Skulduggery Pleasant

[.Rooster]

Discuss Skulduggery Pleasant (The book). I wager he could kick Voldemort's arse, but thats just my opinion.

Darquesse could kill Voldemort without thinking while Lord Vile could kill him with out even performing any actions himself. The shadows would deal with Volde like how Gaara's sand lives.
EDIT: Doublepost merge

 

Skulduggery Pleasant is a book about sorcery just like Harry Potter, only this series is a lot more gory and urban. The main character is Stephanie Edgely, a child whose uncle passed away recently. During the funeral, she talks to this mysterious person called Skulduggery Pleasant, and her life started to change a lot... So does anybody read the books? I finished Mortal Coil yesterday, so if you are going to say things about the more books other people didn't read yet, please add a spoiler warning.

[Maeriberii Haan]

Do not doublepost please.

 

And it's probably better if you post more information about the book in the opening post.

[Aerion Brightflame]

I've read the entire series a couple of times, and the last two in the series I've generally considered to be the most enjoyable books I read in the year they came out (Especially The Last Stand of Dead Men, it was fantastic.) 

 

I seem to remember thinking the middle trilogy of books (Dark Days, Mortal Coil and Death Bringer) felt somewhat weaker than the trilogy's around it. Especially Dark Days; it is such a forgettable book in the grand scheme of things, which is a shame. 

[-Dom-]

Read the whole series, loved it; the humour and creepy original ideas for situations and enemies are extremely well written throughout. The only thing I'm less fond of, writing wise, is the excessive graphic and downright brutal fighting descriptions between characters (considering the fact that they actually HAVE MAGIC, surely so much wrestling and weird flips become obsolete, especially later in the series as the protagonists get stronger? not a spoiler: these kind of fights remain a constant).

 

As for preference of books, I agree with Barty Dark Days seems like the weakest, probably followed by Mortal Coil. However, I thought that Death Bringer was one of the best, and that Dying of the Light didn't really live up to expectations, if only due to the amount of strands that needed tying up.

 

 

[spoiler='']

My main problem with Dying of the light though was the cop-out of having Darquesse using Stephanie's body so that Valkyrie could literally fight her. While I liked the idea of Darquesse pretending to be Valkyrie again and her character developing thanks to the usual crew, it was for me such a let down to see Stephanie killed off after so much development that I didn't see coming (the reflection always seemed like it was just going to be a generic villain rather than quite a well-rounded character for one who had only started being human recently), just so that Darquesse and Valkyrie could be separate, when it was established throughout the whole series that she and Valkyrie WERE THE SAME PERSON - not split personalities. Darquesse was Valkyrie's true name not her dark side! Landy even shows this by having Valkyrie drained of her magic after the split! Valkyrie's unexplained, undeveloped and generally useless power (didn't help in the final fight much!) that followed also annoyed me - it seemed there just to keep Valkyrie special after Darquesse was gone.
Don't get me wrong, I really liked the last book - it's just as a final book it didn't seem as polished as some of the others, and some of its ideas were frustrating.
[/spoiler]

 

EDIT: Spoiler tags not working, so I've put the spoilery stuff in white text between where the two spoiler tags are- highlight to read.

[Aerion Brightflame]

[spoiler='Spoiler-y reply']

I personally think it was fine to have Valkyrie fight Darquesse at the end, and didn't think it was a cop-out. Valkyrie screwed up so many times in the series, and after her giving in in Last Stand, she never had to face the consequences. That would've been the big cop-out, since characters should be forced to deal with the consequences of there choices and decisions to truly make them meaningful. 

 

Likewise I don't think it removed the part where Darquesse is the same person as Valkyrie, because people are the constitutes of there experiences. Stephannie, Valkyrie and Darquesse all represents different possible evolutions of the original person from the experiences they endured up to a given time. Even if they are physically the same, the experience and viewpoints they had of life were all very different, and thus despite being the same, they are different. If that makes sense?

 

It's a point shown heavily in Kingdom of the Wicked with the difference between Walden and Argeddion.

 

And killing Stephanie was too-heart breaking for me not to love. The scene where it happens, how it happens, the conversation between Valkye and Fletcher at the time... it was just crushing. 

 

Valkye's new power as well was all that it needed to be - It would be wrong given how monstrously powerful Darquesse is for Valkye's sudden new power to be able to help deal substantial damage and the like. That would've been worse in my eyes; Given that Darquesse is essentially the most singular powerful being ever to have existed in this universe. (She was more powerful than an individual Faceless One as was stated towards at the end Dying of the Light). 

[/spoiler]

[ZeRainbowDash]

I read one of them around 3 or 4 years back and I enjoyed it. It was a fun read, and I may get back into it.

[.Rooster]

bomp