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Valkyrie screamed, sprinting toward Skulduggery.
He looked up and reached out to her, but it was too late.
f you've read the other Skulduggery books by Derek Landy (and you really should have read them by now), you've seen it all before: Some bad guy wants to bring about the end of the world, and Skulduggery and Valkyrie fight valiantly to stop it from happening. A few people get hurt, sure, but everything's all right in the end.
Well, not this time.
Chapter One
Stephanie
Gordon Edgley's sudden death came as a shock to everyone—not least himself. One moment he was in his study, seven words into the twenty-fifth sentence of the final chapter of his new book, And the Darkness Rained upon Them, and the next he was dead. A tragic loss, his mind echoed numbly as he slipped away.
The funeral was attended by family and acquaintances but not many friends. Gordon hadn't been a well-liked figure in the publishing world, for although the books he wrote—tales of horror and magic and wonder—regularly reared their heads in the bestseller lists, he had the disquieting habit of insulting people without realizing it, then laughing at their shock. It was at Gordon's funeral, however, that Stephanie Edgley first caught sight of the gentleman in the tan overcoat.
He was standing under the shade of a large tree, away from the crowd, the coat buttoned up all the way despite the warmth of the afternoon. A scarf was wrapped around the lower half of his face, and even from her position on the far side of the grave, Stephanie could make out the wild and frizzy hair that escaped from the wide-brimmed hat he wore low over his gigantic sunglasses. She watched him, intrigued by his appearance. And then, like he knew he was being observed, he turned and walked back through the rows of headstones and disappeared from sight.
After the service, Stephanie and her parents traveled back to her dead uncle's house, over a humpbacked bridge and along a narrow road that carved its way through thick woodland. The gates were heavy and grand and stoodopen, welcoming them into the estate. The grounds were vast, and the old house itself was ridiculously big.
There was an extra door in the living room, a door disguised as a bookcase, and when she was younger Stephanie liked to think that no one else knew about this door, not even Gordon himself. It was a secret passageway, like in the stories she'd read, and she'd make up adventures about haunted houses and smuggled treasures. This secret passageway would always be her escape route, and the imaginary villains in these adventures would be dumbfounded by her sudden and mysterious dis-appearance. But now this door, this secret passageway, stood open, and there was a steady stream of people through it, and she was saddened that this little piece of magic had been taken from her.
Tea was served and drinks were poured and little sandwiches were passed around on silver trays, and Stephanie watched the mourners casually ap-praise their surroundings. The major topic of hushed conversation was the will. Gordon wasn't a man who doted, or even demonstrated any great affec-tion, so no one could predict who would inherit his substantial fortune. Stephanie could see the greed seep into the watery eyes of her father's other brother, a horrible little man called Fergus, as he nodded sadly and spoke somberly and pocketed the silverware when he thought no one was looking.
Fergus's wife was a thoroughly dislikable, sharp-featured woman named Beryl. She drifted through the crowd, deep in unconvincing grief, prying for gossip and digging for scandal. Her daughters did their best to ignore Stephanie. Carol and Crystal were twins, fifteen years old and as sour and vindictive as their parents. Whereas Stephanie was dark haired, tall, slim, and strong, they were bottle blond, stumpy, and dressed in clothes that made them bulge in all the wrong places. Apart from their brown eyes, no one would have guessed that the twins were related to her. She liked that. It was the only thing about them she liked. She left them to their petty glares and snide whispers, and went for a walk.
The corridors of her uncle's house were long and lined with paintings. The floor beneath her feet was wooden, polished to a gleam, and the house smelled of age. Not musty, exactly, but . . . experienced. These walls and these floors had seen a lot in their time, and Stephanie was nothing but a faint whisper to them. Here one instant, gone the next.
Gordon had been a good uncle. Arrogant and irresponsible, yes, but also childish and enormous fun, with a light in his eyes, a glint of mischief. When everyone else was taking him seriously, Stephanie was privy to the winks and the nods and the half smiles that he would shoot her way when they weren't looking. Even as a child, she'd felt she understood him better than most. She liked his intelligence, and his wit, and the way he didn't care what people thought of him. He'd been a good uncle to have. He'd taught her a lot.
She knew that her mother and Gordon had briefly dated ("courted," her mother called it), but when Gordon had introduced her to his younger brother, it was love at first sight. Gordon liked to grumble that he had never gotten more than a peck on the cheek, but he had stepped aside graciously, and had quite happily gone on to have numerous torrid affairs with numerous beautiful women. He used to say that it had almost been a fair trade, but that he suspected he had lost out.
She climbed the staircase to the first floor, pushed open the door to Gordon's study, and stepped inside. The walls were filled with the framed covers from his bestsellers. They shared space with all manner of awards. One entire wall was made up of shelves jammed with books. There were biographies and historical novels and science texts and psychology tomes, and there were battered little paperbacks stuck in between. A lower shelf had magazines, literary reviews, and quarterlies. She passed the shelves that housed first editions of Gordon's novels and approached the desk.
She looked at the chair where he'd died, trying to imagine him there, how he must have slumped.
