The Lake of Souls takes place right after Killers of the Dawn, with Mr. Crepsley dead and Steve's revelation that he is the Lord of the Vampaneze. Darren is unable to cry. He feels numb, but with the help of the bearded lady, Truska, he eventually does so. Mr. Tiny then appears and tells Harkat that if he wants his nightmares (which have returned) to stop, he must walk through a portal that Mr. Tiny makes. Harkat refuses to let Darren go with him. Debbie Hemlock and Police Chief Alice Burgess want to start an army to combat the vampets, but have to get the approval of the vampire princes first, so they are only mentioned briefly. Darren later decides that he should go with Harkat, much to Harkat's dismay. Darren and Harkat then walk through the mysterious portal, and are thrown into a strange, gray world.Darren and Harkat are forced to complete many diffucult tasks. They first hunt down a black panther and collect a map inside it. Darren finds that the panther's teeth have been marked with letters. They start rearranging the teeth, with Harkat using up all the teeth to get SLAM DARK HUT, and then again to find it reads HARKAT MULDS. Harkat dismisses it as an utter waste of time, as Mr. Tiny loves to meddle with time. Harkat keeps the teeth, saying that they might be useful as they are sharp.Next they have to steal 'gelatinous globes' from the world's biggest toad. They arrive to see the toad standing in the middle of a lake surrounded by crocodiles. Darren and Harkat zip through the lake, grab a few globes, then run off.Darren and Harkat eventually meet up with Lady Evanna. Her appearance is completely unexpected, and she does not wish to tell the two how or why she is there. She helps them get across the lake where they meet a man who calls himself Spits Abrams. Spits is a former pirate and heavy drinker, and although Darren and Harkat do not trust him very much, they decide that Mr. Tiny put him in that world for a reason, and decide to take him with them.They soon reach a small area filled with 'people' which they decide to call Kulashkas (since they are chanting "kulashka" more than any other word.) They are required to steal vials of 'holy liquid'. Darren and Harkat enter the village, Spits being afraid, to find the 'holy liquid' to be the venom from the fangs of a huge creature called the Grotesque. The Grotesque is apparently the Kulashkas' god. Darren and Harkat rush to two vials containing the venom and are attacked by the Grotesque.Harkat raises the vial as the Grotesque attempts to kill him, and the Grotesque backs off. The Kulashkas arrive, pointing spears at Darren and Harkat, trying to drive them back. They are driven closer to the Grotesque and Darren drives them back with his vial. The chief of the Kulashkas starts trying to speak to them in a non-understandable language, with Darren saying that he can't understand them. The chief starts gesturing that they are free to leave, but must return the vials to the altar which carried them. Darren starts to do so, but a drunken Spits arrives,and cuts the kulashkas with his knife as darren throws one vial at the Grotesque, which explodes, hurting the Grotesque and those nearby it, revealing the liquid to be highly explosive. Harkat sees floorboards underneath them and starts stomping on them. Darren joins in, with Spits saying, "What in the devil's name are ye..." before crashing through the floorboards.They end up in a tunnel, following it until they reach a room. There is a fridge, which Spits asks about, as he did not have fridges in his time. There are also postcards, signed by Mr. Tiny. Harkat is bothered by the postcards, but does not explain why. They then leave the room, Spits taking a few extra bottles of whiskey.They soon reach the Lake. It is seen to be covered with dragons and Darren and Harkat figure out that they should make bombs, filling the 'gelatinous globes' with the Grotesque venom and throwing it at the dragons. They finally get up close to the Lake and Spits says that when Mr. Tiny brought him here, he told him that there was a spell on the Lake forbidding dragons to be closer than eight metres to the Lake unless a living person fell into the Lake. Then Spits quotes on how many people are in the Lake of Souls. He starts talking about how the crew on the Prince o' Pariah, the ship he used to serve, loved his meals, revealing that he is a cannibal. Spits says that he plans to stay by the Lake of Souls, feeding of the people who lived there. He is persistently told not to feed on the souls and is accidentally knocked away from the eight metre zone. A dragon soon breathes fire at him and he is seen burning, running around not able to see, and then falls into the lake, breaking the spell.While being ruthlessly attacked by a dragon, Harkat pulls up his former identity, revealed to be Kurda Smahlt. The world freezes and Mr. Tiny appears to congratulate him. He also tells them, since Kurda and Harkat are of the same soul, only one could survive. It is decided that Harkat will remain alive.Back at the Cirque du Freak, Harkat removes the panther's teeth and starts juggling the letters around, and just when he reaches HARKAT, he stops, apparently shocked, then rearranges it to find it reads KURDA SMAHLT. Darren then realizes that Harkat's name is an anagram and that the answer was in front of them all along, saying that if they spent more time on the teeth they might not have had to go through all the tasks. Harkat also takes out the postcards, pointing the time and date it was sent, noting that it was all dated twelve, twenty, thirty, and fifty years later. Harkat then reveals his theory: that the barren land they had visited was the future.It is also told by Lady Evanna that no matter who wins the War of the Scars, either Darren or Steve would become the Lord of the Shadows who is a ruthless ruler of the night.
