| Playing with Fire (Skulduggery Pleasant, Book 2) | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 3 reviews)
Sales Rank: 27601
Category: Book
Author: Derek Landy
Publisher: HarperCollins
Studio: HarperCollins
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
Label: HarperCollins
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.3
ISBN: 0061240885
EAN: 9780061240881
ASIN: 0061240885
Publication Date: May 1, 2008
Release Date: May 6, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Meet Skulduggery Pleasant Ace Detective
Snappy Dresser
Razortongued Wit
Crackerjack Sorcerer
and
Walking, Talking,
Fire-throwing Skeleton ?as well as ally, protector, and mentor of Stephanie Edgley, a very unusual and darkly talented twelve-year-old. These two alone must defeat an all-consuming ancient evil. The end of the world? Over his dead body.
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| Customer Reviews:
Skeleton Vs. Monster Frankenstein August 11, 2008
He's back. The wise-guy Skulduggery Pleasant is ready to save the world with his young partner Valkyrie Cain, once called Stephanie Edgely. While she learns the tricks of the magic trade, a new villain, Baron Vengeous, has escaped from jail and plans to awaken the Grotesquery, a creature combining the parts of various monsters that will open the way for the ultimate evil, the Faceless Ones. If he successes, the world is doomed. So, of course it is up to a living skeleton and a thirteen-year old girl to stop him and the beast he hopes to unleash using magic, revolvers, and smart aleck remarks. You have to feel sorry for them, Vengeous and the Grotesquery that is.
Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire June 17, 2008
Nothing like a good magic, shoot'em up, and no holds bar fighting book with the added benefit of an engaging story plot and that leaves you a nice ending to this chapter in series.
Look Ma, no wands! May 6, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
WOW!! Now here's a rip-roaring rollercoaster ride (but not on an actual rollercoaster) with a pace that never lets up-except for a moment here and there so you can catch your breath before you're off again!
So, okay, without giving any plot spoilers, the deal is basically this; you've got your skeleton detective who's the good guy, with impeccable dress sense (except for the wig, which I wouldn't be seen dead in) and a great sense of humor. He's got a collegue in training, 13 year old Stephanie a.k.a. Valkyrie Cain whom he met in the previous first book, and they need to save the world, again.
Yes, there is magic involved but it's not like Harry Potter with the wands and incantations, it's more of a natural, earthy magic and is a plot enhancer rather than a focal point of the Skulduggery stories.
So, there's a magical world that co-exists with our own that most people are blissfully unaware of, and this time, a very bad guy breaks out of jail to release a Frankensteinian monster to, of course, help him rule the world and enslave the non-magical people and anyone that doesn't worship what he does.
With incredibly written action scenes, it's very reminiscent of Buffy the Vampire Slayer tv series and infused with witty one-liners even in the most dire situations. Skulduggery is a fantastic character-way cool and scary only to the bad guys, and it's excellent to have a female hero in training. Both characters-indeed, both Skulduggery books, have universal appeal (besides which, I don't think any book should be genderized) and even adults will enjoy this!
The first one, a brilliant tale in itself, lays the foundation, it's where we meet the characters and get an idea of where they are coming from, and while I highly recommend it, you can go ahead and dive into this book and still understand pretty well what's going on.
This book is amazing-although be warned, people do die, although, not so much in gory detail or in a tearjerker way, more in just a factual way, and YIKES-GIANT SPIDER!! That's all I'm saying.
Derek Landy, the author, is a total genius and rising star (which I'm sure he'd agree with) and deserves huge success; his work is original and refreshing, and these books are classics in the making! Even the little author bio and his dedications are funny-you gotta love this guy!!
Anyone fixing to make this into a movie had better do a good job, that's all I can say.
As for our friend Skulduggery, well, he's already dead, being a skelton and all, but when you've read this, you just know he'll be back for, hopefully many, more action-packed capers!
BRILLIANT!!!
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