Playing with Fire
core novel 2008 Skulduggery Pleasant
Record
| First published | 2008 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.29 (35,806 ratings, collected 2026-08-26) |
| Page count | 389 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780007257034 |
| Internal chronology | 2 |
Synopsis
In Playing with Fire, the second novel of the series by Irish writer Derek Landy, sorcerer-detectives Valkyrie Cain and Skulduggery Pleasant continue investigating threats to the hidden magical world they navigate together. They learn that Baron Vengeous, a war criminal and an old enemy of Skulduggery's, is working to resurrect the Grotesquery, a monster assembled from the remains of a Faceless One, as the means to open a path for the Faceless Ones to return. Valkyrie and Skulduggery, joined once again by allies such as Ghastly Bespoke and Tanith Low, must track Vengeous and his followers before the ritual can be completed, all while Valkyrie keeps managing her double life between ordinary family obligations and the sorcerous underworld. The investigation draws them through fast-moving chases and confrontations with old and new adversaries as the stakes of the Faceless Ones' possible return grow clearer.
Where it sits
- Universe: Skulduggery Pleasant
- Series: The Skulduggery Pleasant main sequence core; position 2 of 18 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Derek Landy
Notes
- From the series record (The Skulduggery Pleasant main sequence): The main numbered sequence concluded with A Soul Full of Shadows (2026); several companion novellas and short-story collections in the same setting exist but are not catalogued in this admission.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.
- Reading order, within the series The Skulduggery Pleasant main sequence: position 2 of 18: previous Skulduggery Pleasant (2007) · next The Faceless Ones (2009)
Sources
- FantasticFiction: Derek Landy, Skulduggery Pleasant
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skulduggery_Pleasant:_Playing_with_Fire
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