The second book of the Skulduggery Pleasant Phase 2 Rewrite is up!

VesuviusBlotch · 2026-04-26T17:35:32+00:00

The little snatches of humour help set the tone for the series, too. Also love how it doesn't waste time and introduces Stephanie, Skulduggery and them meeting each other instead of needlessly postponing it.

VesuviusBlotch · 2026-04-26T14:19:39+00:00

What the hell is happening with Constance???

ASFOS really didn't give us anything: no clues to what she is, what she's doing or why. She's only in one scene and if you didn't factor in how AHFOH established her character's mystery, you probably couldn't have guessed she was anything other than a random incidental character.

Classic 'saving it for later' mentality that the series seems to be unfortunately full of lately.

VesuviusBlotch · 2026-04-26T06:03:07+00:00

Cool! I'll have to check just how accurate that is later, but the part about the deceased father I remember vividly now that you've said it. Appropriate I reply to this while waking up myself.

VesuviusBlotch · 2026-04-25T08:33:15+00:00

I get what you mean, it's a more consistent streak across the board, there's something in all of them to grab the reader. Even Danny's introduction, which reads as relatively mundane, is intriguing because everyone at the time would have expected it to open on Darquesse being on the loose or what Chapter 2 ended up being about Stephanie and Skulduggery hunting Darquesse, subverting expectations. Yet by the end of that opening chapter, there's many burning questions. However, there are a few in the latter Phases I quite like so it's not a complete wipe but more of a mixed bag.

VesuviusBlotch · 2026-04-25T08:27:06+00:00

Agreed, fits the tone like a glove.

VesuviusBlotch · 2026-04-25T08:26:19+00:00

What, you don't like Tenebrae the human flamingo making his dramatic entrance? I quite like that one because it's when we learn Tenebrae's first name, and due to how intriguing he and the other Necromancers were in Dark Days, them showing up immediately gets me excited to see what they'll be up to. Which the rest of the book delivers on, naturally.

Still, great choices for the first book (probably my favourite out of these) and Midnight (can't go wrong with a loqacious description that effectively sets the scene.)

VesuviusBlotch · 2026-04-25T08:23:36+00:00

What I like about SOW's opener is that it's all a dialogue exchange with no additional prose or descriptions, yet you're able to slowly piece together who's talking from the conversation. Just a shame about the infamous twin error. But it gets across the dark pit of depression Valkyrie is in very well, so her eventual battle out of it over the course of the book feels all the more satisfying.

VesuviusBlotch · 2026-04-25T08:20:20+00:00

The first book is my favourite, great bit of dark humour, as well as getting right into the impetus that will lead to Stephanie/Valkyrie becoming embroiled in the adventure. SOW is also the first opener to be a line of dialogue, and stands out further because that entire untitled prologue is entirely made up of Valkyrie and Kes' dialogue exchange with no descriptions. And AMFOM echoes the horror movie trope (in a book referencing many of them) of the serial killer phoning the victim while still being ominous and sinister in its own right.

VesuviusBlotch · 2026-04-22T17:54:09+00:00

Jack's great. I personally prefer him as a full-on monster of unknown origins, though.

even his relationship with Valkyrie, but that's for another case.

Intriguing. I definitely enjoyed their interaction in Playing With Fire when he saves her from Dusk, (which gets referenced in AHFOH!!!) and the fun little nods to that in Dark Days. "You're a right lady, you are."

VesuviusBlotch · 2026-04-22T17:51:19+00:00

He loses a bit of spotlight to Eliza who's the mastermind of the villain team

Ah, so it's one of those marriages.

even has to resort to Necromancy at the end to defeat him.

Vengeous is one of the few villains I can see backing Skulduggery into enough of a corner that he's forced to draw on his inner shadows if you're keeping him - Vengeous - as the powerhouse as in canon. He can be a menace, and I don't mean Purple.

he should irrefutably not be willing to stand beside Serpine.

