Hey peeps! :3
Today is my first book (or technically series, I guess) review. Now, what is this lucky title?
Why, it's Skulduggery Pleasant!
Maybe now you're thinking, oh that's why that was the name of the post! The author, Derek Landy, is Irish and
hilarious. The dude could be a comedian!
dereklandy.blogspot.com
So, I know what you're thinking. You're like;
- This book looks stupid.
- This book looks clichéd.
- This book looks exactly like the one I read last week.
And yes! I went through this too. But then I actually read the book (I've got a soft spot for clichés) and I realized that... well...
First off, Derek Landy is a hilarious author. He's written seven books so far in this series, plus several short stories, and all of them are different in their own special way. Yes, maybe it does get a bit boring after a while. I just got the seventh book for Christmas, and it ended at almost exactly the same point in the overall plot where it began (but with a few more people dead).
This series is about the adventures of Skulduggery Pleasant, a magical flame-throwing dead skeleton, and his partener Valkyrie. At the beginning of the series, Val was 12, but she will be 19 by the time of the 9th (and final) book. She is really the main character.. with, of course, a dark secret revealed at the end of Book 4.
By the way, if you'd like a summary of the books, here's one on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skulduggery_Pleasant_(series)
And here's the official website:
http://www.skulduggerypleasant.com/
Tip: If you're going to the website, choose the UK button vs. the USA one; more books are out in the UK so they have more info.
The real allure of the Skulduggery Pleasant books is the tongue-in-cheek humor, found in nearly every chapter. Let me say it again: Derek Landy is FREAKING HILARIOUS. Some typical quotes, that probably will not make sense until you read the book but are amazing nevertheless:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"...you do realize that Adolf is traditionally a man's name?"
"That makes sense, as my great-aunt was traditionally a man."
"There's a screwdriver! I could use the screwdriver to prise it open!"
"Yes," said Skulduggery, "or you could use it to unscrew the screws."
"On a scale of one to ten, how dangerous would [a Yeti] be?
"Well, if one was a kitten, and ten was a Yeti, then I'd say it's a ten."
"Dear God, I want to hurt you so bad."
"So at this stage it's important to acknowledge that you love your grandmother, who is an elderly lady, and to acknowledge the fact that she is a strong and capable woman."
"Please don't tell me you're in love with my granny."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, overall?
- Plot may be repetitive between books, but not in the first three
- (This matters because only books 1-3 have been released in the USA, but you can order the others off Amazon with your parent's permission)
- May have some humor and scenes that you would not want to read if under 10, or ask your parents
- Can probably find books 1-3 in your local library
- REALLY FUNNY.
- Great characters, keep you dreaming beyond the end of the book
If you'd like a sample of Derek Landy's books, I'd suggest seeing his blog (link above) or reading this short story from him:
http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/3451743-the-button
Keep reading books, and recommend them to me if they're any good!
~OZMCT
