Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
HarperCollins Children's Books (2010), Edition: 1st Edition, 1st Printing
Description
When his cousin is murdered at the factory where they both work as child laborers, young Larten Crepsley commits a horrific act and must live on the run until he meets a vampire named Seba Nile who offers him protection and training as a vampire's assistant.
User reviews
LibraryThing member AdonisGuilfoyle
Author Darren Shan recognises a money spinner when he creates one - following on from the Cirque Du Freak saga with the self-titled teen-turned-vampire, Shan returns to the beginning to deliver the story of Larten Crepsley. Young Larten's childhood is suitably dramatic, and after fleeing for his
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life, he meets the vampire Seba Nile in a crypt and becomes his assistant. The similarities with Darren's saga are obvious, but the fun is in the details - why Mr Crepsley has orange hair and likes spiders, where his talent for prestidigitation came from, and his own trials as a vampire's assistant. His story is enjoyable, but as I suspect Mr Shan is aware, fans would read anything about Darren's short-tempered, sarcastic master! Can't wait for the rest of the series. Show Less
LibraryThing member Elphaba71
Larten Crepsley is introduced to the Vampire ways! This is the first of Darren Shan's work that I have read. and it won't be the last! I thoroughly enjoyed this book, a real page turner, plenty of twists and turns and, for me, a different view of vampires. This book begins to take you through
Once finished I went to my daughters book shelf and borrowed her Cirque Du Freak series.....................
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Crepsleys life and how he eventually becomes the Vampire he is in Cirque Du Freak. Once finished I went to my daughters book shelf and borrowed her Cirque Du Freak series.....................
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LibraryThing member mrripley
Darren Shan, and his ever rapid production line of exceedingly good horror books, has introduced a new series. This first book is due to be published late September. The main character should be a very familiar figure to those who have read The Saga Of Darren Shan. But with this series we go full
The story starts with Larten, toiling day to day in a workhouse, until he manages to escape the brutal regime. He moves onto encounter the eerie Seba Nile - in a graveyard. The book explores his life with the Cirque De Freak and shares the insightful lives of the Vampire Clan, which I was drawn to, like a moth to light.
This book is written in Shan's normal style - a fast paced, gripping story plot and a vivid imagination in the ways of the gruesome. I loved the first section of the book, it felt like a new story but the more I delved into the book I had a feeling of deja vu. Whilst I strongly believe that this book is worth reading, it did feel like Darren had written this before - plucking the exploits of Larten out of a previous series and weaving it into another book. Now it may be that there is indeed a wealth of new content in this book, but this familiarity was unnerving - perhaps I've dreamt this story in my nightmares - but something felt very familiar!
This book does deal with friendship and the emotional turmoil of bullying, which works well and eventually brings out the best in everyone. The portrayal of Vampires, as always, has been extremely well written. Although they appear more realistic than in other books of this genre, perhaps this is due to the teenage market making them look like high society dummies with a human-like social life and existence. Romance and vampires as a combination, in my opinion, really suck the life from this genre!
The magical aspect to Darren's book emerges through wild fantasy - a genre that every grown-up wants to explore but only once they have plucked up the courage to dare open the book. I know a lot of grown up's who don't even dare do this. But every person who does, always has a grin (or grimace) on their face, as they hide from the demons that follow him/her into the very next book.
The great thing about this book is that there is a lot of scope for the next exciting adventure. Only I hope I don't dream a similar storyline next time.
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circle and follow one of the more interesting members, Larten Crepsley - the saga then begins.The story starts with Larten, toiling day to day in a workhouse, until he manages to escape the brutal regime. He moves onto encounter the eerie Seba Nile - in a graveyard. The book explores his life with the Cirque De Freak and shares the insightful lives of the Vampire Clan, which I was drawn to, like a moth to light.
This book is written in Shan's normal style - a fast paced, gripping story plot and a vivid imagination in the ways of the gruesome. I loved the first section of the book, it felt like a new story but the more I delved into the book I had a feeling of deja vu. Whilst I strongly believe that this book is worth reading, it did feel like Darren had written this before - plucking the exploits of Larten out of a previous series and weaving it into another book. Now it may be that there is indeed a wealth of new content in this book, but this familiarity was unnerving - perhaps I've dreamt this story in my nightmares - but something felt very familiar!
