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The Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy, illustrations by Tom Percival, despite the fact that it is currently only three books long, has had three different cover designs as well as a title change since book one, Scepter of the Ancients (the new title of the first book in the series) was published in 2007. Since I often judge a book by it's cover, this phenomenon caught my eye right away. The above covers are my favorite - the girl in the illustration, Stephanie, is one of the main characters and also one of the coolest girls in young adult fantasy fiction to come along in a while. The cover to the left is my second favorite, since it still gives you a little taste for the character of Skulduggery Pleasant, the coolest skeleton detective to hit the pages, ever. The covers at the bottom of the review are the newest incarnations of the books. And, while they are attractive, I'm not sure that they fully convey all the wonderful, creative details that make up the books. But how many covers really do that anyway?

While this series has equal gender appeal, what I love most about it is the character of Dublin resident, Stephanie Edgely, who is twelve when the series begins. For me, Stephenie and this series of books is most readily calls to mind to Eoin Colfer's phenomenal Artemis Fowl series. Whereas Colfer's main characters, aside from Fowl and his family, are mythical creatures who possess certain degrees of magical powers but rely heavily on technological spy gear and weaponry to battle evil forces, Landy's main characters are humans who have learned the craft of magic (and been adversely affected by it in some cases) and posses the skills to imbue everyday objects (cars, clothing, mirrors) with it in their constant efforts to fight the evil forces that continually want to exert their power over the human race. Stephanie, although she is not a child genius like Artemis, is a very savvy girl who yearns for a break in her quiet, middle class, only child life. She gets this break when her Uncle Gordon, her father's brother, dies unexpectedly. Gordon Edgely was a world famous, best selling author of adult horror novels, someone along the lines of a Stephen King, I imagine. As a young man, his interests and friends took him away from his more staid brothers, Desmond and Fergus, resulting in a family that was not especially close knit, although certainly not estranged. Stephanie, however, loved her Uncle very much and spent quite a bit of time with him at his estate, nearby her home in Haggard, Ireland. Always a bit precocious, Stephanie has read all of her Uncle's books and enjoyed them. At the reading of Gordon's will, she is shocked to learn that, upon her eighteenth birthday, she will inherit most of his estate and wealth. Shortly thereafter, she is surprised, but not shocked, to learn that most of the events and creatures Gordon wrote about in his books are real, that magic exists and that Gordon hovered on the edge of a group of magicians who battled to keep order in the world.

While the battle of good versus evil in the world of fantasy is a well worn theme, Derek Landy brings many clever twists to his characters and their magical attributes. First, Landy is brilliant when it comes to character names. As Stephanie learns in Book 1, Scepter of the Ancients, everyone "has three names: the name they are born with, the name they are given and the name they take. The name they are born with, their true name, lies buried deep in their subconscious. The name they are given, usually by their parents, is the only name most people will ever know. But this name can be used against them, so sorcerers must take a third name to protect themselves." By the middle of Book 1, Stephanie has chosen her name and, when Book 2, Playing with Fire, begins, she is referred to by this name almost exclusively. Some of the great names from this series that occasionally had me pulling out my dictionary are Skulduggery Pleasant, of course, China Sorrows, Ghastly Bespoke, Sagacious Tome, Serpine Nefarian, Vaurien Scapegrace, Billy Ray Sanguine, the mysterious Mr Bliss, I could go on and on.

Other cover art that has graced this series...

For a brief review of Mac Barnett and Adam Rex's two picture books, Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem and Guess Again!, scroll to the bottom of this review, because now it's time to move on to The Brixton Brothers! So, a few things went through my mind when I first caught wind of The Brixton Brother's and the Case of the Case of the Mistaken Identity back in June of 2009. This could be another Whales on Stilts, MT Anderson's absurdist mash-up of Nancy Drew, Tom Swift and Goosebumps. Or, this could be another walk down Lemony Snicket Lane. The raving author quotes on the jacket from Jeff Kinney, Jon Scieszka, Dave Eggers, an author of books for adults who is kind of dipping his toe into the waters of children's literature with his novelization of the screenplay he cowrote with Spike Jonez for his movie Where the Wild Things Are, drew my attention to the admirable attempt to hook a few reluctant readers who might also be boys. After setting aside my preconceived notions, my general personal difficulties with mystery/suspense novels (see my review of Margaret Peterson Haddix's book on in her new The Missing series, Found) and my intense dislike of teen detective Nancy Drew, (despite having been a fan as a kid) based on re-reading The Mystery at Lilac Inn in as an adult, I cracked the book.  And then I couldn't put it down.

