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sisyphista's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
4.25
Oof. Yet again we meet familiar faces and get backstories we never knew we needed. Excellent.
dreaming_book_witch's review
3.0
This was a fun book, but not my favorite. Honestly, this series jumps around a little too much for my tastes so far. I love the characters and I'm glad to see my favorites from the original series, but there are some things that Larten does that make me wonder just why I liked his character overall.
pewterwolf's review against another edition
2.0
Review Taken From The Pewter Wolf
In this, the second book about the past of Larten Crepsley, Larten is away from his master, Seba Nile, and is enjoying his freedom with the Cubs - wild young vampires with a taste for mindless fun, whether that be with gambling, women, or going to be the middle of battlefields in the middle of the night and enjoying the bloodbath. But fate has plans for Larten and continues to throw his life in a spin time and time again. But by the end of the book, what kind of vampire will he become? True to himself and his master... or lost forever in death and destruction...?
As I said earlier, I have read a few books in the Saga of Darren Shan, and there were times reading those books (mainly book four and five, Vampire Mountain and Trials of Death) where I felt that there was more the Crepsley than met the eye. So, to have this series and this book is awesome as it explains him better, whether you know of him via the Saga of Darren Shan series or you read The Saga of Larten Crepsley first. For me, it felt like going back and meeting an old friend.
But, saying that, it did feel like I met an old friend and there was distance between us. The book almost felt clinical, and I think that this is because it was written in third person. I was never close to Larten Crepsley in the Saga of Darren Shan, but I thought this series would make me see what make the man tick. But I was kept at arm's length and that bothered. So was the time jumps. How many times did we jump several years forward? I know vampire age slowly so several years to us is nothing to them, but we did jump several times and that bother me.
And how long did it take for the Ocean to make an appearance?!
Now, what I'm going to say will probably get me attacked from all you true Darren Shan fans, but I didn't feel scared or creeped out by Ocean of Blood. In all his previous books, I can remember scenes that creeped me out or, in one case, had me exclaim "Oh God!" on a bus (Demon Thief, in case you're wondering). But this didn't scare me. Maybe I'm too old for the scares of Darren Shan (good grief, I hope not!)
While I do want to know what happens in the third book in the saga, The Palace of the Damned (which I don't own), and the finale, Brothers to the Death (which I do own), I'm not going to be in any hurry to return to them. I want to keep my return to them like meeting an old friend. But I do hope that, when I do, they scare me just a wee bit...
In this, the second book about the past of Larten Crepsley, Larten is away from his master, Seba Nile, and is enjoying his freedom with the Cubs - wild young vampires with a taste for mindless fun, whether that be with gambling, women, or going to be the middle of battlefields in the middle of the night and enjoying the bloodbath. But fate has plans for Larten and continues to throw his life in a spin time and time again. But by the end of the book, what kind of vampire will he become? True to himself and his master... or lost forever in death and destruction...?
As I said earlier, I have read a few books in the Saga of Darren Shan, and there were times reading those books (mainly book four and five, Vampire Mountain and Trials of Death) where I felt that there was more the Crepsley than met the eye. So, to have this series and this book is awesome as it explains him better, whether you know of him via the Saga of Darren Shan series or you read The Saga of Larten Crepsley first. For me, it felt like going back and meeting an old friend.
But, saying that, it did feel like I met an old friend and there was distance between us. The book almost felt clinical, and I think that this is because it was written in third person. I was never close to Larten Crepsley in the Saga of Darren Shan, but I thought this series would make me see what make the man tick. But I was kept at arm's length and that bothered. So was the time jumps. How many times did we jump several years forward? I know vampire age slowly so several years to us is nothing to them, but we did jump several times and that bother me.
And how long did it take for the Ocean to make an appearance?!
Now, what I'm going to say will probably get me attacked from all you true Darren Shan fans, but I didn't feel scared or creeped out by Ocean of Blood. In all his previous books, I can remember scenes that creeped me out or, in one case, had me exclaim "Oh God!" on a bus (Demon Thief, in case you're wondering). But this didn't scare me. Maybe I'm too old for the scares of Darren Shan (good grief, I hope not!)
While I do want to know what happens in the third book in the saga, The Palace of the Damned (which I don't own), and the finale, Brothers to the Death (which I do own), I'm not going to be in any hurry to return to them. I want to keep my return to them like meeting an old friend. But I do hope that, when I do, they scare me just a wee bit...
vikingwolf's review against another edition
3.0
Larten and Wester decide to go out on their own to sample the hard drinking playboy lifestyles of Cubs until they are ready to settle back down to the Vampire life. When it is time to test themselves at Vampire Mountain and find their calling, Larten has a crisis of confidence and decides to strike out on his own.
Book 2 starts with the look at the Cub lifestyle of drinking, gambling and whoring, which I really had no interest in reading about. Had the whole book been about this kind of vampire lifestyle, I would have abandoned the book. Thankfully, it didn't last too long and our heroes head back to Seba and their Vampire Mountain experience. I always like the bits at Vampire Mountain and this time we see the confident Larten taking a battering and starting to feel like a failure as a vampire. He is so far removed from the vampire we see in the SODS series, which I found interesting.
We meet a few more old friends in this book. Evanna(don't call me a witch!), Arrow with his human wife and Arra as a grumpy servant of Evanna. This is what I like best in this series, seeing the earlier exploits of some of the characters we know all about from the other books. I also liked the blending of the war into the vampires lives. I did find it a bit amusing to imagine men trying to kill each other while watching a group of weird pale guys hiding under umbrellas on the edge of the battlefield! That just appealed to my strange sense of humour! I also liked the 'Interview with a vampire' scene at the Inn between Larten and Bram Stoker, which was good. The humour in this book is just as good as the previous one.