This book does deal with friendship and the emotional turmoil of bullying, which works well and eventually brings out the best in everyone. The portrayal of Vampires, as always, has been extremely well written. Although they appear more realistic than in other books of this genre, perhaps this is due to the teenage market making them look like high society dummies with a human-like social life and existence. Romance and vampires as a combination, in my opinion, really suck the life from this genre!
The magical aspect to Darren's book emerges through wild fantasy - a genre that every grown-up wants to explore but only once they have plucked up the courage to dare open the book. I know a lot of grown up's who don't even dare do this. But every person who does, always has a grin (or grimace) on their face, as they hide from the demons that follow him/her into the very next book.
The great thing about this book is that there is a lot of scope for the next exciting adventure. Only I hope I don't dream a similar storyline next time.
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LibraryThing member jhughes84
I received this book as an ARC from "Little Brown books for Young Readers"
Birth of a Killer by Darren Shan tells the tale of Larten Crepsley, a young boy who is living in awful conditions, has to fight for his food, and has a horrible sorry excuse for a person as a foreman. One day at work, his
Birth of a Killer is a prequel to Shan's "Cirque Du Freak" series, so fans of the series may recognize some of the characters that made appearances in this book (Larten, Mr. Tall, etc...). One aspect of the book I wish the author elaborated more on was the details of the life of an assistant -the chapters would skip years if not decades of the boys life with little detail of his position of assistant. Now I will admit I had not read the series before, so those details could have been laid out in an earlier book.
I found the book to be entertaining at parts, good enough to finish, but not so much that I had to finish it in one night.
Birth of a Killer by Darren Shan tells the tale of Larten Crepsley, a young boy who is living in awful conditions, has to fight for his food, and has a horrible sorry excuse for a person as a foreman. One day at work, his
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foreman goes too far with his beatings and kills one of the few people Larten cares for. At that moment, something snaps in Larten and he kills his foreman sending him on the run for his life. He is not running long before he meets up with Seba, a vampire who takes Larten under his wing making him his assistant, changing Larten's life forever.Birth of a Killer is a prequel to Shan's "Cirque Du Freak" series, so fans of the series may recognize some of the characters that made appearances in this book (Larten, Mr. Tall, etc...). One aspect of the book I wish the author elaborated more on was the details of the life of an assistant -the chapters would skip years if not decades of the boys life with little detail of his position of assistant. Now I will admit I had not read the series before, so those details could have been laid out in an earlier book.
I found the book to be entertaining at parts, good enough to finish, but not so much that I had to finish it in one night.
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LibraryThing member AngelaCinVA
BIRTH OF A KILLER: THE SAGA OF LARTEN CREPSLEY by Darren Shan, Little, Brown & Company, October 2010.
“Are cobwebs a treat where you come from?”
So begins Larten Crepsley’s meeting with the mysterious Seba Nile, a meeting that sets Larten on the path to becoming a vampire. How did Larten come
The day started as any other, with Larten rising early to have a few moments of peace before his mother’s yells woke his siblings and cousin, Vur. After a hurried breakfast of watery porridge, Larten and Vur headed to work at a silk factory run by the cruel foreman Traz. But Larten’s world was turned upside down when Traz, in a fit of temper, killed Vur. In a haze of despair and anger, Larten struck back, killing Traz. Forced to flee the city with no supplies, Larten sought shelter from a storm in the only dry place he could find, a crypt. Little did he expect that someone, or something, else had already sought refuge there.
Birth of a Killer chronicles Larten’s experiences first as a vampire’s assistant, including his own introduction to the Cirque du Freak, and later as a new vampire. The action moves quickly, often skipping ahead years. Readers looking for an in depth examination of life as a vampire’s assistant may be disappointed as the book moves from highlight to highlight, focusing on milestones in Larten’s journeys. After all, the author has 200 years to cover in just four books.
Shan’s vampires are violent creatures of the night, yet this book stops short of being a true horror story. Fans of the Cirque du Freak series will consider this prequel a must-read. But Birth of a Killer stands on its own and those who have not read the original series will still enjoy this story of dark beings of the night.
I received this book as an ARC from "Little Brown books for Young Readers"
“Are cobwebs a treat where you come from?”
