Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy
Jan. 12th, 2008 01:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
"With his sunglasses gone there was no denying the fact that he had no face. All he had was a skull for a head."
Meet Skulduggery Pleasant: wise-cracking detective, powerful magician, sworn enemy of evil.
Oh yes. And dead.
The latest childrens'/YA book to inherit the title: "The Next Harry Potter", this comes a lot closer than most. Landy's experience as a scriptwriter really shines through in the dialogue of this novel, which snaps and crackles with wit and whilst there's a curiously old-fashioned feel to the narrative, it's very easy to buy into and reflects the world he's created.
Essentially the story is this: 12 year old Stephanie Edgley is introduced to a world of magic she (and most other people) never knew existed when she inherits most of her rich uncle Gordon's estate. Her reluctant guide is Skulduggery Pleasant, a skeleton detective, who discovers that Nefarian Serpine (the henchman of the evil Mevolent defeated centuries earlier) is searching for the Sceptre of the Ancients, an artefact so powerful that it has long been considered a myth. Skulduggery and Stephanie realise that they must find it first if they are to save the world from total destruction.
Landy populates his world with interesting characters, such as Tanith Low (a warrior magician who wields a large sword) and Ghastly Bespoke (a tailer of incredible clothes and a powerful mage and fighter). He's also got some great concepts, particularly the Cleavers (powerful guards who work for the Ancients) and the Hollow Men (man-like creatures created from gas and paper who work for Serpine). His world distinguishes between two types of magician: Adepts (whose magic includes mind reading and changing shape) and Elementals (whose magic works through fire, water, earth and air) and he's clearly thought through how this shapes his characters and their abilities. I was particularly impressed by the way he tries to do something a little different with vampires - which are basically guard dogs and whose blood lust makes them incredibly powerful.
Where I felt his world was too complicated related to the use of people's names. People in his world basically have three names - a given name, which someone can use to control you; a taken name (which people use to prevent people from using their given name against them) and their true name (which no one knows, although it's contained in a book written by the Ancients). For me, this was just a little too complicated, particularly when Stephanie takes another name for the final third of the book so you have to remember the two names for that character and I would also question the necessity and logic of it (particularly in a scene where Stephanie has her name used against her by one character). I also think that there's potential for the names to be a little too outlandish, which for me could get irritating by simply being too much.
If I was going to nitpick, then I think that some of the dialogue became a little too predictable towards the end (you basically get to know what the pay-off is going to be to an exchange between Stephanie and Skulduggery) and there were times when I didn't quite believe Stephanie was a 12 year old girl. I'm also a little concerned about the revelation that comes about Stephanie towards the end of the book because it could have implications for the character that makes her more unbelievable and strains the credibility of the series (although obviously, this will ultimately turn on where Landy decides to take it)
All in all though it feels churlish to nitpick because it is such an entertaining read that had me chuckling out loud on a number of ocassions.
The Verdict:
Very entertaining and a series that I definitely want to read more of.
Meet Skulduggery Pleasant: wise-cracking detective, powerful magician, sworn enemy of evil.
Oh yes. And dead.
The latest childrens'/YA book to inherit the title: "The Next Harry Potter", this comes a lot closer than most. Landy's experience as a scriptwriter really shines through in the dialogue of this novel, which snaps and crackles with wit and whilst there's a curiously old-fashioned feel to the narrative, it's very easy to buy into and reflects the world he's created.
Essentially the story is this: 12 year old Stephanie Edgley is introduced to a world of magic she (and most other people) never knew existed when she inherits most of her rich uncle Gordon's estate. Her reluctant guide is Skulduggery Pleasant, a skeleton detective, who discovers that Nefarian Serpine (the henchman of the evil Mevolent defeated centuries earlier) is searching for the Sceptre of the Ancients, an artefact so powerful that it has long been considered a myth. Skulduggery and Stephanie realise that they must find it first if they are to save the world from total destruction.
Landy populates his world with interesting characters, such as Tanith Low (a warrior magician who wields a large sword) and Ghastly Bespoke (a tailer of incredible clothes and a powerful mage and fighter). He's also got some great concepts, particularly the Cleavers (powerful guards who work for the Ancients) and the Hollow Men (man-like creatures created from gas and paper who work for Serpine). His world distinguishes between two types of magician: Adepts (whose magic includes mind reading and changing shape) and Elementals (whose magic works through fire, water, earth and air) and he's clearly thought through how this shapes his characters and their abilities. I was particularly impressed by the way he tries to do something a little different with vampires - which are basically guard dogs and whose blood lust makes them incredibly powerful.
Where I felt his world was too complicated related to the use of people's names. People in his world basically have three names - a given name, which someone can use to control you; a taken name (which people use to prevent people from using their given name against them) and their true name (which no one knows, although it's contained in a book written by the Ancients). For me, this was just a little too complicated, particularly when Stephanie takes another name for the final third of the book so you have to remember the two names for that character and I would also question the necessity and logic of it (particularly in a scene where Stephanie has her name used against her by one character). I also think that there's potential for the names to be a little too outlandish, which for me could get irritating by simply being too much.
If I was going to nitpick, then I think that some of the dialogue became a little too predictable towards the end (you basically get to know what the pay-off is going to be to an exchange between Stephanie and Skulduggery) and there were times when I didn't quite believe Stephanie was a 12 year old girl. I'm also a little concerned about the revelation that comes about Stephanie towards the end of the book because it could have implications for the character that makes her more unbelievable and strains the credibility of the series (although obviously, this will ultimately turn on where Landy decides to take it)
All in all though it feels churlish to nitpick because it is such an entertaining read that had me chuckling out loud on a number of ocassions.
The Verdict:
Very entertaining and a series that I definitely want to read more of.
