I shared some icy photos of the Shans a few weeks back, frolicking on the banks of the river Shannon after a frosty night in Ringmoylan in County Limerick in Ireland. We live very closeby, and my family has long historic ties to this part of the world -- in fact, some of them were lighthouse keepers, who would set off from this very shore to maintain a nearby lighthouse in the middle of the Shannon estuary. (Some of it still stood until a few years ago, when a storm blew the last vestiges away.)

Anyway, it froze again since I took those other photos, so here are some more snaps of us out on the ice-covered mud flats. I especially like the last shot, of Dante seemingly heading out towards the waters beyond the ice -- it puts me in mind of the ending of the original Frankenstein novel...

If you can pick your way through the ice floes, check out the February issue of the Shanville Monthly newsletter, with all the latest Darren Shan news and updates, including info about Volume 1 of the Cirque Du Freak manga omnibus. https://www.darrenshan.com/news/shanville-monthly