The ending of this book was pretty damn good and with this one, Derek has finally come into his own. He had already showed that he wasn't afraid of killing important or powerful characters, however, this is where has killed not one, but numerous characters, with one of them being close to the fans. He also turned a fan favourite and that was quite unpleasant, but the mark of a good author. I quite liked this book, kept me reading throughout the night (though the previous ones managed that as well). Now, onto the next adventure! Derek Landy has done a rare thing with the Skulduggery Pleasant series, in that i gets better and better with each book. The momentum or characters never seem to get boring and this fifth installment is made even better by the fact that the plots that were so similar in the first four books is mixed up slightly here, and doesn't just consist of stopping the bad guy. There isn't really a lot to say that i haven't already said about this series so far. The action comes thick and fast, and apart from some overlong fight sequences that get a little repetitive, the set pieces are thrilling. Plot strands from previous books come to light here, and Valkyrie finally gets more to do than spout sarcastic, witty one liners. Skulduggery and the rest of the cast also get a chance to develop-- but for a series titled Skulduggery Pleasant it's a shame this book focuses on everyone but Skulduggery. It'd be good to know more about his past and his family, and how he ended up the way he is. Landy's writing is as witty, tight and sharp as before and the pages fly by because of it. His humor gets a little annoying at times and sometimes misfires completely. I also had a slight problem with the length, almost twice as long as the first book, this could have been cut down by at least a hundred pages. There were some completely pointless chapters (the milkman chapter for example) that added nothing to the story and seemed only there to add pages. Overall, this is probably the best installment so far, with a stirring climax and a great cliffhanger ending. Highly, highly recommended.
