Bedlam (Skulduggery Pleasant)

Having, barely, saved her sister in _Midnight_, Valkyrie is once again facedwith the blowback from an awful thing she has done. In the world shakingbattle against Darquesse, Valkyrie killed her sister. Just for a few minutes,and for a reasonably good, world saving purpose, but actions have consequences.Now her sister's soul is fragmented and damaged, and the only one who maybe able to help is the evil and non-human Dr. Nye, who has killed Valkyrieonce and whose current location is unknown.Unfortunately, she can't start on that immediately. Skulduggery's maybe-sonhas other information she needs to stop Skulduggery's again-living evil ex'snefarious plan with a US President who is certainly not Donald Trump, andto keep her half of the bargain, she will have to storm an asylum so securethat nobody even knows it exists, much less where it is. Not in the beststate of mind in the first place, much less for dealing with evilpsychiatrists, Valkyrie sees her phychoses given physical form, and tostay sane enough to function finds herself falling into addiction in severalforms. If being poised on a knife's edge weren't enough, she has visionsof the Darkly boys being killed in America, and now Omen has done the onething she most warned him against and has found himself in the US. Beatento within an inch of her life by China Sorrow's corrupt city guard, canthings get worse?Things get worse.This is not a happy book, and it is sometimes hard to read as Valkyrieturns down a dark road. In the end, I think it is a good book, and there*is* some of the typical Landy humor in the mix. At this point, withValkyrie being 25 and even the Darkly boys and Never aging out of the YAdemo, it's hard to continue to call these books Young Adult fantasy, andI'm not sure I would. Landy does address the "fun" issue somewhat:====== They turned right at a junction. "When it comes to visions of the future, we can't know anything," he said. "We could continue on exactly as we are and not one thing you saw will actually come true. Or we could second-guess every decision we make from now until then, and the future would happen just as you foresaw. From what we know, there are an infinite amount of possible futures that stem from any given moment. Sensitives can glimpse one of these possible futures, but there's no way of knowing how close it is to what will eventually transpire." Valkyrie let his words soak in. They didn't make her feel any better. In fact, they made her glum. Which in turn made her wonder. "Am I as much fun as I used to be?" she suddenly asked. "No," Skulduggery said immediately. She shot him a look. "You could have taken a little more time to think about it." "You've had a lot on your mind for the last thirteen years," he responded. "First you found out that your uncle had been murdered, then you had to help save the world, then you met some transdimensional supergods, after which you found out that you were this Darquesse person that all the Sensitives were so worried about. Then you thought you were going to be the Death Bringer, then Darquesse emerged, and then she took over your body, and then you died, and then you had to fight her, and then you were in America for five years to recover, and now you've come back and you've had to rescue your sister from a serial killer who blamed you for the death of his serial-killer apprentice, and now this whole thing with Alice's soul ... But I think there was maybe a three-week gap somewhere in there, before things got too serious, when you were what could be considered fun." She grunted. "We've been busy." "Yes, we have." "And do you think I've become too ... serious?" "It's a serious world." "That doesn't answer the question." "You're as serious as you need to be," said Skulduggery. "And you're as flippant as you need to be. It's a balancing act. If you tip too far one way or the other, you fall off the wire. People like us, Valkyrie, it's our purpose in life to walk that wire." She nodded, and looked out of the window. "I don't think I'm as happy as I used to be." "It would astonish me if you were." "I've got issues. About everything that's happened. I think I need to talk to someone." "You can talk to me." She smiled. "Thank you. But I think I have to talk to someone else. You're ... I don't mean this in a bad way, but--" "But I'm a part of the problem," Skulduggery said. "Yes. Sorry." "Don't be. I'm a bad influence, and I always have been. You need a professional. China has a few on her staff at the High Sanctuary." Valkyrie looked at him. "I might make an appointment, so." He nodded. "That's probably a good idea." "Would you ever consider it?" He flicked the indicator and they overtook a slow-moving truck. "I'm too far gone, I'm afraid," he said. "I have my demons, but they work to keep each other in check at all times. My mind is in a permanent state of finely tuned chaos that I would be loath to disrupt." "And you don't think it's too late for me?" He angled his head towards her. "Your traumas have made you who you are, but they don't define you. You can live with them, I have no doubt." Valkyrie nodded. She was satisfied with that. For the moment.======And so must we be I suppose.