There is also a lot of good action scenes especially when Larten is out of his mind with vampire flu on the boat. I really liked seeing the crazed vampire followed by the guilt ridden suicidal vampire that he was after the boat journey turns tragic. I like the twists and turns of Larten's character as he continually develops through this series. There is certainly a lot to like about this series though I do agree that it does jump forward in big leaps leaving a few gaps that you would have liked to have been a bit more fleshed out. Still, if the author gave you all of Larten's story, the saga would be about 20 books long!
So a decent read for fans of Larten and it will be interesting to see what happens next.
Book 2 starts with the look at the Cub lifestyle of drinking, gambling and whoring, which I really had no interest in reading about. Had the whole book been about this kind of vampire lifestyle, I would have abandoned the book. Thankfully, it didn't last too long and our heroes head back to Seba and their Vampire Mountain experience. I always like the bits at Vampire Mountain and this time we see the confident Larten taking a battering and starting to feel like a failure as a vampire. He is so far removed from the vampire we see in the SODS series, which I found interesting.
We meet a few more old friends in this book. Evanna(don't call me a witch!), Arrow with his human wife and Arra as a grumpy servant of Evanna. This is what I like best in this series, seeing the earlier exploits of some of the characters we know all about from the other books. I also liked the blending of the war into the vampires lives. I did find it a bit amusing to imagine men trying to kill each other while watching a group of weird pale guys hiding under umbrellas on the edge of the battlefield! That just appealed to my strange sense of humour! I also liked the 'Interview with a vampire' scene at the Inn between Larten and Bram Stoker, which was good. The humour in this book is just as good as the previous one.
There is also a lot of good action scenes especially when Larten is out of his mind with vampire flu on the boat. I really liked seeing the crazed vampire followed by the guilt ridden suicidal vampire that he was after the boat journey turns tragic. I like the twists and turns of Larten's character as he continually develops through this series. There is certainly a lot to like about this series though I do agree that it does jump forward in big leaps leaving a few gaps that you would have liked to have been a bit more fleshed out. Still, if the author gave you all of Larten's story, the saga would be about 20 books long!
So a decent read for fans of Larten and it will be interesting to see what happens next.
bookishvice's review against another edition
4.0
An excellent continuation to the Saga of Larten Crepsley, Ocean of Blood managed to surprise me in more ways than one. In following the story of Larten’s “teenage” years I found myself relating to his indecisions in choosing a path in life. He feels as if “There was a gaping hole in his life that needed to be filled” (p141), and so he tries filling it in every imaginable way; from drinking, to sleeping around, to gambling, and surrounding himself with superficial people. Now, I don’t do any of those things, but I do feel as if I need a purpose in life, and I haven’t found it or I’m still not sure which path to take. I was surprised to be reminded of this while reading a vampire horror story. After all I read to get away from life… but that actually made this book all the more significant to me.
As always Darren Shan manages to be bloody, gory and disgusting without actually making me want to throw up. The final scenes though had me cringing a bit, not for the graphic description but from the brutality of it all. Still, an quick and enjoyable read for those horror fans out there.
As always Darren Shan manages to be bloody, gory and disgusting without actually making me want to throw up. The final scenes though had me cringing a bit, not for the graphic description but from the brutality of it all. Still, an quick and enjoyable read for those horror fans out there.
amy_reading_23's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
fast-paced
3.75
This book actually had one of my favourite endings for a vampire story. I enjoyed it a lot!
donnakaye64's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't like this book. It's my fault for not realizing it was written for teens. It was boring and extremely predictable.
kevinweitzel44's review against another edition
4.0
Oh my god.
Darren Shan, you've done it again!!!
What I love about The Saga of Larten Crepsley is that it relates to so many further events and shows how clever Darren Shan (author) is!!! It also shows how his concept on destiny really ties togethor with the Cirque Du Freak and Saga of Larten Crepsley series. I loved all the Cirque Du Freak references and it really helps understand things. Ocean of Blood was a KEY book in the series, it was extremely important to the plot of the series and was an amazing story.
I absolutely loved it and am getting my hands on Palace of the Damned as SOON as I can :D
Darren Shan, you've done it again!!!
What I love about The Saga of Larten Crepsley is that it relates to so many further events and shows how clever Darren Shan (author) is!!! It also shows how his concept on destiny really ties togethor with the Cirque Du Freak and Saga of Larten Crepsley series. I loved all the Cirque Du Freak references and it really helps understand things. Ocean of Blood was a KEY book in the series, it was extremely important to the plot of the series and was an amazing story.
I absolutely loved it and am getting my hands on Palace of the Damned as SOON as I can :D
tyrelljh's review
4.0
“Wars raged everywhere as men found new, inventive ways to kill even more of their race. It was like a contest, the many tribes of mankind competing to see who could commit the worst atrocities.”
An excellent read that finally shined the light on how Larten got the scar on his face. I love how the author is relaying all details of Larten's past while still being able to skip decades.
I found the ending very interesting and brutal - I'm honestly surprised that this particular ending got approved to be in a young adult's book.
An excellent read that finally shined the light on how Larten got the scar on his face. I love how the author is relaying all details of Larten's past while still being able to skip decades.
I found the ending very interesting and brutal - I'm honestly surprised that this particular ending got approved to be in a young adult's book.
marla_arguelles's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5