Dark Days

Written by Derek Landy

Narrated by Rupert Degas

READ BY RUPERT DEGAS. It’s the fourth Skulduggery Pleasant adventure… only Skulduggery Pleasant himself is lost on the other side of a portal, with only some evil gods for company. Can he possible survive? (Yes, all right, he’s already dead. But still.)

What can we say, without giving too much away?

Not much, is the answer.

But what we CAN say is that this book is hilarious, it’s tense, and it’s packed with all the eye-popping action, crackling one liners and imaginative set pieces you’ve come to expect. There’s a new threat to our plucky heroine, of course. But that’s not all. There’s also the little fact of the Big Bad, the uber-baddy who’s going to come along and really, really destroy the world. (Really.) And what we learn about that villain in this book will literally make your jaw fall off and your hair go white with shock. (Not really.)

Will Skulduggery make it out of the Faceless Ones’ dimension? Who knows. The problem is, he may not have much to come back to…

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Apr 1, 2010
• ISBN: 9780007347148

Derek Landy

Derek Landy lives near Dublin. Before writing his children's story about a sharply-dressed skeleton detective, he wrote the screenplays for a zombie movie and a murderous horror film. "I think my career-guidance teacher is spinning in her grave," he says, "or she would be if she were dead."

Reviews for Dark Days

[Rosh145 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The book was amazing!!! Funny, light hearted and intriguing as well. The narrator was also awesome. Each character had their own unique voice so it was easy to distinguish them. loved it

[ArinaLau98 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It just gets darker and darker just as Valkyrie/Stephanie grow up, I LOVE IT. I love the gang's relationship, especially the relationship between Skulduggery and Valkyrie, and the one between Kenspeckle and Valkyrie. I ADORE their bond very much.

[Scott fitzgearld · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

OMFG! This is a bloody brilliant book. I loved it when I was a kid and It 100% withstood the test of time ! Would recommend to everyone no matter how old Derek landy is a genius and his books are full proof of this !!

[kanav guppta · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It’s filled with suspense! And a lot of twists

[pmlyayakkers · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Book 4 in the Skulduggery Pleasant series, where Valkyrie risks entering the domain of the faceless ones to rescue Skulduggery, and a group of magical malcontents and villains threatens Ireland.

[Pia · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

this final was great! I can't wait to read the next book

[jessiqa_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Spoilers for book three in the series: Skulduggery Pleasant has been sucked into the world of the Faceless Ones and now Valkyrie is working to bring him back. There’s also the matter of a man who has been in prison for the last 200 years wanting to exact some revenge upon the Sanctuaries (the ruling bodies of the magical world). And sensitives are starting to experience dreams and prophecies of the world coming to an end. Nothing to worry about. This series has always been a lot of fun. Pleasant’s dry humor is spot-on and unlike the Harry Potter series (which also famously involves a child who learns about the magical world and his place in it), this is a little more grim from the get-go. Valkyrie doesn’t go off to a wizarding school, she just gets taken on as apprentice to Pleasant who is a detective. He’s also a skeleton, by the way. By this book, she’s been working cases and saving the world with Skulduggery for years. They’ve gathered a sort of motley crew of allies who help out when things get dicey, and they always do. It had been a few years since I had read book three in the series, so I was worried I might not remember much when I started reading this one, but I needn’t have worried: It’s basically impossible to forget these characters. (Except Fletcher. I totally forgot about Fletcher.) The world created by Landy is so distinctive and real for me that it was easy to slide back in and enjoy the new story. I wouldn’t recommend reading this series out of sequence, but I wholeheartedly recommend this series, starting with (conveniently enough) Skulduggery Pleasant.

[mutantpudding · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

reread note; ok so this is when the overarching plot really gets going. excellent.

[bookbrig-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Still an excellent story, but a bit darker than the others. Plus, not as much of the funny.

[karenduff · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have ordered this book from Play and at the time of writing I'm still waiting on it although now that I've had the book from the school library and have read it no doubt it will have arrived today, oh well.

As for the book what can I say, I absolutely love this series and I hate when the book is finished as then I need to wait on the next one although thankfully I only need to wait until September. I love Landy's humour and sarcasm. The characters are brilliant, they are well developed and well written.

[tahleen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I think this book is the most illuminating about each character yet. We learn a lot about every major character in the series, from revelations about their pasts and from their actions. The ending leaves the reading with a need to know what will happen to everyone, especially with Valkyrie—it's a doozy.

As far as the audiobook production value, I was disappointed that it wasn't of the same caliber as the previous three. There was no music and no sound effects, and I was shocked to hear at one point that Rupert Degas had switched his voices for two characters for a brief period, which was very obvious and distracting. Other than that, Degas is an excellent narrator and I loved listening to this entire series. However, because of how difficult it was for me to obtain the audio version of book 4, I will most likely be reading the next books in the series instead of listening to them, much as it pains me.

[sageness · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wow, this one was menacing-dark and really violent. Definitely not a young kid's series anymore. This one was more obviously influenced by later Harry Potter, and I'm loving Sanguine - the main bad guy - something fierce. The whole series continues to be full of bits that remind me of Doctor Who for some reason, too. (Which is entirely fine by me.) I want to give it 2 stars for the plot twisting in nonsensical ways and there being too many threads left dangling, but my pleasure in reading these characters' adventures ranks up at a near-guiltless five. So. I *wish* Landy had a better sense of drawing a primary plot containable in a single novel in the greater series, but I'll cope. I'm hooked.