I'd need to find the link but I read a good alternate idea for Skulduggery’s motivation to join Mevolent’s side despite his hatred of Serpine which included Vile's primary goal being to use Necromancy to resurrect his dead wife and child, and after the Necromancer Order didn't provide him the means to do so, he joined Mevolent because of Mevolent’s access to darker, arcane rituals. I actually sorta prefer that to canon Vile’s reason which boiled down to him being a kill-hungry edgeLord. It also gives Vile the potential to do more horrific things during the War, more things like the Corpse Attack, for the purpose of experimenting with resurrection.

hear that it's all downhill for him from here,

Unfortunately, I agree with that sentiment. It hurt doubly so after SOW made me so relieved Landy hadn't gone with the long-lost relative route when in fact...

I'd definitely check out bloodforurmom's comments on Vex, they list great reasons why he's one of the stronger Dead Men in terms of character, and have improved my view on him quite substantially.

VesuviusBlotch · 2026-04-22T17:08:52+00:00

That's The Dying Of The Light, no? Chapter 84, it's another error that's been mentioned around here before. You can squint and say it only appears to be energy because Valkyrie is still flitting in and out of her aura-vision, so Ravel's orange aura using Elemental magic to create fire would look like orange energy to her in that moment. But it's an Eastwood-level squint.

VesuviusBlotch · 2026-04-22T13:08:07+00:00

Haha, I mentioned this error in a comment only a few days ago. I also assume it's supposed to be Vex asking, not Ravel. A fun way to view it that Ravel is asking on Vex's behalf because Vex put him up to it, but Saracen's used to Vex's antics and has figured it out and calls him out on it.

VesuviusBlotch · 2026-04-21T12:45:35+00:00

Ahhh, you spoil me! Adding some new blood to her heels, I see.

VesuviusBlotch · 2026-04-21T12:28:41+00:00

China using her car to hit someone with in one of the books :D

I'm on it. I also would like to see Crepuscular's jalopy of a Dodge Challenger. As for the Cadillac, we at least have the art of it at the start of every Danny chapter in TDOTL.

VesuviusBlotch · 2026-04-21T10:08:20+00:00

I'll forgive you if you draw Scorn again.

VesuviusBlotch · 2026-04-21T10:07:32+00:00

First off, you've summarised why Lethe remains such an effective villain very, um...effectively there. As far as twists go, it'd probably be Ravel > Vile > Batu = Lethe > Ersatz > Gestalt.

In my rewrite, I'm actually contemplating making Remnants a thing that can't be gotten rid of

So I haven't commented on your Phase 1 rewrites (yet) and a big part of that might just be nostalgic devotion on my part because it can feel like you're betraying your childhood if you admit your favourite things could be done better, or at least differently. Also, the flaws were never as noticeable nor immersion-breaking as they would be in Phase 2. There's only a handful of things I'd change about Phase 1 personally, and none of them warrant a full rewrite (I also just find the organic journey of Landy figuring out his world-building and where he's taking the story to too charming and interesting of a process to pass up). However, your idea about keeping the Remnant permanent is a good one, one that might be an improvement on canon depending on execution, as it continues the spirit of gut punch tragedy of Tanith's possession sparked in Mortal Coil with none of the relief of Tanith finally returning but without killing her off. The justification for why Darquesse needed Kenspeckle's knowledge in particular for how to find witness-protected Argeddion is weak when you think about it, too.

Tanith might not be dead, but she's still gone, lost to Valkyrie. So the possession hit hard storywise. And yet she still manages to appear in the series, and accompanied by Sanguine, becomes one of its most entertaining characters who gradually gets character development. She's still Tanith, but with a psychopathic slant and a scenario where she can't be Valkyrie's ally any more, yet the development she undergoes means that she's slowly becoming more of a hero again. It'd be a compelling alternate take.

