Brothers to Death (Saga of Larten Crepsley, book 4)

By Darren Shan

Blurb: 
After years of wandering, Larten has finally found his way back to his vampire family and resumed the vigorous, brutal training to become a General. But there are vampires determined to pull Larten into starting a war that could have global implications and casualties. Vampires who will stop at nothing. Vampires who would betray Larten in the most cutting way.

Review: 
This was the last book of the Larten Crepsley Saga, I’m sad in a way to finish it. However this will mean I won’t be long from reading the Demonata Series which is apparently better than the Darren Shan Saga. so I have that to look forward to.

The book starts with Larten alive, obviously Gavner didn’t choose to kill Larten to revenge his parents. Instead Larten takes Gavner in as his student as he teaches his General ways. Being a General, this leads him to having the task to dealing with the Nazi’s. The Nazi’s see the Vampies as a great potential ally and want their help in the war that's brewing. Larten sense evil among them and believes this war to come will be the worst one yet and decided it’s best for the clan to not be involved. What I love about this book was all the WWII references throughout the book including the bombing of Hiroshima. I love this because I’m such a history nerd myself and really appreciate a book set in the past and this book out of the 4 just hit me so much more with the time period. 

There’s not many flaws in this book or even the series for that matter. One thing I will critique is the book is rather slow. It takes a while for things to build up and go horribly wrong but when they do go horribly wrong it does make up for it in a way. I know I can’t expect none stop adventure but I just sometimes lose interest at some points in the book and I think that's the only thing holding me back from rewarding 5 stars.

*SPOILERS*
Larten had managed to gain a friendship with Alicia, even though he wanted more. This friendship allowed him to see Alicia age and her child grow, so I suspected she would die but of old age. But of course there's a twist and Alicia is in fact murdered and you believe it to be by a Vampaneze known as Randel Chayne who was the Vampaneze tormenting Tanish Eurl in the previous book. 

However the twists continue because it turned out he was long dead, killed by Wester as a scapegoat for him so he could kill Alicia to give Larten the motivation he needed to support the Vampire vs Vampaneze war. I never expected this till the end of the last few chapters when Slyva (Alicia's daughter) said she had seen her mother's killer during one of Larten’s performances at the Cirque Du Freak. Then it suddenly clicked in my brain and it all made sense that Wester did it to get Larten’s support as suggested from Mr Tiny. I was made a fool up and till that point, well done Darren Shan. 

Shan doesn’t stop there with the story obviously, as Larten promised to kill Alicia’s killer and this betrayal wasn’t going to stop him. Wester and Larten fought on top of a skyscraper till eventually Wester had his throat sliced and his end came to him. I knew Wester would die, just based on the title of the book and the fact he wasn’t mentioned in the next series, I just didn’t expect it to be from the hands of Larten Crepsley.

I really felt for Larten, as he had his love killed by his best friend, his blood brother. To go through so much betrayal in his life time, it’s no wonder he was often depicted as suicidal. He’s had a hard life but he’s made one hell of a good series. 

One of the scenes I really enjoyed was when Larten had a fight with Vancha. I knew it wouldn’t ruin their friendship due to the Darren Shan series but it was a good scene. It all starts because Larten is trying to convince Vampires to push for war against the Vampaneze, as we earlier discovered was because of Wester. Vancha is against the war but more importantly against a man following false beliefs. When Vancha discovers this is what Larten is doing, he decides to go tell him off and eventually this leads to a fight. It was a good fight and Larten wasn’t far off from winning, it also increased Larten’s reputation among the clan. I just found this scene fun and I can’t fully explain why because these two friends are fighting, and yet I enjoyed it.

In the same night as the fight, Arra Sails makes a reappearance and comes to ask Larten to be her mate now. After discussion, he accepts and they get married in their Vampire ways. I was so happy to finally get to this part of the series but sadly that didn’t last long as their marriage wasn’t as happy as I thought it would be. I was disappointed as Larten was still thinking about getting Randel rather than enjoying his time with Arra. This upset me.

Darren Shan made up for it though by developing a backstory for a character I never expect to get one: Truska. Truska is a bearded woman from the Darren Shan saga who is part of the Cirque Du Freak. Her backstory was that she was a creature known as a Skelk which are hairy creatures of the sea. They can grow their anywhere on demand which explains how Truska does her act. I looked up Skelks to see if they were made up by Darren Shan and I believe they were or at least his description of a Skelk as I did find a game that has creatures of the same name but different traits. I found this really creative of Shan as it’s a whole new creature with a unique traits and language. It's amazing that his mind has came up with something like that, as it’s one thing to talk about Vampires and expand their stereotypes and create the Vampaneze but it’s a whole other task to create a completely new creature. 

