I watched the movie The Vampire’s Assistant years ago. And honestly, I can’t remember much from it besides the bare bones. However I remember finding the idea interesting and when I found the bind-up of the first three books of the series at Boekenfestijn, I instantly grabbed it. The overall idea of the world of Cirque Du Freak is solid. It moves away from the stereotypical vampire within mainstream media without losing the essence. That a vampire is a predator. I also mostly enjoy the freak show, though sometimes I wished more was done with that. However there are plenty more books in this series. The plot in the first book is a tad wonky, and overall the plot in the first three books do rely heavily in places on not communicating with other people. If some actually talked and were honest, some of the issues would not have occurred. I do appreciate how the author doesn’t shy away from heavier topics, like the funeral at the end of the first book. Plenty of authors would have skipped past that part, especially in middle grade. I have to say that I am glad I got the bind-up and that I read it all right after each other. The books themselves are short. I think they are ideal for the target group, middle grade. I do wish that in the second book the prologue had not been such a summary of the first book and that the first chapter had not been in third point of view. The rest of the book, and the other books, are in first point of view. It didn’t add a whole lot either. The characters are okay. Darren, the main character, I liked initially in the first part of the first book, but with the events in the second half of that book I lost some respect for him because of the decisions he made. However it does show him as a flawed character. Throughout these first three books you do see him grow. This especially shows in the third book. He knows more about being a (half) vampire and doesn’t need to rely as heavily on Mr. Crepsley. I have not decided how I feel about Mr. Crepsley. He’s a bit of a grumpy vampire, and especially in the first book, not all that likeable. I quite enjoy Ezra’s character. He evens out Darren. There are plenty of characters to explore in the next few books, and I can see some possible story lines with them with the hints we’ve been given so far. I think this is an excellent middle grade book for children that love a bit of horror and macabre.
Me encontré con este libro de Darren Shan en un momento en que realmente lo necesitaba. No sé si es muy común, pero en mi caso hay ciertas épocas de hastío hacia la lectura: cuando tengo que leer tanto de la universidad que la sola posibilidad de tomar otro libro ―aunque sea de ficción― parece algo doloroso, por ejemplo. También me sucede cuando me siento culpable por estar leyendo varios libros a la vez y avanzar muy poco con cada uno de ellos, aún leyéndolos diariamente.Aunque, ahora que lo pienso mejor, no encontré esta obra sino que la busqué deliberadamente. Había visto la película y me había parecido una historia bastante entretenida. Apenas me enteré que era una saga de libros de la que nunca había oído hasta el momento, averigüé todo lo que me interesaba. Tenía el nombre y el autor, lo más importante. Pasó un tiempo ―no recuerdo exactamente cuánto― y vi El circo de los extraños en una librería por la que paseaba. Me lo llevé sin pensarlo al recordar la película.Como pasa con las buenas historias, resultó que la obra era 1000 veces mejor que la película, a la que, sin embargo, estaré eternamente agradecido por haberme hecho conocer a Shan. Este volumen ―cuando lo compré aún no lo sabía― contiene los tres primeros libros de la saga recopilados en un solo tomo: por eso tiene tantas páginas. Y, sin embargo, ¿eso importa? ¡Claro que no! Me leí las 600 páginas en dos días. Si la película me había parecido entretenida y bastante cómica ―no esperaba mucho y me sorprendí―, este volumen recopilatorio nos da la introducción ideal al mundo del protagonista que toma su nombre del propio autor. Quisiera hablar de la historia, que es completamente atípica e incluso un poco satírica en cuanto a otras historias sobre vampiros ―desde Drácula a Crepúsculo―, pero necesito ir al lavabo.Después de todo, nunca se sabe que te puede inspirar estando allí sentado, viendo caminar por las paredes a unas pequeñas arañas...
What do You think about Vampire Blood Trilogy (2015)?
Questo libro racchiude la ristampa dei primi 3 capitoli della saga di Darren Shan: "Il circo degli orrori", "L'assistente del vampiro" e "Tunnel di sangue", inizialmente editi nel 2005 nella collana Super Brividi. Lo stile di scrittura è semplice e scorrevole e la storia ha un po' degli alti e bassi, nel senso che ci sono delle parti molto originali e carine che mi hanno proprio entusiasmata, altre invece un po' scontate e prive di spessore, ma nel complesso direi che è stata una lettura piacevole, che, anche se maggiormente indicata a lettori molto giovani, può essere intrappresa tranquillamente dagli amanti degli YA di ogni età. Piccola nota dolente per il protagonista, che non ho trovato né particolarmente simpatico e né particolarmente intelligente, ma per fortuna all'interno del libro ci sono personaggi migliori >___< Immagino che ci saranno le ristampe anche degli altri volumi di questa serie, e spero che la Mondadori continui ad accorparli a 3 a 3, l'ho trovata una buona idea!
—Eccentrika
Superb!! I totally love the first three series of The Darren Shan Saga a.k.a. Vampire Blood. What I like the most is that the author is Darren Shan himself. Well, maybe it is the twist of his own life journal but I found it rather amusing and a bit neat.There are few interesting facts about vampires in the series.1) Vampires are immortals. But they don't live forever as they will die eventually. Vampire's aging 1 year in 10 years of human world. So I guess if I'm 100, then he's only 10. Wow. While half-vamp is 1 in 5 human years.2) Vampire don't have fangs. Face the truth people. They only slit the throat open with their nail and sucked the blood in a small dose in order to survive.3) They can and they have to eat regular human food to survive. A vampire that live only on blood are vampenenze and they slaughtered the victims. But, they are loyal and can be trusted. Keep their promise more than anything.4) Cirque Du Freak has incredible people. I wish I could watch it my self. =)That is actually some of awesome facts I found. In this book, I didn't see any spectacular writing, the thing that drew me in was the plot. The whole thing was near perfect. However, I just love it as it is now. If I were 15, this would be my best read EVER for this year! I love Harry Potter and I love Darren Shan too!I never read Percy Jackson yet, but i know I will collect this series. I know my review doesn't give much this time because I love the book. I am not a horror book fan but this one is different.I give this book 5 stars because of it's incredible imagination. Also, there's some cool actions from the characters. I highly recommend this book to any person who loves a good vampire story. And whoever love Harry Potter, R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike!
—Darlyn
When the movie came out i didn't bother watching after i heard bad reviews about it ...not because i don't like his movie but i heard comments and bad rating for the movie so i decided to read......it turns about a VERY GOOD STORY !! and i realized why the movie had bad rating/......its a complete different story !! And I think they added a few characters ....i think if i watched the movie i would have the same impression....THIS BOOK SERIES STORY WAS BETTER !! I wish they sticked to the storybook version.....overall if i ever meet this writer i would give a big BEAR HUG and a kiss !!!
—Deviki