So begins Larten Crepsley’s meeting with the mysterious Seba Nile, a meeting that sets Larten on the path to becoming a vampire. How did Larten come
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to be hiding in a crypt, eating cobwebs when he had started the day as a child laborer, not so different from all of the other children he knew? The day started as any other, with Larten rising early to have a few moments of peace before his mother’s yells woke his siblings and cousin, Vur. After a hurried breakfast of watery porridge, Larten and Vur headed to work at a silk factory run by the cruel foreman Traz. But Larten’s world was turned upside down when Traz, in a fit of temper, killed Vur. In a haze of despair and anger, Larten struck back, killing Traz. Forced to flee the city with no supplies, Larten sought shelter from a storm in the only dry place he could find, a crypt. Little did he expect that someone, or something, else had already sought refuge there.
Birth of a Killer chronicles Larten’s experiences first as a vampire’s assistant, including his own introduction to the Cirque du Freak, and later as a new vampire. The action moves quickly, often skipping ahead years. Readers looking for an in depth examination of life as a vampire’s assistant may be disappointed as the book moves from highlight to highlight, focusing on milestones in Larten’s journeys. After all, the author has 200 years to cover in just four books.
Shan’s vampires are violent creatures of the night, yet this book stops short of being a true horror story. Fans of the Cirque du Freak series will consider this prequel a must-read. But Birth of a Killer stands on its own and those who have not read the original series will still enjoy this story of dark beings of the night.
I received this book as an ARC from "Little Brown books for Young Readers"
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LibraryThing member edspicer
I would only recommed this book book if the person has read the other 12 books by Darren Shan. This author has a hiliarious way to pull you into the story. (Middle Schoolers don't seem to like it, but it is about vampires.)
4Q, 3P
Grade (of review): 11th
This book is best suited for those in Middle
It was selected to read due to a liking for the author.
(JB-AHS-NC)
4Q, 3P
Grade (of review): 11th
This book is best suited for those in Middle
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and High School. It was selected to read due to a liking for the author.
(JB-AHS-NC)
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LibraryThing member 4sarad
I probably would have enjoyed this more if I have read any of the other Cirque du Freak books first. If you read it first, as I did, it's entertaining enough, but kind of lacks something. I assume if I'd read the other books first I would already know some of these characters and care more about
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their beginnings. The book just started to get interesting in the last chapter... pretty disappointing. Show Less
LibraryThing member arkgirl1
Marks Review:
I really like this book because of the vampires and humour. My favourite character is Larten Crepsley who is the main character. He meets Seba Nile, an old vampire, after he runs away from home due to the fact he killed someone else. He has bright orange hair and not completely pure
So the story spins from there with him going to Cirque Du Freak and meeting Wester, a boy who becomes Seba's 2nd apprentice, alongside Larten.
Although the book has no definite plot and is more the beginning of a much longer story and this is just a single chapter it still hasa steady flow and a brilliant claffhanger for the ending.
This is the first book I read for my summer reading challenge 2011
I really like this book because of the vampires and humour. My favourite character is Larten Crepsley who is the main character. He meets Seba Nile, an old vampire, after he runs away from home due to the fact he killed someone else. He has bright orange hair and not completely pure
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blood. But neither is Seba Nile's.So the story spins from there with him going to Cirque Du Freak and meeting Wester, a boy who becomes Seba's 2nd apprentice, alongside Larten.
Although the book has no definite plot and is more the beginning of a much longer story and this is just a single chapter it still hasa steady flow and a brilliant claffhanger for the ending.
This is the first book I read for my summer reading challenge 2011
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LibraryThing member BookSpot
Birth of a Killer is the first in Shan’s new four book series The Saga of Larten Crepsley. The new series is a prequel to the Cirque du Freak series.
Tracing the early years of Larten Crepsley this first book introduces us to him as a young boy working in a silk factory with his cousin. After a
Only to find it occupied.
It’s here that he meets vampire Seba Nile, already 500-years-old. Seba explains to Larten, who already believes in witches and other supernatural beings, that vampires are, in fact, real. He also explains how vampires, such as him, differ from the vampires of legend.
Readers of the Cirque du Freak series possibly already know more of what transpires after this, but for those that have not, I’m going to stop the summary there ….
