I'm going to be running a couple of eBook SALES in December -- call it a little Christmas gift from me to you guys! First up, in the middle of the month, from the 13th to 20th, I'm reducing the price of the first Volume of Archibald Lox books. Book 1 is always FREE, and during the sale Book 2 will cost just $0.99, and Book 3 just $1.99, meaning you can buy all three books for less than $3!! Alternatively, if you want to read it as one big story (or just prefer the cover), you can buy all three books in the single collected edition (The Missing Princess) for the same reduced price of just $2.99. The sale will be global, with reduced prices everywhere -- for instance, a total price of £2.49 in the UK, €2.75 in European stores, $3.99 in Canada, $4.99 in Australia and New Zealand... You'll be able to buy the eBooks through all the major sellers -- there are direct links just below.

Book 1 on Amazon: CLICK HERE   Book 1 on Google Play: CLICK HERE   Book 1 on Apple, Kobo, B&N, etc: CLICK HERE

The Missing Princess on Amazon: CLICK HERE   The Missing Princess on Google Play: CLICK HERE   The Missing Princess on Apple, Kobo, B&N, etc: CLICK HERE

DECEMBER SALES - PART TWO

At the end of the month I'll be running my second sale, but this one's only for my older readers! From December 27th to January 2nd, I'm reducing the price of my very weird, very dark sci-fi novel An Other Place, released under the name of Darren Dash a few years back. It's easily the strangest book I've ever released, and to my surprise it earned rave reviews and a strong cult following. During the sale it will cost just $0.99 in the USA, £0.99 in the UK, $0.99 in Canada, $0.99 in Australia, €0.99 in Europe, and a similar price in all other Amazon stores. (I'm afraid the Darren Dash books are currently only on sale through Amazon -- sorry -- though it's something I'll very likely look into changing next year.) To buy it in your local Amazon store (but wait for the sale!!) CLICK HERE.

BEST ARCHIE PRICES

For those who might have missed it -- Archibald Lox is my new series. I released the first Volume as three short eBooks earlier this year, but have now collected the story into one big volume, which is available in a couple of physical formats, as are the original three books. The cheapest way to buy them will always be as eBooks (I like to offier big discounts on the digital front), but if you want some books to hold and love, read on for where you can get he best deals...

1) If you're looking to buy a hardback edition of The Missing Princess, (which collects the three shorter books into a single edition) the best deal seems to be on Book Depository, which (at the time I'm writing this at the start of the month) is selling it at a 17% discount (about $26.23 instead of its regular price of $32), with free shipping worldwide. CLICK HERE to be directed to your country's branch, where you'll be shown the cost in your local currency.

2) You can get the paperback of The Missing Princess on Amazon or Book Depository at the same price ($16),and they seem to be the stores offering the best price -- CLICK HERE to be sent to your local Amazon store, or CLICK HERE to be directed to your local Book Depository branch.

3) The cheapest way to buy Volume One in a physical edtion is to buy The Missing Princess, which collects the three shorter books into a single Volume, and is significantly cheaper than buying them individually. BUT if you would prefer to buy the three shorter books as individual books, I've produced paperback editions, but only through Amazon stores worldwide. CLICK HERE to buy Book 1... CLICK HERE to buy Book 2... and CLICK HERE to buy Book 3.

SHANTA CLAUS!

It's that time of year again, when SHANTA comes to town!!! I wrote a short, tongue-in-cheek Christmas story many years ago, featuring some of the characters from my first three vampire books, and since then it's expanded vastly to include references to pretty much every YA book or series that I've released. It's the only place in the Darren Shan universe where there are crossovers between my various fictional worlds, where Lord Loss can rub shoulders with B Smith and Mr Crepsley -- and maybe even Archibald Lox. It will appear ON THIS PAGE on my web site about a week or so before Christmas Day. I'll also post links to it on my Facebook and Twitter and Blog pages, so keep an eye on those for updates.

CIRQUE DU DEMONATA?!? NO!!

