Skulduggery Pleasant - Pedro Reviews

Synopsis: “Skulduggery Pleasant; wise cracking detective, powerful magician, master of dirty tricks and burglary (in the name of the greater good, of course), oh yeah, and dead!

Stephanie’s uncle Gordon is a writer of horror fiction. But when he dies and leaves her his estate, Stephanie learns that while he may have written horror, it certainly wasn’t fiction.

Pursued by evil forces intent on recovering a mysterious key, Stephanie finds help from an unusual source – the wisecracking skeleton of a dead wizard.

When all hell breaks loose, it’s lucky for Skulduggery that he’s already dead. Though he’s about to discover that being a skeleton doesn’t stop you from being tortured, if the torturer is determined enough. And if there’s anything Skulduggery hates, it’s torture…

Will evil win the day? Will Stephanie and Skulduggery stop bickering long enough to stop it? One thing’s for sure: evil won’t know what’s hit it.”-from the series’ website.

            The story centres around Stephanie Edgley, a 12 year-old Irish girl who lives in the seaside town of Haggard, a bored teen who wishes for an exciting turn of events. After the death of her uncle, Gordon Edgley a horror writer, at the reading she reaps the fruit of being the favourite niece as she gains the mansion and all his possessions, as for her parents get a villa in France. However at the reading a strange man with a stranger name was also present, yet as Stephanie and her family spend the night at their new swanky mansion an intruder tries to attack her. Then she is saved by the same stranger that appeared at the mansion and during the scuffle a few things. The stranger could make a fire with a click of his fingers, the intruder is fire proof and the strange man that saved her was a living skeleton.

            From then on she experiences an adventure like no other, where she discovers a world filled with magic, danger and an intriguing story from beginning to end. Not only is the two main characters are both well thought out as actual people you might meet in the streets in extraordinary situations. In their first few moments we see a birth of a great partnership, or to best describe it from Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” It isn’t just the protagonists but the antagonists and the support cast are just as interesting or as great as they can be. From Tanith Low, a sword wielding bad-ass and Ghastly Bespoke, a tailor who can throw a few good hooks. Then there is the villain as Nerfarian Serpine, is a villain you love to hate and somebody you want to see suffer for being such an asshole. These characters and more within not just this book but in the other eight novels continue to make a wonderful world filled to the brim with equally amazing characters.

            The plot of the first story among the eight others in this series, featuring their own stand-alone adventures but still fresh from the events of last time as our heroes defeat the villain or at least succeed in their mission in one piece. As the series progress, you grow with the characters and are engrossed in a world as magical and dangerous as it can be. Our heroes look into murders, conspiracies and uphold the law of the magical world to keep it safe and to never let it fall into darkness and chaos. From fighting against old foes from a brutal war, to stop and control a catastrophe from getting out of hand to even battling their own friends in a war that nobody wanted. Yet don’t believe that everyone from the beginning to end will survive and live happy lives, as this Irish author is willing to kill and torture in terrible ways. Besides, the stories themselves are entertaining, funny, scary, and gripping from beginning to end.

            Well recommended for those who wish to experience fantasy in a dark, horrific but also funny and adventurous style. You’ll love and understand the characters from beginning to end. The stories and adventures they go through are unique and refreshing as you start innocently at the beginning to becoming grizzled veteran haunted at the very end.