Thursday, December 18, 2008

The Saga of Darren Shan Book One: Cirque du Freak


Darren goes to a banned freak show with his best mate Steve. It’s the wonderfully gothic Cirque Du Freak where weird, frightening half human/half animals appear who interact terrifyingly with the audience. Darren – a spider freak – ‘falls in love’ with Madam Octa – an enormous tarantula owned by Mr Crepsley. Darren determines to steal the spider so that he can train it to perform amazing deeds. But his daring theft goes horribly wrong. The spider bites Steve and Darren has to sell his soul to Mr Crepsley – a member of the vampire clan – to get the antidote. Something out of the ordinary is set against the background of children’s normal lives to chilling effect. Atmospheric, funny, realistic, moving and… terrifying.
I have heard of this series for years, this book came out in 2001 or so, and it was always on the list to read one day, but I had yet to pick up a book. Nicola has been reviewing them this year, though, and I must say she caught my attention. I had a bit of money as a Christmas present, so I decided to buy the first two books in the series and see what happened! I am rather picky about young adult books. There are many series out there that everyone loves and have been recommending to me over and over again that I just did not like at all! This one, though, I think I am going to enjoy!

I stretched out on the couch with a blanket, some fluffy slippers, comfy clothes, and orange juice and dived right in. I wasn't really scared, it takes a lot to frighten me, but I was caught up in the atmosphere and the creepy feeling that this book gave off. You knew right from the beginning that something bad was going to happen, so I had to keep reading to find out what that was! It's not a large book, but it is compelling enough that when you finish it you will want to read the next book (which I might just do) so that you can see what is going to happen next. You were right, Nicola, I think this is my kind of series!

8 comments:

  1. They just finished filming the movie version of this here in New orleans! I would drive to work every day and see "Cirque Du Freak" posters all over the place with arrows pointing to the set locations. It was exciting. I still haven't read this series though...sounds good!

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  2. I am enjoying it so far. Based on what you like to read, I think you would enjoy it too! Hopefully I can have all the books read before the movie comes out!

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  3. The movie only covers the first three books though so you don't have to read them all before you watch the movie. As you read, you'll see that every three books contain a mini story arc within the whole plot of the series.

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  4. Oh, cool! I will probably read at least book three tonight. Maybe I should wait on book four until I have book 5 and 6 handy. Will have to see where my reading takes me!

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  5. When I was teaching, I had students who were so into Cirque du Freak that when a new one was being released, they ordered it from the UK so they didn't have to wait for the American version to be released. I was always impressed with that impatience--and with their parents for indulging them!

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  6. Sounds like a perfect cosy winter read!

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  7. That's a good way of looking at it Nymeth

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  8. "it is compelling enough that when you finish it you will want to read the next book"

    That's how I felt about Darren Shan's Demonata series, it was hard not to rush out immediately and find the next book.

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