2022 EDIT: Boy have I come a long way. I read the first nine books of the 'Skulduggery Pleasant' series six years ago, and for some reason it is still going. All I'll say is that this is an incredibly dark, violent and gory series that's ostensibly for children, and I hated how it ended. Hated hated hated what was done to Valkyrie and Tanith, hated what was done with most of the characters, and I hated that most of them just. won't. die. when. they. should. For books that get more violent with each instalment, the author either avoids death entirely or shrugs it off as barely a big deal.
However, I still like the first book, though its sequels have soured it enough for me that I won't be keeping it, as part of my clearing my bookshelves.
Thus are my final thoughts on 'Skulduggery Pleasant'. They are books I no longer care for. The end.
Original Review:
I remember reading the first two books in the 'Skulduggery Pleasant' series at school. There were no more in the library since they hadn't been published yet, so I didn't continue. But my word did I enjoy 'Skulduggery Pleasant'; the first book especially entertained me.
It's a cauldron potion mixture of 'Doctor Who', 'Sherlock Holmes', 'Supernatural', and 'The Avengers' - and it's freaking awesome.
It's also good to see a modern children's fantasy book that cannot easily be compared to 'Harry Potter'.
'Skulduggery Pleasant' follows the story of twelve-year-old Stephanie Edgley, whose novelist uncle dies and she discovers his involvement in another world that's full of dark magic, sorcerers and monsters. She is saved from a supernatural attack by a living skeleton called Skulduggery Pleasant, who can shoot fireballs from his hands. Like any child who discovers that her world is not what it had always seemed, she wants to know more about it. And coming from a relatively boring and greedy family where only her uncle had inspired her, she wants to know more about him - and about how he truly died. Skulduggery eventually takes her under his wing, and both characters' spunk and back-and-forth dialogue exchanges make them an endearing detective duo. They have to retrieve the legendary Scepter of the Ancients and stop the return of the gods called the Faceless Ones, before any dark sorcerer does.
Action-packed, smart, fun, and, as is essential for a book aimed at a young demographic, is hugely readable and addictive, but with a plot that's not too straighforward. Filled with humorous twists (a Book of Names whose mode of defense is making people disinterested in it as they approach it? Genius) and kickass characters (I adore Tanith Low). It's a story where not everyone is who they first appear to be, and where the knowledge of names gives magicians the power to control and destroy.
Despite being called 'Skulduggery Pleasant', the book is told from the perspective of the relatable novice Stephanie, aka Valkyrie Cain (great cover name). She's funny, brave, flawed, and a cool outcast in her original dull world. She never gives up, never backs down, no matter how many times she should have been killed. Whether you think the author wrote a realistic twelve-year-old girl doesn't matter. She's as dynamic and memorable as the rest of the cast, regardless of her age.
I have set for myself the challenge of reading more 'Skulduggery Pleasant' books (at last!). It's easy to see why I enjoyed this when I was younger. It can get rather dark and violent for a title for children, but its brand of creativity and humour saves it from being too gritty.
Final Score: 4/5
No comments:
Post a Comment