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WRITE AWAY
- reviewed by
Kelley Townley |
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Darren
Shan is
most
famous
for his
twelve
book
Vampire
series.
He
specialises
in
gruesome
horror
for
teenagers
and this
is no
different.
The
Demon
Thief is
actually
the
second
book in
his new
Demonata
series.
The
first
book,
Lord
Loss,
is, in
my mind,
brilliant.
Demon
Thief
is
about
Kernel
Fleck.
Kernel
has
always
been
able to
see and
play
with the
strange
lights
around
us that
no one
else can
see. But
one day
he
learns
to piece
them
together
to
create
doorways
to other
worlds,
demon
worlds.
This
becomes
a
necessary
skill
when his
baby
brother,
Art, is
kidnapped
by a
dog-headed
demon.
With the
help of
a motley
crew of
demon
hunting
adults,
Kernel
learns
to
master
this
magical
skill
and they
track
Art down
to the
castle
of the
demon
Lord
Loss.
Kernel
has to
play a
special
game of
‘chess’
to win
him back
- but is
Art
really
who
Kernel
thinks
he is?
And
unfortunately
the
demon
hunters
help has
come at
a price.
In
return
for
helping
Kernel,
they
want him
to help
them
locate a
special
weapon
powerful
enough
to
destroy
every
demon
world in
existence.
It is
suggested
that
this
tale
will
continue
in the
next
book
where we
will
begin
the
quest
for the
special
weapon.
My
initial
joy on
reading
this
book was
dampened
when I
realised
I would
not be
reading
about
the same
characters
as in
the
first
book in
the
series.
This
story is
set
further
in the
past,
before
the
events
in book
1.
Interestingly
one of
the
adult
characters
from
book one
turns up
in this
story as
a
younger
character.
This
gave me
some
hope
that in
the end
everything
would be
related
somehow.
I did
find
this
book
much
harder
going
than
book 1,
much
slower,
repetitive
in its
visits
to demon
world
after
demon
world,
making
it feel
a bit
boring
in
places.
But on
the
whole I
enjoyed
it. I
think
one of
the best
things
about
Darren
Shan’s
books is
the
characters.
You
might
expect
the boys
to be
aggressive,
masculine
monsters
but
instead
they are
often
family-loving,
pant-wetting,
scaredy
boys
reluctantly
caught
up in
the
horror
and
having
to cope
with it.
Most
life
affirming.
Naturally,
it goes
without
saying
that the
book’s
content
is
grotesque,
bloody
and high
on the
fantasy
violence.
Boys
(and
some
girls)
will
love it.
Adults
will
despair.
But what
can you
do?
There is
no sex
whatsoever.
Recommended
for 11+
year
olds
with a
love of
the
macabre.
http://improbability.ultralab.anglia.ac.uk/writeaway/demonthief.htm
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