[book_zone · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Valkyrie Cain is back, but this time she is alone. Skulduggery Pleasant, her mentor and friend, is trapped in the world of the Faceless Ones after being dragged through the portal at the end of Book Three. However, there is hope - if Valkyrie and her team can get their hands on Skulduggery's original skull there just may be a chance to launch a rescue mission by reopening the portal and.............. and perhaps I should end my review there, as I am going to have to tread very carefully from here on so as not to give away too many spoilers.

Thirty minutes later.........

Hmmm.... I have been sitting at my laptop for sometime now and I still have no idea how to write this review without creating those spoilers. You just have to read through the various Twitter feeds and Facebook pages to see how hotly anticipated this book is, espcially after that monumental cliffhanger at the end of the third book. Derek Landy has built up quite a worldwide fanbase since the publication of the first Skulduggery Pleasant series. The Faceless Ones shot into the Top 10 on launch, selling 28,000 copies in its first two months, so the last thing I want to do is upset his legion of fans by giving away the many delicious plot revelations that this book holds.

So.... Skulduggery fans everywhere let me start by telling you that you will not be disappointed. Whilst, in my humble opinion, this is not the best book in the series so far it is still one hell of a read. Despite the huge cliffhanger at its end The Faceless Ones still holds the Number 1 slot for me, and although I really enjoyed Dark Days and read it in almost one sitting, it just didn't quite match up to the thrill I got from reading its predecessor. It contains all of the Derek Landy trademarks that we have come to love so much - great characters, both good and evil; tense action scenes that will have your heart beating so fast you will think it is about to explode; great dialogue laced with the scintillating banter that we have to come love so much; and, of course, many many moments of spine-tingling horror.

The threat facing our heroes this time is not the invasion of earth by a hoarde of ancient demons; this time they are up against a cartel of old enemies, brought together with one thing in mind - vengeance. Springheeled Jack, Remus Crux, Billy-Ray Sanguine, Vaurien Scapegrace, and the vampiric Dusk are all present, each with their own motives. Revenge against the Sanctuary, revenge against Valkyie, revenge against Thurid Guild, revenge against Tanith Low - as the story progresses we gradually discover the lengths each of these characters is willing to go to in order to satisfy their vengeful urges, and with the diabolical and twisted mind of new character Dreylan Scarab driving these urges Mr Landy has us believing that this time they just might be successful. In fact I spent most of the book fearing that we might witness the demise of a key character at some point in the story. Were my fears justified? I will leave that for you to find out.

As I said before, this is not my favourite book of the series so far, and there are several reasons for this. Firstly, there is one key plot thread that is so transparent I saw it coming halfway through the book, so its final revelation was something of a disappointment as I had really hoped that there would be a twist that would prove me wrong. Sadly no twist, well not for me anyway but my wife often tells me that I am too good at spotting these things (usually after I have impaired her enjoyment of The Bill by accurately second-guessing the plot). Secondly, although the villains are really given a chance to shine in this story I felt that some of them, namely Dusk and Spring Heeled Jack, had so much more to offer but were instead relegated to the sidelines for much of the story, only appearing when required and then quickly forgotten again. I would have preferred more time spent developing these characters further instead of the one or two superfluous scenes that seemed shoe-horned in for the sake of it (for example, Valkyrie makes an unnecessary visit to talk to her Uncle Gordon with the Echo Stone).

These minor gripes aside this is still a hugely enjoyable and exciting, fast-paced story riddled with great humour and moments of extreme horror. The story's climax at ######## (location hidden to avoid spoilers) with the Desolation Engine is one of the best scenes that Derek Lundy has produced so far, and is the kind of scene for which the oft used phrases "edge of your seat" and "heart in your mouth" were created.

[riida_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

i just burned through my copy of dark days...in about 8 hours straight! truth be told, the skulduggery pleasant books are about the only ones i can read this fast these days. each of them is just a roller-coaster ride of pure, mindless fun with a healthy helping of wise cracks! :Din this fourth installment though, it seems the ante has been raised a bit. i have began to appreciate the other dimensions of the characters' personalities, and derek landy finally introduced the one element missing from the series so far: an over-arching story line tied to a voldemort-like villain!but always, valkyrie and skulduggery are all about the fun :D

[phoebesmum · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The fourth in the sequence, and book #3’s cliffhanger – Skulduggery is left trapped in another dimension with only the Faceless Ones for company – is quickly resolved. Thereafter it’s a race against time to stop a league of criminal sorcerers, including some familiar faces, from destroying the Sanctuary. Skulduggery himself is taking more and more of a back seat in this series, leaving the way clear for Valkyrie/Stephanie to fulfil her destiny (of course, Stephanie *would* have a destiny). A fun, light read, well-written and with a lot of entertaining dialogue, but the plot is not much more than an endless string of fight scenes, and there are far too many sketchily-drawn secondary characters. And either I nodded off, or at one point the story makes absolutely no sense at all.

[lilibrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Book 4 in the Skulduggery Pleasant series, where Valkyrie risks entering the domain of the faceless ones to rescue Skulduggery, and a group of magical malcontents and villains threatens Ireland.