IS this an appropriate trilogy for children? Is it all blood and guts and a little too like Buffy?
The books contain wolfmen and snake boys, who are covered in scales, and the main creatures are vampires. There are also the Little People who eat humans.
Cirque du Freak introduces us to Darren Shan, a schoolboy who sacrifices himself for his best friend, by giving his blood to a vampire to obtain the antidote to a poisonous spider bite. The vampire doesn't kill him, however, and instead Shan becomes a half-vampire, a cross between Angel and Spiderman.
The Vampire's Assistant continues with Shan joining the Cirque du Freak where he makes friends with snake-boy Evra Von. They meet the wolfman, set loose by environmental protesters, who promptly kills a friend of Shan's before joining the circus.
In Tunnels of Blood Darren fights the 'vampaneze', a purple vampire who attempts to kill our hero and his friends - in this world 'normal' vampires don't usually kill, they only take as much blood as they need.
The books aren't just gory, they have humour, adventure, and I found them thrilling - especially the gruesome bits!
Updated: 09:09 Wednesday, September 10, 2003
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