I went to college as a journalism major, and took classes in communications law, and ethics, so I understand, and can practice impartiality. So if this were a newspaper, or were I being paid to review books for a living, this might be unethical, but since this is my own blog, I'm going to rave away!
Last year a friend of mine, Derek Landy, published the first in a series of young adult books following the story of a very unique Irish girl named Stephanie Edgley titled Skulduggery Pleasant. Now because the author is Irish, and resides in Dublin, he is much more well known and commercially successful in his native Ireland, and in the neighboring United Kingdom.
His second book in the series, Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing With Fire will be available on May 6th, 2008 from HarperCollins, and if the second book is as clever and well-written as the first, then readers are in for a real treat. I have a feeling that if HarperCollins' U.S. publicity team pushes this book as hard as their UK counterparts currently are (the book is already on store shelves in Europe), then Derek Landy should be a recognizable name on our shores in the not-too-distant future.
You all should get out there, and read for yourselves what HarperCollins did when they signed Landy for a seven figure advance and a multiple book deal, something nearly unheard of in the publishing industry for a first time author. Not even JK Rowling received so much fanfare when she signed her first contact for Harry Potter.
Skulduggery Pleasant tells the story of young Stephanie Edgley, and her unconventional association with a "snappily dressed, razor-tongued wit, crackerjack sorcerer, and walking, talking, fire-throwing skeleton" named, you guessed it, Skulduggery Pleasant. It is set in modern day Dublin, but there is an underground magical world that is much more than meets the untrained eye, and Stephanie and Skulduggery Pleasant work together to solve a myriad of magical and fantastic mysteries.
Many authors who set out to write a series, such as Philip Pullman, Jasper Fforde, and JK Rowling often found critical and commercial fame and success around, or after publication of their second books. I anticipate, and hope the same will happen for Mr. Landy.
So years from now, after all the books, films, calendars, and action figures have sufficiently inundated us in Skulduggery Fever, wouldn't it be great to be able to say "I was one of the first?"
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