While we're on the suject of my yuletide crossover... A fan on Facebook called Thomas recently posted the following message: "Anyone else feel like des tiny could have had some secret connection to the Demonata that was never written about? Like he's cracking open a cold one with lord loss or something?"

Every so often, a fan of both my vampire and demon series will ask if there is any connection between them. They'll usually point to Mr Tiny and mention the otherworldly monsters that we glimpse towards the end of that series -- might those monsters have been the Demonata, and could I one day merge the two universes? The simple answer is -- no.

I did very briefly consider crossing over, as I started work on Lord Loss before I finished work on my vampire books. Mr Tiny would have slotted quite nicely into the universe of the demons, and might have had an interesting role to play -- perhaps he would have sided with humanity against the Demonata? But I cast the thought aside after no more than the briefest of flickers.

Firstly, it felt too gimmicky. I think The Saga of Darren Shan, The Demonata and Zom-B (hopefully Archibald Lox too, once it's completed) all work so well in large part because they're set in self-contained universes with very strict rules. Once you start mixing things up, throwing vampires in to help out when Grubbs is battling demons, or having Lord Loss pop up while B Smith is kicking some undead ass... those rules break down and it all becomes very silly very quickly. That's not to say it can't be done -- Marvel have fared quite nicely with some of their mash-ups, not least on the movie front -- but as a general rule I think it's a bad idea.

The other reason I dismissed the idea almost immediately is that there was absolutely no mention of the Demonata in the vampire books. I was still working on The Saga, so it would have been possible to slip in a mention of them -- it could have been as basic as Mr Tiny referring to the monsters as the Demonata, and hinting that he'd soon have to turn his attention away from vampires to tackle a possible threat from the demons. But that would have begged the question -- why hadn't the vampires been fighting the demons all these years? As a Vampire Prince, Darren surely would have been told that part of his duties would have involved protecting Earth from invading demons! No, if it was to have worked, it would have had to been embedded early in the vampire series, and possibly played an important part in those stories.

So, to wrap up, once again, the simple answer is -- no. No connections at all between Cirque Du Freak and Lord Loss. I bring them together, along with all my other work, in my annual Shanta Claus story, but although I love that tale, it's very tongue in cheek, never to be confused for canon. :-)

CIRQUE DU FANZINE

A few months ago, a fan of my books called Kendra decided to put together a Cirque Du Freak fanzine, and invited contributions from anyone who was keen to get involved. Many answered the call, and the finished result hit the web on Halloween. It's a gorgeous piece of work, featuring a lot of artwork, a few pieces of fan fiction, and photos of Shansters cosplaying as characters from my books. I was familiar with some of the artists here, but there are plenty whose work is new to me too. The fanzine is FREE to download -- click on the following link, enter 0 in the box that asks how much you want to pay (Kendra stresses that nobody should pay -- she wants this to remain FREE), and you'll be sent a link to download the 55 page zine as a PDF file.

https://gumroad.com/l/cirquedufreak_fanzine_2020

My thanks to everyone who contributed to the fanzine, and my extra special thanks to Kendra for all the time and effort it took to put this together. You did a fabulous job, worthy of a standing ovation!!! :-)
 

KIKI LOVES ARCHIE!

There was a lovely review for Archibald Lox and the Bridge Between Worlds over on Kiki's Epeolatry a while back. Noting that it's been a while since my last book for younger readers, the reviewer says "I can't believe how much I have missed him doing a children's book until now."

Awwww! I must admit, it's nice to be back with a series for kids. I love my Darren Dash books for adults too, but they've all been stand-alone stories. It's nice to work on a bigger scale, with the space to build slowly and layer in all sorts of levels, twists and surprises. Speaking of which, Kiki also mentioned this in her review:

"Archie is an enigma in itself. Presented as being a normal boy yet being a locksmith in The Merge? Hmm. There's something strange here. He's a puzzle that needs to be solved without a doubt."

