Kingdom of the Wicked
The Skulduggery Pleasant series, Book 7
Derek Landy
HarperCollins
Fiction, YA Adventure/Fantasy/Horror/Humor/Mystery
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Since ancient times, the world's magic users have relied on secrecy to survive among the mundane mortal population - not always by choice, but by necessity, as the ordinary humans outnumber them so significantly. This was why the Sanctuaries were founded, why there are rules about public displays of power, why Valkyrie Cain has to use her own animated mirror reflection to hide her secret life from her mortal family... and why the Irish magical community is thrown into chaos when random people start spontaneously manifesting strange abilities, everything from delusions of flight to the deadly powers deployed by four disaffected teenagers out for vengeance and thrills.
Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie discover a link to a long-imprisoned sorcerer who once had a dream of discovering the source of all magic and sharing it to create a utopian world. Even from captivity, the man may be about to unleash his "gift" on the whole world, not caring about the devastation it would cause. As they investigate, they also have to dodge an international delegation intent on taking over the Irish Sanctuary, as well as a few old enemies and a host of new ones - not to mention occasional trips to a hellish alternate dimension where the long-ago war among the mages went very, very differently.
REVIEW: This series continues to impress, with high stakes, great characters, sharp dialog, and real growth. Picking up about a year after the previous installment, the Irish Sanctuary is still struggling to prove to the rest of the magical world that it can handle its own affairs after numerous high-profile incidents. A bunch of mortals suddenly displaying random, uncontrollable magic powers in full public view is just what nobody needs, especially when some of those mortals quickly embrace the deadlier aspects of their new powers. Teen girl Kitana is the quintessential popular girl, a spoiled bully who rules her small circle of friends with a potent mixture of gaslighting and amoral thrill-seeking... the very last person who should ever be handed godlike abilities. What she and her companions lack in experience or planning, they make up for in sheer instinct and ruthlessness, making the team a very different sort of opponent than the ones Skulduggery and Valkyrie are used to squaring off against and one that bests them more than once. Meanwhile, ongoing series threads develop new twists and turns, keeping the larger arcs from stagnating even as the main story keeps the characters jumping (and diving for cover). An encounter with a dimensional shifter offers a new perspective on the story and the characters, as Valkyrie visits an alternate world where the old mage war went very differently... a world where she may find a weapon that was lost on our Earth but which would come in very handy fighting the newly-created near-gods. The fact that she'd even consider a solo heist against a maniacal sorcerer-king who rules with an iron fist shows how much Skulduggery's independence and recklessness has rubbed off on her. As I've come to expect from the series, it all builds to an explosive finale, followed by a strong hook that all but demands one queue up the next installment right away. There were one or two characters whose stories fell by the wayside, and a little threat of overload with the many threads it juggles, but I'm still loving this series.
You Might Also Enjoy:
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Skulduggery Pleasant (Derek Landy) - My Review
The Amulet of Samarkand (Jonathan Stroud) - My Review
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