Skulduggery Pleasant

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How have I gone through my childhood without this book? More importantly, how the hell have I never heard of it until now!? As a fan of noir, sassy characters, and singular quest narratives, Skulduggery Pleasant presses all the right buttons for me and I cannot believe I have never heard of this series until now.

This self-titled first book in the series introduces us to Stephanie Edgley, who inherits her uncle’s estate after his death. But that’s not all she inherits. Her uncle Gordon wrote horror fiction, or at least that’s what she thought, but soon after his death Stephanie is attacked at his estate by a mysterious thug. Coming to save her in the nick of time is one Skulduggery Pleasant: detective, good friend of Gordon’s, and oh yes, living skeleton. Suddenly Uncle Gordon’s horror stories are proving all too real as Stephanie is plunged into a world of magic and vampires, Hollow Men, and wicked sorcerers, and it falls to her and Skulduggery to save the world.

Aside from the fact that the series is about a wise-cracking skeleton detective who can do magic, which quite frankly is enough cause to inspire anyone to read these books, Skulduggery Pleasant is the perfect story for that age group that is transitioning from child to young adult reader. Landy’s prose is simple, tight, and to the point, his descriptions of events and adventures spark vibrant images in the mind’s eye, almost like you were watching it on a screen (I’m personally amazed that no-one has made a movie out of this), describing exciting adventures whilst also dealing with the morbid and macabre.

Image credit: Skulduggery Pleasant Wiki-Fandom

Our protagonist, Stephanie (otherwise known as Valkyrie Cain, which is quite possibly the coolest name ever!) is a strong heroine that speaks to a lot of kids that are on the cusp of adolescence and starting to think about their own, unique, identities. Landy writes about that ‘age of awakening’ with simplicity and insight, and I can definitely see a lot of kids continuing on with the series to follow Stephanie on her adventures, like Harry Potter.

It’s only the first book in the series; introducing us to characters and a world that’s not our own, but it’s still incredibly exciting and it makes you want to continue on with the series! Filled with action, magic, noir, and the macabre Skulduggery Pleasant is a brilliant book!

Skulduggery Pleasant is the first book in the series written by Derek Landy. It was published by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2007 and remains, to this day, awesome.