Bec. The Little One. The one who Lord Loss has shared magic with... The book was so scary and had lots of gore! Bran was a good one :) Run Fast! :D What made me wonder was the theme of the book...Lord Loss didn't know chess then...the gods were Celtic and the year was 5th century AD....Also, the most painful thing in the book...(view spoiler)[Found it...I look around. Everyone’s awake. All eyes are focused on the spot from where the sound came. Ronan’s bow is aimed, an arrow ready to fly at its target the moment he sights one. “Don’t move,” Drust whispers, just loud enough for all to hear. “The spells are still intact. This might be nothing to do with—” “Motherrrrrr…” comes a cry, clearer this time. A girl’s voice. Full of pain and grief. “Help us… motherrrr…” A different voice, this time a boy.“So cold… motherrrr…” A third child, also a boy. He sounds younger than the other two. “What is that?” Lorcan asks, nervously tugging at his earrings. “I’m not sure,” Drust answers. “Only demon masters can mimic human voices. And the undead don’t retain the power of speech. Perhaps Lord Loss is manipulating a lesser demon.” “Motherrrr… hold ussssssss…” The girl again. Her voice sends shivers down the back of my neck. I want to run to her and wrap my arms around her, even knowing she can’t be human. She sounds young, scared, lost. “I don’t like this,” Goll mutters, his eye darting left and right, trying to pick out figures in the darkness. “They might be real children,” Fiachna says. “The demon could be using them to trap us.”“No,” Orna says, and there’s a tremble to her voice. “They… I…” “Motherrrr!” the elder boy cries, as if in response to Orna’s voice. Orna stands. “No!” Drust barks, but she ignores him and takes a step forward, hands clasped over her breasts, face torn between terror and delight. Something moves in the shadows. Three shapes advance. Drust curses, then creates a ball of fire and sends it floating down the hill, to illuminate the creatures. Three children are revealed, stumbling forward. Undead. Their bodies are in good condition, most of the limbs are attached, the flesh isn’t ripped to pieces, heads on necks. But they’re definitely not living children. They move sluggishly and one boy’s missing an eye, the other both its ears, the girl some fingers. “My children,” Orna croaks, and although I was cold with fear already, now I turn to ice.Orna takes a second step down the hill. “Orna!” Goll hisses. “Stop! They’re not your children! It’s a trick!” “But they are,” Orna says. Tears are flowing down her cheeks, a warrior no longer, all woman now—all mother. “It’s a glamour,” Drust says softly. “They’re probably the bodies of other children disguised to look like yours.” “No,” Orna says. “I’d know my young loves anywhere.”“Cold… motherrrr…” the youngest boy moans. “Lonely… motherrrr…” the girl wails. Orna takes a third step. “They’ll kill you,” Fiachna says. He gets up, breaking his masking spell. Moves towards her, hands outspread. “If you go to them, they’ll slaughter you, like the demons slaughtered them. It doesn’t matter if they were your children. They’re the Demonata’s now. They’re Lord Loss’s.” He shouts, scaring us all, “You’re out there, aren’t you, demon lord? Watching this and grinning, aye?” No answer, except more cries from the undead children. Fiachna closes on Orna and reaches for her, to lead her back to safety. Before his fingers touch her, she leaps away from him and draws a knife. “Stay back!” she snarls. Fiachna blinks and lowers his hands. Orna looks at the smith pitifully. “They’re my children,” she whimpers. “I can’t leave them. They’re calling me.” “Motherrrr!” all three wail at the same time.“This is madness,” Goll says, stepping up beside Fiachna. Orna points her knife at him. Goll glares at her with disgust—but with sympathy too. “Put your weapon away and come to us. You’ll see the folly of this in the morning.”“But they’re my—” “No!” Goll shouts. “They’re nothing except walking lumps of rotting flesh! Look at them, woman! Look with your eyes and brain, not your heart. Your children are dead. Accept that. Let this vision pass.” “But what if… maybe they could…” Orna’s shoulders slump. Tears fall more freely. Fiachna moves towards her again. Goll stops him and shakes his head— wait. “Can we lift the spell?” I ask Drust. “Remove the glamour so she can see them as they really are?” “No,” Drust says shortly. “She’s seeing with her heart now, not her eyes. No magic I know can combat a self-powered spell like that.”