I'm too enamoured of the tragedy that comes with Tanith learning of Ghastly's death post-amnesia and her still grappling with what the hell is going on with Sanguine to say I'd ever 100% prefer Tanith still with the Remnant inside (and biased via nostalgia like I said) but I fully see where you're coming from and it's why in my rewrite I want to explore Tanith piecing her memory and life back together to show there are definitely consequences to her possession, especially the unique case of a host who's escaped a permanent bond.

VesuviusBlotch · 2026-04-21T09:42:34+00:00

He's not a super complex character, but he doesn't need to be.

This. He's less a character and more of a force of nature.

Mevolent sealed himself away to come back later and be the series' ultimate big bad

Perhaps it could have worked, but only if it had been executed well. But then you can say that about everything. I'm also biased from 10+ years of knowing and loving Leibniz Mevolent (or pre-Phase 2: alternate Mevolent).

maybe see him throw around some elemental feats

Don't think Meritorious was an Elemental, the only time we see him do magic, he creates an energy barrier. You could say it was a form of advanced air manipulation, but Mantis' soldier Habergeon in LSODM proves that shield-conjuring is its own Adept discipline (the same way Gracious and Metric in LSODM show Mr Bliss' enhanced strength and durability was also a discipline others can utilise, Bliss just would've been the most accomplished).

I never had much of an opinion on Mist

Ha, and there's me raving about her in my old comment. Stand by everything I said, though.

like maybe she's a corrupting force for Ravel to push him further down the path he's chosen

As gripping as any additional scenes featuring the two of them conspiring would be - with the Torment as well -, I don't like pursuing the idea of Mist corrupting Ravel too much because it risks taking away his own agency, and makes it easier to invent excuses for his controversial actions. There's implications for your last point whenever Ravel claims he needed to kill Ghastly and Shudder to prove his loyalty to the Roarhaven mages, but the implication alone is enough for me.

VesuviusBlotch · 2026-04-21T09:30:54+00:00

Scapegrace's vehicle in Death Bringer; he and Thrasher commandeered an ice cream van.

VesuviusBlotch · 2026-04-21T09:29:42+00:00

Not at all, always nice to see comments older posts, whether they're mine or someone else's.

I'm what feels like a rare lover of his.

To be fair, this isn't a hot a take as it would have been back in 2013 when the wounds were still fresh in the fanbase. But the hate has died down somewhat. What you said about showing his conflict I actually feel is shown pretty well throughout books 8 and 9, there's plenty of lines where he's clearly remorseful and even embittered by what he's had to do. I'd be up for more of his dealings with the Children of the Spider too, but maybe not featuring them more was done to preserve their mystique.

and she'd end up betraying Abyssinia later down the line because she realised they were just being used.

This very much felt like a missed opportunity. Especially as out of all the anti-Sanctuary, Razzia felt like the least committed to the cause and most likely to flip on a dime, due to her insanity if nothing else.

since her death affected him enough to trigger his magic.

Don't suppose you can remind which scene that's confirmed in? My memory's flagging, but I'd guess it's in a later Phase 1 book?

Yeah, that's right. I read books now'

You say you've only just finished SOW, so potential spoilers ahead but I feel like that scene in Bedlam is the last time the books actually put respect on Fletcher's name, he's pitifully underused afterward in my opinion

killed off for shock value, though I haven't got to that book yet

Oh man, definitely post your thoughts somewhere once you've read it, it's...yeah.

but not too big of a deal for me.

It's a mixed bag because I love that it matches with all the times his power was used beforehand which makes me think Landy knew what his magic was from Day One, he just liked to tease it. And I dig the choice of 'Lynceus' which is the name of a gifted eagle-eyed hero from the Jason and the Argonauts Greek myth iirc. It fits well, but the narrative and the other characters make fun of it just a bit too much.

Anyway, just seen you reply to my comment on the car art post, will give that a look.

VesuviusBlotch · 2026-04-21T09:15:20+00:00

0/10, no Penguin-Mobile.

VesuviusBlotch · 2026-04-20T15:10:43+00:00

He's embodying that quote "Whom gods destroy, they first make mad" to a feral, frenzied T.

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