Is this side story a worthy entry in the great series of fantasy novels?I never thought I would find myself picking up one of the £1 World Book Day novels again, yet here I am with Skulduggery Pleasant: The End Of The World traded for my WBD voucher, and I'm very happy with my 'free' purchase. Taking place after the tumultous events of Death Bringer, this mini-story sees a boy named Ryan unwittingly entangled in a plot to destroy the world which Skulduggery and Valkyrie must stop before it's too late. There's nothing revolutionary here in terms of storyline twists, partly I suspect because of the 100-page format and also since author Derek Landy won't want people who skipped this piece to get confused by new plot developments in Book 7 that were a result of those that happened in this book, but to be honest it's quite nice to have a relatively harmless standalone story. Landy's characterisations are, as ever, exaggerated and humorous to see play out, never bordering too far on pantomime to be tiresome yet straying far enough away from the real world to ensure it isn't depressing or overly realistic. I don't want to spoil any of the great thrills The End Of The World has in store for fans and newcomers to the series, so I'd just advise that for the sake of £1 (or nothing) you'd be doing yourself a favour to pick this one up.
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