Skulduggery Pleasant is the action-packed debut novel of former screenwriter Derek Landy, and publishing company Harper Collins have certainly gone to great lengths to sell his new book. In their biggest ever global deal, they have thrown significant marketing weight behind Stephanie Edgely’s adventures. So have they chosen the right book?

The novel certainly has all the key elements of a popular children’s fantasy – magic, mystery, action, and, of course, a strong pre-teen protagonist. It is not, however, simply a mindless clone of every other children’s fantasy novel in existence. Landy brings some genuinely creative new ideas to the genre, and embellishes it all with a crackling humour that relentlessly drives the book along. The style is fast and exciting, with lots of direct speech to make it flow easily. Landy himself has a black belt in karate, so his fight scenes are realistic, well thought out and a whole lot of fun. This novel has the right balance of everything – the right amount of violence, action and thrills, without being inappropriate for its age-group. Yet another book that reads like an action film!

The plot of Skulduggery Pleasant is not to be sneezed at. A rich cast of lively and surprising characters help to create a storyline that is gripping and unpredictable. No time is ever wasted in this book – there are always places to go, monsters to slay! The further you get into the story, the better it gets. Especially notable is the way characters and plot elements are nonchalantly introduced near the start of the book, and then reintroduced near the end of the book to become key parts of the action. Some people may find the story a little unrealistic at times, but there are not a huge number of plot holes, and I found that I was able to enjoy the book unhampered by the few that there were.

Putting myself in the position of an eight to twelve-year-old, I can definitely see myself really enjoying this book, (not that I didn’t enjoy it reading it at age 15!) It’s a whole lot of fast, wicked fun. At the end of the day, the critics will probably say it’s nothing special – but it’s exactly the same kind of ‘nothing special’ that made Harry Potter a worldwide hit. Maybe there’s a chance that Skulduggery Pleasant is destined for the same fate.

Twelve-year-old Stephanie Edgley inherits her uncle Gordon's estate and is promptly attacked on her first solo visit to the property. A mysterious skeleton-detective, Skulduggery Pleasant, comes to her rescue, explaining that he thinks Gordon was murdered and that she may be next. The two join forces and set off to solve the crime in a series of magical adventures that take them into a world filled with ancient evil creatures, including Nefarian Serpine, who seeks the Scepter of the Ancients and the infinite power it will bring him.

Chosen as a nominee for Maryland's Black-eyed Susan book award for the coming school year (2009 - 2010) on the grade 6 - 9 level: I'll be introducing my graduating 5th graders to this one at the end of the year; a book to look for when they get to middle school. It's a great creepy fantasy book with a young, female protagonist and a wise-cracking skeletal detective who will have great "guy-appeal." This makes the book a perfect sell. Just make certain your young reader is not too put off by skeletons, a bit of gun-play and the occasional decapitation or melting zombie. ( )

It's got lots of fiction in it and it's interesting ( )

Great for those who like good vs. evil fantasy. Quips between Skulduggery and Stephanie is fun. ( )