A Soul Full of Shadows

Skulduggery Pleasant #18

by Derek Landy

The bone-shaking new trilogy concludes – the latest adventure in the bestselling Skulduggery Pleasant series

Magical society is about to be torn in two.

With an island of sorcerers ready to cut themselves off from the rest of the world, a terrorist group enjoying unprecedented public support, and a looming showdown between her sister and the Child of the Ancients, Valkyrie Cain only has time to focus on her most immediate the daily fight to stay alive in a place where everyone wants to kill her.

This, once again, is the end.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Audiobook, Young Adult, Middle Grade

Kindle Edition

First published March 26, 2026

About the author

Derek Landy is an Irish writer and screenwriter. In addition to the bestselling children's/YA series of Skulduggery Pleasant books, a supernatural mystery series starring Skulduggery Pleasant, a skeleton detective, and Valkyrie Cain, a young female magician, he has written two screenplays that have been made into films: the IFTA award winning "Dead Bodies" and the IFTA nominated "Boy Eats Girl". Landy himself was nominated for an IFTA for Best Script.

He doesn’t like to brag about all the awards he’s won, such as the Irish Book of the Decade, or the Red House in the UK, or all the other awards that he humbly displays on his mantelpiece. He is also far too modest to mention things like the first book being a Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year, but would like to extend an invitation to Oprah to pop around one day for tea, in thanks for selecting his book for the Oprah’s Book Club Kids Reading List.

Derek plays too many video games, reads too many comics, and watches too many movies. He lives in Ireland with too many cats. Occasionally he talks to real people, but only when he absolutely has to.

Reviews

[chantalsbookstuff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always enjoy coming back to this magical world. Every time I think the series is done, another book comes out the next year. I’m not complaining though, because I really like these characters.

That said, it does feel like there’s only so much left to explore, and parts of the story are starting to feel a bit repetitive. Still, Skulduggery’s wit and banter always make it fun to read, and that’s what keeps me hooked.

Winter really stood out to me in this one. In the first half, she annoyed me a lot. I get that her past shaped who she is, but it felt like we had already been through that. Then something big happens in the second half, and her switch flips and she completely changes. After that, I found myself rooting for her. I wouldn’t mind exploring her character more if there’s another book.

[james · Rating 3 out of 5]

hey, derek. why did it not say “Skulduggery Pleasant will return”, derek. i know i keep saying you should let this die but i actually need this, derek. you don’t understand,
i NEED this.


worst one yet (i say this with every instalment since phase 2). but apart from the ruse that we kept up for way too long that even i, the biggest skeptic, got worried for a second there, this was just an average book. some boring parts interspersed with some funny parts (i did particularly enjoy the transformers joke). if this is actually, really, in all honesty where he wants to end this series.. i could not think of a more disappointing book to end it on. we could have gone out with a bang (book 9 or even 15) instead we are just quietly fizzling out and that’s the saddest thing.

[Bethany Fletcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This very much felt like an ending, lots of recaps and reminiscing about the great adventures we have had, the actual ending was hopeful and sweet and nice closure. But Landy definitely left room to continue the story if he chooses so who knows. Part of me wants it to be over, I do think the story is beating a dead horse at this point, but part of me hates to let go. I started these books when I was 10/11 and Valkyrie was 12 and now I am 30 and Val is 34 so I have grown with her and with these stories and as such it is hard to think it may be over. But all good things must come to an end and I think it is time.

The story is just as fun and action packed as it always has been. There is just as much sass and shenanigans as we have come to expect. Reading this was a great time and I am glad to have gone on this adventure.

[Kenna · Rating 1 out of 5]

keeping in mind there have been nights i couldnt sleep the past 2 years because i love this series so much, the writing in this one was offensively bad. the first third is just people explaining what happened the last 20 years, the second third is just people describing valkyrie (which is my job on tumblr so im feeling territorial ngl), and the last third is explaining everything that just happened. not a single interesting implication brought up since phase 2 has been explored!! god!!

[Moonie · Rating 1 out of 5]

fuuuuck this book.

huge waste of my time. convoluted bullshit with absolutely stupid bait and no consequences. god damn. I feel so stupid for reading it and even more stupid for being willing to read on. I thought phase 3 was pulling back on the huge scale pantheon shit and then this book is the worst example of it yet.

god. just infuriating and made me feel dumber and smaller for having even a crumb of hope after enjoying AMFOM & AHFOH.

[brib ꫂ❁ · Rating 5 out of 5]

mr landy, i need u to leave my boy ghastly out of ur schemes. please.

