Death Bringer by Derek Landy

Series: Skulduggery Pleasant, Book One

Publisher: HarperCollins

Format: Paperback

Published: 29^th March 2012

Number of Pages: 604

Book: Bought

Genre: Paranormal, Fantasy, Comedy, Urban Fantasy, Thriller, Suspense, Horror, Action-Adventure, Mystery, Children's, YA, Children's-YA Crossover

Recommended Age: 9+

Contains: Violence, Death, Swearing, Very Mild (And Hilarious) Sexual Innuendos 

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 HAVE BEEN WARNED…

Meet Skulduggery Pleasant: detective, magician, warrior.

Oh yes, and dead.

The Death Bringer has risen.  Skulduggery and Valkyrie have seven days to uncover the Necromancers’ secret before it’s too late.

The clock is ticking.  Lord Vile is loose.  And after this one, nothing will ever be the same again.

                                                                   Review:

"On Sunday the world changes."

"On Sunday the world is saved."

"Yes," Skulduggery said, "well, we’ll see about that..."

The Death Bringer has been chosen – but it's not Valkyrie Cain (for once)...  The Death Bringer, who is meant to bring about the mysterious 'Passage', which is meant to make the world better and solve death.  Too good to be true?  Almost certainly...

Lord Vile, the previous candidate for Death Bringer, has also returned.  He's also a notorious war criminal.  Not good.

And meanwhile the Sanctuary is going through massive changes, the Faceless Ones fanatics are stirring again, Tanith is missing, China's being blackmailed and Val is having some serious boyfriend troubles...

I'd forgotten about Death Bringer – forgotten, repressed, same difference...  All the  Skulduggery Pleasant books get progressively darker as the series goes on.  But this one... it just breaks my heart every time.  So very many things go so very wrong and... uh!  I can't read Death Bringer without getting this horrid spasm in my heart.  And yet even as these painful little twinges were happening, I was laughing my head off.  Because Derek Landy has a serious gift.  Hell, he has gifts plural; mad gifts. He's so gifted that his freaking gifts have gifts, and they too have gifts, and then they...  You get the picture, right?  My point is I adore Skulduggery Pleasant. 

Skulduggery... you understand so much more about him in this book – why he is who he is, why he's like he is.  And... to begin with it's a little disturbing but then... then your heart breaks in two.  Oh, Skulduggery!  I just want to give him a hug, even if it would be a little bit of a painful hug – you know, all the bones.  He is a skeleton, after all.  Ok, sorry: these jokes suck...  Moving on: he's so amazing, he's so funny and he's so damaged.  I love him.

As for Valkyrie: she annoyed me in this one.  She was just... selfish.  And also a little mean – poor Fletch!  However, she was also badass and funny and real and good at heart.  Come on: what teenager isn't a little self-involved?  And also the poor girl's had a hell of a lot to deal with, especially for a sixteen-year-old.  You just have to see her with Skulduggery or her uncle or her parents or her baby sister to see what a good person Val really is.  I really love this girl – flaws and all.

Speaking of Fletcher Renn – break my heart!  Poor poor Fletch...  I really felt for China in this one too: she's done some bad stuff but she's trying to make amends.  She has friends for the first time ever and she doesn't want to be alone anymore.  I want to give her a hug too.  And then there's Caelan...  Um, he creeped me out.  He was also unintentionally hilarious – with his cliché gothic proclamations of "eternal" and "burning passion".  Ha!  Seriously: so funny!  But my fave supporting character?  Val's dad: that man seriously kills me!  

Once again, and as always, Landy's writing is second to none.  It's not the most elegant, but it's adrenaline-fuelled, action-packed, hilarious and surprisingly emotional and deep for a MG fantasy book featuring a skeleton detective.  I love Landy's writing – so, so much.  And as for the plot for this one: Unpredictable.  Awesome.  A roller coaster.  Non-stop.  These are just a few of the words that pop to mind.  Awesome in particular, since Derek Landy is undeniably awesome.  Oh, totally twisty is another phrase – because damn!  Death Bringer is just full of twists!  Seriously: this book is as unpredictable as a rabid dingo on drugs!  Does it get any more unpredictable than that?

