Series: Skulduggery Pleasant, Book Three
Publisher: HarperCollins
Format: Hardcover
Published: 6th December 2008
Number of Pages: 395
Book: Bought
Genre:Paranormal, Fantasy, Comedy, Urban Fantasy, Thriller, Suspense, Horror, Action-Adventure, Mystery, Children's, YA, Children's-YA Crossover
Recommended Age: 10+
Contains:Violence, Death – Lots And Lots Of Violence And Death! – And Mild Swearing
No Alcohol or Drug References
Author's Blog: Derek Landy Blogs Under Duress
Skulduggery Pleasant Site:Skulduggery Pleasant
WARNING: COULD CONTAIN SPOILERS... AND A LOT OF FANGIRLING.
YOU'VE BEEN WARNED...
“Valkyrie screamed, sprinting towards Skulduggery. He looked up and reached out to her, but it was too late…”
You’ve seen it all before: some bad guy wants to bring about the end of the world, and Skulduggery and Valkyrie fight valiantly to stop it happening. A few people get hurt, sure, but everything’s all right in the end.
Well, not this time.
Review:"There's a prediction about me, you know. I die and the world ends..."
Honestly, you save the world not once, but twice, and then another guy pops up, wanting to start the tango all over again. We all know how it goes. Skulduggery and Valkyrie (a living skeleton sorcerer detective and his teenage trainee-sorcerer-sidekick) get involved to stop the end of the world. Things get sticky. Someone probably gets kidnapped. Or injured. Or turned to stone. Or killed. But they always win – always. They always save the world by the skin of their teeth and fix everything last minute.
This time, though, it's different. You know the Faceless Ones? They’re the evil, homicidal gods who were exiled eons ago. The gods who want to kill all humans. And crush all the goodness on earth. And are just, plain and simple, evil.
Well, someone's found a way to get them back. To bring them back from their exile and into our world – you know, the place they want to destroy. Yeah, it's safe to say that if they come back, things are gonna get very very bad very very fast.
Which is why Skulduggery and Valkyrie have to act quickly. Someone's been killing Teleporters – Teleporters who are the key ingredient to opening the gates between the Faceless Ones and us. And Skulduggery needs to find out what the killer’s angle is before it's too late.
Can they stop the Faceless Ones returning? What will be the cost...? Will their full forces be enough this time?
Will anything be enough..?
Have I mentioned yet how much I love this series? No? Really? Man, we've got through like twenty lines without me saying I love Skulduggery Pleasant? That's gotta be a new record! But I'm about to ruin my streak. I freaking love this series. It is one of my very favourite series in the history of the world. And, at the risk of totally repeating what I've said in like every review of the Skulduggery series so far, it's so much fun! You can just completely forget about the world, food, water and sleep when you pick up a Skulduggery book. And I do. They're too freaking good!
And good God do I love the characters. Like all of them. Well, apart from the evil ones. Who likes evil characters? That's just weird.
But as always, my favourite is the Skeleton Detective. Skulduggery, I don't care what they say: I love you. You are funny and kickass and hilarious! I can literally never read a scene with him in without laughing my head off. He's just... awesome. And soooo funny. And I just love him. Team Skulduggery!
Valkyrie, you're awesome too. I love you. I wish I was you. You’re strong, kickbutt, funny and brave. I’m also jealous: I want magic and Skulduggery as a partner. But I digress: I love Valkyrie. She's just brilliant and the most amazing lead girl.
Now, I found Fletcher Renn equal parts infuriating and hilarious. When I read the series for the first time I think I was a bit too young to crush. Or maybe I was just blinded by the other, hilarious characters. But now... Fletch is kinda hot. He has that whole snarky, rebel, bad-boy thing goin' on. And y'all know how much I like my bad-boys. This isn't as creepy as it sounds. Fletcher is seventeen... And reeaallly funny. Ok, so I know I say this every time, but I love Tanith and Ghastly. Tanith especially. Why? Cause she is kickass! She's also awesome. I also love China – she's so complicated and yet so straightforward. And I love how she always alwayscomes through. No one seems to expect her to, but she does. And I'd kill for her powers! Only not really. Because that would be wrong…. Echo-Gordon was one of my faves, though.
On the other end, someone I could literally punch was Crux. I seriously wanted someone to eat him. Preferably vampires. He just wound me up! The Diablerie, AKA the Real Bad Guys, weren't very nice either. Or at all. And they were all really sneaky. Sanguine makes me laugh, though. I think it's the accent.
And man, this world just gets more and more awesome. For example, Necromancers. They rock. The way the control shadows... Legendary! Kinda like the Darkling, though not as evil. The Teleporters are awesome too. Especially since Fletcher is like last-guy-standing. Go Fletch!
The writing, as always, amazing. Loads of awesome and funny scenes of witty banter. Also some of the best action writing out there – lovin' those fight scenes! Speaking of action: hot damn, there was a lot of it! This plot was literally nonstop! And sooowonderfully twisty. I'm always kept on my feet with Landy's books – just another reason to love them! Although that ending... Oh. My. God. This is my second or third read, but each time the ending hits me like a suckerpunch to the stomach. Derek Landy, welcome to the royal hall of evil cliffhangers...Something I really love, though, is that it's a book for everyone. You can be old, young, a boy or a girl, and you'll still love this series. With so many boys, if there's a main character that's a girl, they'll just roll their eyes and push the book away. Not with Skulduggery. For one, there's a whole bunch of other awesome characters. And two, Val isn't a normal girl. And even if she were, that's not what this is about. It's about good versus evil, non-stop action, skeleton detectives and getting completely and utterly lost in a book. And I love that. It's perhaps the main reason I love Skulduggery Pleasant. That everyone can enjoy it – there's no set reading group, no stereotypical audience. And I like that. I lovethat.
And I need more. Now now now. I swear to God, this series is like a freakin' drug. And The Faceless Ones? Just yet another kickass amazing instalment to this brilliant brilliant series. Please, I don't care how old you are, pick up one of these books and you'll get it. You'll love it. You'll want more as much as I do.
Thank God I have Dark Days. Now, where did I put it...?
Star Rating:
5 Out of 5
5 Out of 5
Read this book if you liked:
Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy
Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan
The Spooks' Apprentice by Joseph Delaney
Department 19 by Will Hill
Happy Reading
Megan