Vampire Mountain

September 1, 2002
The Cirque Du Freak saga continues with book four, Vampire Mountain by Darren Shan. Here, fans find Darren and Mr. Crepsley on a trip to the very seat of the bloodsuckers' empire, where a meeting with the Vampire Princes puts Darren in a precarious position.

September 1, 2002
Gr 5-8-Darren Shan, the loquacious vampire's assistant, narrates another blood-and-guts tale. Having tracked a horror-movie-stereotype vampire in their previous adventure, Darren and his master, Larten Crepsley, take another hiatus from the bizarre circus of the series title to make a pilgrimage to the Halls of Vampire Mountain to meet with the generals and princes in charge. The peregrinators are accompanied by a pair of ugly, speechless Little People who carry an ominous message for the council from their "old as time itself" master, Mr. Tiny. The road is perilous, of course, and getting to their destination is only half of the problem. Darren's biggest challenge, following a run-in with a crazed grizzly bear and a foolhardy confrontation with a rare, Xena-like vampiress, comes in defending his maker, the one who inexplicably violated the proscription against blooding a child. While the previous trio of "Cirque du Freak" books could each relatively stand alone, this fourth entry marks a definite transition, a critical segue into adventures to come that will revolve around Mr. Tiny's foreboding and Darren's impending Trials of Initiation (book nine is already in the works in the U.K.). The book ends with a "to be continued-" teaser along with an excerpt from the next book.-John Sigwald, Unger Memorial Library, Plainview, TX

Copyright 2002 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2002
Reviewed with Darren Shan's "Tunnels of Blood."

Gr. 5-8. Teen half-vampire--and author--Darren Shan returns in the next two installments in the Cirque Du Freak series. In "Tunnels," Darren has begun to adjust to his fate, but he remains distrustful of his vampire master, Larten Crepsley. When six bodies are discovered drained of blood, Darren and his friend Evra the snake boy decide Mr. Crepsley is behind the killings, and they vow to stop him. When "Vampire" "Mountain" begins, Mr. Crepsley has emerged as a heroic, trustworthy mentor for Darren. The two set out for a council at Vampire Mountain, where Darren faces a deadly challenge. Like others in the series, these combine suspense with gory yet fascinating detail, occasional pathos, and even a bit of humor. The cliffhanging ending promises more to come. Two thumping good reads for fans. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)

September 1, 2003
The sixth installment of the Cirque Du Freak series by Darren Shan, The Vampire Prince, finds Darren accused of being a traitor, after Kurda betrays him, and being pursued by the vampire clan. To save his skin, he must outfox a vampire prince, as his initiation on Vampire Mountain comes to a surprising close (though a teaser indicates yet another book). Vampire Mountain, book four, is also being released in September as a paperback.

January 1, 2003
While setting up future books' plots, this time-killing series entry enlarges on vampire society, sending Darren and Mr. Crepsley to Vampire Mountain with a prophecy about a Vampaneze Lord. Little attention is paid to coherent characterizations or internal logic or consistency, and although the vampires talk a lot about honor, their actions speak more of pettiness and bombast, betraying the author's deep poverty of invention.

(Copyright 2003 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)