To sum it up, Death Bringer was the most awesome book out of the most awesome series.  I know I say that with each new book, but it's true.  Death Bringer was emotional, hilarious, addictive and a perfect escape.  I wish I could live in this world, with these people – even if I died or was just in the background.  Because I love them all that much.  Love Derek Landy and SP that much.  And I really, really want you all to read this series if you haven't yet.  I mean, you've been listening to me gush about this series for six books: when are you going to take my advice and read this amazing, amazing series?!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go and reread Kingdom of the Wicked.  Ciao!

Oh: P.S. This should be Derek Landy's catchphrase: "Be off with you.  I have a book to write, characters to kill, and a party to plan." That is literally the most Derek Landy thing ever, even if it came out of Gordon’s mouth.

Star Rating:
5 Out of 5 

Read this book if you liked:

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan

Department 19 by Will Hill

The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Happy Reading

Megan

Mortal Coil by Derek Landy

Series: Skulduggery Pleasant, Book Five

Publisher: HarperCollins

Format: Hardback

Published: 2^nd September 2010

Number of Pages: 604

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! – Gore 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 HAVE BEEN WARNED...

“The blonde girl with the black lips turned to Valkyrie.

‘We know,’ she said.  ‘We’ve seen the future.  We know you’re going to kill the world…’”

Skulduggery Pleasant is back, but all is not well in the magical community.  For one thing, there’s an unstoppable assassin with a metal mask on the loose… and for another, Valkyrie has discovered that she is Darquesse, the evil sorceress set to destroy the world.  The problem is, she doesn’t feel she can tell Skulduggery what she’s learned, and so she must try to change her terrible destiny alone.

But the price of changing your destiny is high, and if she fails, she’ll die alone too.

With Valkyrie on her own quest, Skulduggery and the gang are even more vulnerable.  Which is a shame, as the Necromancers have a body-snatching Remnant that they’re about to release…

When no one is who they seem, when she can’t trust her friends and her enemies are closing in from all around her, the only thing Valkyrie can do is run.

                                                                   Review:

"When you're dealing with magic, you can never trust your enemies to stay beaten, or to stay dead…"

So I'm going to try to give the spoiler free version of this plot...

Alright, so Valkyrie Cain just found something out – something huge, so huge she doesn't know what to do. 

So huge and so horrible that she can't even tell her friends...

Something... life shattering...

Meanwhile, the Irish Sanctuary is reeling from... well, the bomb that killed most of them.  It needs to be rebuilt from the bottom up – preferably safely and securely.

Yeah, right.

And on top of all of this, some mysterious people are plotting to take Skulduggery, Valkyrie and the Sanctuary down.  You know.  Again.

Oh, and the Remnants – evil soulless things that killed thousands last time they were free – are walking among the living once again.  And this time, they have a purpose – which is “bloody terrifying”, to quote Tanith Low…

All in all, it really isn't going too well.

But then, when does anything ever go right for this group?

Once again, I'm going to state how much I love the Skulduggery Pleasant series.  And each book is even better than the last.  Take Mortal Coil, for example.  It still had all the action, all the humour, all the fun, all the magic – but it was darker too, more... grown up.  More YA than children's – but still appealing to a pre-teen audience, as well as an older one.  What can I say: the magic that is SP appeals to everyone, everywhere.  It's just so freaking good that it's untrue!  So good, in fact, that I finished this 570-odd paged book in an afternoon – on the edge of my seat and laughing my head off the whole time, of course.  For that is the magic of Skulduggery Pleasant: more addictive than drugs and funnier than Live At The Apollo crossed with hilarious animal videos.  

Valkyrie...  I really felt for the girl in this one.  Poor Val.  Still, she's so strong, even when dealing with all these really tough things.  And funny all the way through, of course!

As for Skulduggery: I love him so much.  I don't care about all the kinds, all his dangerous and borderline-sociopathic tendencies – he's so funny, so good, such a good friend to Val...  I really hope he stays this way…

Tanith: she rocks.  Like totally.  Ghastly is amazing too.  China, whilst being quite cold at times, is awesome.  But Fletcher Renn really stole the show for me.  He kills me – he’s so funny, but if his ego was any bigger, planets would revolve around him.  Seriously.  Also, I've gotta say, I kind of liked Billy-Ray in this one.  He was good... ish and so freaking funny.  And Clarabelle, Grouse's assistant, absolutely killed me – she always does!  She's so ditzy!  It's brilliant and so, so funny!  Val's dad is brilliant too – he, too, is freaking hilarious!  Um, have you gathered that I adore the characters in this book, flaws and all?  You have?  Awesome: moving on.

