Darren Shan Popular Books

Darren Shan Biography & Facts

The Saga of Darren Shan (known as Cirque Du Freak: The Saga of Darren Shan in the United States) is a young adult 12-part book series written by Darren O'Shaughnessy about the struggle of Darren Shan, a boy who has become involved in the world of vampires. As of October 2008, the book has been published in 33 countries around the world, in 30 different languages. A film based on the first three books in the series was released in theatres on 23 October 2009. Blackstone Audio has also released CD recordings of all 12 books in the series, read by Ralph Lïster. Background Darren O'Shaughnessy wrote and published the first book of the series, Cirque du Freak, under the pen name Darren Shan as a side project between two adult books. Cirque du Freak received good reviews and Warner Bros. bought the movie rights prior to publication, though the film was never made and the film rights returned to Shan after three years. Later, Universal Pictures acquired the film rights and a feature film was released in theatres on 23 October 2009. Plot outline The Saga of Darren Shan follows the story of Darren Shan, a normal human boy who is coerced by the vampire Larten Crepsley into becoming his assistant and a half-vampire. In the first trilogy, known as Vampire Blood or The Vampire's Assistant, Darren learns about and comes to accept his vampirism. In the first book, Cirque du Freak (also known as Cirque du Freak: A Living Nightmare), Mr. Crepsley makes Darren a half-vampire in return for saving the life of one of Darren's best friends, Steve Leonard. In the second book, The Vampire's Assistant, Crepsley notes that Darren is quite lonely and brings him back to the freak show, where he befriends a snake-boy, Evra Von, and a human, Sam Grest. In the third book, Tunnels of Blood, Crepsley brings Darren Shan and Evra Von to his hometown, where one of the vampires' enemies, a Vampaneze named Murlough, is murdering innocent people. In the second trilogy, known as Vampire Rites, Darren learns about the vampire clan and seeks their acceptance. In the fourth book, Vampire Mountain, Mr. Crepsley and Darren make their ascent up Vampire Mountain and learn about the rites of the vampires. In the fifth book, Trials of Death, Darren faces the Trials of Initiation, nicknamed Trials of Death, to gain the recognition of other vampires as one of the youngest vampires to be recruited in decades. In the sixth book, The Vampire Prince, Darren finds out about a traitor among them and tries to stop plans to destroy the vampire clan. He himself becomes a Vampire Prince, in this book. In the third trilogy, known as Vampire War, Darren learns he may have a larger role to play in the fate of the vampires (and of the world) than he had ever thought. In the seventh book, Hunters of the Dusk, the hunt for the Lord of the Vampaneze, who is destined to destroy the vampire clan, begins. In the eighth book, Allies of the Night, Darren meets some of his past friends who now fit into his quest. In the ninth book, Killers of the Dawn, Darren faces the Lord of the Vampaneze for the second time. In the fourth trilogy, known as Vampire Destiny, Darren is forced to make some difficult decisions, finally taking his destiny into his own hands and dealing with the consequences. In the tenth book, The Lake of Souls, Darren travels to an unfamiliar land to find out who his best friend, Harkat Mulds, used to be; as a "Little Person", Harkat's mind sans memories was placed into a new body after his death. In the eleventh book, Lord of the Shadows, Darren finds out more about the Lord of the Shadows and gets closer to his last confrontation with the Lord of the Vampaneze. In the twelfth book, Sons of Destiny, Darren faces the Lord of the Vampaneze for a final fight, and changes his destiny forever.Main characters Darren Shan's Vampires The vampires in The Darren Shan Saga are different from vampires found in popular culture. They are alive, meaning that they can be killed by a well-placed bullet, mutilation, decapitation or piercing of the heart (though they will wake up within a day or less if their neck is broken). Vampires do not have fangs and they do not drink blood from the neck. Rather, they drink blood from the victim by cutting a vein with their hard, and sharp nails; drinking small amounts of blood, and then healing it with their saliva. Their nails can also be used to scale walls in a spider-like manner. Draining all of a human's blood would have a vampire absorb a part of the spirit of the victim, allowing the vampire to see into their memories (Darren does this in The Vampire's Assistant, to save the spirit of his dying friend). Vampires have a partial immunity to Sunlight; which means they can stay in pure daylight for 4-5 hours before disintegrating or burning up. However, despite this, Vampires can be active during the day (provided they stay in the shade). By contrast, Half-Vampires have complete immunity to Sunlight by default. Vampires are not bothered by garlic, silver, or holy objects. Fresh human blood is the most nutritious for vampires, but they can feed on preserved human blood or the blood of certain animals if necessary. Some animals' blood, however, is toxic to vampires. Vampires cannot reproduce, due to all their fluids being frozen. Vampires are created via blood-to-blood contact with humans, traditionally through the fingertips, but if any creature, human or animal, were to orally ingest vampire blood, it would be driven into a murderous frenzy and then die (similar to rabies). Full Vampires age one year in appearance for every ten human years that pass (1/10), where as half-vampires age one year in appearance for every five human years that pass (1/5). This comes into play in the series when Darren meets an old girlfriend he had; now they are adults but Darren still looks about the same as he did when they first met. The oldest vampire in the series is Paris Skyle, who was "Blooded" at age two and lived for over eight hundred years. Vampires cast reflections and shadows but cannot be photographed due to a particular vibration of their atoms. Also, as in folklore, vampires sleep in coffins. Vampires are considerably stronger, tougher, and fitter than humans; able to outperform humans in any physical activity and run at speeds faster than the human eye can follow, a process called "Flitting". Flitting causes a static charge to build up in a vampire's body, which Mr. Crepsley learned to use to force open locks. A vampire's senses are all similar to that of predators, allowing them to see in darkness, hear heartbeats, and track scents. Their bones and teeth are stronger than those of humans, allowing them to endure incredible amounts of physical trauma, are resistant to most chemicals and diseases, and are able to heal and recover much quicker than humans. A vampire's healing factor is not as effective as in most fiction, though they are more resistant to fatal injury compared to humans and other .... Discover the Darren Shan popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Darren Shan books.