“I could shoot one of them with an arrow,” Ronan says, squinting as he takes careful aim. Orna growls like a wild animal. “You’ll die on that spot if you do!” “Let her go,” Connla laughs cruelly. “If she’s so desperate to mother demons, who are we to stop her?” “Bricriu!” Goll roars, the foul curse for a meddler. Connla only smiles. “Please, Orna,” I mutter, trying another approach. “I need you. You’re like a mother to me. Let me be your daughter. I couldn’t bear it if you left.” Orna’s eyes soften and she smiles. “You’re a good girl, Bec. And I love you, almost as much as I loved… love my little lost ones.” She shakes her head ever so slightly. “But you’re not mine. They are. And they’re calling me.” “But—”I get no further. In an instant, taking us all by surprise, she leaps away and is racing down the hill towards the three undead children, who raise their arms and croon with delight. Fiachna starts after her but Goll trips him. As he rises angrily, turning on Goll, the old warrior sticks his hands out, palms upwards, the sign for peace, then says softly, “Macha help her.” The fury fades from Fiachna and he turns to watch, along with the rest of us. “You should have let me go,” he murmurs. “I might have caught her.” “No,” Goll replies. “She was too far ahead and too desperate.” Orna reaches the children and stops. I expect them to attack but they just stand there, staring at her, arms outstretched, waiting for her to hug them. For a moment I wonder if we were mistaken, if these are her children and mean her no harm. But then Drust nudges me and points to the right, further down the hill. I spot the outline of Lord Loss, inhuman eyes fixed on the woman and children, wicked smile visible even from here. Ronan fires an arrow at the demon master, then another, but both stop short of their target, as though they’ve struck an invisible wall. Lord Loss doesn’t even glance in our direction. Orna kneels, extends her arms and draws the children in close. I see their faces, alight with evil glee. The eldest boy gently, lovingly brushes the soft flesh of her neck—then sinks his teeth into it. Orna stiffens but doesn’t cry out. The girl latches on to the warrior’s upper arm, chewing at it like a dog with a bone. The youngest boy’s head sinks beneath Orna’s shoulders. He rips her tunic open. I can’t see from here, but I know he’s suckling, drawing blood instead of milk. Orna’s arms tighten around the children, hugging them closer. She hums a tune women sing to send their young to sleep. I gasp with horror when I hear that and turn away from the awful sight of the undead boys and girl feasting on the living flesh of their mother. Fiachna squats beside me and grabs me tight, letting me bury my face in his chest. “There there, Little One,” he coos. “She’s happy. She thinks she’s back with her children. We should all be lucky to die so willingly.” “But they’re not!” I cry. “They’re not her—” “I know,” he whispers, stroking the back of my head. “But she thinks they are. That’s all that matters.” Although I’ve turned my back on the carnage, I can’t block out the sounds of ripping flesh and the occasional painful hiss from Orna or moan of satisfaction from the undead beasts. Even when I cover my ears with my hands, I hear them, or imagine I do. After a while the others turn away from the sickening sight, one by one, ashen-faced, eyes filled with regret, stomachs turning. Even cruel Connla, who gave up on her before anybody else.The only one who doesn’t turn away is Bran. The boy remains sitting where he awoke, watching silently, head tilted to one side, frowning curiously, as if he’s not entirely sure what’s happening and is waiting to see if this is a game with an unexpected, amusing finale. Eventually, since I can’t bear it, I walk over, turn him around and sit beside him. I lean against the simple boy and keep him faced away from Orna, allowing her the humble dignity of dying in private. (hide spoiler)]
Before I give the review let me just start by saying that Darren Shan is one of my all time favourite authors and I am not a huge fan of horror, his writing, characters and plot’s just captivate me and keep me reading. I recommend all of his books. But this has to be one of my favourites in the Demonata series.Characters: 9/10I loved all the characters. There were evil ones and good ones; you’d think it would be as simple as that, but no. In most books, it’s black and white. “That guys the evil one, yay, you go stab him you hero! Kill that evil it!” Not here, you know Lord Loss is an evil SOB, yet here we learn he was always an ass, but that’s not the thing, Lord Loss is the one constant in all the books so far. And what can I say; him and his army of demons are just cool. Onto the main characters such as the one telling the story, I love Bec. She is just so awesome. She has to be one of the most badass heroines ever. Even though she is small and looked down upon she does not let others