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PLOT OUTLINE
Book 4 of The
Saga Of Darren Shan. Six years have passed since Tunnels
Of Blood. Darren has settled into life as a vampire's
assistant, and feels at home in the Cirque Du Freak. But
now he must leave the freak show and his friends behind,
to travel to the distant Vampire Mountain with Mr
Crepsley, where he must be presented for approval to the
Vampire Princes and Generals.
Travelling
with Darren and Mr Crepsley are two Little People, and
they're later joined by an old friend and some four-legged
predators. The trek to Vampire Mountain is long and
dangerous, and blood will be spilt along
the way. The vampires also make a worrying discovery --
they are not the only creatures of the night on the path
to the mountain ...
Inside
Vampire Mountain, Darren learns much of vampires, their
history and ways. He's introduced to many fierce, battle-scarred
Generals. Some accept him instantly -- but he must earn
the friendship of others! When he's taken to meet the
legendary Princes, he learns the true price of what it
takes to become a vampire ...
Vampire
Mountain is the start of a gruelling, 3-part
Darren Shan adventure. The story continues in Book 5:Trials
Of Death, and concludes in Book 6:The Vampire
Prince.
AUTHOR NOTES
!!!PLOT
SPOILERS!!!
Book 4 was
originally
titled Halls of
Vampire
Mountain.
Later I
decided to
shorten it
for more
effect. And
Harkat in
the first
draft of
this book
(and 5 and
6) was
originally
called
Harvey!!!!!
My plan,
back when I
was planning
this trilogy
and looking
ahead to the
rest of the
series, was
for Harkat
to have been
EVRA
in his
previous
life!!!!
(Take away
the H and Y
from Harvey
and reverse
the letters
-- ta-da!!!)
At that
stage I
meant for
Evra to
travel to
Vampire
Mountain
with Darren
and Mr
Crepsley,
and to be
with Darren
and Harkat
in every
book right
up until
The Lake Of
Souls,
when he
would have
died (having
realized at
the very end
that he was
actually
Harvey).
But when I
sat down to
write book
4, I
realized
there was no
real reason
for Evra to
travel with
Darren --
unlike
Darren, Evra
had grown up
and had
other, more
normal
things to
occupy his
thoughts
(such as
marriage!!).
In terms of
the
storyline,
it made no
sense for
him to leave
his home and
go off to a
mountain
full of
vampires. He
would have
simply been
there
because I
wanted him
to be. And
so,
regretfully,
I had to
relegate him
down the
list of
important
cast
members. And
then I had
to go
looking for
another
candidate to
fill the
shoes of the
to-be-renamed
Little
Person ...
one who was
friends with
Darren ...
who died
during the
series ...
who had a
genuine
reason to
come back to
life as a
Little
Person and
help Darren
and the
entire
vampire clan
...
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