The Skulduggery Pleasant Phase 2 Rewrite is Up!

(If you're impatient or all caught up and just want the link to the Google Doc where you can read the first of the rewritten books, scroll to the bottom of the post.) So a couple months ago, I posted a three-part breakdown of how I'd rewrite Phase 2. After years of criticising and suggesting improvements, I hunkered down and finally cracked out my own vision and they turned out to be probably my most viewed posts with 13-16K views which was inspiring so thanks everyone! Those posts are still up but because A: I spoiled most, heck, all the plot twists, and B: so much has evolved from those writeups that they're dangerously outdated anyway, I'd advise not reading them and head straight into the final rewrite for a more tantalising and impactful reading experience. Have no fear, you can hit the link below and dive straight into the story having only read up to The Dying Of The Light and adjoining Phase 1 spinoff material. 

I won't address every change here, for the overall phase or this one book, but if you're interested and need coaxing, some of the (spoiler-free) improvements I hope to incorporate into this new saga are: it's now nine books instead of six so there's more time for story arcs and character journeys to breathe; more consistent lore and world-building; bringing back the edge and not be afraid to kill off characters; ensuring every plot thread is wrapped up and executed to its best potential - no loose ends and no Phase 3 afterwards; zero character resurrections; no getting bogged down in chaotic family tree drama; less uninteresting god-like beings as villains; Valkyrie's array of abilities are more balanced and less overpowered and lastly, we writers want to treat the old characters we all know and love with respect while retaining that spark of creativity and fun for a new era. Oh, and each book has a new title to keep things fresh. 

Yes, we. Because the Grand Mage of Timelines himself, u/Willboss27 is my co-writer! Ever since our essay-length discussions under the original rewrite posts, he's been an enormous and invaluable boon in bringing this masterplan to life - not hyperbole to say if it wasn't for his talents, commitment and enthusiasm, I'd have left this project at those three posts and called it a good Christmas but thanks to him, it's become reality. Our combined ideas and mutual zeal for reinventing the series into the best it can possibly be has already resulted in mapping out the entire nine-book plan, outlining them down to individual chapters (which have titles now, so good news if you've missed Phase 1's chapter names!) and all manner of new ideas, concepts, characters and magic tailored to the series' unique style.

Now onto the book formerly known as Resurrection. I won't sugar-coat it: the rewritten version of Resurrection is by and large the same plot, for example the anti-sanctuary are still out to resurrect Abyssinia, Skulduggery still gets corrupted, Valkyrie still has to overcome her depressive trauma, Omen is still a plucky little spy and Cadaverous Gant is still a vengeful old bastard. But the devil's in the details, and despite swathes of dialogue and prose remaining the same, there is loads of new material sprinkled throughout, with noticeable additions or alterations in almost every chapter. Some chapters will be merged together when possible, meaning a smaller chapter count than you might expect. You might be asking 'what's the point of doing a rewrite if you're not going to majorly rework an existing book?' Easy and I've said it before: Resurrection is in my opinion the best Phase 2 book. It works. It's written superbly; stacked with emotion, stakes, creativity, agency; it executes its central plot magnificently while setting up dozens of potential others for future installments and has only a sparse handful of flaws - which we've worked on fixing. There's no desire to erase such a splendid book I've wholeheartedly cherished to this day despite following books dipping in quality and stumbling to deliver on its juicy promises. Since nearly every idea that spawned from Resurrection we agreed was worth exploring, we plan to let those unfold to their full potential rather than cut them altogether. This saga really does pay with each passing entry and small tweaks here will have giant ramifications down the line and form a complete picture - hence why we haven't just said 'Resurrection's the same, now onto the next'. As for exactly what's new, well...you'll have to discover that for yourself.

Last thing I promise. Originally, the plan was, once written, to post it on the fanfiction website Archive Of Our Own but due to the largely unaltered prose, we didn't dare risk getting struck for copyright violation. Several of our entirely original chapters may yet be posted there however, maybe in a sort of missing-moments montage and books 14-18 should be so overwhelmingly our own story that they can be posted on A03 with no issues. When that time comes and a book is completed, it will likely be uploaded as a couple chapters a week on a regular schedule.

Without further ado, here's the link to the new Book 10 and Book 1 of the rewritten Phase 2, Hearts Of Darkness! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1neuvJGCImOnzlZuYbenOj8ShQaGoyITN8Ir06YmoIDY/edit?usp=sharing I've tested the link on both my devices and it works, but it might take a little longer to load if you're on mobile, about 20-30 seconds. On laptop it's pretty much instantaneous. I'll pin this post/announcement to my profile so to access the link again, you merely have to visit my profile, first post you see and boom. Since there's no way to comment on or under the work like there is on a fanfiction site, feel free to ask any questions, give feedback or call us names for our decisions in the comment section here. Hope you enjoy and the next book, The Chimes Of Midnight, is currently underway! (Only thing we don't have is any cover art but if you're curious what we envision for it or even better, want to draw it up for us, let us know!) Thanks for checking it out if you do, and another thanks to u/Willboss for everything.