Tunnels of Blood

Riding the extreme high from the second book, I sought this one out for purchase and finished in one sitting like the others. Being that it is a little over two hundred pages, packs plenty of action within it's paper walls, and delivers outstanding suspenseful scenes filled with genuine drama, emotion, and powerful contradictions, it's a breeze to absorb, leaving you wanting even more at the end.

While I did not like this one quite as much as the powerful, unforgettable second, this was still a more than worthy followup. Darrens life is changing all the time, and for this novel the author has taken us a bit out of the circus world for awhile. The change of pace may have seemed a turnoff since I love the circus angle so much, but the new show more world introduced develops even heavier level into both Darren and Mr. Crepsleys characterizations, internal struggles, and realizations. There is now an added mystery element and new villain to boot.

The "villain" was sarcastically dark, truly demented and cruel, and added a more grown-up element to the tale. Really, after the tragic endings of the first and second books, I can highly recommend this to adults who are not even really into Young adult styles. Yes, the first started off awkward but it continues to where it shines for all readers in whatever age group they fall in.

To kids this is an exciting world to fall into, filled with childlike wonders and amazing monsters, a great protagonist to latch onto. For teenagers they recognize many of the issues Darren is going through and would be absorbed with the incredible details of the story which is unique and rich with suspense, thrills, and fun. For adults this brings with it a fascinating child that speaks to the adult in all of us, with adult characters we wish to know more of and about, bringing that beloved fairy-tale aspect to our lives.

A bit weaker than the others, it focuses more on developing friendships and the evolution of Darren's character in a different setting. Sadly I do not yet have the fourth to continue exploring this interesting world, but I shall soon. I shall promise myself that, life is better lived when indulging in pleasures and mental treats such as these. show less

Recensione su Fantasyamo

Darren e Mr. Crepsley hanno fatto del Cirque du Freak la loro casa, per il momento. Tutto scorre normalmente: Darren ed Evra danno mangiare la Piccolo Popolo, ci sono vari spettacoli, Mr. Crepsley addestra Darren alla vie dei Vampiri... Ma quando un Generale dei Vampiri viene a parlare con Mr. Crepsley, lui e Darren sono costretti a lasciare il circo e viaggiare. Darren non sa di cosa si tratta, ma è determinato a scoprirlo.

Questo terzo libro è, a mio parere, un po' al di sopra degli altri (che comunque erano ottimi).
La storia qui si fa molto più complicata, perché scopriamo molte cose riguardo al mondo dei Vampiri che prima non potevamo immaginare. Non voglio fare spoiler, però posso dire che adoro il fatto show more che l'autore abbia inventato tutta una sua mitologia sui vampire, una storia completa e che abbia dato loro particolari molto diversi da quelli a cui sono abituata con le solite storie.
Per me questo è un grosso punto a favore che, oltre ai personaggi, mi sta facendo amare questa serie di libri alla follia.
Altra cosa riguardo alla storia in questo terzo volume è che le cose si fanno molto più serie: ci sono riferimenti a violenze e torture che anche se velate o accennate danno un'aria più seria a quella che è una serie per bambini/ragazzi.
Credo che se i libri fossero stati targati per adolescenti o adulti ci sarebbe stato molto più spazio per particolari e introspezione dei personaggi riguardo a tutto ciò, ma ci vuole anche una gran maestria ad inserirli in serie per bambini, e Darren O'Shaughnessy (Darren Shan) è parecchio bravo.

Parlando dei personaggi, io sto davvero adorando il giovane Darren. È un ragazzo curioso, che continua a mettersi nei guai, ma anche coraggioso e davvero attaccato ai propri amici, tanto da fare ciò che ha fatto nel primo libro e per sacrificarsi di nuovo per un altro amico. Non vedo l'ora di vederlo crescere, maturare, e vedeere se ci sarà un cambiamento in questo giovane mezzo-vampiro.
Quasi tutti i fan poi hanno una mezza cotta per Mr. Crepsley, e devo ammettere che anche io ci sono cascata. Molte volte vediamo la durezza data dal suo essere vampiro, ma lo vediamo anche piangere e prendersi cura di Darren come può e cercare di nascondere informazioni pericolose al ragazzino. Altro che Edward Cullen, datemi Larten Crepsley.
Evra, poverino, è un po' preda degli eventi in questo libro, ma mi piace il fatto che vediamo davvero quanto sia profondo il legame d'amicizia che lo lega a Darren. È una delle cose che più preferisco nei libri.
Ci sono due altri personaggi molto importanti in questo libro: Gavner e Murlough.
Del secondo non posso dire nulla perché sarebbe uno spoiler enorme, tranne il fatto che l'ho odiato profondamente. E se leggerete il libro capirete perché.
Per quanto riguarda Gavner, lui è il Generale che va a parlare con Mr. Crepsley. Ed è la luce dei miei occhi e il mio unico amore. Toccatelo e morirete. No, davvero, anche se c'è stato per poche pagine in questo volume è un personaggio che io adoro e che so che rivedremo ancora.