There was something in this book that caught my attention. When Larten returns to the Cirque, he increases the danger of his act by adding falling onto stakes, but getting away at the right time. I think this to be a reference/foreshadow for his death as that's how he died. It was very subtle and I hope it did have that intention and not just a coincidence. 

As Larten’s story starts to catch up with the Darren Shan books he still makes one unexpected trip before heading to the Cirque once more. Crepsley ends up at a monastery which he previously encountered at Truska’s wedding. The monastery provides him peace after killing Wester and most importantly he finally gets Madame Octa, his pet spider from the Darren Shan books. I’ve been waiting a long time for her to make an appearance and she finally did.

In the end he returns to the Cirque to Freak which he stays in till he comes across Steve and Darren one night. The book ends where he sees the boys for the first time and realises they’re significant, he just doesn’t know how yet. I liked the way this ended because if someone decided to read this series before the Darren Shan series they could and it would be a great end of the series to lead them into the next. However I would still advise to read the Darren Shan Saga first because this series contains a lot of significant references and characters that you won’t enjoy as much by reading it first. 

Overall, I would rate this 4 stars because I enjoyed the writing style, short chapters and the horror Larten went through in this book. I would rate the series overall 4 out of 5 as well because it was consistently good but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the Darren Shan Saga causing me to hold back to 4 stars. I look forward to reading the Demonata series in the near future.

Rating: 4 runes out of 5 

Series Rating: 4 runes out of 5 

written by Lauren

Brothers to Death (Saga of Larten Crepsley, book 4)

By Darren Shan

Blurb: 
After years of wandering, Larten has finally found his way back to his vampire family and resumed the vigorous, brutal training to become a General. But there are vampires determined to pull Larten into starting a war that could have global implications and casualties. Vampires who will stop at nothing. Vampires who would betray Larten in the most cutting way.

Review: 
This was the last book of the Larten Crepsley Saga, I’m sad in a way to finish it. However this will mean I won’t be long from reading the Demonata Series which is apparently better than the Darren Shan Saga. so I have that to look forward to.

The book starts with Larten alive, obviously Gavner didn’t choose to kill Larten to revenge his parents. Instead Larten takes Gavner in as his student as he teaches his General ways. Being a General, this leads him to having the task to dealing with the Nazi’s. The Nazi’s see the Vampies as a great potential ally and want their help in the war that's brewing. Larten sense evil among them and believes this war to come will be the worst one yet and decided it’s best for the clan to not be involved. What I love about this book was all the WWII references throughout the book including the bombing of Hiroshima. I love this because I’m such a history nerd myself and really appreciate a book set in the past and this book out of the 4 just hit me so much more with the time period. 

There’s not many flaws in this book or even the series for that matter. One thing I will critique is the book is rather slow. It takes a while for things to build up and go horribly wrong but when they do go horribly wrong it does make up for it in a way. I know I can’t expect none stop adventure but I just sometimes lose interest at some points in the book and I think that's the only thing holding me back from rewarding 5 stars.

*SPOILERS*
Larten had managed to gain a friendship with Alicia, even though he wanted more. This friendship allowed him to see Alicia age and her child grow, so I suspected she would die but of old age. But of course there's a twist and Alicia is in fact murdered and you believe it to be by a Vampaneze known as Randel Chayne who was the Vampaneze tormenting Tanish Eurl in the previous book. 

However the twists continue because it turned out he was long dead, killed by Wester as a scapegoat for him so he could kill Alicia to give Larten the motivation he needed to support the Vampire vs Vampaneze war. I never expected this till the end of the last few chapters when Slyva (Alicia's daughter) said she had seen her mother's killer during one of Larten’s performances at the Cirque Du Freak. Then it suddenly clicked in my brain and it all made sense that Wester did it to get Larten’s support as suggested from Mr Tiny. I was made a fool up and till that point, well done Darren Shan. 

Shan doesn’t stop there with the story obviously, as Larten promised to kill Alicia’s killer and this betrayal wasn’t going to stop him. Wester and Larten fought on top of a skyscraper till eventually Wester had his throat sliced and his end came to him. I knew Wester would die, just based on the title of the book and the fact he wasn’t mentioned in the next series, I just didn’t expect it to be from the hands of Larten Crepsley.

