Sunday 31 March 2013

Book Review - The Maleficent Seven

Title: The Maleficent Seven
Author: Derek Landy
Series: Skulduggery Pleasant (book 7.5 -novella)
Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books
Release Date: 28 Mar 2013
ISBN-13: 978-0007500925

Synopsis
A brilliant, hilarious one-off novella in the Skulduggery Pleasant universe, from number-one-bestselling author Derek Landy
This time, the bad guys take the stage.
Tanith Low, now possessed by a remnant, recruits a gang of villains – many of whom will be familiar from previous Skulduggery adventures – in order to track down and steal the four God-Killer level weapons that could hurt Darquesse when she eventually emerges. Also on the trail of the weapons is a secret group of Sanctuary sorcerers, and doing his best to keep up and keep Tanith alive is one Mister Ghastly Bespoke.
When the villains around her are lying and scheming and plotting, Tanith needs to stay two steps ahead of her teammates and her enemies. After all, she's got her own double-crosses to plan – and she’s a villain herself…


My Review
It's here!!! It's finally here, another book from the masterful Derek Landy. I got this as an Easter present today and got stuck right in. Of course I finished it in a mere few hours. Derek Landy is one of those authors who I will drop EVERYTHING for! My reading pile may be 200 or so books long, but his books will jump to the top everytime. They are just kick butt awesome.
This book is a spin off novella, told a couple of months after the events in Kingdom of the Wicked, but this time the story is told from Tanith's side of things and she's a bad guy now.
At 280 pages this is quite short but still packed with so much awesomeness. I always loved Tanith - she's one of my favourite characters, I still wish she would come back to the good side, but I will admit she makes quite a cool villain. This book also reveals some of her past which I found fascinating and it was good to see that history.
Tanith is trying to track down, steal and destroy four weapons that can kill with a single nick, they are called 'God Killer's' as nothing can stop them, she recruits a band of villains to help her, some are known favourites from earlier books such as Billy-Ray, Springheeled Jack and Dusk, whilst others are new additions. all with very different talents, and some more disgusting than others.
I got so excited whist reading this as one of the new characters has the same surname as me, I am being delusional and telling myself that Derek Landy did that deliberately, just for me. The character is male and I am of course female, but Derek can't be too obvious can he? :P  I know it's a tribute to one of his most dedicated fans!!! :D
There is a distinct lack of Skulduggery and Valkyrie in this book, but in a strange way it works, Tanith is such a strong character that she commands the page and captures the story.
I don't want to write too much about it as I don't want to give away any spoilers, just know that this book is just as incredible as all the others and yes I did laugh out loud in many places.

My Rating

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