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Average Customer Rating:

Cool vampire fun

Customer Rating:

My goodness, but even as an adult these are some of the grossest, most macabre, and downright coolest books I've read. Hooray for Darren Shan! Anywho, onto this particular installment. The horrors of Vampire Mountain continue with gritty terror, blood, and good ol' fashioned horrible vampire things. Shan clearly has a grand time writing, and one can't help but be sucked into the disgusting description and action with a smile on the face. Besides that, Shan keeps his story going strong with a labyrinth of twists, turns, and character developments.

Hmph. 'Twas OK.

Customer Rating:

Well, here we are, a half-vampire readying himself to show himself to the vampire clan. The trials certainly seem awful, but for reasons unknown to me, they just didn't...seem right? I dunno. Lately, however, Darren seems to be lacking. He's not exactly beinga strong character to me. And he's awesomely lucky. Trouble is, I knew what was going to happen...sort of. The Blooded Boars, I was NOT expecting. I loved Darren Shan's works, until these last two books. Oh, Darren, please shape up!

Cirque Du Freak #5, Trials of Death

Customer Rating:

Cirque Du Freak #5 By: Darren Shan Reviewed by : K. Arita P:1 Cirque Du Freak #5 is the fifth book of the Cirque Du Freak series. There are 17 ways to die in the trials of death unless the luck of the vampire is with you. He has to prove to the vampire clan that he is good enough to be one of the Princes. He has to risk his life in 5 deadly ways. The first three ways is finding a secret door in a maze that slowley fills up with water in aproximately 17 minutes. The second trial is when he has to walk through the Hall of Flames. That trial is when he has to survive in a big box for 15 minutes while furious bursts of flames are coming straight at him. The third trial is the Cave of Needles. This is when Darren has to climb through a slippery cave that has needle sharp stalagmites and stalagtites. Any faint noise will cause some of the stalagmites and stalagtites to fall and maybe pierce through his body and kill him. But in the end, one of his close friends, a Prince, turns out to be a vampeze prince (an eviler version of the vampire. The vampeze actually kills its victims while sucking the blood out of it.) I liked this book because it keeps you in suspense. Lots of cliff hangers. One of the cliff hangers is at the very end when Darren finds out that his friend, Gavner Pearl, is the Vampeze Prince. The vampires hate the vampeze because it kills its victims, so Gavner decides to spare his life and Darren makes a run for it. He runs to the Hall of Princes, but the Vampeze are all over the place, so he was trapped. And thats where the book ended. Now I really want to buy the 6th book! Also I liked it when he was in the Hall of Flames. It said, "It was a lousy choice, but there was no time to complain. I covered my fave with my arms and darted forward into the wall of crackling flames." I was planning to only read a chapter a day, but when i read those sentences at the end of the chapter, I just HAD TO read on! I couldn't stop myself. This book is really good at the suspense that he leaves you with at the end of each chapter. My favorite part was during the Hall of Flames. During the resting period before he had to go on with the next trial, the Blooded Boars, he was really messed up because of all of his burns. He had only 2 days as a resting period, and his feet couldn't even support his weight because his feet were badly burnt. So when the Trials came, he had to do them so that he wouldn't be exicuted. When he was about to die because he was pinned down by a boar and another boar was headed straight for him, his friendm Harakat, saved him. That was the most exciting part of the book.

Trials of Death (Cirque Du Freak: Saga of Darren Shan)

Customer Rating:

"May luck be with me even in times of death," said Darren Shan as he let go of the rock and is taken by the strong current down a dark river tunnel. This is the fifth book in the Cirque Du Freak saga and this has to be the most suspenseful. Darren is the half-human, half-vampire that is the assistant to another vampire, Mr. Crepsley. Darren wants to earn the respect of his peers and can also be made into a general by taking the trials of death. The trials of death are very simple to complete; there are five trials and then you are welcomed in the vampire world. If you fail one of them, you will die in one of the thirteen ways in the hall of death. This book expands the mind of kids like me. The words are hard and the plot is full of twists and turns. Also there are surprises that will shock and dismay you. Overall, I really like this book. Darren Shan is a great writer and I hope he continues this heart pumping saga.

Cirque Du Freak - Trials Of Death (Book 5)

Customer Rating:

Great book. This has the most action out of the first 5 books in the series. In Trials Of Death, Darren is really tested physically and mentally by the vampire clan. He has to undergo Trials, that will test him mainly physically, but also mentally. Has to fight through water, fire, sharp objects and so on but i'll let you read about that. This is the best book out of the first 5, because there are big turns of events in the middle to end of the book. At the end, Darren thinks he might be doomed, but is he? When you reach the end of this book, your gonna want to read book 6 directly after to find out what happens. Get this!