While I would imagine a reader would get more out of the Larten Crepsley books if they’d already read the Cirque du Freak series (knowing some of the characters, etc), it’s more than possible to read and enjoy Birth of a Killer with no previous knowledge of the characters, world or author (I did).
Birth of a Killer covers about twenty years and has a lot of explanation of the vampire world, rules and introduces a lot of characters. There is very, very little blood or gore (or even mention of it). There is violence—usually in fisticuffs or other fighting, but it’s all very middle grade suitable.
Most of the book is really about getting to know the character and where he came from—the title of the book is not at all misleading.
It’s too early to say if this series will lead readers to Ciruqe du Freak books but I know (from being told emphatically) that lovers of the Cirque du Freak series love this series as well and are awaiting the future books.
I will have Book Two, Ocean of Blood reviewed either this week of early next week.
Tracing the early years of Larten Crepsley this first book introduces us to him as a young boy working in a silk factory with his cousin. After a
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terrible incident, you g Larten kills the abusive factory foreman. Forced to flee, a young, poor boy in the early 1800s has just killed his boss, Larten seeks refuge in a cemetery crypt.Only to find it occupied.
It’s here that he meets vampire Seba Nile, already 500-years-old. Seba explains to Larten, who already believes in witches and other supernatural beings, that vampires are, in fact, real. He also explains how vampires, such as him, differ from the vampires of legend.
Readers of the Cirque du Freak series possibly already know more of what transpires after this, but for those that have not, I’m going to stop the summary there ….
While I would imagine a reader would get more out of the Larten Crepsley books if they’d already read the Cirque du Freak series (knowing some of the characters, etc), it’s more than possible to read and enjoy Birth of a Killer with no previous knowledge of the characters, world or author (I did).
Birth of a Killer covers about twenty years and has a lot of explanation of the vampire world, rules and introduces a lot of characters. There is very, very little blood or gore (or even mention of it). There is violence—usually in fisticuffs or other fighting, but it’s all very middle grade suitable.
Most of the book is really about getting to know the character and where he came from—the title of the book is not at all misleading.
It’s too early to say if this series will lead readers to Ciruqe du Freak books but I know (from being told emphatically) that lovers of the Cirque du Freak series love this series as well and are awaiting the future books.
I will have Book Two, Ocean of Blood reviewed either this week of early next week.
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LibraryThing member Amatheya81
Birth of a killer is the first book in the Saga of Larten Crepsley by Darren Shan which in turn is a prequel to the Saga of Darren Shan.
This series can be read by them selves but I would suggest that you will get more out of them if you have read the Saga of Darren Shan first, as many of the
This book mostly focuses on Lartens young life. The reason why he chose to leave his home and family to follow the vampire Seba Nile and become his assistant, what his life as an assistant was like, how he became friends with Hibernus Tall (which will only be relevant to you if you have read the Saga of Darren Shan) and what his first couple of years as a vampire were like.
While this book wasn’t the best of Darrens offerings it was laugh out loud funny in parts and a interesting read. It gave me a greater understanding of the characters that I had grown to love in the Saga of Darren Shan and it even offers up an explanation of why Larten often uses the name Vur Horston and why his hair is an unnatural orange colour.
My only criticism of this book would be that I would have liked it to be a little more detailed with a few less jumps. Huge chunks of Lartens life are simply skipped and some pivotal conversations and events are only mentioned, but would have been interesting to read in detail. That being said this is only one quarter of the story and with previous books I’ve noticed that adult readers get far more out of Darren’s Sagas when reading them as a whole. I will be eagerly reading the next instalment, Ocean of Blood straight away!
This series can be read by them selves but I would suggest that you will get more out of them if you have read the Saga of Darren Shan first, as many of the
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vampire customs, characters and locations will be familiar. Also there are lots of situations and small details that are alluded to in the Saga of Darren Shan that suddenly make far more sense as you read this book. I myself chose to read this book because Larten Crepsley was my favourite character from the Saga of Darren Shan and I was eager to read about his life.This book mostly focuses on Lartens young life. The reason why he chose to leave his home and family to follow the vampire Seba Nile and become his assistant, what his life as an assistant was like, how he became friends with Hibernus Tall (which will only be relevant to you if you have read the Saga of Darren Shan) and what his first couple of years as a vampire were like.