The dead are waiting...Going into The Lake of Souls, and following the point I made in my review of the previous book, I was interested in how - SPOILER ALERT - Larten's death would affect the world and its characters. By the blurb we see that this entry focuses more on Harkat, and I was equally excited about one of my favourite characters - who in recent entries has been more supportive in role - getting critical attention. And both are pulled off brilliantly. The Lake of Souls does take a separate path to what we've been following in the series so far, but the author's sheer skill and inventive imagination promise you that this will not be a sub-par ride. SPOILER WARNINGSynopsis (Not a copy from the book, but I always keep my interpretations close.)Our heroes are reeling from the loss of Larten Crepsley.Darren most of all.His mentor, father figure and above all, friend, is gone.And Harkat's close to follow.With the return of his nightmares and creator, Harkat will finally have to take the perilous journey to find out who he truly is.Only, even if he succeeds, he may not be returning... Plot - 5/5 StarsWe pick up straight after Killers of the Dawn, and the crushing weight of such a climax is horrible.Larten's dead, and Steve is the real Vampaneze Lord.It's a little much for our young, half-vampire, Darren Shan. It's exacerbated by the fact that, despite the eye-opening revelations, the father figure of the characters died for nothing. They didn't kill the Lord, and they missed another opportunity to do so. The grief in the first 1/4 of the story is heartbreaking and palpable. It's as if the energy has been sucked from everything. Not to worry though, The Lake of Souls is full of adrenaline and action, not just doom and gloom. Darren and Harkat's new mission take them to an outrageously fantastical world. For me, this entry is perhaps the most fantasy heavy, and that's a good thing. There's magic doors to different worlds; huge toad, strange animals, cult-like settlements, a drunken sailor and above all, dragons. It adds a wealth of mythology and world building to the series, and what we had before was already superb! Storytelling is definitely the author's forte, and is something he can continue to create. You just have to take a look at future series of his: The Demonata (my personal favourite series of all time), Zom-B and The Thin Executioner (admittedly not a series). And that's only the ones I've read! There are more I haven't yet got my hands on.The trials of the journey are also some of my favourite moments. The collection of such things like the 'holy liquid' and the 'gelatinous globes', and how they tie together, is genius. What works even better in its favour is the way everything comes together: We learn exactly the same time the characters do what's supposed to be done. It's satisfying as hell.Harkat's true identity did catch me off guard, and I'm invested to see the bearing that has on the series.Overall though, The Lake of Souls could easily have been adapted and stretched to fit more than one book, so to get everything that it gave us all at once is an absolute pleasure. Pace - 4.5/5 StarsMostly, the pace is pretty consistent. There's tons of intrigue, suspense, action; but there is a little disjoint from the switch in focus the story takes. For a long time we've followed strictly the threat of the vampaneze and their Lord, that the shift - that isn't as sudden as you'd think, this thread of the plot has been alluded to before - can take a couple minutes to get used to.Overall, it's not much different. The expansive plot and riveting cast have all your focus. Characters - 5/5 StarsDarren is not sidelined in this instalment. Despite the heavy investment in Harkat, the main plot is actually a nice parallel of Darren's journey after the death of such a close loved one. He's searching for who he is, what he's supposed to do. He's now been left to stand roughly on his own, and face the overwhelming odds stacked against him. I love the reinforcement of Darren's development, but also the traits he's had from the beginning. His half-vampire status and the years of experience he's had have shaped him into a brave, intelligent warrior, but his fierce loyalty and refusal to abandon those beside him, even if it means the destruction of all vampires, is heartwarming.Harkat is no slouch himself. The reader can almost feel his plight: The desperate need to find out who he