Skulduggery Pleasant series

***Skulduggery Pleasant*** is a Young Adult Urban Fantasy series written by Derek Landy.

## Overview

Who is Skulduggery Pleasant? He's a wise-cracking detective, powerful magician, master of dirty tricks and burglary (in the name of the greater good, of course). As well as ally, protector and mentor of Stephanie Edgley, a very unusual and darkly talented twelve-year old. And, oh yeah- he's dead.

## Books

1. *Skulduggery Pleasant* (2007) (aka *Scepter of the Ancients*)
2. *Playing with Fire* (2008)
3. *The Faceless Ones* (2009)
4. *Dark Days* (2010)
5. *Mortal Coil* (2010)
6. *Death Bringer* (2011)
7. *Kingdom of the Wicked* (2012)
8. *Last Stand of Dead Men* (2013)
9. *The Dying of the Light* (2014)

### Companion novellas

* 1.5. "The Lost Art of World Domination" (2011; 28 pgs, Kindle)
* 2.5. "Gold, Babies and the Brothers Muldoon " (2011; 26 pgs, ebook)
* 6.5. "The End of the World" (2012; 128 pgs, novella)
* 7.5. "Tanith Low in the Maleficent Seven" (Mar. 28, 2013; 288 pgs, eNovella)

## Publishing Information

* Publisher: HarperCollins
* Skulduggery Pleasant - Official Website of the Skulduggery Pleasant Books

## Blurbs

### *Skulduggery Pleasant*

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.

### *Playing with Fire*

Skulduggery and Valkyrie are facing a new enemy: Baron Vengeous, who is determined to bring back the terrifying Faceless Ones and is crafting an army of evil to help him. Added to that, Vengeous is about to enlist a new ally (if he can raise it from the dead): the horrible Grotesquery, a very unlikable monster of legend. Once Vengeous is on the loose, dead bodies and vampires start showing up all over Ireland. Now pretty much everybody is out to kill Valkyrie, and the daring detective duo faces its biggest challenge yet.  But what if the greatest threat to Valkyrie is just a little closer to home? Look for Scepter of the Ancients

### *The Faceless Ones*

The third bone-breaking, belly-busting adventure in the series that puts the “funny” back in, um, funny series. That didn’t really work, did it? If you’ve read the previous Skulduggery books then you know what the Faceless Ones are — and if you know what the Faceless Ones are, then you can probably take a wild guess that things in this book are going to get AWFULLY sticky for our skeletal hero and his young sidekick. If you haven’t read the previous Skulduggery books then what are you doing reading this? Go and read them right now, so that you know what all that stuff in the previous paragraph was about. Done? Good. So now you’re on tenterhooks too, desperately awaiting the answers to all your questions, and instead you’re going to have to wait to read the book. Sorry about that.

### *Dark Days*

Fourth Skulduggery Pleasant adventure... only Skulduggery Pleasant himself is lost on the other side of a portal, with only some evil gods for company. Can he possible survive? (Yes, all right, he?s already dead. But still.) Skulduggery Pleasant is gone, sucked into a parallel dimension overrun by the Faceless Ones. If his bones haven't already been turned to dust, chances are he's insane, driven out of his mind by the horror of the ancient gods. There is no official, Sanctuary-approved rescue mission. There is no official plan to save him. But Valkyrie's never had much time for plans. The problem is, even if she can get Skulduggery back, there might not be much left for him to return to. There's a gang of villains bent on destroying the Sanctuary, there are some very powerful people who want Valkyrie dead, and as if all that wasn't enough it looks very likely that a sorcerer named Darquesse is going to kill the world and everyone on it. Skulduggery is gone. All our hopes rest with Valkyrie. The world's weight is on her shoulders, and its fate is in her hands. These are dark days indeed. About the Author Derek Landy was born Dublin County. He is an Irish author and screenwriter, He is famous for the Skulduggery Pleasant series of children's books.