[muskaan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’ve been here for 12 years now. Have a tattoo for these books as well, if anyone wants my credentials (to understand just how numbing of an experience this was).

There were some moments that were genuinely good and funny. Skulduggery and Cadaver interactions are always a treat and did make me laugh out loud a few times (the chair plot was hilarious). The only issue is the entire book, when not considering those few glorious pages.

Phase 3 gave me a stupid amount of hope with AMFOM where I foolishly thought that for the first time in years, we had a book that felt like it was getting back to the phase 1 charm. Then AHFOH happened. And then… this.

ASFOS could not have possibly deviated more from the essence of the books that keeps people coming back: Skulduggery and Valkyrie, their partnership, their side-by-side mystery solving and sweet bantering. And yet, we spend just about the ENTIRE book with the two of them separated because apparently that’s been super well received before, right (*cough* Midnight).

The stakes could not be any lower, and Valkyrie’s non-death was the final nail in the (empty!) coffin. Ghastly Bespoke had a beautiful, impactful death in phase 1 but - surprise! - let’s bring him back and remove all impact from that loss and moment of genuinely good writing. China Sorrows loses her powers in a moment of rare selflessness but - surprise! - she gets to have them back now. Valkyrie Cain dies but - surprise! - no she’s not dead and can actually never die now. The amount of accumulating cop-outs all throughout phase 3 make it painfully clear that Derek has *a lot* of writing choices he regrets, which I’m sure has something to do with how this series keeps aimlessly trudging on. Considering that every year Derek relies on creating tension for his readers with the implication that Skulduggery and/or Valkyrie may not survive, I am shocked at how colossal of a mistake he’s made here with her immortality. A series suddenly devoid of consequences is very, very hard to remain invested in.

The first half of the book has very little impact, and no plot progression. There’s a whole lot of talking and that’s about it. And then Valkyrie “dies” so we get the next little bit of the book where, again, there’s a whole lot of talking and nothing actually going on. And then, bam, only about 50 pages left when Valkyrie is brought back to life. Finally, we end off with an explanation of an incredibly convoluted plot that was somehow orchestrated by Cadaver (if this feels familiar, it is! This is exactly what happened in AMFOM as well).

There’s a recycling plot issue here, and ironically, also an inability to remember to follow through with the plot (AMFOM ends with an explicit statement on how Skulduggery and Cadaver will have to face each other one day, and that only one would survive. The ASFOS cover is Cadaver, seemingly setting up for that final showdown. Nothing happens. But maybe this is addressed in phase 4 because we are obviously here forever and for some reason cannot conclude plot points in a timely, logical manner).

On that note, many of these issues pop up with Winter, who gets a very heavy presence in the book. The reckoning is introduced and has the classic end-all-be-all feel to it. The showdown between the Child of the Ancients and Faceless Ones’ has been mentioned numerous times in previous books so you’d think we’re building to something significant here, right? Anyway, Winter and Koa have a fun, silly idea to just not fight. We end with a shockingly convenient conclusion where it turns out Winter and Koa were right and did not need to kill each other at all, just like they hoped. Again, I would like to bring back my point of the stakes literally never being lower.

Additionally, it feels like a mistake to prioritize Winter this heavily - again, there’s truly one reason why people come back to these series, and if we hurtle towards a horror scenario (Winter spinoff), I fear this series will conclude with a Game of Thrones finale sort of indignation and rage. Which is genuinely very depressing, because this series once had the potential to end on a very high note (with book 9 and to a lesser extent with book 15).

Winter was not written to be a compelling character (her entire arc can be summarized into hating her sister), not that that matters at all, really - there is basically infinite proof out there that spin-off series without the main cast have a tendency to fail. I don’t know if this is going to happen - I pray it doesn’t - but Winter received a ridiculous amount of book-time in ASFOS and what really even happened in her chapters? Visits with the Witch Mother, grumbling about her sister, meeting the Child of the Ancients, grumbling about her sister, realizing Valkyrie died and oh wait, maybe I shouldn’t grumble about my sister anymore.

There was a rare instance in the last few pages of AHFOH where Winter became an interesting character and her motives began to feel understandable, and then we lost it entirely in ASFOS. Basically, I’m trying to say there was a brief moment of potential there for Winter to be more than just a character who’s entire purpose is to hate her sister and prop Valkyrie Cain up a little more, but. Anyway.

