Darren Shan's book came as a complete surprise to me. I have not read a vampire book since a condensed version of Dracula in the 1950s, although I did enjoy Buffy... and Charmed when they were on TV. Consequently, I did not know what to expect.

This version of Shan's writing included "Trials of Death" and "The Vampire Prince", (books 5 & 6) combined into one binding. "Trials of Death" in particular, reminded me somewhat of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire". These books are aimed at older children/young adults and as such I found them very entertaining, vastly different from my previous impressions of vampire stories. Putting these two books together was a good move as they can be read as one story. There are, as far as I know, 12 books in the series. I think Shan (who writes the stories with himself as the main character and in the first person) has a wonderful understanding of what young people like in a story. There is a lot of action, interaction, communication, and relationships. Putting the book down was very difficult, I kept coming back for more. I certainly recommend the series to young people who enjoy fantasy books. ( )

A yougn boy blooded to be a vampire, and is forced to go through trials where he may die....a great book full of suprises

At this point in the series it becomes increasingly difficult to summarize the story without giving away what has happened in previous books so I will no longer summarize each individual book in much detail. This book does start a new phase for the series, though. Darren is still with the Vampire Council and a new threat has begun.

This turn in the story's plot was very interesting and excitement. I'm really enjoying the whole vampire community that Shan has created. Shan has strayed from the typical (Dracula) type of vampire and created his own, very unique, vampire mythos. This particular book in the series is probably my favourite so far. The twist at the end took me by surprise and the cliff hanger ending has me anxious to run to the library for the next volume. What a great series for vampire fans! ( )

cirque du freak means cuiqis freaks. darran is a halve vampire and is only a young teenager. he wasnt always a vampier he was once a human how he became a vampire was by a vampire known as mr. creeapsly who blooded him for a potion for his best friend who got bittin from a very special spider named madam occta wich belonged to mr. creepsly. how he got bit was when darren and steven whent to one of there shows and was facinated by the spider so they decided to steal it and they took it out and his best friend got bit after that his friend got very sick and ther was no cure until the whent to mr. creepsly the owner of the spider and who was mad but wouldnt give it for free and then mr. creepsly said for darren to becom his assistant and he would have to follow him and most of all he would have to fake his death and leave his familey and join the circus and start a whole new life ( )

I thought the trials in this book were really creative. I think that this was my favorite book in the Cirque Du Freak series because of all the awesome trials and other cool parts in this book.