Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire

The cover of Derek Landy's inaugural SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT novel shows the eponymous skeleton in his trademark hat and sunglasses next to the legend, "And he's the good guy." Good doesn't even begin to describe the fun to be found between the covers of that book and, fortunately for readers, the second installment in the series, SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT: PLAYING WITH FIRE, takes the fun to a whole new level. Well into her apprenticeship with Skulduggery, Valkyrie Cain --- the girl formerly known as Stephanie Edgley --- is fighting alongside her sardonic teacher. As the story unfolds, the pair defeats a homicidal villain known as Scapegrace, who sees his intended killing spree as a form of art. But the victory is short-lived as a new, far more powerful adversary appears on the scene. Baron Vengeous, a terrible baddie from Skulduggery's past, escapes from prison. (In a clever nod to This is Spinal Tap, Skulduggery notes that on the villain scale of one to ten, Vengeous "turns it all the way up to eleven.") The Baron, much like Serpine from the first book, is on a mission to revive the Faceless Ones from the dead. His plan involves summoning a beast known as the Grotesquery, a Frankenstein-like hodgepodge of body bits. With the Grostequery and the magical armor of the powerful necromancer Lord Vile, nothing can stand in the Baron's way. Except, perhaps, the fire-flinging Valkyrie and her dead mentor. In their quest to stop the Baron, the pair encounter Springheeled Jack, a creature who strikes fear into the hearts of Londoners at night and an infected assassin called Billy-Ray Sanguine. The lightning-fast story offers plenty of twists and a touch of paranoia as Valkyrie and Skulduggery come to understand that there's far more to this plot than they originally imagined. Fans of Landy's initial outing will be very pleased with the second book, which, I'm happy to say, is even funnier than the first. Landy has a talent for the snappy banter between Valkyrie and Skulduggery, perfectly framing their relationship as both friends and teacher/student. Valkyrie is settling in to her role as a descendent of the Ancients who can control elements. It's fun to watch her grow more confident in her abilities but, at the same time, acknowledge that she still relies on Skulduggery's knowledge and assistance. Although the story moves along briskly, Landy manages to breathe life into all his characters and allow them to grow as events unfold. Realizing that there was a higher force controlling the Baron, the book ends on a pleasantly ominous note: "Bad things are coming for us, Valkyrie." Bad things for Valkyrie and Pleasant perhaps, but only great things for readers, who will be eagerly awaiting the next book in this increasingly entertaining series.

When I enjoy a book as much I enjoyed Skulduggery Pleasant, it is only natural that I would be excited for the next one in the series. But with so much to live up to, there is also the slight worry that the book you are looking forward to will suffer from the unfortunate affliction dubbed sequelitis. Playing With Fire though not only matches the first book but - if this is even possible, considering the high standards of Skulduggery Pleasant - exceeds it. Playing With Fire opens with a bang of a scene, making it very clear that the action and (most importantly to me) the humour of the first are still very much there. The moment I had to set the book down for a minute in that opening as I was laughing so hard I knew that I voice I loved from the first book was still very much there. That wit and snark and all-around humour is one of the most appealing things about this series, so when it is in full form (like it is here in Playing With Fire) it makes for a wonderful read. While Skulduggery himself is a wonderful character - and really, how could he be anything but? - I must confessed that young Valkyrie Cain has swiftly taken over the position of first place. She is a brilliant character - strong, intelligent, brave - and overall a delight to read. After reading a number of books with "heroines" that have no personality or anything to bring them to life Valkyrie is impressive and that is putting it mildly. Likable characters can make an otherwise average book into a good one, but brilliant characters like Valkryie, Skulduggery and the rest of the cast turn a book with an exciting plot and great world-building into something that is hard to top. Speaking of plot, Playing With Fire's is nicely-paced and packed with great moments of action and character development, plus some nice twists and turns to keep things interesting - I don't think I can say much more for fear of spoiling. Just know that if you enjoyed Skulduggery Pleasant, then I think you will enjoy the way the series is continuing and growing. If you haven't read Skulduggery Pleasant, I suggest you run out and get yourself a copy so you can get onto Playing With Fire.

This is the second book in the Skulduggery series that my son has read. This is what he has to say about the novel. I highly recommend this amazing book for any kids or adults to read. If you're a little jumpy reading scary stories I suggest you wait to read this book. The story is one of the better stories I've read since reading Harry Potter. This book has a lot of suspense, and action that keeps you on the edge of your seat. If I were you, make sure you glue yourself to your seat!

This book was the best book I have ever read. It was full of action and drama with plenty of suspence. The first one didn't match up to this one but you have to read that one first. It was just so discriptive and just awsome I recomended this book to a friend and she loved it. I think this book stands up to Twilight.

WOW!! Now here's a rip-roaring rollercoaster ride (but not on an actual rollercoaster) with a pace that never lets up-except for a moment here and there so you can catch your breath before you're off again! So, okay, without giving any plot spoilers, the deal is basically this; you've got your skeleton detective who's the good guy, with impeccable dress sense (except for the wig, which I wouldn't be seen dead in) and a great sense of humor. He's got a collegue in training, 13 year old Stephanie a.k.a. Valkyrie Cain whom he met in the previous first book, and they need to save the world, again. Yes, there is magic involved but it's not like Harry Potter with the wands and incantations, it's more of a natural, earthy magic and is a plot enhancer rather than a focal point of the Skulduggery stories. So, there's a magical world that co-exists with our own that most people are blissfully unaware of, and this time, a very bad guy breaks out of jail to release a Frankensteinian monster to, of course, help him rule the world and enslave the non-magical people and anyone that doesn't worship what he does. With incredibly written action scenes, it's very reminiscent of Buffy the Vampire Slayer tv series and infused with witty one-liners even in the most dire situations. Skulduggery is a fantastic character-way cool and scary only to the bad guys, and it's excellent to have a female hero in training. Both characters-indeed, both Skulduggery books, have universal appeal (besides which, I don't think any book should be genderized) and even adults will enjoy this! The first one, a brilliant tale in itself, lays the foundation, it's where we meet the characters and get an idea of where they are coming from, and while I highly recommend it, you can go ahead and dive into this book and still understand pretty well what's going on. This book is amazing-although be warned, people do die, although, not so much in gory detail or in a tearjerker way, more in just a factual way, and YIKES-GIANT SPIDER!! That's all I'm saying. Derek Landy, the author, is a total genius and rising star (which I'm sure he'd agree with) and deserves huge success; his work is original and refreshing, and these books are classics in the making! Even the little author bio and his dedications are funny-you gotta love this guy!! Anyone fixing to make this into a movie had better do a good job, that's all I can say. As for our friend Skulduggery, well, he's already dead, being a skelton and all, but when you've read this, you just know he'll be back for, hopefully many, more action-packed capers! BRILLIANT!!!