For a really great review as well as some insight from an actual librarian who may or may not be part of the elite team of secret agent librarians mentioned in the book, check out what Betsy Bird over at fuse#8 has to say, including comments on the way Barnett has skillfully "managed to capture the feel of the old time boys’ adventure novel but has done so without sacrificing our modern logic and sensibilities." With the many genres and styles that seem to jump out from this book at first glance, Barnett juggles all of them while at the same time delivering a solid, compelling mystery to be solved. As Bird writes, "Barnett walks the line well." So what line is this, exactly? I'm actually not even completely sure that it bears mentioning. As an adult, I found The Brixton Brother's and the Case of the Case of the Mistaken Identity laugh out loud funny, however there is also some subtle humor that a younger reader might not pick up on, just like in the Series of Unfortunate Events books. But, wether the reader gets all the references and jokes, whether the reader has ever read a single Hardy Boys or Encyclopedia Brown book, at the bottom of it all, this is just a darned good mystery that plays out in a relatively believable way - with only a little of the willing suspension of disbelief required for almost all books with a kid detective required.

Which brings me to my first favorite thing about this book: Steve Brixton. The twelve year old hero of our story is a huge fan of Shawn and Kevin, The Bailey Brothers (read: Hardy Boys,) has read all of their books and owns a copy of The Bailey Brothers Detective Handbook which he keeps hidden under his mattress in a hollowed out copy of the Guinness Book of World Records. He is also in possession of his very own Bailey Brothers Genuine Detective's Investigation License, purchased the year before for $1.95 and twelve box tops. When Steve accidentally hands over this card instead of his library card while trying to check out An Illustrated History of American Quilting by JJ Beckely to use for a school report, he unknowingly sets off an alarm as well as a string of events that leads all adults involved (except for Rick, his mom's boyfriend, an obnoxious, egotistical cop) to assume that Steve really is a detective, thus taking him for a serious threat to their evil machinations. Above all else, I think that this is a truly genuine and unique plot device invented by Barnett. In addition to being funny, it allows the mystery to unfold in a pretty realistic, reasonable manner. Steve's devotion to the Bailey Brothers and their craft is also realistically incorporated in to the plot, as Steve is frequently given the chance to take their advice when he finds himself in dangerous situations. Unfortunately and humorously, most of what they suggest is so outdated and ridiculous that it does not help Steve one bit. The other brilliantly funny conceit employed here is the role of the librarians who are, "the most elite, best trained secret force in the United States of America. Probably the world... Every librarian is a highly trained agent. An expert in intelligence, counterintelligence, Boolean searching, and hand-to- hand combat." This twist makes for one of the funniest scenes in a book I have ever read, which, thankfully, is also one of the many black and white illustrations with a retro feel, superbly executed by Adam Rex. As the caption reads, (all the illustrations have captions - another great touch) "The bookmobile steamed and roared in deadly pursuit," and shows Steve being chased down by a big, whimsically painted bus that is being driven by a determined librarian/secret agent.

I could go on and on, regaling you with details from this book, but I'll leave the pleasure of discovery to you and your young readers. I will, however, share one last bit from the book and a story about the kernel from which it sprang. While tracking down a clue, Steve follows a lead to the dockside bar, the Red Herring. Steve follows some more advice from the Bailey Brothers and dons a disguise and adopts the "colorful slang criminals use to communicate." The caption for this illustration reads, "Yes! Steve thought. I look more like a sailor than anyone in this place!" I think that the beauty of this book is that Steve is a real kid and acts like one and thinks like one. He naively takes to heart what he reads in books and he goes out into the world following the example of fictional heroes, trying to act like them and get things done. The humor (and suspense) in the book comes from the adults who, despite the absurdity, take him seriously. Isn't that what every kid wants, to be taken seriously? Now, for the story. I recently learned that, during a discussion with Mac Barnett's friend (and literary agent) Steven Malk (who, as a crazy aside, is the son of the owners of a really fabulous - long shuttered - children's bookstore that I used to visit as often as possible) in which the two were bemoaning the lack of good mysteries for kids, they also shared their mutual love of Ellen Raskin's Newbery winner The Westing Game, a book that made a deep impression on me as a kid (and adult) as well. From this conversation grew the first in what I hope is a series of brilliant mysteries for young readers (also filling in the always empty space on the shelves where good books written at a third grade level would sit if there were enough to fill a whole shelf...)

My one regret is that I have not found a kid who has read this book so I can't get the opinions and insights that matter most. However, as I said at the beginning of this review, I really believe that Barnett is such a skilled writer that, whether kids get the jokes, the word play or the pokes at the Hardy Boys, they will connect with and appreciate the character of Steve and the mystery that he stumbles into. There is soon to be an interactive website of mystery to go with this book. You can check out The Brixton Brothers Detective Agency is now up and running and has some cool printouts and extra information about the books.

