Book 2 of The Saga Of Darren Shan. Having abandoned his old way of life to unwillingly serve as Mr Crepsley's assistant, Darren must accustom himself to the habits of vampires. But the change is difficult and the loneliness is crushing.

In an attempt to give Darren a sense of stability, Mr...
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    • Reviews for The Vampire’s Assistant


  • Downright Dystopian

    Downright Dystopian | 27 May 2014

    After finishing A Living Nightmare, I instantly starting reading the sequel because I just needed to know what happened. These books are just so short and fast paced and I adore every second of...

    Read full review: Downright Dystopian

  • Markham Reviews

    Markham Reviews | 15 April 2014

    Even better than Cirque Du Freak. I LOVE this series. The Vampire’s Assistant is darker and more violent than the first, but it’s so intelligently and compellingly written that I’d still be...

    Read full review: Markham Reviews

  • Spazticnerd

    Spazticnerd | 03 March 2014

    So for those of you who don’t know, this is book two of the Cirque Du Freak series. This books follows Darren Shan on this first adventure with the vampire who blooded him, Mr. Larten Crespley.

    ...
    Read full review: Spazticnerd

  • Fantasy Literature

    Fantasy Literature | 19 February 2014

    Warning: This is the second book in the CIRQUE DU FREAK series, so this review necessarily contains spoilers for Book 1.

     

    Darren Shan’s life is officially a mess after several monumental...

    Read full review: Fantasy Literature

  • The vampire Source

    The Vampire Source | 13 August 2013

    When you look up Darren Shan's Cirque du Freak book series, you will find it categorized in either the "children" or "young adult" sections online and in stores. I will admit, I was twelve when I...

    Read full review: The vampire Source

  • Comic Book Resources

    Comic Book resources | 29 March 2011

    THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE MANGA

     

    Cirque du Freak volume 2 by Darren Shan and Takahiro Arai. As volume 2 opens, Darren is starting to realize the true cost of becoming a “half-vampire.” He...

    Read full review: Comic Book Resources

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (Voya USA)

    Voya (USA) | 24 April 2010
    This second installment in the Cirque du Freak saga of Darren Shan picks up soon after Darren has been turned into a half-vampire by his master, Mr. Crepsley. Darren is sworn to a life of servitude...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (Voya USA)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (Voices From The Middle USA)

    Voices From The Middle (USA) | 24 April 2010
    Sequels are a dicey business. Seldom do the second installments live up to the original. That is most certainly not true for the second in the vampire series that began with Cirque Du Freak. Darren...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (Voices From The Middle USA)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (Times Educational Supplement UK)

    Times Educational Supplement (UK) | 24 April 2010
    In The Vampire's Assistant, the sequel to Cirque du Freak (with more to come), Darren Shan is trapped as a half-vampire. The narrative device of "If I hadn't... maybe things would..." was effective...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (Times Educational Supplement UK)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (The Sunday Tribune UK)

    The Sunday Tribune (UK) | 24 April 2010
    THE VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT by Darren Shan is part two of Cirque Du Freak (actually, it's part two of The Saga Of Darren Shan -- darren). Young Darren has now been drawn under the wing of Mr...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (The Sunday Tribune UK)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (Sunday Mercury UK)

    Sunday Mercury (UK) | 24 April 2010
    With Cirque Du Freak, Shan created an instant children's classic to rival the Harry Potter series. Even J.K. Rowling herself professed to be a fan of the young author's spine-tingling tale of...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (Sunday Mercury UK)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (School Library Journal USA)

    School Library Journal (USA) | 24 April 2010
    After a breezy two-page introduction that gives the major plot points of Cirque du Freak, readers are plunged back into the world of a young, newly minted half-vampire (a concept that is never...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (School Library Journal USA)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (Mysterious Galaxy USA)

    mystgalaxy.com | 24 April 2010
    Cirque Du Freak starts out when a scout leader is walking home from a scout meeting. He begins to hear twigs snap around him. Soon there was a vampire and a young boy. The young boy breathed on his...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (Mysterious Galaxy USA)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (My Shelf USA)

    myshelf.com | 01 September 2001
    The Vampire's Assistant is the frightening sequel to "Cirque Du Freak - The Saga of Darren Shan."Darren is learning to cope with his new identity as a half vampire. He is lonely and misses his...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (My Shelf USA)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (Mrs Mad’s Book-A-Rama UK)

    Mrs Mad's Book-A-Rama | 24 April 2010
    Mrs Mad's humble opinion 9/10 Very good. I am pleased with this. What's it about? Darren's new life starts in the Cirque du Freak, he makes friends with a Snake Boy and two ordinary humans, but he...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (Mrs Mad’s Book-A-Rama UK)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (Kirkus Reviews USA)

    Kirkus Reviews (USA) | 24 April 2010
    The sequel to Shan's successful horror debut is another guilty pleasure. Shan, the author/narrator of this putative true account, is now a "half-vampire" and the assistant to the well-meaning...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (Kirkus Reviews USA)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (Kids’ Turn Central USA)

    Kids' Turn Central (USA) | 24 April 2010
    "Suddenly my days as a human were over. My nights as a vampire's assistant had begun......"In book one of the series, A Living Nightmare, young Darren leaves the human world with Mr. Crepsley, a...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (Kids’ Turn Central USA)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (Kids Bookshelf USA)

