Archer's Goon
Howard Sykes comes home to find an enormous goon parked in his kitchen, demanding two thousand words from his father on behalf of someone called Archer. As Howard tries to figure out what the words are for, he uncovers a town run in secret by seven supernatural siblings, each controlling a different sphere of life such as power, transport, crime, and music. Diana Wynne Jones spins a tight domestic mystery that turns into a wild family drama, all told with her trademark dry humor and unsettling logic. The Sykes family is loud, funny, and stubborn, and their ordinary squabbles turn out to matter more than they realize. It is one of her sharpest short novels, endlessly rewarding on rereads.
Also by Diana Wynne Jones
All works by Diana Wynne Jones →
What you might want to know about Archer's Goon
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
A teenager discovers that seven magical siblings secretly run his town and that his own family sits at the center of their power struggle.
Yes. Gaiman has long championed Diana Wynne Jones and cites Archer's Goon among her finest work, recommending it in interviews and essays as one of the books he presses on friends.
It was published for younger readers but, like most Diana Wynne Jones novels, is widely read and reread by adults for its wit and intricate plotting.
Archer's Goon was written by Diana Wynne Jones, published in 1984 by Greenwillow Books.
Archer's Goon is 256 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Archer's Goon takes most readers 4 to 6 hours to finish.
Archer's Goon is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.