Lo stile di scrittura è molto semplice, essendo una serie per ragazzi. Anche chi ha difficoltà con l'inglese (visto che le traduzioni italiane sono praticamente introvabili, se non in biblioteca...) credo riuscrebbe benissimo a leggerlo.
Questo terzo volume l'ho praticamente divorato perché davvero non volevo smettere, c'erano troppe cose interessanti!
Nel complesso, un libro che io ho trovato perfetto show less

The third installation of Darren Shan's Cirque du Freak series takes us to an unnamed city plagued by an elusive killer. Darren and his mentor, Larten Crepsley, are paid a visit from an old friend of Mr. Crepsley's named Gavner Purl, a Vampire General. After a clandestine conversation with Gavner, Mr. Crepsley announces that he must leave the Cirque for a while and go live in the city, and Darren as his assistant has to go with him. Dismayed at the idea of having to be alone all the time in a strange place, Darren convinces his best friend Evra Von to join him.
While Mr. Crepsley is away or sleeping, Darren and Evra spend time enjoying themselves in the city, going to zoos and other interesting places. Darren even meets a girl, Debbie show more Hemlock, who adores the fact that he's just a little strange and that his best friend is a snake-boy. Coming home from Debbie's one night just before Christmas, Darren finds Evra transfixed by a TV news show that is reporting the finding of six dead humans, all drained of their blood. Evra and Darren argue as to who the culprit is, and Darren immediately suspects Mr. Crepsley, who is never home at night. He tracks Mr. Crepsley to a slaughterhouse, prepared to kill his master, but finds out that he's fighting an enemy he never could have dreamed about. It will take every wit Darren and Mr. Crepsley have to conquer the mad murderer, as well as a lot of luck.
Darren Shan has created yet another spellbinding volume in the story of a young boy's training as a vampire's assistant. This book gets four stars instead of five because the trademark suspense and thrills usually present throughout the books is left until the end. It seems that this books serves as more of a vehicle to show Darren's growth and knowledge of humanity, rather than scare the readers. Don't worry, though, there's plenty of gross stuff for everyone, and Shan sets up what promises to be a fascinating fourth novel, as Darren faces a new enemy and learns more about the vampire world. show less

This book begins with Mr. Crepsley showing Darren a trick that he had learned and someone suddenly showing up with a knife to both of their throats. The person turns out to be an old friend of Mr. Crepsley’s and is one of the vampire generals. Mr. Crepsley needs to leave with Darren to do something in an unnamed city. Not wanting to be alone, Darren brings Evra along. Once they arrive, Darren and Evra are able to act like normal kids and live somewhat normal lives. Mr. Crepsley does his business at night while these two have fun during the day. Christmas starts to approach when Evra stays at the hotel and Darren goes to look for a present for Evra. While he’s out, Darren meets a girl who had seen him from her home while she was show more sick. The two hang out and become friends and decide to go on a date. The next day, Debbie, the girl, goes and meets Evra who she accepts pretty easily. The two enjoy their date and meet her parents. After staying at her house for a while, Darren leaves Debbie and goes home. When Darren tries to tell Evra about the date, Darren finds out that six people had been found with gashes in their necks and possibly been sucked dry. This causes Darren and Evra to start following Mr. Crepsley in order to find out if it was him who was doing this. They figure out that he is trailing a man who worked at a slaughter house. One night while they are following him, Mr. Crepsley makes a move and goes in after the man. When it looks like he’s about to strike, Darren tries to stop him by killing him with a butcher’s knife. This only skims Mr. Crepsley’s arm and causes a vampaneze to come out. Mr. Crepsley explains that what a vampaneze is and why he came to the city. Mr. Crepsley used to live in the city and felt the right to protect it. When they go to get Evra, they find out that the vampaneze, Murlough, had kidnapped him. The next day, Darren meets with Debbie and, after talking to her, meets with Murlough. Murlough makes the deal that in exchange for where Mr. Crepsley was he’d give Evra back. When Darren refuses this deal, Murlough says that he’ll eat Evra on Christmas and also have Debbie. Darren tells Mr. Crepsley of this and together they devise a plan. Darren goes to Debbie’s house on Christmas Eve and shares a bottle of wine with the family. Darren goes to get Mr. Crepsley, and they then go to the sewers to search for Evra. While down there, the two get into a fight because Darren is so worried, and Darren storms off. While wandering the tunnels, Darren is knocked unconscious by Murlough. When Darren wakes up, he is hanging upside down like Evra. After some talking, Darren convinces Murlough to let Darren and Evra go in exchange for Debbie. Darren and Murlough go to Debbie’s home where Murlough forces Darren to watch him kill Debbie. When Murlough tries to kill her, though, it turns out to be a goat. After Murlough realizes this, Mr. Crepsley comes out and kills Murlough. They then get rid of the goat and Murlough before taking Debbie and her family out of the attic. It turns out the whole thing was a plan from the moment Darren gave the wine to the family. They then get Evra and leave the city.
This book is definitely another good book by Darren Shan. I love how he portrays the characters. He puts them in situations where they respond with normal reactions to the events and helps to relate the reader to the characters a bit. The personalities were realistic and reflected how different everyone is. The story gives a different and unique take to the vampire legends that makes them good. It is easy for a person to understand what is going on and keeps a good pace throughout the story. The series is good with how it focuses on specific events. I think it is good with how he shows correct passage of time with each book and keeps the story exciting. show less

