Armageddon Outta Here

Image credit: Harper Collins Australia

As the series gets increasingly exhilarating, action-packed, and all-around intense, it’s really lovely that Landy has injected smaller books that pop us in the same universe, but distance us from its central drama (a bit like the Marvel movies) so that we can catch our breath and come to terms with whatever terrifying plot twist or character loss we’ve just encountered.

Armageddon Outta Here is an anthology of several short stories and one novella that keeps us playing with our favourite characters, but in between bouts of serious drama. Set between the various volumes in the series –and there’s a chronology in the front to help us keep track- the book chronicles a number of fun and exiting stories that answer a few questions about certain characters and their relationships with others. Beginning with Across A Dark Plain, which chronicles the Dead Men’s tracking of Nefarian Serpine across America as well as how the grudge between Skulduggery Pleasant and Solomon Wreath began, the book tells a series of exciting adventures (all about the end of the world of course) and ends with a sneak peek at a chapter of the final book (obviously when it was believed the series was to end).

This is where we get to see Landy’s love of certain genres and appreciation of iconic artists and works, as well as how they’ve worked as an influence on the series itself. The book, being a collection of short mysteries, is rather reminiscent of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes as a whole. We’ve got a classic Western vibe that infuses the first story, there’s definitely some Douglas Adams-ness happening in the fun weirdness of The Wonderful Adventures of Geoffrey Scrutinous, a little bit of Stephen King’s It creeps into Get Thee Behind Me Bubba Moon, and the final story, The Button, reminded me particularly of that sci-fi thriller with Cameron Diaz and Frank Langella (The Box).

Image credit: Skulduggery Pleasant Wiki-Fandom

The segmented structure of the book makes it so very easy to just sit and power through and, for the most part, Landy continues to write in the voice of an omniscient narrator that we know and love; Bubba Moon is the one exception, written as a reflection in the first person.

Filled with as much excitement, action, and fun as the series itself, Armageddon Outta Here provides a really lovely respite between the intensity of Last Stand of Dead Men and the final book, The Dying of the Light. It’s a great read and, in a way, is strategically placed so that we might have enough strength to take on the final battle.

Armageddon Outta Here is a short story collection set within the Skulduggery Pleasant universe by Derek Landy and published in 2014 by HarperCollins Children’s Books.