I really felt for Larten, as he had his love killed by his best friend, his blood brother. To go through so much betrayal in his life time, it’s no wonder he was often depicted as suicidal. He’s had a hard life but he’s made one hell of a good series. 

One of the scenes I really enjoyed was when Larten had a fight with Vancha. I knew it wouldn’t ruin their friendship due to the Darren Shan series but it was a good scene. It all starts because Larten is trying to convince Vampires to push for war against the Vampaneze, as we earlier discovered was because of Wester. Vancha is against the war but more importantly against a man following false beliefs. When Vancha discovers this is what Larten is doing, he decides to go tell him off and eventually this leads to a fight. It was a good fight and Larten wasn’t far off from winning, it also increased Larten’s reputation among the clan. I just found this scene fun and I can’t fully explain why because these two friends are fighting, and yet I enjoyed it.

In the same night as the fight, Arra Sails makes a reappearance and comes to ask Larten to be her mate now. After discussion, he accepts and they get married in their Vampire ways. I was so happy to finally get to this part of the series but sadly that didn’t last long as their marriage wasn’t as happy as I thought it would be. I was disappointed as Larten was still thinking about getting Randel rather than enjoying his time with Arra. This upset me.

Darren Shan made up for it though by developing a backstory for a character I never expect to get one: Truska. Truska is a bearded woman from the Darren Shan saga who is part of the Cirque Du Freak. Her backstory was that she was a creature known as a Skelk which are hairy creatures of the sea. They can grow their anywhere on demand which explains how Truska does her act. I looked up Skelks to see if they were made up by Darren Shan and I believe they were or at least his description of a Skelk as I did find a game that has creatures of the same name but different traits. I found this really creative of Shan as it’s a whole new creature with a unique traits and language. It's amazing that his mind has came up with something like that, as it’s one thing to talk about Vampires and expand their stereotypes and create the Vampaneze but it’s a whole other task to create a completely new creature. 

There was something in this book that caught my attention. When Larten returns to the Cirque, he increases the danger of his act by adding falling onto stakes, but getting away at the right time. I think this to be a reference/foreshadow for his death as that's how he died. It was very subtle and I hope it did have that intention and not just a coincidence. 

As Larten’s story starts to catch up with the Darren Shan books he still makes one unexpected trip before heading to the Cirque once more. Crepsley ends up at a monastery which he previously encountered at Truska’s wedding. The monastery provides him peace after killing Wester and most importantly he finally gets Madame Octa, his pet spider from the Darren Shan books. I’ve been waiting a long time for her to make an appearance and she finally did.

In the end he returns to the Cirque to Freak which he stays in till he comes across Steve and Darren one night. The book ends where he sees the boys for the first time and realises they’re significant, he just doesn’t know how yet. I liked the way this ended because if someone decided to read this series before the Darren Shan series they could and it would be a great end of the series to lead them into the next. However I would still advise to read the Darren Shan Saga first because this series contains a lot of significant references and characters that you won’t enjoy as much by reading it first. 

Overall, I would rate this 4 stars because I enjoyed the writing style, short chapters and the horror Larten went through in this book. I would rate the series overall 4 out of 5 as well because it was consistently good but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the Darren Shan Saga causing me to hold back to 4 stars. I look forward to reading the Demonata series in the near future.

Rating: 4 runes out of 5 

Series Rating: 4 runes out of 5 

written by Lauren

Palace of the Damned (Saga of Larten Crepsley, Book 3)

By Darren Shan

Blurb: 
After failing his mentor and killing the entire crew of a ship in a bout of revenge for the death of his assistant, Larten is bereft with guilt. He no longer has the drive to live the vampiric life, and hides out in Paris, masquerading as a human. There, he finds some happiness, even falling in love with a girl. But the darkness inside him is too great for humanity, and he is forced to make a choice: hide in the shadows of the human world, or take his place among the vampire clan and protect those weaker than himself. But enemies are waiting, traps are laid, and Larten's path is bound to be strewn with bodies.

Review: 
As always I want to start by praising the chapter sizes of these books. I discovered that averagely each chapter was 10 pages which is just a lovely size, it just makes it easier to read. 