Once again, Landy's writing is stunning.  Like I've said multiple times, his writing is pure magic.  The dialogue is hilarious and so witty: Landy really knows how to ramp up the suspense and make you laugh all at the same time.  His fight scenes are beyond compare: so vivid and bloody that you can see it all in your mind...

And as for the plot of Mortal Coil: holy hell, Batman!  This plot was nonstop thrills, spills and violence!  Seriously, there were so many freaking twists it was untrue.  I never knew where I would go next.  I also didn't know who would survive til the next chapter: Derek really has a passion for killing off his characters...  Seriously, though, Mortal Coil was dark and exciting and suspenseful and I loved every single moment of this twisting rollercoaster.

I can't believe it took me this long to point it out, but I'm really pleased that Skulduggery Pleasant isn't set in America or even the UK – there are sooo many paranormals set in the USA so one set in Ireland is a really nice change.  The notion of Ireland being "a cradle of magic" is cool too – much, I guess, like the theory behind Sunnydale in Buffy or the house and nexus in Charmed; natural sources of magic and supernatural activity.  This is really turning into a nerdsfest, which wasn't my original point at all (I think) so I'll move on now...

Anyway, what I'm trying to say in this long and rambly fangirly review (well, might as well continue the trend: I have a whole series of fangirly SP reviews – why stop now?!) is that Mortal Coil is the best book in a brilliant series.  I could be stuck on a desert island with any of the SP books and I'd be happy for eternity because they just never get old.  SP is the perfect escape and I will love it forever and ever.  I will also never stop recommending it to everyone, no matter their age, gender, etc – not even when I'm old and grey and meant to pretend I like 'intellectual' books, like War and Peace. 

So yes.  Mortal Coil is amazing.  And you all need to read SP.  Right now.  I mean it: I can't recommend it enough.

Derek, I love you and you are my god.  I worship you the way the Remnants worship Darquesse.  Maybe that's wrong, but I don't care. 

And on that (mildly disturbing) note: Megan out.

Star Rating:
5 Out of 5

Read this book if you liked:

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan

Department 19 by Will Hill

The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Happy Reading

Megan

Dark Days by Derek Landy

Series: Skulduggery Pleasant, Book Four

Publisher: HarperCollins

Format: Hardback

Published: 1st  April 2010

Number of Pages: 320

Book: Bought

Genre: Paranormal, Fantasy, Comedy, Urban Fantasy, Thriller, Suspense, Horror, Action-Adventure, Mystery, Children's, YA, Children's-YA Crossover

Recommended Age: 9+

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 HAVE BEEN WARNED...

“Valkyrie turned to the portal.  The wind whipped her hair, and she could feel the gravitational pull, eager to welcome her.  She ran, straight into the yellow…”

Skulduggery Pleasant is gone, sucked into a parallel dimension overrun by the Faceless Ones.  If his bones haven’t already been turned to dust, chances are he’s insane, driven out of his mind by the horror of the ancient gods.  There is no official rescue mission.  There is no official plan to save him.

But Valkyrie’s never had much time for plans.

The problem is, even if she can get Skulduggery back, there might not be much left for him to return to.  There’s a gang of villains bent on destroying the Sanctuary, there are some very powerful people who want Valkyrie dead, and as if all that wasn’t enough it looks very likely that a sorcerer named Darquesse is going to kill the world and everyone on it.

Skulduggery is gone.  All hopes rest with Valkyrie.  The world’s weight is on her shoulders, and its fate is in her hands.

These are dark days indeed.

                                                                 Review:

"Valkyrie, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but your friend is most likely dead."

"Of course he's dead.  He's a skeleton."

Skulduggery Pleasant is gone, missing, taken, held hostage by the homicidal gods known as The Faceless Ones.

Valkyrie Cain will go to any length to get him back – including risking her own life.

