Darren Shan

This creepy-ass cover houses one of the best - and saddest - of the series.

While the first books dealt with Lord Loss and the dangers of the demonata (such a wicked yet cool word), we have now realized there is an even greater foe to face. Finally this book reveals who is under the mask and it's not someone I was guessing. It's a big game changer since it completely changes the focus and aims of not just the demons, but now of those who fight them off. Stakes were already grim enough when it show more was just the demons wanted to torment human and break through, but this full-time apocalypse, just destroy everything deal? It went from bad to worse and worse some more.

Shan's writing style stays true and he's never been one to shy away from morbid and violent descriptions despite a young adult tag. This one is even grimmer than most since we lose two series regulars in depressing battle scenes. The grim tone doesn't give a feel-good story but it does stay a twisted, intriguing one.

Too much major mojo happens to call this one a filler, but it's a strong bridge to the next books and the overall plot to come. None of these should be skipped if you want the full effect of the series, but this one especially needs to be read if you want to follow the storyline while feeling the full oomph of what happens. Recaps in the next novel just won't cut it if you skipped this one.

Bec is a creative and enjoyable lead to read through - we haven't been in her head since the early books so it was a nice change to see her here in full reveal, even if half of the time she is spent having to recapture what is left of Bill-E for Dervish's sake. I still love Dervish even if he's a pain at times, but that's understandable considering his overwhelming loss. There is a strong bitter feel in this book when he and Grubbs have to be separated so long, it gives this big sacrificial, hopeless vibe that's just a downer. Necessary but nasty. show less

Read this review and more like it at Pretty Deadly Reviews.

Spoilers for the first novel, Zom-B abound. Read at your own risk.

First - I wrote a review for the first book in this series, Zom-B, but I cannot find it anywhere. It's not in my archives, it's not on Goodreads. It's simply disappeared, all for a small excerpt on the author's website. I don't know what happened, but I do know this: this series is one of the strangest and more interesting series I've discovered in a long while, and I show more really, really enjoyed the first one. The second one was even better.

These novels are my very first experience with Darren Shan. And while I can't say that I will be seeking out his Cirque du Freak novels any time soon, I definitively know that I will follow the Zom-B series to the end. Shan has succeeded again in weaving multiple themes into the classic zombie book. Of course there are gruesome brain-eating scenes, and yes there is a zombie horde towards the end. But Shan is also able to ask very serious questions while making your heart race. So while I couldn't turn the pages fast enough, I also couldn't help but really think about the central questions, and that's not an easy feat, I don't think.

B has been turned into a zombie. But not just any zombie: she and a select few other reviveds, have gone even further: they have their consciousness back, all their memories and feelings and personalities. The scientists call them revitalizeds, and they call themselves zom heads. I've never read a book or seen a movie where the zombie was aware before, so this was a whole new, exciting territory for me to explore. I love how Shan sort of tried to explain it with science (though let's be honest - no explanation is going to be believable enough.) It was interesting learning the different things that made B a zombie - her heightened hearing and sense of smell, among other things - and watching her interact with other zom heads and zombies.

This time around, I fell in love with B. She is atoning for her past sins in the last book, and her guilt and remorse are so real. She struggles with her old habits, and of course her love/hate relationship with her father. It's been so long since I read about a heroine who was so self-aware. She knows her faults, she knows her mistakes. And while she isn't perfect, she really is trying to be a better person in death than she was in life, and it is so admirable. B also has a square head on her shoulders; she makes level-headed decisions most of the time, and it's very refreshing to read about a prisoner-type of character who isn't going completely insane and knows they have to cooperate in order to make a better life for themselves.

There was plenty of action and gore to satiate the classic zombie fans. Shan's descriptions of the brain-eating, the zombie swarms, and a certain character that pops up later on in the book, are spot on and so, so vivid. After reading Zom-B though, I really didn't expect any less. But more than this, more than the typical crazed zombie book, Shan asks important questions about what it means to be human, how to fix and atone for your past deeds, and doing the right thing, versus doing the easy thing.

This is the perfect series for a reluctant young reader. They are short and fast-paced with enough action, suspense, and mystery to keep you turning the pages. But Zom-B Underground is also very thoughtful, poignant, and universal. show less

Reread (listened) on audio. It must have been at least 15 years since my first read, and I don't think I reread more than once when I was younger. I was amazed by how much gender typing this did--there was a really cringey moment where Darren talks about how boys don't really talk about feelings and I thought NOOOOoooOOo don't tell the youth that! This was still super fun though and I think I'm about to commit to rereading this entire series because the last book was so mindblowing.

Lord Loss is quite possibly the best book I have ever read. Thrilling, suspenseful, and planned on a set of brilliant ideas – even if the story had not been masterfully told, it would still have been breath-taking. I eagerly await the next nine books in the series, and will never play a game of chess the same way again.

One of the greatest features of Darren Shan’s previous series of books was the way he built his characters through adversity, then tore chunks out of them through show more misfortune and disaster. He understands clearly that sometimes people never go back to the way they were before an accident. Because his books are written in the first person, he seizes the opportunity to change even his style of writing to express a change in the character. Such is the skill and subtlety with which he does this, both in his old books and Lord Loss, that reading his work can pull readers through a range of indescribable emotions, without him even having to write them.

Writing horror books for children would be no easy task in this day and age, as it is very hard to scare today’s desensitised generation. Descriptions of blood and gore have limited effect, (although Lord Loss has its share of those,) so a horror book must also use suspense and powerful, ‘creepy’ language to create a frightening scene. Even with all these techniques in place, it is still nigh impossible to create a book that will scare as much as a movie. Unlike authors such as R.L. Stine, Shan does not make plain scariness the main focus of this book, but creates an exciting, fast-paced adventure based on supernatural creatures and ideas, rather than attempting just scariness and creating a shallow, ordinary novel. In this way, Lord Loss won’t have readers cowering under their beds, but it doesn’t waste time trying too hard; it gets on with a thrilling, enjoyable story.

I would recommend Lord Loss to anybody who likes fantasy, horror or adventure books. Not too long, not too short, not boring for a moment, this is a book you can’t help but love. Perhaps a little too much blood for people under the age of twelve, though. show less