The Demonata remains my most intricately structured series. Three narrators, who start their journeys in three different time periods, with storylines that overlap at certain key points, it's a dizzying, chaotic ride. I think it all plays out quite smoothly as you're reading it -- it's only when you get to the end, and you're looking back, and trying to put together your thoughts about it, that you start to think, "What the hell have I just read, and how the hell did it all come together so neatly in the end?!?" :-)

If you've ever tried to summarise the series for a friend, you're probably aware of how tricky a task that can be, but thankfully there's a site called HOW TO READ ME, which has done the job for you, so now you can simply direct would-be Disciples (see what I did there?!?) towards the following link, and leave them to it: https://www.howtoread.me/the-demonata-books-in-order-darren-shan/

As the HTRM page details, there are two ways to read the Demonata books. You can read them in their published order, where the timelines start at different places and overlap, or you can read them chronologically, starting with Book 4. It's certainly your choice, and it might be interesting reading them chronologically if you're ever returning to the series for a re-read, but my advice is to stick with the published order, as I spent a lot of time working on the construction and structure of this series, and I feel that you get the most bang for you buck by going with the temporal shifts and leaps. Then again, the customer is always right, so if you'd rather adopt a less winding approach to the books, the How To Read Me page will show you the path to tread...

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Quite a few readers of my new Archibald Lox series have said it has a certain Demonata vibe to it, albeit without the lashings of blood and gore which were a trademark of that most horrific of series. So if you're a fan of my demon books, and curious to see if Archie echoes it in any way, you can find out more about the new series here: https://darrenshan.com/news/shanville-monthly