However I’m sad to say that I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the last. Although it had a good beginning and end, I just didn’t get completely hooked by this book. I believe this to be because Ocean of Blood was such an amazing book that this book has been overshadowed. I think if I read this with gap from the last book I would have enjoyed it more. Nevertheless, I still found it enjoyable to read.

*SPOILERS*

The book begins with Larten arriving at Greenland after the boat massacre. The realisation that he has a tiny baby with him sinks in and realises he can’t care for it so he decides he wants to bury it somewhere and let it die. For an intro this was very dark and I loved it. I think at the end of Ocean of Blood I expected him to be trying to save the child but in the end he was trying to find a good resting place for it. I don’t think anyone expected that change of events. 

Once the child is left, the darkness continues to creep in when Larten Crepsley takes himself to a cliff ready to jump to his death. Suicide. Such a hard hitting subject that I think Darren Shan did very well in writing about without risking people that are sensitive to the content. 

As you probably can imagine. Larten doesn’t die but how he is saved I never could have predicted. Mr Tiny stops Larten due to knowing his future is important and wanting to keep Larten’s involvement with Darren happening. I’m glad to finally have a scene with Mr Tiny, it’s been long waited for. Due to saving Larten, the baby was also saved and raised by him. Mr Tiny even named the baby Gavner Paul. A character from the Darren Shan series who was known for snoring just like in this book and was a friend to Darren. It’ll be interesting to see how Gavner comes to be a friend in the next book, especially after the cliffhanger of Gavner having to choose whether to kill Larten in revenge for his parents. 

Eventually Larten settles into family life in Paris with a girl named Alicia, who eventually becomes his fiance. Normally, I’m all about romance in books for some reason I couldn’t connect to this couple. It was nice to see to see him in love but I think I always wanted him to be with Arra Sails and even reading the Darren Shan Saga I wanted him to get back with her. I guess they’re my true pairing of the series. Therefore I did enjoy seeing Larten try to woo Arra Sails, but he was not successful just yet as she set on being a General first.

However it was nice to see Larten having a calm happy life, well till he is betrayed by an old friend. The recurring character Tanish Eul, makes an appearance once again. At first as Lartens friend and boss but eventually he betrays Larten in order to save his own skin. This side of Tanish Eul was hard to read, it made me so sad that this cowardly vampire would do such horrible things. It was strong character development but sadly ruined the character for me.

After all of the betrayal, Crepsley finally returns to Vampire Mountain to complete his Vampire studies. I think this is when I begun to lose interest, it’s been long expected but I was enjoying Larten free-roaming the earth. I still enjoyed it just not as much, I want to make that clear. 

Although something interesting that did happen in the mountains was Wester met Kurda Smahlt from the Darren Shan saga. He meets him by arguing with him about the Vampenese. It was nicely snuck into the book and appreciated the introduction to the character.

I’m still excited for Brothers to Death, which I’ll start reading soon. With it being the last book of the series, I have no doubt that it will be brilliant as everything is made known in the conclusion book. One prediction of mine is that Wester might die as he is Lartens blood brother and his eagerness for war is increasing. 
We shall see...
Rating: 3.5 runes out of 5 


 Check out my review on book 4: Brothers to Death

written by Lauren

Palace of the Damned (Saga of Larten Crepsley, Book 3)

By Darren Shan

Blurb: 
After failing his mentor and killing the entire crew of a ship in a bout of revenge for the death of his assistant, Larten is bereft with guilt. He no longer has the drive to live the vampiric life, and hides out in Paris, masquerading as a human. There, he finds some happiness, even falling in love with a girl. But the darkness inside him is too great for humanity, and he is forced to make a choice: hide in the shadows of the human world, or take his place among the vampire clan and protect those weaker than himself. But enemies are waiting, traps are laid, and Larten's path is bound to be strewn with bodies.

Review: 
As always I want to start by praising the chapter sizes of these books. I discovered that averagely each chapter was 10 pages which is just a lovely size, it just makes it easier to read. 

However I’m sad to say that I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the last. Although it had a good beginning and end, I just didn’t get completely hooked by this book. I believe this to be because Ocean of Blood was such an amazing book that this book has been overshadowed. I think if I read this with gap from the last book I would have enjoyed it more. Nevertheless, I still found it enjoyable to read.

*SPOILERS*

The book begins with Larten arriving at Greenland after the boat massacre. The realisation that he has a tiny baby with him sinks in and realises he can’t care for it so he decides he wants to bury it somewhere and let it die. For an intro this was very dark and I loved it. I think at the end of Ocean of Blood I expected him to be trying to save the child but in the end he was trying to find a good resting place for it. I don’t think anyone expected that change of events. 