was in life before being a Little Person. He mirrors Darren in a lot of ways, including bravery and loyalty. Harkat is also a prime example of the saying, 'don't judge a book by its cover', as his appearance would send the average person running and screaming, but Harkat, if any of those same people were in danger, would lay down his life for them. Mr Tiny still proves to be an effective evil (but also kinda good in this entry; his ambiguity at times is deliciously frustrating). He's sadistic, manipulative and disarmingly deceptive. There's definitely power about him, and part of me feels he may be the true 'big bad' of the series. There are other characters who play a purpose within The Lake of Souls: Evanna, Spits, Kurda, Debbie, Alice. Many of them aren't prominent, but seeing them and knowing they're there does the novel a huge service. They are unique, engaging cast members, and the potential for them in future instalments has me salivating. Writing - 5/5 StarsThe Lake of Souls sees that final tone jump. One of the things I love about the series is that its themes and tones etc. adapt with the journey of the story and its main character. As Darren matures and grows and effectively reaches adulthood, so does the writing. Overall - 5/5 StarsYep, pretty awesome. Now onto the second last entry...I'm excited and sad...
What do You think about The Lake Of Souls (2006)?
The Lake of Souls by Darren Shan, compared to the other books in that series, wasn't as great as I expected it to be. Even though it had great detail about that new location Darren and Harkat entered, it didn't have much action like the other books that would make you want to keep on reading. It was fairly creepy, weird, and scary but that doesn't top the point that it could have been better and not as boring. At the end most of these books leave you at a cliffhanger which kind of convinced me to keep on reading the rest of the series. This book made me not want to read the rest of the series fearing it would be the same as this book or worst yet, I am still willing to keep on reading the series and hopefully finish it. I am not saying this book was a waste of my time but it was kind of an anticlimax for me. Other audiences and readers with other types of views may be able to enjoy this book with the rest of the series.
—Gabriela Murrieta
About the Book:Shan takes a step back from the War of Scars and focuses on a character that we all have come to know and love: Harkat Mulds. Harkat's nightmares have returned, and Mr. Tiny shows up to transport Darren and the Little Person to another world so that the latter can figure out who he was in his past life.Review:Well, this book has definitely taken a different path from the rest of the series, and I must admit I very much enjoyed it. It was like a nice vacation, only not so relaxing. Darren and Harkat must come across a series of trials so that they may reach the lake of souls. Shan did a wonderful job at creating action in this book. It was definitely a page turner. His monstrous creatures were extremely vivid as well, such as the giant (and I mean GIANT) toad. I especially liked the Grotesque. It was completely unique and revolting. In this book, we are also introduced to the Kulashkas, which seem to be kinsfolk of the Guardians of Blood that we witnessed in the Vampire Mountain trilogy. I still wish we could have learned more about the Kulashkas/Guardians of Blood and their culture. Why do they milk the Grotesque? Why do they eat the dead? Hell, how did the Grotesque even come into being?Then, once more, Shan continues to drop surprises and twists. I was especially shocked when I found out where they were and who Harkat was. Now, with the hint Mr. Tiny leaves, you may be able to figure it out on your own though it seems to have surprised a good chunk of people. This was definitely my favourite of the series so far, and I cannot wait to read the final two.
—Nic Echo
Darren Shan wanted to help Harkat Mulds find who he really was. In order to do that, they have to go to this other planet, where many creatures are placed there. All they had to do was find the lake of souls, but there are many obstacles during their journey. First, was the Jaguar they had to kill, to give them clues for there next mission. So, Darren and Harkat meets up with Evanna who stays with them for a short period of time. When Evanna left, and Darren and Harkat were exploring, a dragon a
—Cary
