Derek Landy

oh motherfucker. GoodReads ate my long-ass bitchy review.

In short: all the brown people get massacred FOR NO REASON but white people's emo-pain, while all the main white and Asian characters live. Africa and Australia are supposedly SO BACKWARD and HELPLESS that they can't even elect their own councils of elders, but need the Irish sanctuary to do it FOR them. (Sanctuary = sanctimonious, just a little? JFC, the gall.)

There's no justice for anyone. Some white killers claim to be sorry for show more killing brown people and women, but there are no arrests or jail time. Just apologias for violence.

Narratively, this book is an unmitigated clusterfuck without any shred of a throughline until the last 100 pages, and then in the last 40 pages it gets really good. And I am pissed off about that. This steaming pile of crap should not be allowed to get good at the end -- not with these racial and colonial politics. I am appalled that the last 40 pages make me want to know what happens next. If it were up to me, I'd send all the villains and most of the heroes to Azkaban. show less

This was my least favorite of this series. Don't get me wrong, I still liked and enjoyed it. But - SPOILERS AHEAD -

The Valkyrie/Caelen relationship annoyed me, more in this book than in the last. I'm glad it's over. And Valkyrie herself is starting to seem quite into herself. Confidence is one thing, and I like a self-assured and capable female character as much as anyone. But she's to the point that I want to tell her (you know, if she was real) - girl, get over yourself.

Also, I could not show more understand why she wouldn't want to kill Melancholia. The "I'm sick of all the killing" rationale only works when you're not talking about someone who'd like to exterminate the entire planet.

Still, Derek Landy, I think you are brilliant and a genius, and I'm writing this review only in case someone else feels the same way and would like to commiserate. Next I think I'll go back and review the volumes that I've loved. Because I did love them. show less

Loved the pacing of this book! Skulduggery books are always fast paced and the rapport between the characters always gives me life. If you like Pratchett humour, you'll like the humour here.
My only (very mild) complaint is going to be the way Landy writes the combat scenes. There are lots of these and I just kinda skim over them.. I don't really need to commit every elbowed chin or smashed rib to my memory. I've read all the books from the main series, and one of the extra ones, so I feel show more like I don't really need to focus on them because I've read them already!
That said, I loved the way Landy keeps suspense going by switching between characters POVs, including the antagonists. I also appreciate that the antagonists are not unchanging and monolithic - they have have shifting alleigances and priorities, just like the so called good guys... who are not always quite so good. show less

This is my favourite of the Doctor Who box set stories. I love the concept of the world that Martha and the Doctor visit, and I was regularly laughing out loud at the commentary on children's novels (Famous Five ripoffs! Hee!), the nature of imagination, and the Doctor's propensity for puns. Recommended particularly if you liked the Second Doctor adventure "The Mind Robber".