Once the child is left, the darkness continues to creep in when Larten Crepsley takes himself to a cliff ready to jump to his death. Suicide. Such a hard hitting subject that I think Darren Shan did very well in writing about without risking people that are sensitive to the content. 

As you probably can imagine. Larten doesn’t die but how he is saved I never could have predicted. Mr Tiny stops Larten due to knowing his future is important and wanting to keep Larten’s involvement with Darren happening. I’m glad to finally have a scene with Mr Tiny, it’s been long waited for. Due to saving Larten, the baby was also saved and raised by him. Mr Tiny even named the baby Gavner Paul. A character from the Darren Shan series who was known for snoring just like in this book and was a friend to Darren. It’ll be interesting to see how Gavner comes to be a friend in the next book, especially after the cliffhanger of Gavner having to choose whether to kill Larten in revenge for his parents. 

Eventually Larten settles into family life in Paris with a girl named Alicia, who eventually becomes his fiance. Normally, I’m all about romance in books for some reason I couldn’t connect to this couple. It was nice to see to see him in love but I think I always wanted him to be with Arra Sails and even reading the Darren Shan Saga I wanted him to get back with her. I guess they’re my true pairing of the series. Therefore I did enjoy seeing Larten try to woo Arra Sails, but he was not successful just yet as she set on being a General first.

However it was nice to see Larten having a calm happy life, well till he is betrayed by an old friend. The recurring character Tanish Eul, makes an appearance once again. At first as Lartens friend and boss but eventually he betrays Larten in order to save his own skin. This side of Tanish Eul was hard to read, it made me so sad that this cowardly vampire would do such horrible things. It was strong character development but sadly ruined the character for me.

After all of the betrayal, Crepsley finally returns to Vampire Mountain to complete his Vampire studies. I think this is when I begun to lose interest, it’s been long expected but I was enjoying Larten free-roaming the earth. I still enjoyed it just not as much, I want to make that clear. 

Although something interesting that did happen in the mountains was Wester met Kurda Smahlt from the Darren Shan saga. He meets him by arguing with him about the Vampenese. It was nicely snuck into the book and appreciated the introduction to the character.

I’m still excited for Brothers to Death, which I’ll start reading soon. With it being the last book of the series, I have no doubt that it will be brilliant as everything is made known in the conclusion book. One prediction of mine is that Wester might die as he is Lartens blood brother and his eagerness for war is increasing. 
We shall see...
Rating: 3.5 runes out of 5 


 Check out my review on book 4: Brothers to Death

written by Lauren

Ocean of Blood by Darren Shan (Saga of Larten Crepsley, book 2)

Ocean of Blood (Saga of Larten Crepsley, book 2)

By Darren Shan 

Blurb: 
Larten Crepsley was a teenager. And he was sick of the pomp and circumstance of fusty old vampires telling him what to do. Taking off on his own with his blood brother, Wester, Larten takes off into the world to see what his newly blooded vampire status can get him in the human world. Sucking all he can out of humanity, Larten stumbles into a violent, hedonistic lifestyle, where cheats beckon, power corrupts, and enemies are waiting. 

Review: 
The first thing worth noting is the fact the books are such a lovely size and how the chapters are short and sweet... well maybe just short as this book gets very satisfyingly dark.

One thing I liked in this book was the introduction of Evanna and Arra Sails from the previous series. It was very unexpected to see Arra working for Evanna before her vampiric lifestyle. It might have been mentioned in the Darren Shan saga but I definitely don't remember so this really snuck on me. I definitely approve of this backstory for Arra Sails as it adds a bit of mystery to her character. It would be great to see more of her as the books continue, afterall we do at least know he marries her at one point. 

*SPOILERS*
Another backstory that came about in this book was for Vancha. We already knew that he started his life as a Vampaneze with his brother. But we didn't know he was sort of Evanna's adopted son! Now that was very surprising and has made things a bit weird for when he later has children with Evanna...

I also very much appricate when Evanna keeps hinting about Vancha's brother. As this secret doesn't come out to Crepsley till the Darren Shan series but all of us readers know exactly what she's hiding. 

I'm still struggling to find an overall plot, I'm starting to think that maybe it's about Larten Crepsley finding himself by becoming a general and just basically exploring the path he took to end up with Darren.