Heh heh. Long-time Shansters know that things are very rarely as straightforward in a Darren Shan universe as they might at first seem. Kiki's right, of course -- there's a lot more to Archie than meets the eye, and over the course of the three Volumes I'm going to be gradually revealing more and more about his background and the source of his powers. Why IS he such a natural with the locks? The answers await... in the Merge!

To read the full review, CLICK HERE

ADDICTED TO AN EMPRESS

There was a super 5 star review of Archibald Lox and the Empress of Suanpan last month on the Addicted To Media site. This is Book 2 of the series, and while there have been lots of cool reviews of the first part, there have been less of Books 2 and 3, so this was particularly warmly received here in Shanville! Some of the reviewer's comments included: "Archibald Lox and the Empress of Suanpan is non-stop adventure from the very first page and once again transports readers to magical realms beyond their wildest imaginations." And: "An incredibly readable book which will appeal to even the most reluctant young readers."

 

You can check out the full review by CLICKING HERE

 

 

DOUBLE TROUBLE

 

 

I've a double dose of Mr Crepsley reviews, for those of you who can't get enough of the suave, grumpy, orange-haired charmer!

 

First up, a vlogger called Connor decided to read all four books in The Saga Of Larten Crepsley in just 12 hours. (Connor's a veteran of this kind of thing -- he read all 12 of the Cirque Du Freak books in 24 hours a while back!) You can find out how he got on by CLICKING HERE

 

 

Next up, a reviewer called Loz read the four books (in an unspecified time span!) and wrote a more traditional review of the series, which you can check out by CLICKING HERE

 

Both reviewers really enjoyed the Mr Crepsley series (phew!), but intriguingly, while Connor decided he preferred the original Saga a little bit more, Loz actually preferred the prequel series!

 

Loz also raised the issue of whether one should start with Cirque Du Freak or Birth Of A Killer when reading the two series. While there are pros and cons either way, my advice, if you're new to my work, is to start with Cirque Du Freak, read the 12 books in that series, then check out the Mr Crepsley books. But if you're coming back for a re-read, you'll get a different feel for (and understanding of) the storylines if you start with the Mr Crepsley books, then push on from there, so it might be fun to do it that way.

 

But, hey, you guys are the boss, so whatever works for you is fine by me! :-)

 

 

BUTTERFLY READER

 

 

 

A reviewer with the flutteringly beautiful name of The Butterfly Reader recently reviewed the first two books in my Saga of Darren Shan series -- Cirque Du Freak and The Vampire's Assistant. It's lovely that, even twenty years after they were first published, these books are still picking up new reviews -- although it should be pointed out that The Butterfly Reader isn't new to the book, noting in her review of the first one that she's read it 5 times already! The reviews are short and snappy, and won't take up too much of your time, and if you'd like to check them out, CLICK HERE for the Book 1 review, and CLICK HERE for Book 2.

 

There were 317 entries in total for last month's competition, with 16 prizes up for grabs, so about 1 in 20 of those who entered walked away very happy Shansters! Commiserations to those of you who didn't win, but never mind -- I'll be running another competition fairly early in 2021, so stay tuned to the Shanville Monthly for updates! Unusually, although fans entered from loads of different countries, all the winners this time, with the exception of one in Australia, came from Ireland, the UK and the USA. The random luck of the draw, or the cunning workings of DesTiny?!? Only time will tell... :-) Anyway, the 16 winners, in the order drawn, were:

Tam Neill, England.
Cassandra Wilson, USA.
Lydia Aizlewood, England.
Margaret Curtin, Ireland.
James Lidgey-Hutt, England.
Tyler Whelan, England.
Talia Bugden, England.
Thomas Paxton, USA.
Carly Coughran, Australia.
Maxime Moone, Ireland.
Emma Martin, Ireland.
Chrsitopher Robertson, Scotland.
Kenneth Chruscinski, USA.
Alejandro Ibarra, USA.
Tyler Rouse, USA.
Elijah Fleming, Ireland.