ASFOS TLDR; cop out, cop out, cop out, chair, Val Cain is immortal so nothing matters anymore, phase 4,5,6 and beyond, here we come, nothing here is sacred anymore

[Feyre · Rating 4 out of 5]

My gosh. Derek Landy really hates us, doesn't he? There were about 100 pages of pure agony in this. As for the rest?
I seem to have become lost in whatever he is cooking up. There are so many people and events that are strung together in a way that is just a little too confusing if you don't know the whole series by heart. This is my plea to simplify stuff a bit. Otherwise we get lots of things I love - the banter, the magic, the friendship...

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me cry and I will not be shamed for it

[Chappy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ill preface this review by saying as a stand alone skulduggery book i would've been happy with this one and been excited to start the next, it was full of laughs, adventure and heart stopping moments like all Skulduggery books.

As the last in the trilogy and potentially the end of skulduggery pleasant as we know it i must ask .. .. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME ??

BEYOND HERE THERE BE SPOILRERS!!!

knowing what we know now about Valkyrie by the end of the novel it turns out there was no danger for her......none, I thought the deletion aspect of Until the end was a cop out but OMG.... rewriting timelines, immortal characters and Cosmic entities just stinks of lazy writing and to use all these to end ANOTHER series is just awful.
3 stars, a good attempt but ultimately disappointed

[Friedrich Hagedorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing much to say here, loved it. I am loving it again and again. A bit scared that this will never end and maybe it will suffer once it goes triple digets.

[Laura Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best one yet!

[Ollie :D · Rating 4 out of 5]

i would like to point out that in this book a single character died, came back to life, died again, came back to life again, and that character wasn’t even the magical living skeleton..

[JT · Rating 4 out of 5]

Derek, you had me going there. I cried, laughed, I cried again. The final wrap-up felt a little contrived but it’s gotta be hard to end two decades of work, so I forgive you. I’ve grown up with Valkyrie and I just don’t know what I’ll do with myself now.

[michellescryingcorner · Rating 5 out of 5]

do NOT speak to me i am busy crying until my lungs collapse

[Daniel · Rating 1 out of 5]

God I feel so stupid because this book sucked so much ass, yet I know when Derek Landy’s rent is coming or something and he farts out another of these I’ll probably read that, too. It’s a real shame - this new series started quite well with a book that felt like a genuine, if imperfect, return to form. Any promise found there has been comfortably quashed. The sequel was a warning shot, but this was a tactical nuke.

Like a lot of people, this series was very formative to me. I was the right age, was into horror and fantasy and detective stories, and here was a book that combined all three with a decent mixture of humour and a well drawn cast of lively characters who, back then at least, seemed to actually want something. I maintain that the initial run of books is generally pretty decent, and the first one is particularly good for what it is. Obviously I have a lot of nostalgia wrapped up in it that makes it difficult for me to be unbiased, but when the mood strikes and I pick up one of those early books I’m not overcome with embarrassment, which says enough for me. It was a messy series, and no one would ever accuse Derek Landy of being a brilliant stylist, but it told a cohesive, relatively contained story with a beginning, middle and end. Like most YA fiction, it was a story (9 books!) about growing up, and while there’s nothing particularly original about that structure, the tone and world is still fairly singular.
And then he just kinda kept writing them. Some of the follow ups have been okay, even if the larger narrative became fairly incomprehensible. But if this truly is the end of the series (and I doubt it will be), then it really has added up to a wet fart.

Special mention the clowns, in what might be the single worst scene in this series 18 odd books.

[vee · Rating 4 out of 5]

i’ve spent most of the third gen complaining that characters from the other series just completely stop getting mentioned, even just to see what they’re up to now - and i did that for most of this book until the funeral scene and then i was like huh he did not bring them back in a super great way and it seemed just thrown in for the sake of it (i still cried tho)

the way Tier/Winter/Koa was done also felt really rushed to me?? but i think my biggest gripe of this one was that Fletcher was mentioned by name once and that Valkyrie did not seem to feel sad about him being gone at all - people just seemed to completely forget he ever even existed????

the clowns?????? what was the relevance?? what about the Wreath necromancers? - they just were not mentioned at all in this book. and the Witch Mother? i also feel like the character names are just becoming words instead of actual names and it makes it so hard to keep a track of them like yeah it’s cool to have characters named after words that describe them but what happened to some characters also having normal names plz

i do think the ending tying this trilogy together was pretty good and obviously i still love it because duh but i just think it has been one of the weakest of the entire franchise and he says he won’t do another but he’s left too many untied aspects of the story for that to really be true

and clearly my heart still doesn’t know the difference between being held at gun point and seeing billy-ray sanguines name written down on paper ♥️

