Skulduggery Pleasant

Landry, D. (2007). Skulduggery pleasant. NY: HarperCollins.

About the Book

Skulduggery is a skeleton who can do magic. He is a detective for the magical world. His good friend Gordon is murdered over a key to open the caves under his house that is holding the ancient Scepter, that is believed to be a myth. Gordon's niece Stephanie inherits all of his belongings. She becomes Skulduggery's apprentice. They try to solve the mystery of her Uncles death and in the end save the world from destruction from Serpine.

Fantasy Evaluative Criteria

Characters – Skulduggery Pleasant is a unique character. He is a skeleton who can use magic. Stephanie is just a girl who is hoping there is more to life because she is bored with the dullness of her every day. She soon realizes with Skulduggery’s help that there is another world out their running parallel to the normal human world. Magic is possible and she quickly learns that she feels like she has found her calling. The reader can relate to Stephanie since she is a human and her feelings about life are common for adolescence. She shows strength and perseverance over the hard situations in her life. Which gives the reader hope that they too will overcome their hurdles.

Style – The author is able to weave the magic world with the human world so seamlessly. The reader is able to believe the unbelievable through the imagination of the author who is able to help the reader visualize the story. Each new experience Stephanie has with the magic world is made believable because the author does a fabulous job of filling the reader in on the setting, and the background knowledge needed to feel a part of the magic world. The reader is moving alongside Stephanie as she makes her discoveries.