SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT

This production is exactly the reason young adult fantasy fare can work so well as audio entertainment. Narrator Rupert Degas will be known to fans of Philip Pullman as Pantalaimon in the audios of His Dark Materials, and he does a bang-up job here as well. This is dark comic fantasy, and Degas’s timing and complete grasp of the main character’s personality couldn’t be better. Skulduggery is the ultimate undead; in fact, he’s just a skeleton. This does not stop him from being a deadly fighter or a snappy dresser. In this first episode, Skulduggery steps in to help the niece of an old friend who unwittingly has something a group of evil magicians badly needs. What sets the story apart is Degas’s deadpan delivery with a hint of rumbling laughter. Here is a hero we soon find ourselves immensely attached to. Bring us more Skulduggery! D.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 07/ JAN 08]