### *Mortal Coil*

Following the shocking revelations of DARK DAYS, get ready for the fifth instalment of the bestselling Skulduggery Pleasant series -- guaranteed to contain at least 40% humour, 50% action, and 100% thrills! "The blonde girl with the black lips turned to Valkyrie. 'We know,' she said. 'We've seen the future. We know you're going to kill the world!'" Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain are back -- just in time to see their whole world get turned upside down! While they struggle to protect a known killer from an unstoppable assassin, Valkyrie is on a secret mission of her own. This quest, to prevent her dark and murderous destiny, threatens to take her to the brink of death and beyond. And then the body-snatching Remnants get loose, thousands of twisted souls who possess the living like puppets, and they begin their search for a being powerful enough to lead them. Facing such insurmountable odds, Skulduggery, Valkyrie, Ghastly and Tanith can trust no one. Not even each other!

### *Death Bringer*

The Necromancers no longer need Valkyrie to be their Death Bringer. There's just one catch. There's a reason the Necromancers don't need her any more, and that's because they've found their Death Bringer already, the person who will dissolve the doors between life and death. That's a very, very bad thing.

### *Kingdom of the Wicked*

The seventh installment in the biggest, funniest, most thrilling comedy-horror-adventure series in the universe - and the follow-up to 2011’s number-one bestseller, Death Bringer… Magic is a disease. Across the land, normal people are suddenly developing wild and unstable powers. Infected by a rare strain of magic, they are unwittingly endangering their own lives and the lives of the people around them. Terrified and confused, their only hope lies with the Sanctuary. Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain are needed now more than ever. And then there's the small matter of Kitana. A normal teenage girl who, along with her normal teenage friends, becomes infected. Becomes powerful. Becomes corrupted. Wielding the magic of gods, they're set to tear the city apart unless someone stands up against them. Looks like it's going to be another one of those days…

### *Last Stand of Dead Men*

War has finally come. Not between good and evil, but between Sanctuaries, and if Skulduggery and Valkyrie are to stop it they must team up with the rest of the dead men. At the same time, war rages within Valkyrie herself, as Darquesse is on the verge to rising.

### *The Dying of the Light*

The War of the Sanctuaries has been won, but it was not without its casualties. Following the loss of Valkyrie Cain, Skulduggery Pleasant must use any and all means to track down and stop Darquesse before she turns the world into a charred, lifeless cinder. And so he draws together a team of soldiers, monster hunters, killers, criminals… and Valkyrie’s own murderous reflection. The war may be over, but the final battle is about to begin. And not everyone gets out of here alive…

## Awards

1. *Skulduggery Pleasant*

* Winner of the:
	+ Red House Children's Book Award
	+ Bolton Children's Book Award
	+ Staffordshire Young Teen Fiction Award
	+ 2008 Portsmouth Book Awards
	+ 2009 Kernow Youth and Grampian Book Awards
* Recommended for confident readers (9+) by the Richard & Judy Children's Book Club in 2007
* Awarded the title of Irish Book Of The Decade (2010)

## References

1. ↑ *Skulduggery Pleasant* - Goodreads
2. ↑ *Skulduggery Pleasant* - Goodreads
3. ↑ *Playing with Fire* (Skulduggery Pleasant, #2) - Goodreads
4. ↑ *The Faceless Ones* (Skulduggery Pleasant, #3) - Goodreads
5. ↑ *Dark Days* (Skulduggery Pleasant, # 4) - Goodreads
6. ↑ *Mortal Coil* (Skulduggery Pleasant, #5) - Goodreads
7. ↑ *Death Bringer* (Skulduggery Pleasant, #6) - Goodreads
8. ↑ *Kingdom of the Wicked* (Skulduggery Pleasant, #7) - Goodreads
9. ↑ *Last Stand of Dead Men* (Skulduggery Pleasant, #8) - Goodreads
10. ↑ *The Dying of the Light* (Skulduggery Pleasant, #9) - Goodreads