Something I've enjoyed in this book is the character development. In the first book, Larten started of as a child and eventually grew into a Cub vampire but his personality was matching the one that we knew already. In book 2 this has begun to change as he spends a lot more years as a vampire. He's now a confident man with a reputation in the mountain. Larten has a nickname of Quicksilver because of how fast his hands are. He also is now good with women... except Evanna, the failed kiss scene was one of my favourites. 

However despite all this good development, Larten Crepsley personality has also gotten darker. In book 1 before he became a vampire he murdered a man, in book 2 his darkness gets worse as he murders a whole boat crew and passengers. This scene was very unexpected but it made up for the slow beginning of the book. 

In the last few chapters on the boat we are introduced to a character called Daniel Abrams, he has strong character development in such a short time. He begins as a young boy working on a ship and has a small crush on Larten's assistant Malora (more about her later). Then he begins to get quite stalkerish with her by following Malora everywhere she went and even catching her in the blood collecting act. Due to that Daniel begins to take charge and decides to revolt against the vampire with a sudden surge of braveness and hatred.  After the lost battle, he further unexpectanlty turns cannibal. Amazing plot twist. Amazing character development in such a short time without it feeling rushed. 

Time to return to Malora she started out as Evanna's assistant and then became Crepsley's assistant but it turned out she loved him and was just waiting for him to love her back. This only made her death harder for me. Malora was a great character with personality similar to Evanna and it was a real shame when she was savagely murdered. I wish she was in the book longer but instead she was  just a step in Larten's life. 

Some lightheartedness in the story, (well kind of) is that Larten now has a baby to take care of which I think will help him make his decision to be a general and help him lose the darkness as he raises the little boy in the next book. 

I loved this book so much more than Birth of a Killer. I'm really loving the series and I can't wait to read Palace of the Damned. 

**UPDATE: After a tweet from Darren Shan, he helped me realise that Daniel, is in book 10 of the Darren Shan series known as Spits when Darren and Harket go to the Lake of Souls.

Rating: 4.5 runes out of 5 

  Check out my review on book 3: Palace of the Damned

written by Lauren

Ocean of Blood by Darren Shan (Saga of Larten Crepsley, book 2)

Ocean of Blood (Saga of Larten Crepsley, book 2)

By Darren Shan 

Blurb: 
Larten Crepsley was a teenager. And he was sick of the pomp and circumstance of fusty old vampires telling him what to do. Taking off on his own with his blood brother, Wester, Larten takes off into the world to see what his newly blooded vampire status can get him in the human world. Sucking all he can out of humanity, Larten stumbles into a violent, hedonistic lifestyle, where cheats beckon, power corrupts, and enemies are waiting. 

Review: 
The first thing worth noting is the fact the books are such a lovely size and how the chapters are short and sweet... well maybe just short as this book gets very satisfyingly dark.

One thing I liked in this book was the introduction of Evanna and Arra Sails from the previous series. It was very unexpected to see Arra working for Evanna before her vampiric lifestyle. It might have been mentioned in the Darren Shan saga but I definitely don't remember so this really snuck on me. I definitely approve of this backstory for Arra Sails as it adds a bit of mystery to her character. It would be great to see more of her as the books continue, afterall we do at least know he marries her at one point. 

*SPOILERS*
Another backstory that came about in this book was for Vancha. We already knew that he started his life as a Vampaneze with his brother. But we didn't know he was sort of Evanna's adopted son! Now that was very surprising and has made things a bit weird for when he later has children with Evanna...

I also very much appricate when Evanna keeps hinting about Vancha's brother. As this secret doesn't come out to Crepsley till the Darren Shan series but all of us readers know exactly what she's hiding. 

I'm still struggling to find an overall plot, I'm starting to think that maybe it's about Larten Crepsley finding himself by becoming a general and just basically exploring the path he took to end up with Darren.

Something I've enjoyed in this book is the character development. In the first book, Larten started of as a child and eventually grew into a Cub vampire but his personality was matching the one that we knew already. In book 2 this has begun to change as he spends a lot more years as a vampire. He's now a confident man with a reputation in the mountain. Larten has a nickname of Quicksilver because of how fast his hands are. He also is now good with women... except Evanna, the failed kiss scene was one of my favourites. 

However despite all this good development, Larten Crepsley personality has also gotten darker. In book 1 before he became a vampire he murdered a man, in book 2 his darkness gets worse as he murders a whole boat crew and passengers. This scene was very unexpected but it made up for the slow beginning of the book. 