While this book wasn’t the best of Darrens offerings it was laugh out loud funny in parts and a interesting read. It gave me a greater understanding of the characters that I had grown to love in the Saga of Darren Shan and it even offers up an explanation of why Larten often uses the name Vur Horston and why his hair is an unnatural orange colour.
My only criticism of this book would be that I would have liked it to be a little more detailed with a few less jumps. Huge chunks of Lartens life are simply skipped and some pivotal conversations and events are only mentioned, but would have been interesting to read in detail. That being said this is only one quarter of the story and with previous books I’ve noticed that adult readers get far more out of Darren’s Sagas when reading them as a whole. I will be eagerly reading the next instalment, Ocean of Blood straight away!
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LibraryThing member book_zone
Most readers of The Book Zone will not need me to tell them that Birth of a Killer, the new book from Darren Shan, is actually a prequel to his fantastically successful Saga of Darren Shan series. One of the key characters in that series was Larten Crepsley, the vampire that first blooded Darren
The book opens with Larten as a young boy, working all hours loosening silk from the cocoons of silk worms in a factory with his cousin Vur Horston (a name familiar to Saga fans). Immediately we discover the reason for the bright orange hair, and inventive it is too (and no I'm not going to tell you what it is - you will have to read the book yourself). Darren Shan also does not keep us waiting long before revealing the life-changing moment in his hero's life, the moment that has him running away from home and very soon finding himself in the company of the vampire that will become his mentor and eventually blood him, Seba Nile. Birth of a Killer does not have the blood-splatter moments of the Demonata series, but it is still violent enough in places to keep fans grinning from ear to ear, and this early scene is one of those moments.
Although in familiar territory this book never seems like a reproduction of the previous series. Those stories were very much a coming-of-age story for the main character, whereas these are spaced over a much greater period of time. As such we start off with Larten as a boy, and then pretty much immediately after he has met Seba Nile we get to part two of the book, and we jump five years in time. Eight short chapters later and the narrative jumps through time again, with Larten now at the age of 30. The author set out to tell the story of a man who is over two hundred years old, in a mere four volumes, so temporal jumps in narrative like this are going to be essential for the story to be told. At times I felt that although getting older in years, Larten's character did not necessarily seem to be maturing in the same way. However, once Larten attended his first Council I realised just how immature and naive he was in vampire terms and this side of his personality made much more sense. I am still trying to decide whether I would have liked to see more of the time between when Larten meets Seba, and when he hits thirty - I think I will reserve judgement on that area until I have read the next three books in the series (the fourth due out in May 2012).
What I loved about this book was the way that Darren Shan explores the vampire world he created in more detail. These aren't your girly, romantic Twilight vampires, but neither are they at times the debonair, aristocrats of the Dracula movies. These vampires get drunk; they gamble; their personal hygiene occasionally sucks big time. At the event I went to yesterday Darren Shan explained when he created his vampire clans he had in mind the likes of the Masai, Samurai, Native Americans and the Celts - tribes of people where the male was dominant, and where you had all levels of people - from mighty warriors and hunters to beggars and thieves. This is exactly the kind of society that we see with his vampires - some wish to lord it over all and sundry, testing their physical abilities to the extreme during the Festival of Death, whilst disaffected younger vampires rebel by playing cards and drinking in a side tunnel.
If you have not yet discovered The Saga of Darren Shan then you could read this book before you read those others. However, I would recommend that you do read the original Saga first as I have. In my opinion it will be a far more rewarding experience to get to know the adult Larten first, and then discover the events and experiences that made him the vampire the fans love so much. Birth of a Killer will then have you nodding sagely to yourself as you spot a familiar name, or discover the answer to a long-wondered question (such as the whole orange haired vampire thing).
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Shan, thus turning him into a creature of the night. Larten is a very popular character with Shan fans, and in my opinion is one of the author's greatest creations: his personality seemed so well developed, with his emphasis on the correct use of grammar when speaking, his moody, withdrawn manner and his flame orange hair (who ever heard of a vampire with ginger hair???). When I first read the original Saga I was left with many questions about the back history of this great character, and it would appear that Darren Shan felt the same.The book opens with Larten as a young boy, working all hours loosening silk from the cocoons of silk worms in a factory with his cousin Vur Horston (a name familiar to Saga fans). Immediately we discover the reason for the bright orange hair, and inventive it is too (and no I'm not going to tell you what it is - you will have to read the book yourself). Darren Shan also does not keep us waiting long before revealing the life-changing moment in his hero's life, the moment that has him running away from home and very soon finding himself in the company of the vampire that will become his mentor and eventually blood him, Seba Nile. Birth of a Killer does not have the blood-splatter moments of the Demonata series, but it is still violent enough in places to keep fans grinning from ear to ear, and this early scene is one of those moments.
