I am kind of sad to be giving this a 3 star rating. I loved The Cirque Du Freak series! I just felt that this first book in the Saga of Larten Crepsley was kind of slow and not very eventful. I did like the fact that we get a look back into Larten’s life. He has suffered a lot throughout his lifetime. Getting hit with life lessons early has structured his personality in a lot of ways. It has made him more reserved, makes him hold people extremely close and at arms length at the same time, and forces him to have pent up anger that he keeps locked inside.

Larten grew up in times that were extremely hard, and being in a family with eight children did not make it much easier. They all had strenuous jobs and their lives were not much better at home. Their mother had a twitchy hand and little to no patience. They barely had enough to scrap by. The one thing that kept Larten up and going was his cousin Vur. Yet, due to tragic circumstances Larten is forced to flee his home and family. This was a really sad part of the book for me. I felt so bad for the young Larten losing as much as he did and suffering at such a young age. It is hard to imagine something this traumatic when me myself has never experienced anything this horrible. It was slightly reassuring to know that he had someone to share his pain, joys, and sadness with.

Seba Nile is Larten’s redemption. He takes him under his wing and teaches him to become a vampire in a wearisome world, or at least this is how Larten feels. Along the way, we are introduced to characters that we should remember from Darren Shans’ adventures in The Cirque Du Freak and even more new ones. One of the advantages Larten finds while apprenticing for Seba is a long lasting friendship with another orphaned youth Wester. I like Wester’s character. Although he is out for revenge, I feel that he is just a sad, lonely, lost boy looking for love and reassurance. Seba Nile would def be someone I could see as a mentor. He is that fatherly figure that Larten and Wester needed in their time of need. You can tell that he grows to care a lot about the boys. It was amusing to watch their interactions with one another.

Larten and Wester have a lot to learn as newly blooded vampires. They never imagined how hard it would be to train to be the notorious Generals they have been striving to become. Both have endured a lot in the attempt to please their master, but in the end is that enough? What will happen when they are left to their own devices? Of course if you have read The Cirque Du Freak Series, you already know that Larten makes it into the future and becomes a General. I am eager to see what happens in his life along the way. I am already so shocked at all that he has endured so far. I also hope that the second book it a little more fast paced that this first one. Hopefully I won’t be disappointed.

3/5 stars