Review – Scepter of the Ancients (Skulduggery Pleasant, Book 1) by Derek Landy (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Middle Grade
Genre: Fantasy/Horror
Length: 369 pages
Publisher: Harper Collins Children’s Books
Release Date: May 1, 2018 (ebook)
ASIN: B0776PL51B
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Skulduggery Pleasant series
Source: Free for Kindle
Rating: 4/5 stars

“She’s twelve. He’s dead. But together they’re going to save the world. Hopefully.
The iconic first book in the bestselling Skulduggery Pleasant series.
Stephanie’s uncle Gordon is a writer of horror fiction. But when he dies and leaves her his estate, Stephanie learns that while he may have written horror it certainly wasn’t fiction. Pursued by evil forces, Stephanie finds help from an unusual source – the wisecracking skeleton of a dead sorcerer…”

This is the first book in the Skulduggery Pleasant series and was a fun read, I enjoyed it. It’s a blend of fantasy and horror aimed at a middle grade/YA audience. I liked the witty dialogue and the action and humor throughout. It was fun and just a bit silly, while still having an interesting dark fantasy story to it.

Stephanie has inherited her uncle Gordon’s estate and also a friend of his named Skulduggery Pleasant. What Stephanie didn’t know is how deep Gordon was involved in a hidden world where sorcery and ancient artifacts are real. Now Stephanie must help find the Scepter of the Ancients to save the world.

This book was full of quirky, fun dialogue and lots of action. I would call it dark fantasy rather than horror because there is a lot of magic and things get creepy at points but never really that scary.

This ended up being a quick read that had me laughing out loud a number of times. I enjoyed the adventures and action a lot as well. This is an interesting world and I liked Stephanie and Skulduggery as characters.

Overall I enjoyed this. I would recommend to middle grade readers who enjoy fantasy with a bit of a dark/horror edge to it. This is easy to read and a lot of fun. I am unsure whether I will continue the series or not at this point. I enjoyed it but I am already reading a lot of other series.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Goodreads Reading Challenge
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge