Fantasy

Dead or Alive

Dead or Alive

  • Downloads：2016
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-04-19 11:51:05
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Derek Landy
  • ISBN：0008420017
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

Skulduggery， Valkyrie and Omen return in the 14th and penultimate novel in the internationally bestselling Skulduggery Pleasant series - and their most epic test yet。。。

In a matter of days， the world will change。

Billions of lives will be wiped away in a final， desperate search for the Child of the Faceless Ones - she who is destined to bring about the return of humankind's ancient overlords。

To prevent this， Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain have one last - terrible - option: the assassination of Damocles Creed。 With protests stirring in the magical city of Roarhaven， with riots and revolutions on the horizon， Valkyrie must decide who she wants to be: the hero who risks everything for a noble ideal， or the killer who sacrifices her own soul for the fate of humanity。

The decision must be made， and time is running out。

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Reviews

J。 Taylor ，

3。5 I miss my chaotic， psycho faves。 These villains did just not do it for me。 I flew through this and it was highly enjoyable but it lacked too much， the ending was like haven't we seen this before and I just miss when my chaotic， psycho faves just made the book for me。 3。5 I miss my chaotic， psycho faves。 These villains did just not do it for me。 I flew through this and it was highly enjoyable but it lacked too much， the ending was like haven't we seen this before and I just miss when my chaotic， psycho faves just made the book for me。 。。。more

Romana ，

Dun dun duuuunnn

Cerys Highams ，

Everything I wanted and more， witty dialogue， great sarcastic humour， character and storyline development and a plot twist even I didn’t see coming after 14 books， can’t wait for the final one to see how it all gets tied up！

Georgina Monk ，

What an enjoyable mess。

Rachel ，

5 stars。 As usual， this series is amazing。 I love these characters so much。 Derek Landy's writing is always incredible and he makes me laugh so much。 I really loved the introduction of Cadaver Cain。 VERY interesting idea。 Wasn't expecting that at all。 I adore Omen， as always。 The ending has me so intrigued。 I'm so excited for the final book， but I also don't want it to come out because then the series will be over。 I'm going to be an emotional wreck when this series is finished。 It means so so m 5 stars。 As usual， this series is amazing。 I love these characters so much。 Derek Landy's writing is always incredible and he makes me laugh so much。 I really loved the introduction of Cadaver Cain。 VERY interesting idea。 Wasn't expecting that at all。 I adore Omen， as always。 The ending has me so intrigued。 I'm so excited for the final book， but I also don't want it to come out because then the series will be over。 I'm going to be an emotional wreck when this series is finished。 It means so so much to me。 。。。more

Grüffeline ，

4。5 🌟What the Hell Dimension？！ That ending is pure torture！ 😭😭😭 Rtc

Kyle ，

4。5🌟I don't know where to start， I really don't。This book is a mess， I'm pretty sure you could drive the Bentley through some of the plot holes and grab hold of the loose threads and climb up themDid I enjoy this？？ Hell yeah。Am I excited for the last book of phrase two？？ Yes！！I'm going to start backwards and talk about the end （no spoilers） because honestly I finished this last night and had to sleep on it。 The end is very WTF， it's a cliffhanger， I actually had to check if I had missed anything 4。5🌟I don't know where to start， I really don't。This book is a mess， I'm pretty sure you could drive the Bentley through some of the plot holes and grab hold of the loose threads and climb up themDid I enjoy this？？ Hell yeah。Am I excited for the last book of phrase two？？ Yes！！I'm going to start backwards and talk about the end （no spoilers） because honestly I finished this last night and had to sleep on it。 The end is very WTF， it's a cliffhanger， I actually had to check if I had missed anything because it felt so odd。 But at the same time， this is exactly how I felt with Last Stand of Dead Men and I'm living for it。I'm invested in this series and I just adore the characters so much。In my Seasons of War review I said Omen was becoming one of my favourites and I still stand by this， and I swear to God he better survive the next book。 Child Darquesse is honestly I wild ride and I love how she develops throughout this 。。。more

Becca Howell ，

Um what happened right now right here on this day

Emily Nagle ，

This may be the strongest instalment in Phase 2 so far。 This book definitely remedied the issues I had the the previous book。 This was fast paced， action packed， bloody， gritty， and virtually every page was filled with Landy’s incredible quick wit。 There were a dozen moments that made me laugh aloud。 Valkyrie and Skulduggery were flawless， as ever。Omen remains for me my favourite character of Phase 2。 He’s so vulnerable and kind， so modest and entirely unassuming。 He’s the perfect not-really-a-h This may be the strongest instalment in Phase 2 so far。 This book definitely remedied the issues I had the the previous book。 This was fast paced， action packed， bloody， gritty， and virtually every page was filled with Landy’s incredible quick wit。 There were a dozen moments that made me laugh aloud。 Valkyrie and Skulduggery were flawless， as ever。Omen remains for me my favourite character of Phase 2。 He’s so vulnerable and kind， so modest and entirely unassuming。 He’s the perfect not-really-a-hero character。 He’s got a good heart， and he just shines as the kid who isn’t really sure he wants to be involved in the chaos， but tries his hardest。 He so easily could be the kid who’s jealous of his brother’s importance， the kid who wants to better him。 Instead， Omen is happiest in the background， though that’s not always the case。 The plot twists caught me off guard， as they always do with Landy’s writing。 Highly enjoyed it :） 。。。more

Agent_bugs ，

I enjoy this series， I really do， but I think the last time I actually felt the same love for this as I did originally was an Omen storyline a few books ago。 I think， personally， there are so many storylines going on that I find it hard to get invested in the characters as much as I used to。 It doesn't help that certain characters have ridiculous plot armour。 Also there were a few subplots which could have honestly been pared down into a few lines of exposition which would have really helped the I enjoy this series， I really do， but I think the last time I actually felt the same love for this as I did originally was an Omen storyline a few books ago。 I think， personally， there are so many storylines going on that I find it hard to get invested in the characters as much as I used to。 It doesn't help that certain characters have ridiculous plot armour。 Also there were a few subplots which could have honestly been pared down into a few lines of exposition which would have really helped the pacing。 Oh well， here's looking forward to the Grimoire coming out later this year :） 。。。more

Daphne Belderol ，

The ending was unexpected。 This time， I focused on crepuscular and omen。 I wonder what'll happen to auger。 Cadaver is unpredictable。 Ohh， I liked the harpy。 Militsa and coda fight scene and the consequences。 The ending was unexpected。 This time， I focused on crepuscular and omen。 I wonder what'll happen to auger。 Cadaver is unpredictable。 Ohh， I liked the harpy。 Militsa and coda fight scene and the consequences。 。。。more

Kaya ，

Landy has done it again。 Action packed， full of adventure， wit and humour with a twist of the knife to provide that emotional soul crushing kick just before it's all over。 Genuinely believe he is a chaos god。  Landy has done it again。 Action packed， full of adventure， wit and humour with a twist of the knife to provide that emotional soul crushing kick just before it's all over。 Genuinely believe he is a chaos god。  。。。more

Evie ，

I found this book even better than the last！ I find it increasingly shocking how the quality of these books keep getting better and better。 I loved the return to Roarhaven and how the themes of time travel and faceless ones have returned to this beloved series。 I always have a good time reading these books and this one was no exception: 5 out of 5 stars！ Practically flawless。

Isaac ，

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA？？？4。5 stars。（view spoiler）[I'm SO MAD about Danny's death！ I thought of all people he would be safe， as he has nothing to do with anything going on。 But no。 He dies for no reason。 I'm fucking livid。How the hell is Creed maintaining power when China has come back？ He was the ACTING supreme mage， standing in for her until she came back。 He can't keep his position without admitting to the entire world that he's a dictator。I feel so bad for Omen。 And for Auger too， obviously。And V AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA？？？4。5 stars。（view spoiler）[I'm SO MAD about Danny's death！ I thought of all people he would be safe， as he has nothing to do with anything going on。 But no。 He dies for no reason。 I'm fucking livid。How the hell is Creed maintaining power when China has come back？ He was the ACTING supreme mage， standing in for her until she came back。 He can't keep his position without admitting to the entire world that he's a dictator。I feel so bad for Omen。 And for Auger too， obviously。And Valkyrie is on the side of the Faceless Ones now？？ FUCKING FUCK。 （hide spoiler）] 。。。more

yasmin ，

（4。5） this book had be cACKling and also confused？

Lizzy Bennet ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 First of all， I love it so much as a Skulduggery Pleasant super fan and I Skulduggery + Valkyrie duologues just make me happy。 But I cannot believe Militisa and Valkyrie break up！？！？ And the Quell drama （I did not see that coming） and I was so expecting Darquesse to save the world from Cadaver and Creed but it was Valkyrie becoming the Child of the Faceless ones！ Oh and I did love the bit when Valkyrie does astral projection back in time the second time and Tanith is like a child。 GO TANITH。 I c First of all， I love it so much as a Skulduggery Pleasant super fan and I Skulduggery + Valkyrie duologues just make me happy。 But I cannot believe Militisa and Valkyrie break up！？！？ And the Quell drama （I did not see that coming） and I was so expecting Darquesse to save the world from Cadaver and Creed but it was Valkyrie becoming the Child of the Faceless ones！ Oh and I did love the bit when Valkyrie does astral projection back in time the second time and Tanith is like a child。 GO TANITH。 I cannot wait for the next one， I want to know is what Derek Landy has up his sleeve for us next time。。。 。。。more

Virtue Suave ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 After I had finished this book， a question just randomly popped into my head that I hadn't thought before。 Since we found out that Val is actually the child of the FACELESS ONES and not the child of the ANCIENTS， Derek hasn't told us who REALLY is the child of the ancients （the person who is killed by Malice）。 We were told in the book a that he was a male and he had extraordinary powers， but unfortunately not enough to stop his nemesis Malice。And then the most probable answer suddenly came to me After I had finished this book， a question just randomly popped into my head that I hadn't thought before。 Since we found out that Val is actually the child of the FACELESS ONES and not the child of the ANCIENTS， Derek hasn't told us who REALLY is the child of the ancients （the person who is killed by Malice）。 We were told in the book a that he was a male and he had extraordinary powers， but unfortunately not enough to stop his nemesis Malice。And then the most probable answer suddenly came to me。 In the last few books in the series， we were randomly introduced to a boy in secondary school who gradually became more and more important。This boy is called Omen Darkly and he is the twin brother to Auger Darkly。 His twin was born a few seconds earlier than him but them few seconds made all the difference to the lives they would each lead。 Since Auger was the first-born， he was destined to kill the King of the darklands who happens to be Mevolent's mentor， The Unnamed。 Omen was always forced to live in his brother's shadow even if he always said that he didn't mind。Omen is shown as an average sorcerer yet to go through his surge。 It's quite likely that the random reason Omen Darkly was introduced in to the series is because HE is the child of the ancients。Remember， this review only conveys my thoughts and opinions and NONE OF THIS has been confirmed by the humble， modest writer that all of his readers love， the one and only: DEREK LANDY！ 😇😇😇 。。。more

Amybowen ，

All I can say is OMG！！！！！！！！！

Chapterbychapter ，

This series makes me realise that if I want to be cool I need to punch people in the face。

Meekaeel Foladi ，

Idk how to feel about the last couple chapters

Samantha Simmons ，

A Marvellous Rollercoaster

Hannah Schofield ，

I read this book with a massive smile on my face。 It had all the humour， action and sometimes heartbreak that I love about the skulduggery pleasant books。 You can tell how much Landy loves writing them and it really shows in every book he does。 They're funny， heartfelt and just an absolute joy to read。 The characters feel like old friends now and I will never tire of following their exploits。 I do feel that this one， like its predecessor， had a bit too much going on which made it a little hard t I read this book with a massive smile on my face。 It had all the humour， action and sometimes heartbreak that I love about the skulduggery pleasant books。 You can tell how much Landy loves writing them and it really shows in every book he does。 They're funny， heartfelt and just an absolute joy to read。 The characters feel like old friends now and I will never tire of following their exploits。 I do feel that this one， like its predecessor， had a bit too much going on which made it a little hard to follow at times， but I still loved reading it and I cannot wait until the next one。 I absolutely love these books！ 。。。more

Annie ，

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader。 Dead or Alive is the 14th （and apparently penultimate） Skulduggery Pleasant adventure by Derek Landy。 Due out 6th April 2021 from Harper Collins on their Harper360 imprint， it's a whopping 608 pages and will be available in paperback， audio， and ebook formats。 It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout。 I've really become enamored of ebooks with interacti Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader。 Dead or Alive is the 14th （and apparently penultimate） Skulduggery Pleasant adventure by Derek Landy。 Due out 6th April 2021 from Harper Collins on their Harper360 imprint， it's a whopping 608 pages and will be available in paperback， audio， and ebook formats。 It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout。 I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately。 For fans who are already readers of the series， this adventure is more of the same and is a welcome addition to this "doorstop brick" fantasy series。 The books are all roughly 600（ish） pages and full of puns and slapstick battles and sleazy slightly ridiculous bad guys and of course Skullduggery himself along with sarcastic and angsty teen sidekick Valkyrie。 For readers who are not familiar with the series， the books （and this one in particular） don't really work well as standalone stories。 There's a *lot* of continuity involved with the characters and their development and coming into book 14 blind will likely prove to be a frustrating slog。 I would recommend picking up at least the first book and seeing if it's a good fit before investing in the mammoth task of consecutively binge reading the whole series。 Although this is listed as a YA selection， it felt more genre spanning and will likely pick up a fair number of SF/fantasy fans。 I am not much of a squeeing fangirl and find that I have a surprisingly low threshold for sarcastic snappy dialogue （such as Harry Dresden， Hearne's Iron Druid， others in the same subgenre）。 I will say that the plotting and story arc are well put together and despite the page count， didn't strike me as suffering from book bloat。 There's always something happening and there wasn't much which was superfluous to the story。 The language is relatively clean （a few instances of damn and bloody， nothing worse）。 All in all for me personally three and a half stars， rounded up for the quality of the writing。 For current fans of the series， the rating will be highers。 Fans of the first books will love this one too。Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes。 。。。more

Jade ，

Ahhhahahaha THIS WAS FUN。 FIRST P2 BOOK WHERE VAL & SKUL WE'RE NOT SEPERATED AN ABSOLUTE DELIGHT。 Didn't make a lick of sense but oh boy did I have a hoot。 PRAISE BE THIS CHAOTIC TOME 💀💪🎉 Ahhhahahaha THIS WAS FUN。 FIRST P2 BOOK WHERE VAL & SKUL WE'RE NOT SEPERATED AN ABSOLUTE DELIGHT。 Didn't make a lick of sense but oh boy did I have a hoot。 PRAISE BE THIS CHAOTIC TOME 💀💪🎉 。。。more

Sarah Young ，

This book was actually bad and I'm suing Derek for making me read all 600 odd pages of it I didn't deserve that This book was actually bad and I'm suing Derek for making me read all 600 odd pages of it I didn't deserve that 。。。more

Jonathan ，

Another year， another bone book。 Bane of my existence。Every year I take publication day off to obsessively read the new book of this book series I've been reading since 2008 and which has arguably been going downhill ever since Phase 2 was announced。What is motivating me？ Is it nostalgia？ Is it the few crumbs of Valduggery that are sporadically thrown in as a treat for my shipper heart？This year I didn't read it on publication day。 I read it on the two days after publication day。 Nature is heali Another year， another bone book。 Bane of my existence。Every year I take publication day off to obsessively read the new book of this book series I've been reading since 2008 and which has arguably been going downhill ever since Phase 2 was announced。What is motivating me？ Is it nostalgia？ Is it the few crumbs of Valduggery that are sporadically thrown in as a treat for my shipper heart？This year I didn't read it on publication day。 I read it on the two days after publication day。 Nature is healing。 I might finally be free。That being said， I had a lot of fun reading Dead or Alive。 The high I felt reading Seasons of War was yet back again and I was just enjoying myself immensely， giggling like an idiot and screaming at the important parts （CADAVER WHAT'S UP MY LOVE）。 Even Omen wasn't annoying and I also enjoyed Sebastian Tao's chapters。Nostalgia sure is a drug。The last 100 pages or so weren't as good as the first 500 though and I have no idea how Landy is going to end it next year with what， allegedly， is going to be the last book。 Haha。 Phase 3， here we come。 。。。more

