Hell Breaks Loose

What I’m Reading

My 56th read of the year was Hell Breaks Loose By Derek Landy, a book set 300 years before the events of the rest of this Skulduggery series.

You can read my review of the whole Skulduggery series here

A plot summary attempt

General premise of the Skulduggery series: A skeleton detective and his partner Valkyrie Cain save the world multiple times but they are both a little morally grey and the author is very happy to put his characters through absolute hell.

This story is set just a few years after the events that lead to Skulduggery becoming a living skeleton and watched his wife and child murdered in front of him. So he’s understandably a little… fucked up. This is during the height of the war with Mevolent, Skulduggery the Dead Men, an elite group of soldiers who are infamous for doing impossible missions, have been sent to stop Mevolent opening a portal to another realm. Then, their mission is suddenly changed to saving Mevolent’s life, so that he close the portal once he realises it’s too dangerous. Things quickly go wrong and we learn that Valkyrie has come back from the future (after the events of book 15), came back to prevent another time traveller from changing the timeline but all her efforts are in vain as things quickly unravel.

What did I think?

I enjoyed this (but then, I always love Derek Landy’s books). It’s a nice short little book and a nice glimpse into the lives of the deadmen, hundreds of years before we meet them in the Skulduggery series. I like how Skulduggery and Valkyrie slip into their natural banter and that it confuses Skulduggery (who obviously hasn’t met Valkyrie yet in his timeline), just proves the whole platonic soulmate vibes they have as characters.

If you have’t read the rest of Skulduggery I’m not sure this book would make a lot of sense to you but as it’s so short, it might work as a nice little snap shot into the world? Although, there are potentially a few spoilers in here, so if you really want to read them, maybe not? If you’re a fan of the series though, this is definitely one to pick up.

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