Best Seller Darren Shan Books of 2024

  • Phenomenal Future Stories synopsis, comments

    Phenomenal Future Stories

    Tony Bradman

    A cloned boy looking for his 'father'; the dramatic rescue of a captive tiger; the submersion of the Scottish isles in a flood; a girl who finds out why cyberpets will never be as ...

  • No Time At All synopsis, comments

    No Time At All

    Susan Sallis

    Two disabled children love their new bungalow by the sea. It even has its own spectral steamtrain which only they can hear each night. The train holds many mysteries which will cha...

  • Witch Baby and Me At School synopsis, comments

    Witch Baby and Me At School

    Debi Gliori

    Lily is 9. Her sister Daisy is 1. And she's no ordinary baby. Somehow, when she was born, something went rather wrong... and now Daisy is a Witch Baby. Nobody knows this but Lily ...

  • The Shade of Hettie Daynes synopsis, comments

    The Shade of Hettie Daynes

    Robert Swindells

    If you expect to see a ghost, you see a ghost... That's what Bethan tells herself when her brother Harry takes her to see the ghost at the old reservoir. But she really can see it:...

  • Freeze synopsis, comments

    Freeze

    Chris Priestley

    Awardwinning master of scary stories Chris Priestley returns with a spinetingling collection of ghostly tales to chill you to the bone …Awardwinning master of scary stories Chris P...

  • Raggy Maggie synopsis, comments

    Raggy Maggie

    Barry Hutchison

    Afraid of a cute little dolly, are you? Well, you should be…Billy is the hardest kid in school and a horrible bully. So Kyle could almost find it funny that Billy's childhood invis...

  • The Ghost Teacher synopsis, comments

    The Ghost Teacher

    Tony Bradman

    Look...there by the dustbins, what do you see? A shimmering and a glimmering, and a figure forming in the darkness. It is the Ghost Teacher...Class 3 are the worst class ever. They...

  • A Legacy Of Ghosts synopsis, comments

    A Legacy Of Ghosts

    Colin Dann

    There had been rumours for years about the wealth of old Mr Mackie. But when ben and Richard start snooping around the dead man's house, they're soon plunged into a web of terror. ...

  • Brothers to the Death synopsis, comments

    Brothers to the Death

    Darren Shan

    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 determin...

  • Oblomov synopsis, comments

    Oblomov

    Ivan Goncharov

    Ilya Ilyich Oblomov is a member of Russia's dying aristocracy a man so lazy that he has given up his job in the Civil Service, neglected his books, insulted his friends and found ...

  • Palace of the Damned synopsis, comments

    Palace of the Damned

    Darren Shan

    In the third installment in the creepy, captivating Larten Crepsley series, young vampire Larten finds out what it means to love...but is he also damned to find out what it means t...

  • 3 books to know King Arthur synopsis, comments

    3 books to know King Arthur

    Mark Twain, Thomas Malory, Lord Tennyson & August Nemo

    Welcome to the3 Books To Knowseries, our idea is to help readers learn about fascinating topics through three essential and relevant books. These carefully selected works can be fi...

  • The Henry Game synopsis, comments

    The Henry Game

    Susan Davis

    Imagine meeting Henry VIII and finding he's madly in love with you!One lazy summer afternoon Abigail persuades Lauren and Marina to experiment with a homemade ouija board. The girl...

  • Astrid, The Au-Pair From Outer Space synopsis, comments

    Astrid, The Au-Pair From Outer Space

    Emily Smith

    When Harry's mum tells him they are going to get an au pair, he isn't quite sure what it means. When he finds out it's a girl to help look after him and baby brother, F...

  • The Soul Trade synopsis, comments

    The Soul Trade

    E E Richardson

    When Nick Spencer stumbles upon Bargains, the odd little back street shop seems like the perfect place to buy the present he's been searching for. And when the shopkeeper wants to ...

  • The Summoning synopsis, comments

    The Summoning

    E E Richardson

    Justin hasn't ever really believed in the occult, even though his Grandpa Blake is an expert in it and has a house full of curious objects and old tattered books on magic. But when...

  • Mr Mumbles synopsis, comments

    Mr Mumbles

    Barry Hutchison

    Kyle’s imaginary friend from childhood is back… with a vengeance.Kyle hasn't seen Mr Mumbles in years. And there's a good reason for that: Mr Mumbles doesn't exist.But now Kyle's i...

  • The Candle Man synopsis, comments

    The Candle Man

    Catherine Fisher

    Meurig, the fiddler, is a haunted man. Hafren, the evil spiritwoman of the Severn has captured his soul and now possesses the key to his life a small candle stub. Hafren taunts an...

  • Break Of Dark synopsis, comments

    Break Of Dark

    Robert Westall

    Is there a barrier that divides the dark unknown from the everyday world around us? If so, is it broken sometimes by the dead returning, by the undead, or by alien creatures? What ...

  • Krazy Kow Saves the World - Well, Almost synopsis, comments

    Krazy Kow Saves the World - Well, Almost

    Jeremy Strong

    Krazy Kow is Jamie Fink’s idea – a cow superhero with some amazing udder attachments. He’s trying to make a film starring the Kow as she battles against the Dark Contaminator. But ...