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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
Really good story. I loved it. It was very good. The beginning is quite sad. It was a amazing book. Defintely going to read the next part!
Ok, so I have a penchant for reading teen books. Everyone needs a guilty pleasure though right? The good part is that now after two teen series and one adult series Mr. Shan has really come into his own. This one was longer than any of the Cirque Du Freak or Demonata books and it was much more organized. The characters were much more fleshed out and the plot wasn't as thrown together as some of his other books. This is still, however, a teen book and wont be winning any literary prizes, but if you're in the mood for a quick and entertaining teen read, it'll work.
This is the first book in the new four book saga by Darren Shan. It’s the highly anticipated prequel to his previous saga - The Saga of Darren Shan - and it’s all about a certain Larten Crepsley! Words cannot describe how excited I was to read this book, as I loved Shan’s previous saga, as well as the Demonata series, and Mr Crepsley is one of my favourite fictional characters of all time!
The book is split into four parts, which all cover different sections of Larten’s life as a vampire assistant, and then as a vampire. This creates a fast moving plot with a lot of action thrown in. That’s not to say that the book is just for teenage lads who want to see some killing, oh no. It’s quite the opposite. There’s some pretty sentimental and emotional stuff in there too, and I was in tears at one point.
For anyone who’s read The Saga of Darren Shan (TSDS), you will know Larten Crepsley, but this book lets you in on his background and his past. You find out why he has bright orange hair, and you begin to understand why he was the way he was in TSDS. I loved Larten in this book, he was brave and funny, and at the same time very flawed as a person and he certainly had his demons.
The other characters were simply amazing. Every single one of them was beautifully developed and described. I loved meeting Seba Nile - Larten’s mentor - again, and I loved visiting Vampire Mountain and seeing all of those familiar names. There were also many connections to events and people in TSDS thrown in, even if we didn’t meet/see them first hand. Which was simply AWESOME! I’m particularly excited to see what happens with Wester - you’ll know who I mean when you read the book. He’s a great character.
Overall, I highly recommend this book but you should read TSDS first, as I did, so you get a feel for his writing, and also so you can make all of the connections that I did!
The book is split into four parts, which all cover different sections of Larten’s life as a vampire assistant, and then as a vampire. This creates a fast moving plot with a lot of action thrown in. That’s not to say that the book is just for teenage lads who want to see some killing, oh no. It’s quite the opposite. There’s some pretty sentimental and emotional stuff in there too, and I was in tears at one point.
For anyone who’s read The Saga of Darren Shan (TSDS), you will know Larten Crepsley, but this book lets you in on his background and his past. You find out why he has bright orange hair, and you begin to understand why he was the way he was in TSDS. I loved Larten in this book, he was brave and funny, and at the same time very flawed as a person and he certainly had his demons.
The other characters were simply amazing. Every single one of them was beautifully developed and described. I loved meeting Seba Nile - Larten’s mentor - again, and I loved visiting Vampire Mountain and seeing all of those familiar names. There were also many connections to events and people in TSDS thrown in, even if we didn’t meet/see them first hand. Which was simply AWESOME! I’m particularly excited to see what happens with Wester - you’ll know who I mean when you read the book. He’s a great character.
Overall, I highly recommend this book but you should read TSDS first, as I did, so you get a feel for his writing, and also so you can make all of the connections that I did!
These used to be one of mt favorite books when I was a child. I reread this book, barely remembering a thing about it, and I still loved. It still shocked me at times. It's so easy to read and very addictive.
Enjoyable. I love Larten even more now.
My only criticism would be that the conflict of the last few chapters were obviously making room for a sequel and seemed a bit forced.
My only criticism would be that the conflict of the last few chapters were obviously making room for a sequel and seemed a bit forced.
Initially I only picked this book up because I had first dibs being a librarian and because we are showing the movie Cirque du Freak: the Vampire's Assistant at the library and thought I'd get some back story (since the book it's actually based on is currently checked-out).
I didn't think that it would be that hooking! I had read the Demonata series, which was also interesting in the beginning though, but quickly lost it's appeal to me. But, I'm thinking that I really need to read the next one in this series. Maybe I'll even start the Cirque du Freak series as well.
With the current and annoying popularity (though I think it's ...dying...down) of Vampires and Werewolves (along with the paranormal in general) I find that for the most part I do not like any writing having to do with them. But, Shan's description of the Vampires and Vampaneze (though I don't really get that name) etc. are pretty interesting and work both with traditional depictions with some twists.
I'm somewhat glad that I'm getting to know this character's history before actually knowing what will end up happening to him. It will be interesting to see how Larten's character transforms from his early years into his Cirque du Freak future. It's also a very fast read, unlike other humongous tomes coming out now, which is a nice change if you ask me.
Well done Darren Shan.
I didn't think that it would be that hooking! I had read the Demonata series, which was also interesting in the beginning though, but quickly lost it's appeal to me. But, I'm thinking that I really need to read the next one in this series. Maybe I'll even start the Cirque du Freak series as well.
With the current and annoying popularity (though I think it's ...dying...down) of Vampires and Werewolves (along with the paranormal in general) I find that for the most part I do not like any writing having to do with them. But, Shan's description of the Vampires and Vampaneze (though I don't really get that name) etc. are pretty interesting and work both with traditional depictions with some twists.
I'm somewhat glad that I'm getting to know this character's history before actually knowing what will end up happening to him. It will be interesting to see how Larten's character transforms from his early years into his Cirque du Freak future. It's also a very fast read, unlike other humongous tomes coming out now, which is a nice change if you ask me.
Well done Darren Shan.
a young larten crepsley is such a strange concept to me, but i'm enjoying this!