I seem to have been putting off this post for a while now as
I finished The Saga of Darren Shan quite
some time ago. Overall, I loved the entire saga; it was everything a young
adult book series should be. To summarise, the series follows a young boy by
the name of Darren Shan who becomes a half vampire in order to save his best
friend’s life. Throughout the series we see Darren mature as a person (or
should I say vampire) and adapt to his new way of life.
At the beginning of the Vampire
War Trilogy, Darren, along with his mentor Larten Crepsley and Vampire
Prince, Vancha March are destined to hunt the infamous Vampaneze Lord who is
fated to destroy the vampire world if his plans succeed. During the Vampire War Trilogy they battle courageously
but without succeeding in their mission, also resulting in a few casualties
along the way.
The Vampire Destiny
Trilogy contains the final three instalments of the series: The Lake of Souls, Lord of the Shadows
and Sons of Destiny.
In The Lake of Souls, a
much needed break from the war between the vampires and vampaneze is taken.
Darren and his friend Harkat travel to an unknown land to discover Harkat’s
true identity. Harkat is what’s known as a Little Person who is a servant to Mr
Tiny. Mr Tiny creates his servants from the souls who have died who had not
gone to paradise (heaven) and creates ghost type creatures out of them. Mr Tiny
sends Harkat and Darren on a dangerous journey to discover the true identity of
Harkat.
In Lord of the Shadows
we return to the goings on in the war where Darren contemplates the meaning of
the prophecy which states that one of the three hunters (Darren, Mr Crepsley
and Vancha March) have the power to defeat the Vampaneze Lord. It is also prophesised
that either Darren or the Vampaneze Lord will become the Lord of the Shadows
who will destroy the world as Darren knows it. The idea of this torments Darren
throughout the book. Also in this book we see Darren returns to his hometown,
leading up to the final confrontation with the Vampaneze Lord.
Sons of Destiny is
the final instalment of the series which takes place in Darren’s hometown
(where the series began). The majority of this book is taken up with battles
between the vampaneze and the vampires and their friends. As easily predicted
the final showdown is between Darren himself and the Vampaneze Lord. During
this battle Mr Tiny makes some timely revelations which change the course of
events.
Again, this trilogy is written magnificently by Shan who
clearly had carefully planned how events would turn out and made every plot
point link so seamlessly. The series is very good at showing the development of
Darren as he starts of as a naive child and gradually adjusts and grows into a
mature adult (despite looking about half his actual age). All the characters throughout the series were
very likeable in different ways and I found myself being upset when they died
or injured.
Out of this trilogy The
Lake of Souls is my least favourite. I by no means at all am saying that it’s
a bad book, it isn’t. I just didn’t enjoy it as much as the others. This may be
due to that it was set in a whole different setting which kind of took away
from what I had grown used to. However I do realise that a slight break from
the war and prophecies was much needed and that the revelations that occur
during this book were necessary.
The ending of the series is completely amazing, to the point
where I almost cried, with a mixture of happiness of what was happening and the
sadness that I had finished the series. The ending was totally unpredictable
but fantastic and made perfect sense.
The entire series is written in retrospect, in first person
from the view point of Darren. It is mentioned in the first book (Cirque Du Freak) that the events of what
happens in the series are true and that names have been changed to hide people’s
identities. This brings a massive sense of realism to the books and immediately
draws you in. At the end of the series, Darren has a monologue in which he
refers to his previous statements where he encourages Shan to write these books
and hopes they sell well (that might not make sense until you’ve read the series).
This section is very emotional for Darren and the reader as you can see that it
voices Shan’s personal worries of becoming a writer.
Overall, I would say that The Saga of Darren Shan is suitable for everyone, young or old,
despite its status as a young person’s series. It is amazingly written and I have gained a
whole new respect for Shan as a writer and I intend on reading more of his
works. These books are quick and easy to read and are full of likeable
characters and exciting adventures so I’d definitely recommend them to anyone.
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