In the last few chapters on the boat we are introduced to a character called Daniel Abrams, he has strong character development in such a short time. He begins as a young boy working on a ship and has a small crush on Larten's assistant Malora (more about her later). Then he begins to get quite stalkerish with her by following Malora everywhere she went and even catching her in the blood collecting act. Due to that Daniel begins to take charge and decides to revolt against the vampire with a sudden surge of braveness and hatred.  After the lost battle, he further unexpectanlty turns cannibal. Amazing plot twist. Amazing character development in such a short time without it feeling rushed. 

Time to return to Malora she started out as Evanna's assistant and then became Crepsley's assistant but it turned out she loved him and was just waiting for him to love her back. This only made her death harder for me. Malora was a great character with personality similar to Evanna and it was a real shame when she was savagely murdered. I wish she was in the book longer but instead she was  just a step in Larten's life. 

Some lightheartedness in the story, (well kind of) is that Larten now has a baby to take care of which I think will help him make his decision to be a general and help him lose the darkness as he raises the little boy in the next book. 

I loved this book so much more than Birth of a Killer. I'm really loving the series and I can't wait to read Palace of the Damned. 

**UPDATE: After a tweet from Darren Shan, he helped me realise that Daniel, is in book 10 of the Darren Shan series known as Spits when Darren and Harket go to the Lake of Souls.

Rating: 4.5 runes out of 5 

  Check out my review on book 3: Palace of the Damned

written by Lauren

Birth of a Killer by Darren Shan (Saga of Larten Crepsley, book 1)

Birth of a Killer (Saga of Larten Crepsley, book 1)

By Darren Shan

Blurb: 
The highly anticipated prequel to the New York Times bestselling Cirque Du Freak series!

Before Cirque Du Freak...
Before the war with the vampaneze... 
Before he was a vampire.
Larten Crepsley was a boy. 
As a child laborer many centuries ago, Larten Crepsley did his job well and without complaint, until the day the foreman killed his cousin as an example to the other children. 
In that moment, young Larten flies into a rage that the foreman wouldn't survive. Forced on the run, he sleeps in crypts and eats cobwebs to get by. And when a vampire named Seba offers him protection and training as a vampire's assistant, Larten takes it.
This is his story.

Review:
As a prequel, this book is great fun to read but as a stand alone series, it doesn't perform too well. However since it is intended to be a prequel, I think it's pretty good. I didn't know what to expect when I picked it up, I just knew I wanted to know more about Mr Crepsley as he was such a strong mysterious character in the Darran Shan Saga. I didn't expect the book to take a third-party biography perspective. It was done well though, as it felt like the retelling of his life by a mixture of chronological short stories. 

The book begins with explaining the day he met the vampire Seba Nile (a character from the previous series) and how that changed his life. Even though it was a short story and it quickly fast forward a few years, this was by far one of my favourite origin stories. I believe I was about 5 chapters in and it already took such a dark turn that it's hard to believe this series was intended for a young audience.

*SPOILERS*
Only a few chapters in, the reader is exposed to a tragic death of Larten Crepsley's cousin when they were only little kids! This caused Larten to head down the path of vampires. As book intro goes, I don't think I've read one as thrilling as this. 

Another thing, I love about this book is how fast Darren Shan throws in the characters from the previous series and hits you right in the nostalgic feels. Seba Nile is the first of the characters to be introduced, as the Master to Larten Crepsley. Although his character seems a lot stricter and very different to his portrayal in the previous series, he still warms my heart to see. I believe he's meant to look angry to show his ageing into his softness with Darren Shan. 

A problem I do find with the series is that everything happens too fast. One second he is a young boy the next he's a full vampire in Vampire Mountain. It's a lot to take in from a short book. However, it can be forgiven since vampires have such long lives that there is still plenty of stories to tell. 

The book ends where Seba Nile leaves his two vampire apprentices to fend for themselves among the cubs. These are group of vogue vampires who are trying to get the most of the Human world before fully committing to the vampires. Book 2 picks up a few years later while still with the cubs. This will be a later blog post, so subscribe to see when it gets posted. 
I really enjoyed this book and currently enjoying the second. My only critique is that the story is a bit rush and there doesn't seem to be any overall plot but who knows that may change.

Rating: 4 runes out of 5 













Check out my blog on book 2: Ocean of Blood             

written by Lauren