Although in familiar territory this book never seems like a reproduction of the previous series. Those stories were very much a coming-of-age story for the main character, whereas these are spaced over a much greater period of time. As such we start off with Larten as a boy, and then pretty much immediately after he has met Seba Nile we get to part two of the book, and we jump five years in time. Eight short chapters later and the narrative jumps through time again, with Larten now at the age of 30. The author set out to tell the story of a man who is over two hundred years old, in a mere four volumes, so temporal jumps in narrative like this are going to be essential for the story to be told. At times I felt that although getting older in years, Larten's character did not necessarily seem to be maturing in the same way. However, once Larten attended his first Council I realised just how immature and naive he was in vampire terms and this side of his personality made much more sense. I am still trying to decide whether I would have liked to see more of the time between when Larten meets Seba, and when he hits thirty - I think I will reserve judgement on that area until I have read the next three books in the series (the fourth due out in May 2012).
What I loved about this book was the way that Darren Shan explores the vampire world he created in more detail. These aren't your girly, romantic Twilight vampires, but neither are they at times the debonair, aristocrats of the Dracula movies. These vampires get drunk; they gamble; their personal hygiene occasionally sucks big time. At the event I went to yesterday Darren Shan explained when he created his vampire clans he had in mind the likes of the Masai, Samurai, Native Americans and the Celts - tribes of people where the male was dominant, and where you had all levels of people - from mighty warriors and hunters to beggars and thieves. This is exactly the kind of society that we see with his vampires - some wish to lord it over all and sundry, testing their physical abilities to the extreme during the Festival of Death, whilst disaffected younger vampires rebel by playing cards and drinking in a side tunnel.
If you have not yet discovered The Saga of Darren Shan then you could read this book before you read those others. However, I would recommend that you do read the original Saga first as I have. In my opinion it will be a far more rewarding experience to get to know the adult Larten first, and then discover the events and experiences that made him the vampire the fans love so much. Birth of a Killer will then have you nodding sagely to yourself as you spot a familiar name, or discover the answer to a long-wondered question (such as the whole orange haired vampire thing).
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LibraryThing member Staciesnape
Before I right a review I'll tell you a story. I was there when Darren Shan first said he would be doing The Saga of Larten Crepsley . He was doing a small signing/reading/Q&A at a local children's theater near to me, so me and my best friend of the time (who lent me my first Darren Shan book)
Growing up I didn't read much. From the moment I first read The Saga of Darren Shan I knew that things wouldn't be the same. It didn't take me long to connect with characters or to get the aching for more feeling you get at the end of a really wonderful. Basically those books made me who I am today.
Its taken me a long time to read this book because it came out when my little girl was still young, so I just didn't have the time, that and I think having to wait for his books before I thought it would be best till they were all out, knowing I would breeze through them haha. I don't think I could take the pain of waiting again. Reading it today brought back all those feelings I had when I was 12/13 and so many happy memories along with it.
Warning: May contain spoilers
I could not put this book down and smiled from ear to ear while reading it. Why? because Darren had brought back a lot of old characters from The Saga of Darren Shan such as Vancha, Paris, Evanna, Seba and Mr. Tall, Mr. Tiny and Murlough. Even though some of them were only mentioned it still made me smile remembering all I had read when I was a teenager.
At first I was a bit worried about this book. Even though its something I've dreamed about since I finished Sons of Destiny, I was concerned in case Darren had lost touch with the characters, forgotten what made them great. I am thankful he didn't and curse myself for doubting him in the first place.
I think the thing I loved most about this book was that young Larten is so much like young Darren. Head strong and determined. His relationship with Seba is very much like his with Darren's and I'd be lying if I said it didn't warm my heart. Seba is strict with his assistant, always correcting his grammar and making him rebel against him, thinking its his own decision when really its what he wanted all along. He's very hard on him but deep down loves him like a son.