And then a voice so smooth, it could have been made of velvet.
Skulduggery Pleasant. Copyright © by Derek Landy. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.Anonymous
Posted January 9, 2012
There not that much suspence and the action isn't that great, but the story line os good
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 28, 2012
This was agood book i hav read in a while thats why i gave it 5stars
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Posted May 16, 2012
Anonymous
Posted March 12, 2012
Skulduggery &Valkrie AWESOME! Derek Landly should make another book about them!
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Posted March 2, 2012
I couldnt bekieve how kuch i loved this book! I mean i knew it woulf be awesome but i didnt realizevhow awesome. It was funny suspenseful and leaves you with a giant cliff hanger at the end. I wont say wha the cliff hanger is but I will tell you it makes you want to jump off the ckiff to follow the book!
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Posted February 28, 2012
Just got the book can't wait to read it :D
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Posted February 7, 2012
This book is awesome! I would definitely give it five stars. It's funny, has a lot of action, and I recommend this series for kids twelve and up. I'm fifteen and I read the first two books in the series. Now I'm hooked! I can't wait till the next three books come out in America. I found out that in the UK, this series already came out with book six. When will the others come out? I'm waiting!
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Posted January 26, 2012
One of my favorite books. Love the humor and sarcasm, cant wait for the seventh one and hope it doesnt end there.
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Posted January 21, 2012
My school had the first book in the series for reading olympics. I read it and loved it. The library did not have the 2nd book so i borrowed it from my boy friend. I loved that too.... i just borrowed this one. I love all the s.p. books! :) HELEN!!!!!!!!
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Posted January 20, 2012
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0 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 21, 2012
I wish I knew what happen at the end because all it did was leave it left me hanging. I really enjoy the book so i just can't wait for the fourth book,grrr I really got to have the fourth book or I am going to die. (Huhuhu) what book keep a person waiting like this book I'm really having a hard time waiting for the fourth book, even though I'm 14 turning 15 next month and I just got to have that book :( . If I don't get that book I minus as well reread the books the I finished. Why is life hard for fourteen year old girl almost turning fifteen.
0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 29, 2011
No onein heir riht mind would say hay the Skullduggery Pleasen books aren't good. They are amazing and al the adjectives in the worlthat mean awsome.
0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 22, 2011
There is no way this book can get better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Posted December 1, 2011
These books are so good! Please BN, get the rest of the series!
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Posted October 4, 2011
They need to get the next book out for the nook i really want to read it this book left you hanging it was soooooo good
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Valkyrie Cain and company are back for another daring, supernatural adventure in Derek Landy's THE FACELESS ONES. This is the best SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT novel I've read so far, with much more development of the characters, their relationships, and higher stakes than we've ever seen before. If you thought life was dangerous for this crowd in the first two books, hold on to you hats - 'cause things only get worse from here. Teleporters across the world are being murdered. Despite the suspension of his official title as Sanctuary's lead investigator, skeleton detective Skulduggery Pleasant and his young protégé, Valkyrie Cain, are on the case. It's small wonder then, when they're contacted by the world's last trained teleporter, Emmett Peregrine, for protection. But when Peregrine is murdered by members of The Diablerie on ace swordswoman Tanith Low's watch, the savvy duo knows the stakes have risen to an all-time high. For this time our heroes aren't just facing a skilled dark sorcerer intent on revenge, but a crazed madman determined to bring back a nearly indestructible force: The Faceless Ones. What I enjoyed so much this time around was how Mr. Landy maintained the plot's forward-charging momentum, while simultaneously deepening the relationships between the main characters. The affection between Valkyrie and her new group of friends grows more apparent with each book, especially the almost parent/child attachment between her and Skulduggery, despite his best efforts to remain aloof. These familial stirrings are further evidenced when both mad scientist Kenspeckle Grouse and ex-boxer-turned-fine-tailor Ghastly Bespoke express deep concern over the increasing risks Valkyrie's new job poses to her life. There are also wonderful scenes demonstrating how much "life" Valkyrie is missing out on by allowing her mirror self to take over her everyday activities, whether it's her first kiss, the growing distance in the relationship with her parents, or Tanith's tacit agreement with Kenspeckle's belief that Val needs friends her own age. As she sustains one injury after another and multiple near-death encounters, it becomes clear to the reader (if not Valkyrie herself) that this wickedly cool existence comes at a high price. I applaud Derek Landy for not being afraid of taking the SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT novels in an even darker direction and showing the effects such events have on his young heroine's psyche. I'm eagerly anticipating book #4.
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Posted March 11, 2011
This series is one damn good one. I have read the three and I am waiting for Barnes and noble to come out with the fourth and fifth!
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 24, 2012
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Posted May 26, 2011
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Posted May 17, 2012
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Overview
Valkyrie screamed, sprinting toward Skulduggery.
He looked up and reached out to her, but it was too late.
f you've read the other Skulduggery books by Derek Landy (and you really should have read them by now), you've seen it all before: Some bad guy wants to bring about the end of the world, and Skulduggery and Valkyrie fight valiantly to stop it from happening. A few people get hurt, sure, but everything's all right in the end.
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