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PLOT OUTLINE
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 Crepsley
takes him to live at the Cirque Du Freak, where he is to
share a tent with Evra Von -- the Snake Boy introduced in
Book 1. Darren soon fits into his new position -- even if
he doesn't exactly enjoy hunting food for the ominous
Little People! -- and he and Evra befriend a curious
young boy called Sam Grest, whose one great wish is to
join the travelling freak show.
But all is
not well with Darren. He refuses to drink human blood,
even though he'll die without it. While Mr Crepsley
argues with him, and tries forcing him to drink, Darren
grows weaker and weaker. Will he resist the temptation of
blood and sacrifice himself for the benefit of his
humanity -- or will some awful turn of events lead to his
becoming a true, blood-sucking creature of the night???
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AUTHOR
NOTES
Nate
(a
fan,
making
a
comment):
“I
always
thought
the
bit
where
Darren
breaks
the
boy’s
legs
was
good,
but
as
if
anyone
would
pinch
someone
there
-
whack
with
a
hocky
stick
I
can
understand,
but
pinch?
that's
not
very
sportsman
like!”
Rocco97
(another
fan):
“I
forgot
that
this
is
the
first
book
that
Evanna
is
mentioned
in,
when
Mr.
Crepsley
shows
Darren
the
collapsible
pots.”
Nate:
“Ah
yes
- I
don't
think
darren
had
that
part
of
the
saga
planned
at
the
time
- so
maybe
he
looked
back
for
a
name?”
Firstly,
the
"pinching"
scene
was
based
on a
real
and
famous
photo
of
Vinnie
Jones
"getting
to
grips
with"
a
young
Paul
Gascoigne
in a
match!!!
If
you
search
on
Google,
putting
in
both
their
names,
you'll
probably
find
the
photo
somewhere.
Secondly
...
the
collapsible
pots
and
Evanna.
As
I've
always
said,
I
didn't
know
this
was
going
to
be
such
a
long
series
when
I
started.
Although
I
knew
that
book
1
would
end
open-endedly,
leaving
me
with
the
possibility
of
writing
another
few
books,
I
didn’t
have
any
clear
series
plans
in
mind.
So
there
WERE
things
in
the
early
drafts
of
the
first
few
books
that
clashed
with
later
books.
BUT
what
Nate
fails
to
take
into
account
is
the
way
I
write
(not
that
I
can
blame
him,
since
it's
not
a
common
way
of
writing
from
what
I
know!).
In
short,
I
spread
the
entire
writing
process
out
over
at
least
2
years
per
book.
I'll
write
a
first
draft
in 3
or 4
weeks,
but
then
re-write
and
edit
it
over
the
course
of
the
next
2
years
or
more
--
whilst working on other books!!! So, while the first
draft
of
Cirque
Du
Freak
was
written
about
2
and
a
half
years
before
it
was
published,
I
was
still
working
on
it
as
late
as
mid-1999
(or
thereabouts).
Similarly,
I
was
still
editing
and
fiddling
with
Book
2 up
to
late
1999,
if
not
early
2000!!
By
which
time
I'd
written
the
first
draft
of
book
8
and
was
starting
in
on
book
9!!!!!
So,
by
the
time
books
1
and
2
came
out,
I
knew
everything
that
was
going
to
happen
up
to
book
9,
because
I'd
written
it!!
Which
means,
if
something
looks
like
it's
setting
up a
scene
in a
later
book
--
it
usually
is!!!!
Because
I'd
written
so
far
ahead
of
myself,
I
was
able
to
put
in
"pointers"
in
the
early
books,
setting
up
character
traits,
creating
"in-jokes"
which
would
only
be
noticeable
to
readers
if
they
re-read
the
series
in
later
years,
after
they'd
read
books
7,
8,
9,
etc.
There
was
no
mention
of
Evanna
in
the
first
few
drafts
of
Book
2.
But
when
I
came
to
book
7,
and
"invented"
her,
I
was
able
to
go
back
and
put
in a
mention
of
her
in
book
2,
to
tie
the
books
closer
together.
There's
a
lot
of
that
in
the
series,
little
linking
incidents
and
apparently
throwaway
lines
which
have
been
overlooked
by
readers
--
until
NOW!!!!!
And
there
are
events
in
the
final
book
which
will
also
shed
new
light
on
certain
pieces
of
the
Saga
if
you
read
through
it
again
later
in
the
year!!!!!
Now
...
as
for
book
2
...
I
have
to
admit,
if I
had
to
nominate
my
least
favourite
book
in
the
series,
it
would
be
this
one.
I
don't
think
it's
especially
bad
--
I'm
very
proud
of
the
last
few
chapters
--
and
I
know
quite
a
few
readers
prefer
it
to
book
1
(some
even
say
it's
their
fave
of
all
the
books),
but
for
me
it
wasn't
as
pacy
as I
wanted
it
to
be.
There's
a
lot
of
explanations
...
new
characters
(Sam
and
R.V.)
are
introduced
quite
roughly
...
and
...
I
dunno
...
I
just
felt
it
was
a
book
that
had
a
tough
job
to
do
(to
establish
the
laws
of
vampires
and
the
series),
and
while
it
did
that
job
reasonably
well,
I
didn't
feel
as
excited
about
it
as I
did
about
book
1.
Certainly
not
as
excited
as I
was
about
Book
3, which
was
and
still
is
one
of
my
personal
faves
of
all
my
books! |