I love the introduction of Wester, Seba's other assistant, how they went up against Murlough when Wester wanted revenge. He's a nice addition to the family, someone Crepsley can turn to when he's second guessing Seba and trust. Something his hasn't had other than Seba since his cousin Vur Horston was killed in those factories. (also love his cousins name. It shows that no matter how old Crepsley got he still missed his cousin and part of him was still human. If you're wondering what I mean, Vur Horston was the name that Steve knew him by in Cirque du Freak)
Some people who have read it might have thought it was a little fast paced. Darren said that the 4 books will be set over the space of 200 hundred years so with that in mind, and the fact that the most interesting and apart things happen to him as a vampire, I think it was necessary to skip some points in his life and not focus too much on him when he was human. It was timed perfectly
Sorry this review wouldn't make sense to a lot of people, but this ones mainly for me. My advice to those who haven't read anything by Darren Shan is to start with The Saga of Darren Shan before moving on to The Saga of Larten Crepsley. Only then will you truly get this book.
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decided to go. Well at the start he told us that at the end of it he would read a chapter from his new 4 part series. As the Q&A come around lots of people were asking questions about possible films and what had happened to some characters. Well as I've always loved him and he was my favourite from the off, I asked if he had ever thought about doing a stand alone book about Larten Crepsley in his younger years, before the circus and maybe before and how he became a vampire. He said that it was a possibility, only to later go on and read a chapter from what would later be Birth of A Killer. After, when it came to the book signing, he couldn't stop laughing at me because my question left the perfect set up for his reading. And later emailed me to say thank you. (Yes, I did go all spazz fan girl arfter haha)Growing up I didn't read much. From the moment I first read The Saga of Darren Shan I knew that things wouldn't be the same. It didn't take me long to connect with characters or to get the aching for more feeling you get at the end of a really wonderful. Basically those books made me who I am today.
Its taken me a long time to read this book because it came out when my little girl was still young, so I just didn't have the time, that and I think having to wait for his books before I thought it would be best till they were all out, knowing I would breeze through them haha. I don't think I could take the pain of waiting again. Reading it today brought back all those feelings I had when I was 12/13 and so many happy memories along with it.
Warning: May contain spoilers
I could not put this book down and smiled from ear to ear while reading it. Why? because Darren had brought back a lot of old characters from The Saga of Darren Shan such as Vancha, Paris, Evanna, Seba and Mr. Tall, Mr. Tiny and Murlough. Even though some of them were only mentioned it still made me smile remembering all I had read when I was a teenager.
At first I was a bit worried about this book. Even though its something I've dreamed about since I finished Sons of Destiny, I was concerned in case Darren had lost touch with the characters, forgotten what made them great. I am thankful he didn't and curse myself for doubting him in the first place.
I think the thing I loved most about this book was that young Larten is so much like young Darren. Head strong and determined. His relationship with Seba is very much like his with Darren's and I'd be lying if I said it didn't warm my heart. Seba is strict with his assistant, always correcting his grammar and making him rebel against him, thinking its his own decision when really its what he wanted all along. He's very hard on him but deep down loves him like a son.
I love the introduction of Wester, Seba's other assistant, how they went up against Murlough when Wester wanted revenge. He's a nice addition to the family, someone Crepsley can turn to when he's second guessing Seba and trust. Something his hasn't had other than Seba since his cousin Vur Horston was killed in those factories. (also love his cousins name. It shows that no matter how old Crepsley got he still missed his cousin and part of him was still human. If you're wondering what I mean, Vur Horston was the name that Steve knew him by in Cirque du Freak)
Some people who have read it might have thought it was a little fast paced. Darren said that the 4 books will be set over the space of 200 hundred years so with that in mind, and the fact that the most interesting and apart things happen to him as a vampire, I think it was necessary to skip some points in his life and not focus too much on him when he was human. It was timed perfectly
Sorry this review wouldn't make sense to a lot of people, but this ones mainly for me. My advice to those who haven't read anything by Darren Shan is to start with The Saga of Darren Shan before moving on to The Saga of Larten Crepsley. Only then will you truly get this book.
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Awards
Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers (Selection — 2011)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2010
ISBN
0007315864 / 9780007315864