IsaJameela ，

OH。 MY。 GOD。 This book was AMAZING。 It was so funny but it also deals with serious things like trauma in a tactful way。 There was time travel， which I was not prepared for but I still enjoyed。 We got to see a completely different Auger which I LOVED。 We didn't get enough Temper or Tanith for my liking but there was still a good amount。 I have to say that I did predict what was going to be the thing they were searching for。 To me， it was kind of obvious。 The whole plot with Coda Quell is kind of OH。 MY。 GOD。 This book was AMAZING。 It was so funny but it also deals with serious things like trauma in a tactful way。 There was time travel， which I was not prepared for but I still enjoyed。 We got to see a completely different Auger which I LOVED。 We didn't get enough Temper or Tanith for my liking but there was still a good amount。 I have to say that I did predict what was going to be the thing they were searching for。 To me， it was kind of obvious。 The whole plot with Coda Quell is kind of irrelevant and added something like fifty pages that weren't needed。 I really enjoyed child Darquesse。 Really enjoyed。 It was just really cute and funny。 I liked the idea of Féile na Draíochta。 It was kind of interesting， and I'd like to find out in the future about how it actually happens。 You should DEFINITELY read this book。 I mean maybe read the other ones first， BUT IT WAS SO GOOD。 READ IT。 。。。more

Moonie ，

A certified disaster of a book with absolutely nonsensical plot lines that amount to those Hot Topic edits of Disney characters。And I loved every minute。 I know honestly that there is so much bizarro crap in this book it should be knocked down a few pegs， and the fact it just straight up does not pick up on like。。。。 ANY of the dangling plot threads of SOW （mevolent and serafina！ serpine！ the refugees！ 。。。。 even the omen/never/auger drama！！！） means that I may be very alone in my positive opinion， A certified disaster of a book with absolutely nonsensical plot lines that amount to those Hot Topic edits of Disney characters。And I loved every minute。 I know honestly that there is so much bizarro crap in this book it should be knocked down a few pegs， and the fact it just straight up does not pick up on like。。。。 ANY of the dangling plot threads of SOW （mevolent and serafina！ serpine！ the refugees！ 。。。。 even the omen/never/auger drama！！！） means that I may be very alone in my positive opinion， but I had a blast。 I ask for so little。 （I ask literally only for val/skul interactions。）It was so much FUN。 I laughed and smiled the whole time。 And ok I have to mention her every review but （BIG SIGH） 。。。。 militsa was actually pretty good in this one， as was her relationship in Valkyrie。 she finally felt like a person and not a parking meter that says pet names when you put coins in her。 I liked what she did， what she said， how she acted， and did not spend her every appearance scowling at how horribly she was written。 that being said。。。 well。。。。。。。。。 ;）As for a new character - I guess I gotta call them CC， lmao - OH MY DELIGHTFUL LOVE OF MY LIFE。 I can’t believe I went without you for so long， baby。 please please please be in 15 even if it makes no damn sense I have no idea how he’s going to wrap this up in one book so get ready for the phase 3 announcement I guess lmao I have faith in the grimoire now so catch me in 2 months being a clown！！！ AGAIN！ ps: remember when Derek insisted they weren’t holding hands on the American cover and then they held hands like 3x in the book？ good times。 good times。 。。。more

Hannah ，

she's an ABSOLUTE MESS but we LOVE HER， okay？？？？ she's an ABSOLUTE MESS but we LOVE HER， okay？？？？ 。。。more

Helen ，

HmmmmmmmmmReview to come！！

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Dead or Alive

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Dead or Alive&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Dead or Alive&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0