[Dominique Beltran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okkkkkkk so this is a 3.5 because the ending is quite good

I have some qualms and my main one is that my favorite component of these books is the relationship between Skulduggery and Valkyrie and due to various plot related shenanigans, we only get that for like maybe a sixth of the book? Which causes lots of the book (and one particular storyline) to draggggg. If I’ve noticed anything about reading the whole 18 book series (plus a prequel, a graphic novel, and 2 spinoffs) is that for any character introduced after the original 9, Derek, in my opinion, just does not know how to make them interesting? I felt that way through most of the 6 books of series 2 with Omen, but then got a nice return to form with the first two books of this series being a very classic mystery where we follow the main duo, but this one goes back to following a specific boring character for half the book instead, which again, plot wise, makes sense but I didn’t enjoy reading. I smiled a couple times and laughed aloud once, which is a dangerously low number for this series.
That all said, I did really enjoy the ending and how it wraps up everything, changes things and leaves the door potentially open for more. It just drags too much in the middle, especially coming off two books that were a return to form, plus the prequel and spinoffs that do the same (also, was not expecting the prequel to be referenced so much in this one lol)
I don’t know if Derek plans on writing more, I’d always welcome a new one but 18 books (plus two spinoffs, a graphic novel, a prequel, a Grimoire, and a short story collection) over a nearly 20 year period is a lot and I’d be ok to see it rest. Luckily for me, if this is the final final book, I still have the short story collection to tackle so I’m not done yet (I’ve only read the OTHER 23 books in the series lol)

[Meri Amado · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh boy here we go again. Just finished reading the last book of the third phase of the SP saga, which clearly is not the last saga cause god forbid derek landy ties up all his plotlines on a single book.

Now. I reviewed the previous two books before this one and TL;DR quite liked the first one, was kinda okay with the second one and in general preferred phase 3 over phase 2 and its billion different POV's. This last book at least follows the course correction and mainly shows Valkyrie, Winter and Taniths povs, which is good cause they're all characters i like and am interested in. But this book kinda pissed me off guys.

Firstly and the main reason it pissed me off: Skulduggery and Valkyrie hardly spend time together in the book. HELLO???? WHY TF WOULD YOU DO THIS???? I swear this new direction derek took with their relationship, where he just wants to make it sooo clear to us that they're toxic and codependent and unhealthy, and because of this apparently we can't have them together for too long, is so obnoxious. Of course they are toxic and codependent and unhealthy derek, THAT'S WHY I KEEP ON READING THE BOOKS. I'm sick and tired of the story giving them less and less screen time together in its effort to try to correct essentially all of phase 1, and yet not even fully commiting to this by reminding us every 200 pages or so that yeah, Skulduggery and Valkyrie are still as insane about the other as always, we just get to see much less of them. Which absolutely sucks. By far my biggest gripe with the story so far.

The other thing that made me almost drop the book in exasperation was the whole disaster with everything about Valkyrie's "death". First of all, who do you think you're fooling? Of couse she was gonna come back somehow, so having me go through the motions of everyones reaction and shock and tears and the "meaningful" conversations, and the funeral, and look guys it's scapegrace! Didn't you like scapegrace?? Look it's dexter vex! Am i going to give him something to do? Of course not! It was agony tbh. Second of all, it actually finally made me dislike Militsa, cause what to you mean she's suddenly coming along on the mission and we're justifying it by saying we need an expert in stealth so, umm, shadows. Don't piss me off! It's obvious she was just brought along so that Valkyrie could sacrifice herself and die her meaningless death man. Plus the absolutely vile and despicable things she says to Winter just after her sisters death?? WTF?? You just made me despise a character you want me to like derek! In a single scene! I'm almost impressed! All of this isn't helped by the fact Militsa's character, despite appearing in seven books now, still remains as deep as a paper bag, as complex as a rock and as interesting as watching drying paint. She's still, after everything, just Valkyries Girlfriend (except she got a promotion and is now just Valkyries Wife).

Moving onto things i did like, Cadavers here again! Thank god! I still really like him, to no ones surprise, and i wish we'd seen more of him. Such a shame he dropped off the face of the earth in the middle of the book tho, with no explanation as to why, but i guess we just needed space for more interesting characters, like Militsa for example (god fucking damn it).