But meanwhile criminals that Skulduggery and Valkyrie put away are gathering.  Their plan?  To destroy the Sanctuary – and Valkyrie Cain.

Things are looking grim.

Grimmer: the mysterious and dangerously powerful Darquesse, whose only goal is to destroy the world...  And on top of this, they can trust no one at the Sanctuary.

Yup, things are looking pretty damn dark...

If only they had Skulduggery to help them...  Cue foolish planning, now...

God, I adore this series!  I've seriously forgotten how much I love it.  Even on my second or third reading, it's just so damn good!  Dark Days was action-packed, hilarious and just as magical as all Skulduggery Pleasant novels.  I literally can never get enough of Skulduggery and co, and Dark Days really didn’t disappoint me – in fact, it was better than the three that came before it, which I thought impossible.  How Derek Landy always manages to completely outdo himself with each new book is beyond me, but he does, and it's awesome.  Also, totally addictive.  I can't wait to continue my reread in the big run-up to the final book!  But God knows I'm going to be a snivelling mess by the time it's done!

Ok, Valkyrie is getting to be soo awesome!  She's growing up a lot, you can just see the difference, like her getting crushes.   I was really impressed by how natural and subtle Derek made her growth feel – Val really does seem so much like a real person, albeit one with magic, razor-sharp wit and more strength than a million elephants.  And even though I know where she's going, I can't wait to see it!

Skulduggery: I love him so much.  I really wish people would stop saying mean things about him (in the book) 'cause I adore him.  He's funny, bonkers, snarky and smart and is my favourite ever detective – and this includes Sherlock from the BBC TV show, so that's sayin' something!  

I loved Fletcher too – he was so cute and obsessed with his hair!  However, I always see Jedward whenever I think of him...  Don't ask...  Tanith was, as always, brilliant (I do so love the kickass girls in this series) – as was Ghastly (brilliant, I mean, not a kickass girl).  I also really like China, even if she is a bit... creepy...  Oh, and Finbar is amazing – that guy kills me each and every time!

The villains in Dark Days were epic.  You had the Revengers Club (or Vengeance Brigade, depending on who you ask), who were made up of familiar and new faces, and then there was the mysterious Darquesse...  My favourite (though I probably shouldn’t have a fave villain) was Billy-Ray, purely because he cracks me up.  But all the villains were pretty awesome.

And damn, I love the writing in these books – the dialogue in particular!  The characters never lack a snarky thing to say, some witty and brilliant comeback.  I love that.  I also love how amazing Derek's writing is: reading his books is like watching a film inside my head, which is awesome.  These books are just the perfect escape for reluctant readers, in my opinion!

As for that plot... all the twists, the turns, the action, the murder, the excitement...  It's enough to hook a girl for eternity.  And as for the ending: cliff-hanger alert!  I mean, I saw it coming this time, but the first time I ever read Dark Days: serious jaw-drop moment. 

And I really quickly have to mention the world in these books, because it is awesome – seriously, awesome!  Magic, monsters, mayhem, awesomeness…  I want to move to this world and become a sorcerer so badly!

I also want to say how much I appreciate Derek writing to please everyone.  There's magic, science, adventure, suspense, humour and friendship in this book, appealing to a wide audience.  I also love how it's not aimed at boys or girls.  I mean, Val's a girl but Skulduggery plays just as big a part.  Boys and girls alike love this series – and some not-so-boys-or-girls too – and they're all so very right to.  Skulduggery Pleasant is one hell of a series and everyone, everywhere ought to pick it up.  Right now.  I'll be waiting.

Oh, but before you go I want to and this: Dark Days was dark in the most delicious way.  It left me wanting more, as always, and I seriously can't recommend it - all of the bokos actually - enough.  

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go read Mortal Coil and those of you who haven't read Skulduggery Pleasant need to go read that ASAP. 

Happy reading!

Star Rating:
5 Out of 5 

Read this book if you liked:

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan

Department 19 by Will Hill

The Spooks' Apprentice by Joseph Delaney

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Happy Reading

Megan

The Faceless Ones by Derek Landy

Series: Skulduggery Pleasant, Book Three

Publisher: HarperCollins

Format: Hardcover

Published: 6^th 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 always comes 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 sooo wonderfully 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 love that.

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

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

Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Happy Reading

Megan