This series uses humor, adventure, and lots of suspense.

Love these books!!!

Another witty and entertaining adventure sure to encourage my kids to be smart Alec’s. Derek Landy knows how to write riveting book dedications and cliffhanger endings. The bits in between are pretty good too. Two of those things I sincerely appreciate. Seriously. This books has so many cliffhangers that I wanted to cry. Please Derek, take care of yourself. Eat right, go to the gym, do whatever it takes to remain healthy enough to write the next Skulduggery book. I need to know what happens! We're praying for your health, ...because we care, ...not at all because we're using you for our selfish entertainment needs.

As a book, it's three stars. As a product, it's BEAUTIFUL! I am so happy with how it looks. Midnight has waited months for its friend Bedlam to finally be released, and now the whole series is here. The full spine picture is something I can rant about for ages, but I will restrain myself.

Action packed from beginning to end. What I most enjoyed about the story with the continuity and how it kept tons of elements in from the previous books that I had almost forgotten. it's a twist at the end was unexpected and I wonder what it means for the rest of the series.

Just as described and fast service

The writing style and plot never cease to keep me entertained and invested. An absolute favorite series. Can't wait for more.

Amei

Bought it for bae, he loves the series. I just wish there was a hard cover version available.

"Bedlam" took Skulduggery to the max awesomeness level!(Some quotes may not be wholly accurate. Spoilers may be contained.)" ... Valkyrie snatched the gun from her "Will you STOP Killing people?!" "Valkyrie Cain has a lot on her mind. Firstly and foremost, her sister's fragmented soul. She must retrieve the pieces and put them together so her sister can be whole. Then, of course, Abyssinia. Her plan. Her existance. Her location. War is coming, Valkyrie is desperate, and everything she knows and loves could be thrown once more into chaos..." 'Now' Omen thought, 'would be a great time for Auger to arrive.'Thats when Auger arrived."Omen Darkly is stupid, hilarious and once again almost dead. Numerous times. Jenan Ispolin is out to get him, and Abyssinia's plan is about to kick off, and… wait, what class is he meant to be in??? Dunno. But… what was I saying??? Dunno.All the funny bits were involving Omen, who is my new favourite, and I especially love his chapters. I don't know how anybody can not laugh at poor, dumb Omen Darkly. :-D" 'Holy hell, what were the odds of that'"I planned all of this" Skulduggery said."Shut up." "Skulduggery Pleasant, as always, is a pain in the bottom and great craic pages 1- Somewhere above 500. I think it's above 500. Sorry, only I just know its… big. Sorry. Back to Skuldugggery. Also, murdering Abyssinia is gonna be AWKWARD, her being his ex and all. With about 4,000,000 cases to handle at once, Valkyrie defying the High Sanctuary, Omen probably in trouble and Abyssinia put together, hes a busy bag of bones, and he saving the world once again.This book is hilarious, mysterious, thrilling and gripping. My fave in the series, the plot was full of twists, much improved from the likes of Resurrection. For fans and not, READ THIS BOOK WHAT THE HELL IT'S SO AMAZING!!!! Keeps you turning page after page after page…Really one of those books that transports you, opens the door to another world. Aching to see where it all goes in no. 13…I felt sorry for Valkyrie and Alice, happy at the return of Tanith, Dexter etc. and this is such a brilliant book, I just can't put it into words."…My mind is in a state of finely tuned chaos that I would be loath to disrupt."Fair playto Landy for writing about bisexual people, gay ones and lesbian. Not a bad thing and the world needs to realize it! So well done there. Amazing book, fantastic gender equality/ anti racist/ gay comments, a good influence to the new generation. All this behind an amazing action/fantasy/adventure/thriller… Voila! SUPERB BOOK FOR YOUNG TEENS! or tweens!Yours Truly,The Bookworm On The Hill xxxPS. All my reviews can be found on the Bookworm On the Hill web. Coming late August/ early September 2020 :-)

Excellent Read

Definitely my favorite book out of Phase 2. Can’t say much without spoiling things, but it definitely felt like it was able to combine the feel of the new skulduggery series with the nostalgic feel of the old ones :)The only thing I didn’t like were the fact that I sometimes felt lectured about politics. Pride, refugees, the American president ... it’s not much but for someone that hates politics in entertainment (it feels forced) it was a bit annoying sometimes.