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Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Apr 2007, 400 pages
Paperback:
Mar 2008, 416 pages
Book Reviewed by:
BookBrowse Review Team
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Meet Skulduggery Pleasant: Ace Detective, Snappy Dresser, Razor–tongued Wit, Crackerjack Sorcerer, and, Walking, Talking, Fire-throwing Skeleton! It is up to him and Stephanie Edgley, a very unusual and darkly talented twelve-year-old, to save the world.....
Meet Skulduggery Pleasant
Ace Detective
Snappy Dresser
Razor–tongued Wit
Crackerjack Sorcerer
and
Walking, Talking,
Fire-throwing Skeleton
—as well as ally, protector, and mentor of Stephanie Edgley, a very unusual and darkly talented twelve-year-old.
These two alone must defeat an all-consuming ancient evil.
The end of the world?
Over his dead body.
Chapter One
Stephanie
Gordon Edgley's sudden death came as a shock to everyone—not least himself. One moment he was in his study, seven words into the twenty-fifth sentence of the final chapter of his new book, And the Darkness Rained upon Them, and the next he was dead. A tragic loss, his mind echoed numbly as he slipped away.
The funeral was attended by family and acquaintances but not many friends. Gordon hadn't been a well-liked figure in the publishing world, for although the books he wrote—tales of horror and magic and wonder—regularly reared their heads in the bestseller lists, he had the disquieting habit of insulting people without realizing it, then laughing at their shock. It was at Gordon's funeral, however, that Stephanie Edgley first caught sight of the gentleman in the tan overcoat.
He was standing under the shade of a large tree, away from the crowd, the coat buttoned up all the way despite the warmth of the afternoon. A scarf was ...
From the moment Skulduggery appears the action heats up and drives the reader relentlessly through the book. While comparisons with Harry Potter seem inevitable, this book has more in common with the Artemis Fowl novels - lots of action, snappy dialog and magic...continued
Full Review
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(Reviewed by BookBrowse Review Team).
Derek Landy lives near Dublin,
Ireland; the setting for
Skulduggery Pleasant, which
is
his first book. After working on
a farm and deciding that life
was not for him, he started
writing for horror movies, two
of which were produced by the
Irish Film Board: Dead Bodies
(2003), and Boy Eats Girl
(2005).
Coming Soon: The second in the Skulduggery Pleasant series,
Playing With Fire (May
2008).
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