My wife and I have read the first nine books of the series. Personally I find the series to be unique, fast paced, hard hitting, action-packed, and emotionally driven. At first I couldn't help but compare Valerie (later Valkyrie) to Harry Potter as she's a preteen who's thrust into a world of supernatural elements and magic. The part where she's checking out her uncle's house, but it is being broken into and she's at her wits end until Skulduggery comes to rescue her. I'm like woah it's no holds barred; they're really going to throw a young lady into the fray like that. There's no chance in hell that I am going to be able to give my take on all the nine books because the story moves very fast and I have read other books in between as breaks; not to mention it's difficulty to recall everything . However, needless to say, the series has been are huge flurry and whirlwind of plot points, organizations, characters interactions, supernatural elements, powers, character development, high stakes, action scenes, shock value, lore, and at times heartfelt moments. The stakes rise from novel to novel, whether it be a powerful weapon, revelations of true names which unleash alternate identities, being shunted to alternate dimensions, a grotesque monster, another powerful being that grants unnatural power to four belligerent rebellious teenagers, a war between the warlocks, a terrorist plot to blow up a stadium full of people, a necromancer order's plot to eliminate or reverse death (I'm not fully clear), remnants taking over bodies and reaping havoc, and a battle between warlocks and mages.
There's also international sanctuaries which keep the order of the magical world and the complex geopolitics of those sanctuaries and internal politics of their councils. Not to mention a teleporter, a lovesick vampire, a doppelganger who develops sentience, a relationship between a mercenary and her Southern-accented melting-into-the-ground boyfriend, a Yeti, dumb and dumber who are transposed into male and female bodies, psychics, an eccentric lab assistant who murdered her employer when she was possessed, and so much goddamn more that I'm not going to list all right here. Not to mention that the main character has a baby sister who she must protect but had to briefly "kill"
After a while, you're so engrossed with all of the characters and try to keep track of how they fit and relate with one another (like or hate, respect or not, history with each other). Of course Skulduggery Pleasant, Tanith Low, Valkyrie Cain, Clarabelle, Scapegrace, Kenspeckle Grouse, Ghastly Bespoke, China Sorrows, Billy Ray Sanguine, Spring Heeled Jack, Davina Marr, Anton Shudder, Fletcher, Madame Mist, Erskine Ravel, Lord Vile, Darquess, Caelan, and so much more. I consumed the audiobooks, so I especially loved the voices the narrators had for each characters.
One critique I have is that the series moves VERY fast. The action is very all over the place. It keeps things exciting, but it may be challenging to follow at times. I know that the author was originally a script writer. Nevertheless, I find the series very cool and hope it gets adapted into a different medium someday that does it justice. It may be recency bias, but I find it to be better than Harry Potter (but that may be comparing apples and oranges).
We have also read The Magnificent Seven, the Tanith Low side story. My wife also listened to the podcast drama. We'll likely continue with the series out of commitment and curiosity, but I must ask. Those who have read the series, is it worth continuing? How much crazier and random does it get? I heard that the first 9 books were considered the original series and the following 6 books kind of ties up some loose ends and fleshes out the world more. Not to mention "A Mind Full of Murder" after that. Woooh, we got some work to do haha
by thunderdragon517