The Vampire's Assistant

Darren Shan is either a world-class eejit, or too clever for his own good - judging the author solely by the first book in the Darren Shan series, Cirque Du Freak, I would have given up on the whole saga. The writing was immature and patronising even to the intended YA demographic, never mind older readers like myself. I loved the characters, but couldn't stand all the exclamation marks and dumbed-down text. But hey, guess what - 'twas all a plot device! (Presumably to contrast Darren's innocent childhood with his half-life after Mr Crepsley gets his hands on him and makes him a vampire.) Once past the prologue in book two, normal service resumes, and Darren Shan's creative genius shines - his books are incredibly easy to read, not show more least because they usually only run to the 200 page mark, but also strangely addictive. The wicked combination of mocking parody - Shan dismisses most of the vampire tricks of the trade, including fangs - and traditional storytelling means that the books are almost open-genre and appealing to any age (bar the first title). If it hadn't been for the 2009 film adaptation that was slated by long-standing Shan fans, this junior vampire craze would have passed me by! I'm a sucker - pun intended - for paternal/mentor figures in fiction, and Mr Crepsley is up there with Atticus Finch and Nero Wolfe for me. I'm old enough to know better, but I've fallen for the gruff old vampire. A shame I'll probably rattle through the entire series in a week, but I'm glad I gave Mr Shan a second chance. show less

“The hunger inside us must be fed to be controlled.”

Wow. This one blew my reading mind all over the place, being far superior to the first. Both stories were good and this was a continuation where the first left off; however, this one was more consistent with plot, pacing, and even richer in story detail. Generally the tales of "when all the big, bad begins" has the most suspense and ambition, but in this case the character slowly settling into his new world ended up kicking the previous books butt and taking names.

The ensemble of bizarre circus characters was truly intriguing - from his new friends and the unusual problems they face, to the leaders in charge who he must be wary of in both power and crossing lines, to some of the show more difficult and at times morally questionable work, Darren is also cursed with trying to accept what he now is and what he must do to survive.

Sounding more emo than it really is, the boy doesn't struggle too much on page but instead experiences with a rampage of other emotions relating to interesting plot details. Mr. Crepsley is slowly growing on me. I could have done without him the first book, took him or left him, but here he's more enjoyable in his role.

It's a little over 200 pages, and with the quick action and something new always happening, it's a quick read. Even if there is a vampire theme and the cover is a bit eerie for youngsters, it's more of a drama piece than anything thrillerish. There are horrifying incidents that occur, but these are all seriousness, no cheese.

There's a decent amount of gore compared to the first and as a young adult for this age level, but it's not on the adult plane. Whether a parent wishes for their children to read this or not....well, it would depend of the child's sensitivity level. This one takes it more into the realm of teenager, I think.

Shan certainly has an amazing ability with words, to where when reading it you can clearly picture whatever's going on, making it clear and real, mentally impressing and everlasting in memory.

The ending of this book was shocking, especially for a young adult.

It broke my heart.

The first one was addicting and easy to fall into after an awkward meeting; this one continues it to be such an awesome experience that it's forever on my "keeper shelf." Almost surreal sometimes, exciting others, tragic and powerful, this one packs a huge punch that you WANT to be hit by. I can't recommend this highly enough for horror fans, young adult enthusiasts, adults, and people who enjoy different sorts of fantastic worlds peppering with circus tricks, loners struggling to survive in a world which rejects them, and coming to term with life-altering changes. Basically this is recommended for all readers everywhere. show less

A good choice for boy readers especially - action, gross stuff, not too much emotion. I like that the author didn't try to fill in all the story from the first book throughout the second and, instead, covers it all in an introductory chapter to get the reader up to speed and into the new adventure. Writing style is very simple - not much for an adult to enjoy. Girls will also be attracted to the adventure and the friendships though there aren't any girl characters in this particular episode.

Recensione su FantasyAmo

Darren ormai ha dovuto lasciare indietro la sua vita umana, non senza traumi e difficoltà.
Il giovane mezzo-vampiro non riesce ancora ad abituarsi alla sua nuova vita e a Larten Crepsley, che lo ha trasformato.
Per Darren la sua vita è rovinata: non può tornare alla sua vecchia vita e alle persone che conosceva, né farsi nuovi amici umani.
Resosi conto della situazione, Larten lo porta nell'unico posto in cui quelli come loro possono sentirsi a casa: il Cirque du Freak.

In questo secondo volume vediamo che Darren ha difficoltà ad adattarsi alla vita vampiresca, soprattutto per quanto riguarda il nutrirsi di sangue umano. È uno dei temi fondamentali del romanzo e la causa di molti degli eventi del libro.
Un po' show more capisco Darren, in quanto è molto diverso dalla vita normale di un ragazzino dodicenne... Però, fossi nei suoi panni, non farei tutte quelle storie. Almeno credo. Ormai è una cosa che non si può cambiare, quindi perché combatterla? Perché ammalarsi e rischiare di morire? Sicuramente è una cosa che trancerebbe del tutto il suo legame con la sua parte umana... Ma lui non è più umano.

