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The
fourth
book of
the
Cirque
Du Freak
series,
Vampire
Mountain,
began a
three-part
adventure,
and
ended
with
Darren
facing
frightening
Trials
of
Initiation,
for
which
the
penalty
for
failure
is a
gruesome
death.
As the
title
suggests,
this
fifth
volume
Trials
of Death
takes
our
young
half-vampire
hero
through
terrifying
trials
that
test him
to the
limit.
But
there's
much
more to
this
thrilling
episode,
which
also
involves
the
vampaneze,
the
death of
one
friend
and a
horrifying
betrayal
by
another.
Various
vampire
friends
(both
Mr.
Crepsley's
and
Darren's)
help to
prepare
him for
trials
which
include
an 'Aquatic
Maze',
a 'Path
of
Needles',
the 'Hall
of
Flames',
and a 'Trial
of
Blooded
Boars'.
Darren
tells us
in his
prologue
that 'The
world's
full of
vampires
...
honorable,
long-living,
extrastrong
beings
who need
to drink
blood to
survive.'
Unlike
the
vampaneze,
vampires
never
kill the
ones
from
whom
they
drink.
Darren
needs
all the
extrastrength,
determination
and luck
that he
can
muster
to
survive
trials
which
slice,
burn and
almost
drown
him. If
the
trials
themselves
don't
kill
him,
failure
will
still
send him
to the
stakes
in the
Hall
of Death.
Darren's
trials
are
interrupted
by the
vampires'
rare
Festival
of the
Undead,
with
games
like
wrestling
and
martial
arts, in
which
the
pacifist
Vampire
General
Kurda
excels
when
forced
to
participate.
We learn
more of
the
ghoulish
Guardians
(more
than I
really
wanted
to know
of their
cannibalistic
habits).
And
there
are
delightful
details
about
application
of the
curative
power of
cobwebs
and
Madame
Octa's
lunch of
'bread
crumbs
soaked
in bat
broth'.
Speaking
of the
venomous
spider,
it looks
like
there
may be
romance
in the
air for
both
Madame
Octa and
Arten
Crepsley.
As
this
episode
dissolves
into
treachery
and
another
(wet)
cliffhanger
of an
ending,
it
leaves
readers
with two
questions.
Who is
Harkat
really,
and what
is the
traitor's
motivation?
I can't
wait for
answers
in
The
Vampire
Prince,
after a
riotous
adventure
that
threw
Darren
into the
depths
of a
maelstrom
at the
beginning
and
barely
allowed
him up
for air
even in
the
ending.
http://www.bookloons.com/cgi-bin/Review.asp?bookid=2141 |
