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. Thirteen-year-old Howard Sykes lives in an English town with his parents, Quentin, an author and professor, and Catriona, a music teacher; his sister Anthea, always called "Awful" because of her constant screaming; and Fifi, the family's au pair. Their life is interrupted one afternoon when an unnamed huge person, "somebody's Goon" as Fifi describes him, comes into their home and announces that he has come to collect the two thousand words that Quentin owes somebody called Archer. 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. Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth: Dillian is easily able to use her magic to charm Howard and Fifi, but Awful is simply too... awful. I loved how everything worked. And the Goon! He was kind of great! Until you find out that he's ... not really a Goon, that is.

I love the way Jones writes. She can put two words together and create magic: "unshaven growl"! "watching sarcastically"! When she's not creating awesome new word combinations, her writing is crisp and clear and so easy to drink down. And this might be a kids' book (my library put it under Juvenile), but I didn't feel like she was dumbing anything down. There are two essential approaches to a Diana Wynne Jones novel: to go with the flow or to puzzle out the significances of what she presents, preferably in retrospect following a second or third reading. Here are some indications of the inspirations I think I’ve detected in this novel: Overnight Age-Up: When Howard and Awful visit the home of Venturus, which is in the future, they're both temporarily aged up into young adults until they leave. I don't have a favorite Diana Wynne Jones book; I have a cluster of five favorites and six more second-tier favorites. Of those top five, three were published consecutively, and Archer's Goon is the first of those. DWJ's sixteenth published book, Archer's Goon represents, with Howl's Moving Castle, the peak of the humorous writing that characterizes much of her 1980s period. The core is a strong, beautifully plotted story, but it's overlaid with so many funny bits that it isn't until you get to the end that you realize how complex it is. 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.

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. It’s 1983, and the Sykes family find themselves at the centre of a conspiracy of squabbling siblings who plan to ‘farm’ the world; can Quentin Sykes, the father and a struggling author, stand up against the malevolent forces who besiege the family house and seek to use the power of the written word for nefarious purposes? 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. In 1992, the book was adapted as a six-part TV series by the BBC. [5] Of the experience, Diana Wynne Jones says: [6]

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? I didn't like Fifi. I don't know.... we just didn't seem like the kind of people who would get along.

Tropes include:

Riddle for the Ages: What exactly are the seven siblings and where are they from? Quentin describes them as “wizards” and Awful calls Dillian an “evil enchantress” but they never refer to themselves in such terms or use the word “magic” to describe their powers. There’s a vague implication that they might be aliens, but that’s all we’re ever going to get. 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.