussion of spoilers: None of the covers are pretty. None of them. None of them get the feel of the book right, let alone look at all interesting and attractive. I was thrown off this book for quite a while due to the unappealing covers.

MacGuffin: The 2000 words. They do nothing, Venturus set them up to mislead the others and to give his adoptive father tax-free income. THIS IS THE BEST AND UTTERLY BRILLIANT AND MIND-BLOWINGLY UNIQUE AND I LOVE ALL THE CHARACTERS AND I ADORE IT AND IT'S PERFECT. Magical Seventh Son: Although all the siblings are magical, the seventh son is supposed to have twice the gifts of the others. Despite having a broad cast of characters – the Sykes family, the siblings who run the town, the Goon and Fifi, plus Shine’s lieutenant Ginger Hind – every single one is fully fleshed out with their own motivations, schemes, beliefs and opinions on what’s going on.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.

Part of that complexity is the sheer number of important characters present in the book. Not only do we have the seven siblings who "farm" Howard's town, we also have Howard's family, their live-in student Fifi, and Shine's bully boy Ginger Hind, and all of them have well-developed, interesting, but above all unique personalities. And never once do we forget who anyone is. DWJ does this with a few well-chosen quirks, but doesn't leave it at that. Torquil, for example, is a flamboyant, exaggerated character, but then Howard sees him in a moment of quiet that reveals his deeper sadness. Howard's sister Awful bears a striking resemblance to the vicious gangster Shine. And Archer, to his credit, actually cares about Fifi. Of them all, it's Howard whose character is the least well developed (or interesting) and it turns out that even that has a reason.The names! Archer, Dillian, Shine, Hathaway, Torquil, Erskine, Venturus. All actual names as far as I know, though all fairly unusual. But don't they look lovely and interesting all in a row there? 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. Erskine: Water and drains; fire brigade (shared with Dillian); garbage (never stated, but clear from context) 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.) Ambiguously Gay: Torquil. Has a great love for theatrical outfits (eyeliner included), shopping, and disco dancers. This trope is even more true for the TV miniseries.

The list of ten facts at the beginning. It's hilarious, and sets a good tone for the rest of the book. "When an irresistible force meets an immovable object, the result is a family fight" indeed. (Only problem is, I never got #2: "Pigs have wings, making them hard to catch." Still don't. Is it some sort of vague reference to how many impossible things happen in this book? Cause "when pigs fly" means something impossible? Seems a little non-specific compared to the rest of the facts, though. Don't get it. EDIT: explained here; still don't completely get it; gonna have to sit down and figure it out sometime.)

Tropes include:

This amazing fanart. And also this by the same artist. (Note, there's some other Diana Wynne Jones artwork in there as well. Also excellent.) Consider this a more cheerful version of Jones' Eight Days of Luke with a hint of Gaiman's Endless thrown into the mix. Seven powerful wizards control Howard's town, and he and his family visit each of them, trying to free themselves from their meddling, eavesdropping ways. It's got a quest, fantastic events, and a strong sense of family. In a similar fashion is Howard's escape from Erskine, running through the town causing chaos as all the other siblings give him various forms of aid.