Tunnels of Blood struck me as slightly more 'Young Adult' than the previous two instalments - peppy Debbie Hemlock, Darren's first girlfriend, is an avatar for Shan's female readers (I'm hoping she doesn't make a return appearance, but she probably will), and the ending is very Scooby Doo, with Darren saving the day, but still an entertaining read.

Crepsley learns that Murlogh the purple people eater - sorry, vampanese - is terrorising the vampire's home town (I have to wonder - the East End of London, maybe?), so he sets out to kill him, taking along - inexplicably - Darren and Evra the Snake Boy. They hole up in a hotel, where Crepsley sleeps all day and stalks Murlogh by night, and Darren befriends smart and witty Debbie. Then Darren show more decides that Crepsley is actually treating himself to a smorgasbord of innocent people and tries to kill the vampire once again, fouling Crepsley's plans. In retaliation, Murlogh kidnaps Evra and takes him down into the city's sewers - the tunnels of blood - and Darren must think of a way to free his best friend, in between cosy Christmas scenes with Debbie's family. The Hemlock family as a whole rather made me gag, and the colourful Murlogh was like a pantomime villain, but I always enjoy the developing relationship between Crepsley and Darren.

Next! show less

I am still being impressed by this series. While aimed at the Young Adult crowd, this book is written well enough to give them something to hold other books up to.

The writing itself is tight and clean, the story flows well, the characters are interesting [without having pages upon pages of selfish self-introspection] and the villains are slowly introduced so as to create a feel of Villainy and Scum" in the background.

I'm not a big vamp fan, but this I would recommend to the Harry Potter group, mainly to show them that a good story CAN be told in a book that isn't the size of the Bible."

I loved this book. It was full of gore and macabre touches. That's not where I have an issue. IT'S THE PREVIEW TO THE 4TH BOOK THAT I HAVE AN ISSUE WITH. Evra is my favorite character. So naturally, Evra and Darren being besties in this book was the best thing ever. But I discovered that in the 4th book they are no longer friends because 8 FREAKEN YEARS HAVE PASSED SINCE DARREN BECAME A HALF VAMPIRE. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THAT MEANS?! It means that Evra is now in his 20's and Darren is 13 or so (he ages 1 year every 5). WHAT THE FREAK(see what I did there)?! So after a second I was chill because I realized they can somehow work it out and be bff's. BUT NOOOOO. YOU HAD TO PULL MY LEG OFF! Evra doesn't talk much to Darren anymore show more because Darren is so young. YOU USED TO BE ALMOST AS YOUNG AS HIM EVRA. SO SHUT YOUR TRAP! So now Darren is all alone again. Sam is dead. He left Debbie. My heart has been ripped out. Oh how jolly I am right now. I think the line that got to me (in the preview) the most was, "Nobody else would miss us." Oh how true that line was. Only Hibernius and Evra would. I'm so po-ed because Evra is now disappearing from Darren's life. I can't even imagine if I had to read Evra's death when Darren was 20 or something. show less