As I was reading Tony DiTerlizzi's newest venture, The Search for WondLa I couldn't help but think of The Edge Chronicles, an amazing series that I started reading to my kids in 2004 and began writing a review of a year ago today. The similarities (and differences) between DiTerlizzi's book and those of British writing and illustrating team Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell gave me that nudge I needed to sit down and tackle this gorgeously illustrated, lavishly populated series that is crammed full of amazing creatures, characters, geography and, of course, adventure.  But first, I must let you know (or remind you) that Stewart and Riddell are the creators of many other books that have been reviewed here.  They are the amazing team who brought us The Far-Flung Adventures, three books with some overlap that are sort of a kinder, gentler version of the Edge Chronicles.  The characters are every bit as quirky and unique, but without the menace and malevolence that is sometimes found in the world of the Edge.  Stewart and Riddell are also creators of the Barnaby Grimes series, now four books strong, which is a slightly magical mysteries set in the bleak underside of Victorian London.  And, don't forget that Chris Riddell, besides writing an illustrating picture books, is also the author and illustrator of the magnificent Ottoline series.  Book three, Ottoline at Sea, was just released in England and hopefully will reach our shores sooner than later...

Hopefully, by describing the world of the Edge and the creatures and humans who inhabit it, rather than detailing the plots of the books in the series, I will be able to give you an overview that will leave you with a taste for more.  And, as long as this review is, I am only going to scrape the surface of the Edge, so to speak. For a glimpse of the depth of detail in these books, creations that are both Tolkeinian in nature and evocative of Lewis Carroll's works in terms their names and strangeness, visit the many pages dedicated to this series on Wikipediea - Animals of the Edge, Plants of the Edge, and Sanctaphrax, among others.  In addition to this, there is an encyclopedic site dedicated to the series, The Edge Chronicles Wiki.
Where else to begin, but at the Edge?  The geography of the Edge is important both for its fantasy elements as well as its political aspects, an interactive map of which can be viewed on the official publisher website.  At the farthest point of the Edge are the Stone Gardens.  In the world of the Edge, stones are buoyant and grow out of the ground, pushing older rocks up like adult teeth push out baby teeth.  When the rocks grow large enough they float up into the sky and are harvested to be used as Flight Rocks on Sky Pirate ships.  One of the most important jobs on the ship is that of the Stone Pilot, the crew member responsible for heating or cooling the Flight Rock, thus making it rise or fall.  Next inland is the floating city of Sanctaphrax, the seat of learning that is the home of academics who are sometimes responsible for saving  the Edge from disease and disaster with their research and knowledge, but are just as likely to participate in vicious infighting in an effort to assert the supremacy of their studies.  Sanctaphrax was founded when one of the floating stones grew to enormous size.  At its center is a Stone Comb, a maze of tunnels and rooms leading to the heart of the stone itself.  And what do they studyon Sanctaphrax?  At one point in time, there were schools devoted to Sky Scholars and Earth Scholars, but the Earth Scholars were cast out during one of the Great Purges.  Students could choose to become Knights Academic or study in one of the various schools of weather (College of Cloud, College of Rain, Academy of Wind, Institute of Ice and Snow, School of Mist, etc.)  The Knights Academic are responsible for acquiring Stormphrax, a rare crystal that is produced by the many Great Storms that pass over the Twilight Woods.  Stormphrax is an extremely volatile substance that, in daylight can cause powerful explosions and in darkness can become extremely dense and heavy enough to serve as ballast to the continually growing stone that was Sanctaphrax.  Thus, the Knights' main job is to sail the Sky ships and obtain the dangerous Stormphrax and keep Sanctaphrax from floating away.


Sanctaphrax was tethered to Undertown by a long, thick chain.  Undertown, the main city in  the Edge, evokes images of London during the Industrial Revolution.  Meant to be a refuge for those (creatures and humans) seeking freedom from slavery and the dangers of the Deepwoods, Undertown is a dark and dagerous place.  Filled with factories and foundaries, the waste from Undertown has flowed and been dumped out into the neighboring land, long called the Mire.  A polluted place, the land and those few that inhabit it are bleached white by the toxic waste.  The Mire sits between Undertown and the Twilight Woods.  As mentioned above, the Twilight Woods attracts many Great Storms which, when unleashing their bolts of lightening, create Stormphrax.  Within the Twilight Woods, the Stormphrax is not volatile because, as the name suggests, the woods are bathed in a constant, golden light, keeping the volatile crystal inactive.  The atmosphere of the Twilight Woods is so intoxicating that the poor souls who wander into the woods begin to lose their memories and wander the helplessly forever.  If they do escape the woods, they are most often insane and incapable of resuming the lives they left behind.  One particularly vivid character who still stands out in my mind is Screed Toe-Taker.  An inhabitant of the Mire, he was formerly a student of the Knights Academy dedicated to the retrieval of Stormphrax, or its byproduct, phraxdust.  Posing as a guide willing to take travelers from the Deep Woods across the Mire, Screed would kill them and retrieve the phraxdust that collected under their toenails as they passed through the Twilight Woods, thus his new name.  Gruesome, yes, but an intensely creative character with a profound backstory who appears in two books in the series, first as Screed then later, in the past, as his human self, Screedius Tollinix, student and Knight.