    Kids Bookshelf (USA) | 24 April 2010
    The second book in the thrilling Cirque Du Freak series by Darren Shan takes us further into Darren's troubles and what it's like to be a vampire. Darren has become Crepsley's assistant and is...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (Kids Bookshelf USA)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (GWN Online USA)

    GWN Online (USA) | 24 April 2010
    The Vampire’s Assistant, the sequel to Darren Shan’s Cirque du Freak, will get your heart pounding and your blood pumping. Nothing can prepare you for what Darren must face this time around. With...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (GWN Online USA)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (Green Man Review USA)

    greenmanreview.com | 24 April 2010
    Darren is a reluctant half-vampire — though he has resigned himself to his new role — and finds drinking the blood of humans to be very distasteful and unethical. But of course, he needs to in...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (Green Man Review USA)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (The Good Book Guide UK)

    thegoodbookguide.com | 24 April 2010
    'We're masters of the macabre ...agents of mutations. Lords of the surreal.' THE SAGA OF DARREN SHAN BOOK 2 Darren joins the vampire, Mr Crepsley, as his assistant and they return to the Cirque du...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (The Good Book Guide UK)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (The Funday Times UK)

    The Funday Times (UK) | 24 April 2010
    * * * * * (5 stars)If you thought Cirque Du Freak was terrifying, prepare yourself for The Vampire's Assistant. This spectacular second adventure is darker, gorier and better, as Darren comes to...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (The Funday Times UK)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (The Evening Herald Ireland)

    The Evening Herald (Ireland) | 24 April 2010
    The Darren Shan saga will never outsell Harry Potter, but the Limerick writer provides macabre thrills aplenty here for younger readers. The Vampire's Assistant takes up where Cirque Du Freak left...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (The Evening Herald Ireland)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (Epinions USA)

    epinions.com | 06 July 2005
    Trial By Fire, Initiation By Blood. The Birth of “The Vampire’s Assistant” Jul 06 '05 (Updated Aug 08 '05)Author's Product Rating Product Rating: 5.0Pros One of the best in the series, carries...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (Epinions USA)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (CM Magazine Canada)

    umanitoba.ca | 23 May 2003
    I was buried alive and then, in the dead of night, with no one around, he dug me up and we took off together. My days as a human were over. My nights as a vampire's assistant had...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (CM Magazine Canada)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (Children’s Literature USA)

    Children's Literature (USA) | 24 April 2010
    In this horror novel, the author and protagonist share the same name—Darren Shan. With that crafty twist, the action gets underway fast and furiously. Young Darren is a half-vampire, torn between...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (Children’s Literature USA)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (Bookloons USA)

    bookloons.com | 24 April 2010
    I tried to hide The Vampire's Assistant from my two sons when it arrived, but failed. My eleven year old, a most reluctant reader, whose only previous literary interest has been comic books like...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (Bookloons USA)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (Booklist USA)

    Booklist (USA) | 24 April 2010
    This sequel to the fast-paced Cirque Du Freak: A Living Nightmare finds Darren Shan in difficult circumstances. Vampire Larten Crepsley has begun the process of turning Darren into a vampire, but...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (Booklist USA)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (The Big Issue Ireland)

    The Big Issue (Ireland) | 24 April 2010
    This is the awaited sequel to Cirque Du Freak, in which Darren is turned into a half vampire. Darren struggles with his new identity and is also desperately trying to resist the temptation to...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (The Big Issue Ireland)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (Barnes and Noble USA)

    barnesandnoble.com | 01 September 2001
    Darren Shan continues the saga of a teenage boy who gets unwittingly drawn into a world of vampires, werewolves, and other freaky creatures with this second installment in his innovative Cirque Du...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (Barnes and Noble USA)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (Amazon USA)

    amazon.com | 01 September 2001
    What if you were an unwilling vampire? You needed to drink human blood to stay alive, but you weren't some horror-flick villain; you were you, born human--a nice person, even. Thus is the dilemma...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (Amazon USA)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant Audio CD (Amazon UK)

    amazon.co.uk | 24 April 2010
    Readers familiar with The Saga of Darren Shan will enjoy this second instalment on audio cassette. The Vampire's Assistant is read gleefully and yet touchingly by Alan Cumming. Darren is now living...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant Audio CD (Amazon UK)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (Amazon UK)

    amazon.co.uk | 30 May 2000
    The Vampire's Assistant is the second instalment in the saga of Darren Shan, which began with Cirque du Freak. Then, Darren made the difficult decision to become a half-vampire to save his best...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (Amazon UK)

  • The Vampire’s Assistant (Achuka UK)

    Achuka (UK) | 24 April 2010
    On the back of some imaginative and energetic promotion (the launch was held well in advance of publication), Cirque du Freak sold over 10,000 copies in its first month. However, I have already...
    Read full review: The Vampire’s Assistant (Achuka UK)

  • CBR - Comic Book Resources

    CBR - Comic Book Resources | 02 August 2009

    THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE MANGA ADAPTATION OF THE VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT.

     

    Cirque du Freak volume 2 by Darren Shan and Takahiro Arai. As volume 2 opens, Darren is starting to realize the true...

    Read full review: CBR - Comic Book Resources

  • Manga Recon

    Manga Recon | 27 July 2009

    THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE MANGA ADAPTATION OF THE VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT.

     

    Well, so much for a grand adventure with a master and his apprentice taking on the wild. When Mr. Crepsley reazlizes...

    Read full review: Manga Recon