Skulduggery Pleasant is a wise-cracking detective and sorcerer. He also happens to be a long-dead skeleton. Then there’s Stephanie, the gutsy teenage fighter and Elemental magician. She likes to tinker with Necromancy.
Together, they plan to save the world, as long as they can stop hassling each other. Pressing matters keep them busy, such as the ever present supernatural evil and mysteries that won’t solve themselves.
In these stories, names are of the utmost importance. You are either given a name or you take a name. Or, you have a true name. You just might not know it yet.
A darkly comic fantasy series, Derek Landy’s award-winning books have a strong theme of nonconformity and wit. These audiobooks are brought to life by narrator Rupert Degas who also reads the character Pantalaimon in His Dark Materials.
Degas's deadpan and almost stony tone is perfectly suited to these stories. His deep voice and subtle accent pulls us in close and before long we find ourselves deeply attached. It is obvious Degas has a deep understanding and affection for the characters.
Landy says his main character Stephanie Edgley – aka Valkyrie Cain – is inspired by some fearless and witty young girls he met while teaching karate.
Skulduggery Pleasant was a big hit with critics and children’s writers. The series has won numerous awards including the Irish Book of the Decade in 2010. Since the first book was published in 2007, Derek Landy has added 15 more books to the Skulduggery Pleasant series.
