Book Reviews - Death Bringer/The End of the World

Death Bringer
Author: Derek Landy
Series: Skulduggery Pleasant #6
Genres: Fantasy | Childrens, Young Adult
Release Date: 1st September 2011
Publishers: Harper Collins
No. Pages: 603
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones

Think you've seen anything yet? You haven’t. Because the Death Bringer is about to rise..

The Necromancers no longer need Valkyrie to be their Death Bringer, and that’s a good thing. There’s just one catch. There’s a reason the Necromancers don’t need her any more. And that’s because they've found their Death Bringer already, the person who will dissolve the doors between life and death. And that’s a very, very bad thing..

The following review may contain spoilers concerning earlier books in the series.
If you have not read the previous installments, please proceed with caution.

Reading the Death Bringer was the first time I've ever regretted looking ahead at series spoilers and getting a small overview of what was coming up. If I hadn't done this and if I nipped this bad habit in the bun, I probably would have been utterly blown away by this installment, I would have been in awe the whole way through, I would have been an absolute mess of 'oh my lordy' and 'what on earth', much more than what I already was, and if I hadn't engaged that terrible habit, I would have adored this sequel. I only have myself to blame, however, that doesn't mean that this isn't utterly as fantastic as the following sequels and that you should stop at The Mortal Coil; you'd be a fool to do that because things get juicy in the Death Bringer.

The first third of this book was probably were I felt most torn, and it was the only time I ever considered an area of the Skulduggery series worthy of less than 4 stars, however, the reasons for that are quite varied, and I think it has a lot do with the set up for the following installment Kingdom of the Wicked. I enjoyed the subtle set up throughout and I thought it really highlighted just how important it is to keep this world under wraps from normal, much more human characters in this series, but it made me feel disconnected from the world and I felt myself pull away from the story because of these perspectives; not to say Kenny was a terrible character, he just was far from a good one too. Yet this was highly outweighed by the appearance of Darquese once again who has made Valkyrie one of my all time favourite female characters in literature that I've ever read; the whole balance between the two of them, how they interact and how similar they are just makes me little reader heart sing, not to mention Darquese' attitude and sarcasm, I couldn't be happier with this connection Landy has created between the both of them. The only feature that brought the first third done a notch was the romance aspect; now don't get me wrong, I appreciated that Valkyrie knew her actions were negative and completely unfair, but that doesn't mean I condoled them. I understood what it was Landy was trying to convey when Valkyrie was in her romantic attachments; she is still just a teenage girl in an extraordinary world trying to find the right actions from the wrong, but I was very impressed with how well the characters expressed their feelings and emotions throughout this process and throughout the novel.

I have to admit though, I was expecting a plot that would blow me away, something that would have me screaming silently in my own head at how it was executed, but even without my bad habit, I think it fell a little short to the post. The Death Bringer, as the synopsis states, has been 'found' and once again, Skul and Val have to stop 'them', and while I appreciated the little touches that were taken in the plot, it just wasn't as strong as other plots in previous installments and I think for the length of the book, it wasn't strong enough to warrant such a length. I was also a little disappointed with the execution of The Death Bringer; how one moment they were something to fear, something to wary of and something that even I feared, and after five previous prequels, that was something to be worthy of a mention, yet they were also one of the stroppiest characters I've ever had the misfortune to meet; it was like the character had a serious personality problem and I couldn't get my head around it, it just irritated me a tad. Something that didn't irritate me however was Valkyrie and Skulduggery relationship in this installment. Of course, having read up on plot points, the big reveal in this book fell a little short on the 'oh my god' factor, so I would advise everyone not to do what I did and just wait it out, because it'll be so worth it, but how the reveal changed the dynamics of their relationship and created a level of understanding between the two, it was so glorious and magical and I just couldn't help but feel a real level of respect and adoration for the two of them. They both realised in this book that neither of them are heroes, and neither of them is worthy of the title, or the thanks that comes with it, not to mention their charisma and humour always shines through, even in the darkest of moments, especially in the police station scenes early on; Landy highlighted this wonderfully and I couldn't commend him more for that.