An adult Termagant Trog

Beyond the Twilight Forest is the Deepwoods.  A dangerous place filled with various tribes of creatures and plants, both malevolent and healing, the Deepwoods is essential to the building of Sky Pirate ships and thus a prime spot for trading.  Trees like the Copperwood, Leadwood and Ironwood (which grows one branch every twenty years) are dense and heavy enough to be used for lumber on Sky Pirate ships, among other things.  There is also an the Lufwood tree, which produces timber that gives off a lavender glow as it burns.  Being a buoyant wood, Lufwood timber must be contained in a stove when it burns or else it will shoot off like a rocket as it heats.  This quality makes it part of a Sky Pirate ritual in which, for punishment, a crew member is tied to a large piece of Lufwood that is then set on fire, causing the log to shoot off like a rocket.  This can be seen on the cover of book three in the Twig Saga, Midnight Over Sanctaphrax. The Deepwoods is also the home of the Great Shryke Slave Market, where visitors must purchase and wear a white cockade (that lasts for only three days) to protect them from being captured and sold as a slave.  One of the more interesting trees in the Deepwoods is the Bloodoak, a carnivorous tree with sharp wooden teeth that devours its prey and spits out the bones, accumulating blood in its roots.  Most notably, the sap from the Mother Bloodoak is used by the Termagant Trogs, a race of matriarchal humanoids that begin their lives looking like adorable children with pale skin and orange hair.  When the time for their "Blooding" arrives, the young female trogs drink the sap from the Mother Bloodoak and assume their adult trog forms.  If a young trog misses this coming of age ceremony she does not transform and becomes an outcast.  I can't say too much without giving away one of the great surprises in Book 1, Beyond the Deepwoods, but one of the most interesting characters in the book turns out to be a Termagant Trog who misses her coming of age ceremony.

A Banderbear

Finally, the Edgelands make up the last region of  the Edge.  Home to the Wilderness Lair, a refuge for Sky Pirates during troubled times, the Edgelands are, as described on the official website, "Where clouds descend, there lie the Edgelands, a barren wasteland of swirling mists, spirits and nightmares.  Those who lose themselves in the Edgelands face one of two possible fates:  the cliff's edge or the Twilight Woods.  The Edgelands is also the home of Gloamglozer Rock, a rock that looks like the most evil creature in the Edge.











To discuss the characters of the Edge requires a slight untangling of the structure of the series itself.  The Edge Chronicles is a 10 book series plus a book of maps and a collection of "lost"stories.  The tenth book in the series, The Immortals, was just published in the US and is available in hardcover only at this time.  The other nine books in the series are all in paperback here, although I have posted the hardcover art for the Twig Saga (the first three books in the series.)  The Edge Chronicles  were written as interconnected trilogies, each featuring a different descendant of Orlis Verginix, a sky pirate known as Wind Jackal, however the series can be read out of order of publication.  In fact, the last book in the series, The Immortals, is set 500 years in the future after the end of Book 9, Freeglader, and can be read first rather than last, giving the reader a taste for the world that is the Edge.  The first trilogy, the Twig Saga, features Beyond the Deep Woods, Stormchaser and Midnight Over Sanctaphrax.  Twig is the grandson of Orlis Verginix.  Twig's father is Quintinus Verginix, also known by his sky pirate name, Cloud Wolf, and is the son of Orlis Verginix.  The Quint Saga is the second trilogy published in the series and features the books The Curse of the Gloamglozer, The Winter Knights and Clash of the Sky Galleons.  Twig, in turn, is father to Keris, a daughter who eventually gives birth to a son, the hero of the Rook Saga, which includes the last three books published in the series, The Last of the Sky Pirates, Vox, and Freeglader.

While I feel like I have written more than anyone cares to read at this point, I do need to tell you that the human characters in these books are as amazing as any of the mythical creations cooked up by Stewart and Riddell.  They are infused with humanity, intellect, emotions and depth that is amazing when you consider the relatively short length of these books.  This is truly an epic series, smaller in scale perhaps, but on par with greats like the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.  Stewart and Riddell definitely create a world that you will submerse yourself in, one that will stay with you for years after.

The Edge Chronicles 
trilogies shown in chronological character order 

(not publication order) paperback covers:

THE QUINT SAGA

THE TWIG SAGA