Altro tema trainante della storia è la voglia di Darren, tutt'altro che irragionevole, di poter avere delle amicizie. E qui davvero comprendo il suo malessere, perché una vita solitaria non è sempre bellissima. E io lo so bene.
Darren prova a fare amicizia tra gli umani, ma la cosa non funziona. Anzi, il ragazzino causa danni considerevoli. Mi è davvero dispiaciuto per Darren, perché è davvero ingiusto che un bambino non possa fare amicizia perché diverso.
Qui entra in gioco Larten, che secondo me non aveva capito il guaio in cui si era cacciato trasformando Darren in mezzo-vampiro, portandolo al Cirque du Freak.
Larten può sembrare un vero stronzo, a volte, soprattutto nel primo volume. Ma qui vediamo che comunque vuole prendersi cura di Darren per quanto possa farlo e che gli importa del bambino. Sicuramente è uno dei miei personaggi preferiti, assieme a Darren e alcuni di quelli che arrivano in questo libro.

Al Cirque Darren fa amicizia con Evra, il ragazzo serpente, che sa che è un vampiro, e mentre lo spettacolo è fermo i due conoscono il piccolo Sam, che è un umano. Altro personaggio importante ma potenzialmente pericoloso è R.V., che è l'unico personaggio davvero odioso assieme a Desmond Tiny.
Evra è A-D-O-R-A-B-I-L-E. Non so come altro descriverlo. La sua backstory è davvero triste, ma ce lo si aspetta da persone che non sono "normali".
L'amiciza tra Evra e Darren è davvero carina, ma speravo di vedere di più nelle loro interazioni. In fondo vivono nella stessa tenda! Ci si aspetta un'amicizia più profonda, che è quella invece tra Darren e Sam.
Sam è un ragazzo coraggioso, avventato e che pensa anche troppo per la sua età. A volte mi è sembrato davvero strano e un po' stupido, però gli voglio bene. È un personaggio fondamentale per la crescita di Darren, nel bene e nel male.
Desmond Tiny, al contrario, è un personaggio inquietante e malvagio, anche un po' stronzo, che spero faccia una brutta fine pur non credendoci molto... Sicuramente comprarirà negli altri volumi, anche se ne farei a meno!
R.V. ... Be', su di lui non ho nulla da dire. A parte verso la fine è un personaggio inutile rispetto alla storia, ed è servito a un solo scopo. Non penso lo rivedrò nei prossimi volumi (Anche se è comparso nella storia breve Shanta Claus, speciale di Natale) e neanche mi interessa!

Per quanto riguarda lo stile, il libro è ben scritto e si legge con piacere. Anzi, l'ho letto più velocemente e più felicità del primo, in quanto la storia è andata abbastanza avanti. show less

I just have to say that Darren Shan kicks YOU KNOW WHAT in the world of YA today. He is bold, full of charm and clever. He tells the story how it is and lets it snake around how it wants. I love the Cirque du Freak series. I would say I'm enjoying these more than Harry Potter. (OMG). One of the things that cracked me up about this book is he took a politically correct subject, set it up as a very adult and sacred thing, then slapped it down and showed the topic (not the person) for what it was. I was stunned and charmed at the same time. Beautiful!

I would give this book five stars for all the macabre moments and the coming up with the idea of snake sleepcrawling alone. However, since I was clueless what the entire book was ACTUALLY show more about until about a third of the way through, I have to give it a three. Freaking tell me what the book is about, dude! Either case. I love Darren Shan, and I'll continue reading the series. show less

What an ending! Even though it was foreshadowed from almost the beginning, it still came as a shock.

This novel is definitely more dark and intense than the first one but still oh so good. The freaks come across as totally normal people whereas the character of RV, a 'normal' person is shown to be more of a freak than the real ones.

Definitely a page-turner and it makes one want to continue on to know what happens next.

The Vampire's Assistant was an excellent young adult novel that is full of thrills and chills!

I watched the movie adaption of this series YEARS ago, and I had been dying to pick up this series. Unfortunately for me, the bookstore is big and full of millions of books so I'd forget what I was looking for the minute I walked in. Luckily for me, I walked into a bargain bookstore and found an old, extremely damaged version of this book for clearance - so of course I bought it! A little water never hurt anybody!

I hadn't read the first book in this series, but jumping right in was super easy! This book was fun, full of silly frights and awesome character development, and made me remember why I loved vampire novels in my youth!

This book is show more quick - it moves fast and keeps you interested at every turn. There's some really creepy bad guys, Evra (the snake boy), a wolf man, and some awesome parental-yet-not-so-parental adults hanging around. It's definitely the type of horror book I would read as a kid (but it doesn't scare me at all now - adult me has worse things to be afraid of...like politics and bills...ick).

I highly recommend this book to anyone considering introducing their children to YA books with horror or vampires in it. It's fun and creepy in all good ways! It'll keep the adults interested too!

Four out of five stars! show less