Skulduggery Pleasant: Skulduggery Pleasant, Book 1

Picked this up on a whim and have been so impressed by it that I've now bought all the others in the series. There are elements of Potter, Dresden and Artimis Fowl but only in the very losest terms....there is a young hero, magic is involved and it's based in Ireland. The rest is all Landy's own and feels it.

The world is realised beautifully with the old device of a magic world hiding behind or 'real' one given a more believable feel than the fantasical Potter. The characters are each distinct from each other and you'll grow to love the banter between Stephanie and Skulduggery with some proper laugh out loud moments - none of the dialogue feels forced or there for pure plot line purposes. A very natural feel is evident throughout.

Special mention must be made for the narration by Rupert Degas which is probably the best I've ever heard in an audio book. He manages to convey the warmth and humour wonderfully and his pacing and style allows the listener to conjure up the images perfectly.

Suffice to say that if you'd bought the phyiscal book it would now have it's own honoured place on your favourite shelf.

Excellent story that is brilliantly narrated. The whole family listened to it when we were on holiday last year (aged 7 - 42) and everyone couldn't wait to get back into the car after a day out to find out what happened next! A great tale for everyone to enjoy, even the adults.

Masterfully read and excellent entertainment. I picked this book in the hope that it really would work for all ages, because I wanted an interesting but cheering listen with nothing too horrible. It is exactly that and I can't wait for my next credit to get the next in the series. Rupert Degas is one of the best narrators I have ever heard.

I read this as research because I'm working with a young author at the moment. I thought it was great - really inventive with some amazing character names and a wonderful good vs evil plot. Skulduggery and his young sidekick (I won't give away her name) are wonderfully written characters - warm, funny and believable. The narration was top-notch too (it can so often let down an otherwise good story).

The ending sets up the series action extremely well. I'm looking forward to discovering more of the clever Mr Landy's work!

There's plenty to like about this audio book aimed at the young adult market. It has evil villains, magic, exciting battles and chases with plenty of unusual characters, all brought to life by the excellent narration.

Rupert Degas voice is well suited for the male characters; deep, gravelly and spooky.I felt he was a bit weaker with the female characters in places but as he did a good job with Stephanie this did not detract from the audio book. Also loved the 'haunted house' instrumental music used in between chapters, a nice touch.

An audio book that will be greatly enjoyed by the younger audience but can also be enjoyed by the young at heart.

I enjoyed this book, I do find that I often enjoy children's sci-fi as it is less 'intense'. However, I think it could get a bit boring to read too many of the series, but I might try another in due course.



The story is quite simple and the characters are entertaining - from the absolutely horrid aunt and family, to Skulduggery Pleasant, who is certainly 'interesting! overall quite a pleasant way to spend a few hours

Most series start off with one strong book and have the tendency to dwindle in later books. That is not the case when it comes to the Skulduggery Pleasant series, which only gets better. I enjoyed this book although it is not as good as the later ones. However, the characters must be introduced and that required some scene setting.



The narrator does a very good job and brings the book to life. I highly recommend it and strongly advise to download the later books as well.

If you like Artimus Fowl you will enjoy this but is different in being more for teenagers that young and old. Enjoyable though. Good story and a rattling skeleton.

My 12 year old son recommended this to me and the whole series to date is the best I've read/heard in this genre - there are proper laugh out loud moments (not something I normally do), the plot is good but the best thing for me was the witty and wry banter between skulduggery and stephanie. The narrator is the best I've ever heard too - in a league of his own (and it was such a shame in the last book when he changed) . I can't wait for the next one in the series.

I chose this for the whole family (Mum and Dad, daughter 14 and son 11) to listen to on a long journey and it was a hit. The narrator is incredibly good which helped lift an otherwise slightly shallow plot. It certainly gave us lots of laughs and kept us sane for several hours in a small car!