Book Review: Skulduggery Pleasant - Last Stand of Dead Men (Re-Read)

Title: Last Stand of Dead Men
Author: Derek Landy
Series: Skulduggery Pleasant (book 8)
Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books
Release Date: 29 Aug 2013
ISBN-13: 978-0007489206

Synopsis
War has finally come.
But it's not a war between good and evil, or light and dark – it's a war between Sanctuaries. For too long, the Irish Sanctuary has teetered on the brink of world-ending disaster, and the other Sanctuaries around the world have had enough. Allies turn to enemies, friends turn to foes, and Skulduggery and Valkyrie must team up with the rest of the Dead Men if they're going to have any chance at all of maintaining the balance of power and getting to the root of a vast conspiracy that has been years in the making.
But while this war is only beginning, another war rages within Valkyrie herself. Her own dark side, the insanely powerful being known as Darquesse, is on the verge of rising to the surface. And if Valkyrie slips, even for a moment, then Darquesse will burn the world and everyone in it.

My Review
I read and reviewed this back in September just after it had been released and said that I was really disappointed with it. But I knew it was my own problem, I wasn't in the mood, I didn't have enough time to read it and I hadn't read the earlier books in the series for quite a while so I wasn't entirely sure what was going on at various points. I swore to re-read it sometime and that time has come. 
I started by listening to the rest of the series on spoken word which was awesome. Although the guy who reads the first 2 or 3 is EPICALLY good, he does all the voices and really gets into the story, then it changes to someone else and it wasn't as good, the voice just fell flat. Then someone else takes over and whilst it's not as good as the first he does a pretty decent job. Slightly off topic - but certainly worth a listen to. 
So once I was up to date with the series again and really into it all I grabbed my copy of this book and dived in once more. And I am totally thrilled to say that this time I really enjoyed it. I still ended up reading it in bits (lunch breaks at work etc) but I found myself wanting to get stuck in and read more. It seemed exciting to me again, and yes whilst I knew what was going to happen and who was going to die I still found myself turning pages in anticipation and dread. This time the whole book had a different feel to it, the way SP always used to feel to me, the raw emotion, the excitement, the banter between characters, the destruction and mania. It was all there, everything I remember loving about the series.
I still can't believe we are nearing the end, and I still can't believe some of the characters he killed - how dare he! Derek Landy is playing with our emotions!
I am so glad I gave this book another chance, it's strange how much circumstance and mood can affect the way you enjoy a book.
I am now eagerly awaiting book 9 - the final book! Whose title was released today, and it shall be called "Skulduggery Pleasant: The Dying of the Light". I can't wait - it comes out the day before my birthday too - PERFECT!
Once more the world makes sense - well as much as it ever did. I read the book and loved it, phew!
I'm sorry I ever doubted you Derek.

My Rating