I also still like Winter as a secondary protagonist more than i ever liked Omen, and i like the evolution of her character and her personality, even if she still remains surrounded by wet pieces of cardboard masquerading as characters. And i hate her forced and rushed romantic subplot with Koa fucking Koa. Also i skipped her fight scene with boring antagonists #1 to #4, sorry not sorry.

This is just a complaint with phase 3 in general cause guys? Did i just hallucinate that Skulduggery's siblings returned at the end of phase 2? Weren't we teased with more information about them?? Am i going crazy?! An entire saga has passed without a single mention of Skulduggery's siblings and i think i'm gonna eat the plaster in my walls cause in what universe is dealing with the eighteenth world-ending plotline more interesting than getting to know more about Skulduggery!? (and don't mention his 20 fucking grandchildren istg). Also i guess no one else apart from Valkyrie and China will ever find out about Skulduggery being Lord Vile, cause i guess interesting ideas are out of the question now apparently. Who knows if they'll ever be back.

I still love the Skulduggery Pleasant books. I love Skulduggery. I love Valkyrie. I love the two of them together. I don't think i'll ever stop loving them, no matter what. This series still means so much to me. I loved the moments we got of the two of them in this book, even if there were fewer than i would've liked. Phase 3 started out of pretty strong, and even though the structure and focus in comparison with phase 2 improved a lot, i'm afraid to say it kinda stumbled in its landing. I just want more of Skulduggery and Valkyrie, is that too much to ask?

TL;DR:

4/10 cause not even half of the book had the two protagonists together.

6/10 for phase 3. you glimpsed the spark, but it vanished when you reached out for it.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is the first time in Years i’ve read one of these with the preceding book fresh in my brain. it does help with context and the like

anyway. as always this is fuuuuuun. the power scaling thing is like. it’s becoming an issue. i’m not opposed to the increasing threat of eldritch gods because that’s been present in the series since the inception but i do wish it like. felt a bit more like part of the world rather than an excuse to increase a new mysterious villain as the plot demands. not to mention valkyrie’s new deal. i also wish we got to play with some of the social implications (such as the Government Funding Terrorist Groups) a bit more but like. skulduggery and valkyrie truly don’t have time for all that there’s other stuff going On. but despite it all it’s fun it’s very easy to read and there were some really good skullduggery+valkyrie Moments and that is as ever all i want from these

[XOX]

Valkyrie is in prison because she killed a mortal. The reason she did it is because of her sister Winter. 

Winter is a horrible sister. She tried to take revenge on the mortal who killed her before the great reset. Valkyrie killed him because she didn't want her sister to be a killer. 

Valkyrie wasn't having a good time in jail. 

Skulduggery is handling his work with the Isolandists 

Winter is not forgiving Valkyrie for making the decision for her when she tried to kill her killer. 

Winter also asked to fight to the death with the child of the ancient one. 

The story is really good in making fun of the destiny plot. It is stupid and the story shows how anyone with critical thinking could find it ridiculous. 

There is more danger in the undercurrent. The son of the devil is also working on a big plan. The writer is really good in poking fun at the great evil plan. 

Excellent plots and it is a really fun ride. 

5 stars read. 

[Hanna F · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, we are so deep into the Skulduggery Pleasant series at this point that my bookshelf is basically groaning under the weight of them. You’d think series fatigue would be a thing by now, but nope. Every single time a new book drops, I inhale it and instantly just want 20 more.
It always comes down to the banter. The wit, the elite-tier sarcasm, the sheer chaos of it literally never gets old. I read a ton, but this is straight-up the only book that actually makes me laugh out loud in real life. Skulduggery and Valkyrie could be doing literally nothing and I'd still be fully invested.
If Derek Landy wants to write 20 more of these, my bank account and my shelf space are ready. Keep them coming.

[Michael O'Donoghue · Rating 2 out of 5]

Checked out of the series, bye bye

[Sebastian Castellen · Rating 1 out of 5]

The skulduggery from a few books would shoot the skulduggery from here . ALSO I WAS ROBBED OF MR AND MS CAIN in prison scenes

[Annie Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

this series somehow gets better and better
only derek landy can kill off the main character and have me completely believe it

[grá · Rating 2 out of 5]

objectively, I know this book was mediocre at best. that being said I did pull an all nighter to finish it and it did have me sobbing at 5 in the morning

[Liv · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

yes technically this is considered a childrens book but ive been reading this series since i was ten i cant stop now

[Jasmin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This had better not be the end 😭😭😭

[ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

if this is how the series ends, I'm happy with that

[Emma Penn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Derek keeps writing and all I can do is keep reading. Im assuming there will be another. There's too many questions left unanswered