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INSIGHT,
Ireland -
reviewed by ??? |
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Shan's
name hit
the
headlines
in the
'young
adult'
fiction
with the
early
volumes
of his
twelve-part
vampire
series,
The Saga
of
Darren
Shan.
Combining
the
gritty
reality
of a
good
Anthony
Horowitz
adventure
with
Shan's
own love
of the
gothic,
the
series
followed
his
namesake
into the
underworld
of
vampires,
a
worldwide
war of
the
undead,
and
ultimately
through
holes in
time
itself
into the
strange
universe
of Des
Tiny via
death,
pain,
loss,
and a
coming
of age,
and
ultimately
to the
hardest
decision
of all.
Uncompromising
and
riveting
throughout,
the
series
made it
into
multiple
translations.
The big
questions
was:
What
now?
What now
is The
Demonata,
a new
series
that
shifts
to a new
level of
horror,
starting
with
volume
one:
Lord
Loss.
Not
vampires
this
time,
but
werewolves,
and a
pact
with an
ancient,
cruel
demon
that has
cursed a
family
for
centuries.
Grubbs
Grady is
an
obnoxious,
cruel
rebel
who has
to grow
up fast
when the
horrible
truth
about
his
family
and his
future
is
revealed
to him
after he
sees his
family
torn
apart by
Lord
Loss and
his
companion
demons.
Again,
Shan is
unafraid
to bring
his
readers
through
the
reality
of the
consequences.
Grubbs
spends
months
in a
padded
cell,
sedated,
restrained,
tortured
by
nightmares
and
visions
before
slowly
regaining
enough
composure
to get
out and
into the
care of
his
uncle.
In
typical
Shan
style,
Grubbs
does
this (on
his
uncle's
advice)
by
pretending
to get
well, by
lying to
his
doctors
and
nurses,
to the
police.
Distinctly
more
overtly
violent
than the
Saga of
Darren
Shan,
there is
little
that is
gentle
here.
Instead
we get
tough
questions
about
the
purpose
of
living,
blame,
fate,
loss,
ethics,
responsibility
and
honesty.
Passage
through
the Saga
series
is
recommended
for
acclimatisation
purposes.
Such
comments
aside,
this is
a book
that
deserves
to be
read by
adults
as well
as
teenagers.
Shan
stands
shoulder
to
shoulder
with
Lemony
Snicket
and
Philip
Pullman
at the
leading
edge of
exciting,
challenging
"children's"
fiction.
J.K.
Rowling
is in
the
ha'penny
place.
The
ha'penny,
note, is
no
longer
legal
currency.
Book two
of The
Demonata
is
titled
The
Demon
Thief.
Bring it
on, I
say!
http://homepage.eircom.net/~archaeology/two/review.htm
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