fight her battle. She goes in guns high ready to shoot down every demon out there. Yep, she’s not your average heroine, plus her super cool magic powers are also pretty wicked. Also, I liked the fact that her mind was not centred on the opposite sex or a boy; instead, it was centred around saving the world!Writing: 8/10I am a terrible judge at peoples writing, so I’ll just say what I thought of it. It was good. Like most of his other writing, it kept me interested and reading. And I liked how he described what was happening to Bec, I felt as if I was actually there.Plot: 9.5/10Ah the plot, I could go on forever talking about what happened in the book. SO, I decided to just sum it up into one sentence. It is 400 years ago demons are invading the world, a group of warriors (and Bec) must go on a journey to defeat them, and rid the world of the demons. Yeah, that sounds a little ridiculous. Read the goodreads blurb, it’s a lot truer and it makes a lot more sense. The plot is really good and keeps you interested, wanting to know what happens, every step of the way. The journey they go through is amazing.Enjoy-ability: 9/10Very enjoyable, a fun read that will keep you enjoying it throughout the entire book.Overall interestingness: 10/10What can I say? Overall, the book is really interesting. The plot is interesting, the characters are interesting, and it even has a tinge of romance. Isn’t that what makes a good book. Because it sure made a good book for me.Only way to describe the book...
What do You think about Bec (2007)?
This book is so important for many reasons.(view spoiler)[- It's still dealing with human nature which unsurprisingly turns out to be worse than the scumbag demons who destroy brainlessly. Humans in other case are more cruel than brutal. But not only "humans" in the flesh and blood form, Lord Loss is another cruel monster in human-like form too (metaphorically, he can talk and play chess while his minions can't.) The disparity among the other demons, humans and Lord Loss makes sense when we consider it's portrayed in the paradoxical meaning and sometimes can't be distinguished from one another.- THE CELTIC NAMES. THE CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. THE CELTIC CUSTOMS. THE NORTHERN EUROPEAN LANDSCAPE WITH HIGH LAND AND MOUNTAINS AND MYSTERY.- The characters are endearing. Not flat but royal and brave and strong in the reasonable sense (they're warriors in blood) except that fucking ass who I feel ashamed to mention.- The strong female protagonist and her love that makes me weep. - The plot is great. Another secret about the Gradys revealed and who the hell is that person having sex with the demon? and who's the demon? Lord Loss is not the only boss. We'll see.- Goll is my heart beat in the story (always imagine him as Logan in x-men). Drust is such a bae. ;_______; Darren Shan never fails to create the attractive old men who are not handsome yet quite appealing and they're all hot. I'm burned.- WHAT HAPPENED TO BEC AND BRAN??? (hide spoiler)]
—Ariya
This book has encouraged me to continue reading the Demonata series. It was so good! Although some parts of the travelling were a little boring, it was an overall good book.The ending in this book was mind blowing, it had a few plot twists that I didn't see coming and didn't feel like they were put there because the writer didn't know how to end it. Honestly, this book has blown my mind.The timeline got me confused when I first started reading. I didn't know if it was set in a long ago time or if the characters were just behind in the times, like the Amish community. That and the lack of entertainment whilst they were walking were enough to knock a star off.I really enjoyed reading this book!
—tabitha
I think the book “BEC: screams in the dark” by Darren Shan was really enjoyable. It was horror, creepy and awesome. I liked it because I like horror, mysterious and full of adventures kind of book and this book was horror and it had all the elements, which a horror book should have. The way the devil and demons were described in the story was good you could imagine the horrifying demons they were different and dreadful. The language and words I think were chosen carefully so that it matches the mood and the storyline. The name also is kind of unusual. I liked the character Bec the most in the book. The ending was really unacceptable. I think there was only 1 thing I didn’t like and that was in the midway the story was kind of stretching and was not that interesting that I thought it would be like the starting and the ending of the story sometimes I found some elements in the story confusing and hard to understand. I think the book was overall nice, mysterious and scary.
—Apoorva