As finales in installments go though, this one was quite fantastic. Over 120 pages long, just over an entire sixth of this book and so full of absolute amazing magicness, I couldn't put the book down, even for the necessities in life such as food and drink; Landy had trapped me in these scenes, immersed me head first and would not let me go. The battles involved with The Death Bringer, Skul and Val, Darquese and Lord Vile were just insanely brilliant, I seriously can not and will not fault them, because as character development and depth goes, as world building and scene setting goes, as a battle of talents, wits and emotions go, Landy scored perfection in these pages, it was faultless. I was also so pleased to find that during the biggest and best of those fights, that it was just the two characters involved, there were no other little tricks from anyone else, there were no back out clauses and ways to win, it was entirely a battle to the death, and if it wasn't for Valkyrie and Skulduggery's relationship, I doubt my emotions would have stayed as in check as they did. If I hadn't spoiled myself, I would have been an absolute mess, and so I refuse to blame those scenes for a fault of my own.

The Death Bringer was extremely important to this series; it revealed the strengths and weaknesses of Lord Vile and Darquese, the strengths of weaknesses of Skulduggery and Valkyrie and everyone around them, the secrets and emotions of everyone around them and it highlighted that everyone, no matter who they are, is affected by the ever changing world Val and Skul are creating, human or magical. I confess, I missed Tanith greatly in this installment and I think even if she'd just featured in a single scene with someone, even has a background chess piece I would have been elated, and if those god forsaken zombies and Kenny had featured much less, I probably would have been over the moon, but as it stands, I think they ruined it a little for me, so I seriously hope they are vital to the next sequel. Landy knows how to control the hearts and minds of his readers, and he knows how to constantly keep the world he's created standing and build more around it, he knows how to manipulate his readers feelings and thoughts when it comes to his characters, making us detest characters we previously loved and loved those we may have been less keen on originally and boy does he know how to make me constantly fall head over heels in love with a sarcastic, charismatic walking skeleton over and over again. For all my small irritations, this book is just as worthy of it's rating as the others in this series are, and I'm starting to get nervous for the next three sequels.

The End of the World
Author: Derek Landy
Series: Skulduggery Pleasant #6.5
Genres: Fantasy | Childrens, Young Adult
Release Date: 8th March 2012
Publishers: Harper Collins
No. Pages: 128
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository

Hey, punks! Skulduggery and Valkyrie are about to make your day..

15-year-old Ryan is running away from home, looking for escape and adventure. But unfortunately, sometimes people DO get what they wish for. Ryan hasn't gone far before he is set upon by a bunch of scary, nihilistic punk-sorcerers who need him to set off a doomsday device that will destroy the planet and everyone on it. Fun!
Riding to the rescue, however, is a certain skeleton detective and his teenage partner/combat accessory. Now Skulduggery and Valkyrie only have a few hours to figure out what's going on, while saving Ryan and – incidentally – the whole world. And all that time, the punk-sorcerers are closing in..

The following review may contain spoilers concerning earlier books in the series.
If you have not read the previous installments, please proceed with caution.

The End of the World was a lovely little extra piece of material form the Skulduggery world and I have to say, if I hadn't read it, I probably would have felt like I'd missed much at all, but having actually read it, it's fair to say it was well worth the hour it took. It was lovely to see the world from the eyes of an innocent, someone who is not involved in this world and someone who had no idea why he was involved in such a dangerous game and the usual plot twisting fashion that Landy has, the world building and the interesting, surprising and new set of characters introduced, I really couldn't fault this novella.

The further character development and understanding between Valkyrie and Skulduggery was absolutely wonderful, especially considering the after effects of Death Bringer and how they've changed Valkyrie perception on a specific creature; to feature one and highlight how that has changed and influenced her decisions, highlighted that she does have a weakness, and highlights just how quickly Skulduggery will leap into the line of fire for his partner, his companion and his friend, it was just perfection for me. Ryan's character was also much more than I had imagined he would be, yes he was a little bit whiney, and yes he could have really done with acting his age and not his shoe size, but he was brave, selfless and hide one of the most surprising twists and talents in the series. Landy did it again, entertained me and blew my mind. I would personally advise anyone reading the series to get their hands on this because it really helps to see the world and the characters from a perspective similar to ours than Valkyrie's.
A faultless novella to compliment a fantastic series.