There was a very nice review for Archibald Lox And The Bridge Between Worlds on the Blind Dog Books site a while back. The author Rachael noted in her summation: "I’ve always said everyone should give Shan a try at some point and this book is definitely a good place to start if you like fantasy."

But it wasn't ALL praise -- Rachael said at one point that she disliked "the story of Archie’s [foster] brother... It’s explained that the [foster] brother recently died in an accident where he drowned and that Archie was there at the time. While this is talked about a couple of times it always feels a little glazed over. It just feels like such a monumental thing that could probably use more time. It sounds like a massively traumatic event that’s forgotten about a little too quickly."

It's a fair enough point, and one that would be VERY valid if this was only a three book series (the first three books form one big storyline) or if I wasn't such a deviously cunning author who loves to lay little traps for his readers to fall into! But there will be nine books in total in my Archibald Lox series, and while the loss of Archie's foster brother is indeed glossed over in book 1, and only occasionally referred to in the next seven books, it's a hugely important turning point in Archie's life, and a plot point that we'll be returning to in book 9, when we'll learn WHY more wasn't made of it by Archie back at the start of the series. I know it SEEMS like a bit of lazy writing (throw in a traumatic scene early on, for no real reason other than to stir up a few sympathetic pangs for your main character) but trust me when I say, with all my most devious honesty, it ISN'T. :-)

http://www.blinddogbooks.co.uk/so-i-just-read-archibald-lox-and-the-bridge-between-worlds-by-darren-shan-and/

The eBook of book 1 is always FREE to download through any of the major online stores, and the eBooks of books 2, 3 and 4 are currently heavily DISCOUNTED on Amazon -- I reduced the prices last week, to tie in with a BookBub promotion, and although I'd meant to return them to full price, I'm still picking up quite a few new readers on the back of the promo, so I decided to keep them discounted for a few extra days. You can find out more -- incuding direct buying links -- by clicking here: https://darrenshan.com/news/shanville-monthly