Reviews

Dark Calling by Darren Shan

thomina's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror

frido73's review

dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I hate the Grubbs just becomes this feral asshole. And this book has really jumped the shark with the series. They were like oh we’re in Atlantis, now we’re in space, now we’re in the center of the universe.

mcfade28's review

3.0

I've decided to read a few horror books in honour of Halloween. First on my list was the 9th book in the Demonata seris by Darren Shan. I read the majority of the series when I was still in school and mostly liked them.

This novel is from Kernal's perspective. We last heard from him in Demon Theif, which is my favourite novel in the series by far, so I had high hopes going in. This is the penultimate book in the series and suffers a little for that. It seems to exist solely to set up the finalie.

The novel has two main flaws. Firstly, nothing seems to happen for large stretches of the book, and indeed it starts by recapping events we've already seen in other novels.

Spoiler

Secondly, the main development- introducing aliens and attempting to tie in the origin of the universe into this series felt forced and stupid. Just let the series be about demons, there's no need to try to explain away the big bang theory as well!

titanic's review against another edition

4.0

I actually enjoyed this book. It was rather interesting and it builds up a lot of tension for Hell's Heroes so I'm actually looking forward to the last book.

Although I did find some bits boring, I really did want to know how this book would go. It was interesting to know more about the Kah-Gash and the history of the Old Creatures and the Demonatas. I feel like this book was more of a filler and a boost for the last book, it answered a few questions but overall it's been the best I've read in this series for a while.

adamdj's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

kosar3479's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

rmdavies92's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

eoghannnivall's review against another edition

dark emotional tense

4.0

kevinweitzel44's review against another edition

5.0

WOW, I just finished and man am I PUMPED FOR THE SEQUEL. Can I say that I just LOVE Kernels character? He's so awesome and has an amazing personality... I loved how awesome the universe is described, like a chess board. The old creatures were amazing and gave such awesome shockers to the series. I also thought the ending was great, the huge battle in which Meera died. I was soooooo sad she died but so insanely happy that it killed off Juni! I am so siked for Hell's Heroes and the end part where Grubbs rips out Kernel's eyes was just...SHOCKING. I mean, he seemed so much like an enemy and forecful. A friend said by the end I'd probably dislike Grubbs and I simply said "That's impossible, he's an awesome character" In Blood Beast he was absolutely amazing (I LOVE THAT BOOK TO DEATH) but by the end, what he did to Kernel was wrong. His werewolf development changed his personality so much and i HATE IT. My friend was right, I completely dislike Grubbs now. I feel so bad for Kernel and i'm anxious to see what happens to Bec. Will the Kah-Gash be destroyed? Will one of the members die? SO MANY QUESTIONS.

geofroggatt's review against another edition

3.0

The Disciples are being manipulated by beings older than time. Only Kernel Fleck knows that something is wrong. But he is in the grip of a creature who cares nothing for the fate of humanity. Voices are calling to him from the darkness and he’s powerless to resist. Dark Calling isn't the best of the Demonata books, even though it is still creative with its storyline and where it’s aiming to go. Kernel is on his own a lot in this one, outside the human world and the creepy Demonata lands. I'm still deciding if I liked that weird development and probably will be undecided until I die. It ties into the big bang end of the series and wraps up a lot of plot lines, but it almost feels too large in scope for the writing the handle. Dark Calling just kind of lags. We have this fantastical element introduced of other worlds and leading space aliens and The Old Ones, which should be interesting in itself, but it didn’t feel as grand as it should have. I feel awful for Kernel with his eyes too - this story doesn't shy away from brutalizing its characters. It's expected that through the horrors and trials that Grubbs would become hard and jaded, but he's a little more one-dimensional now and I can't bond as much with him. Kernel is still a favorite but I feel frustrated when he's on page - I kind of wish he could one-up Grubbs for a second. Bec is sort of just there as part of the powerful Kah-Gash, until a twisted end surprise with her that I actually enjoyed and appreciated. Overall, I think younger readers will still enjoy this series despite being so late and close to the finale.