Thursday, May 5, 2011

Divergent

The cover is finished! The cover is finished! Are you ready to see it? Are you??

Well, unfortunately I don’t ACTUALLY have it, but I’ve been assured that it’s finished and that it’s brilliant, and that I’ll be able to show you all tomorrow.

Ahem.

The cynical among you may begin to suspect that all of this is the result of bad planning and borderline incompetence on my part, as I had promised to reveal the cover oh, maybe two weeks ago.

However- the nice and the kind and the generous among you might recognise this as a cunning way of drawing out the mystery and building the excitement, and regard all these delays and missed deadlines purely as brilliant marketing on my part.

It is, of course, entirely up to you to decide which of these kinds of people you are- cynical and suspicious (boo!) or nice and lovely and so very pretty (yay!).

So, while we wait for the cover to be revealed tomorrow, I now have a Blog post to fill, and I want to mention a book I’m reading which I think is brilliant. It’s called Divergent, and it’s by Veronica Roth, a new American writer. I’ve read the first hundred pages here- http://browseinside.harperteen.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780062024022 - and I absolutely love it so far. It’s set in a Dystopian future- because those are ALWAYS the best kind- where the population splits itself into Factions according to their personality traits. People are always telling me I must read The Hunger Games- and I will, I swear I will- but Divergent grabbed me from the first paragraph, and now I’m pretty much helpless.

Aside from the great idea at its centre, this book is REALLY well written. I make no apologies for the fact that I’m a snob when it comes to the quality of writing- no matter how wonderful the premise, I simply can’t read it if the words don’t flow like they should or the characters aren’t genuine. I reckon I’ve improved as a writer since the first Skulduggery, and the later books are much better written than the first one (even if the first one remains my absolute favourite), but Miss Roth seems to have bypassed that awkward debut-writer stage completely. If she’s this good now, how good is she going to be in five books’ time? Scary good, is the answer.

If you’re looking for something new to read, click the link above and try it out. 

634 comments:

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Dragona Pine said...

I have to go soon.

amelie espirt ____the gummy bear assasin for the straight jacket said...

gone all quite have you cuz you know your wrong

amelie espirt ____the gummy bear assasin for the straight jacket said...

ok then i will have to find something to do

Dragona Pine said...

Actually Amelie it is possible he looked it up online but someone could have done a teaser front cover and book title and he thought that it could be the real thing. But if anyone goes and has a look at it they're the type of people who look spoilers up on the internet.

Skulgirl13 A.K.A Deryn Mellifluous said...

EST MI BIRTHDAY!!!!

Dragona Pine said...

Hi Skulgirl! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!


*gives her a birthday cake*



Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to Skulgirl
Happy birthday to you!


*streamers fly everywhere*

Skulgirl13 A.K.A Deryn Mellifluous said...

lol thanks now must head off to schol SEE YALL LATER@@

Dragona Pine said...

Bye Skulgirl! Have a good day!

Dragona Pine said...

I have to go now. I might manage a few minutes longer before I go but I doubt it. I'll on later tonight, bye!

Kali said...

Hey, Derek. I have loved your books ever since a friend of mine forced me to read them. Are you ever coming to the U.S. cause if you do, come to Massachusetts. Please. Your number one fan is there. I love you and Skulduggery. You're both amazing.

Lilith Nightshade... said...

HI! I KNOW THAT HERE'S ANOTHER POST UP, (LOVE CAPS!) BUT I HAD TO MAKE AN APPEARANCE HERE! LATERS! OFF TO THE OTHER ONE DEREK!

JJAduP said...

i'm reading it now and it's awesome so far!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ThatWeirdo said...

Ahh - thank you!! that book your reading certainly gripped me. It's fantastic - I'm in love with it already!
Thanks.
But I think all of your devoted minions here know that Skulduggery Pleasant is second to none.
:D

ThatWeirdo said...

I learnt how to say "chicken soup" in spanish yesterday.
Pollo Sopa.

:) I feel clever.

Red Right Hand said...

If you haven't read the Hunger Games...
Woah, still processing here.
Thanks for the suggestion Golden God of Awe

Cluainn Fhada said...

DON@T READ THE HUNGER GAMES!

At least not the last two, it gets terribly depressing.

Elysse said...

I have to read that sometime, after I'm done with exams... DL you should read Maximum Ride series, its really good! the writing kind of reminds me of skulduggery pleasant... :D

Jayne said...

I read Divergent with your link.
Loved it.
And went out and bought it and finished it in two hours flat. Awesomee book.

but don't worry Derek - I'll finish Skulduggery in an hour - no matter HOW LONG it is.
TEAM CAELAN!!

Zoe said...

Hi Derek (AKA Mr. Golden God and Leader of all),

I started and finished the book in under a week!! IT WAS SO AMAZING!!! Thank you for the recommendation for the book! I LOVED IT!!

THnx,
Z

Fayza said...

I finished Divergent and Loved it a lot. Thanks for suggesting the book.
And I also gave The Hunger Games a try after this blog post, and I really liked the beginning and second half of the book, I'm going to read the next one soon too.

Oh and have you ever read the Artemis Fowl series?
There Awesome, next to Skulduggery Pleasant one of my favourite book series.

Anon01 said...

I bought this book as soon as I read the thing on the internet and I managed to finish it in one day!!!! You know it's a really good book when you cannot physically put it down!!!!!!

Octa said...

Hello there.

Octa said...

Achievement completed.

Mary Contrary said...

Hey, I left a couple alone. That was nice of me, right?

#ChaseForBook9

Octa said...

Only because you couldn't comment on them :P

Octa said...

MINE

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Octa said...

MINE

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