Skulduggery Pleasant- Derek Landy

Fantasy has seen a resurgence of interest and some great (and not so great) fantasy is popping up everywhere. Well-received is Landy’s book, Skulduggery Pleasant, with more adventures on the way. With an intriguing title like that, expectations are high and overall, well met. The 12- year old protagonist, Stephanie, is bequeathed her uncle’s large mansion after his untimely death. Unexpectedly left to spend the night alone, the world as she knows it is ripped apart as the house is broken into and her life is at risk. Rescued by the inscrutable Skulduggery, she discovers that all that is left of him is a skeleton who has chosen to come back to life to fight evil. Thus we are propelled into the world behind the scenes of our everyday lives; sometimes so realistically that you might begin to wonder just what might exist. Determined that she is going to become part of the fight, Stephanie appears to take in her stride all the peoples and events that have only been a part of her fantasy world. Good fantasy allows you to suspend your disbelief most readily, and I found myself struggling a little with the age of the character and with her utter lack of fear and indifference to danger in entering this new phase of her life. But I do believe the story is fast-paced enough with many quirky characters and lots of action to lure many of our fantasy fans. Although I felt The Alchemyst, recently reviewed on this blog, was superior, I would recommend this for school and public libraries. It sayed with me for a time after reading it, so I believe I may be interested in pursuing the sequel as well.

Students may be quite interested in this Skulduggery site with a video, games, e-cards and more.