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KIDS
READS --
reviewed
by
Carlie
Webber |
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Darren
Shan's
life
both
began
and
ended on
the day
he
reached
into the
air and
caught a
ticket
to an
underground
freak
show,
the
Cirque
du
Freak.
Because
of that
show ---
and
because
he
couldn't
resist
the lure
of Madam
Octa,
the
performing
spider
--- he
gave up
his
mortal
life to
save his
best
friend
Steve
Leonard
from a
deadly
poison.
In his
new life
as a
half-vampire,
Darren
travels
to
extraordinary
places
like
Vampire
Mountain
and the
Lake of
Souls.
Most
importantly,
he has
seen how
every
event of
the
past, no
matter
how
small,
can have
a
profound
effect
on the
future.
With his
fellow
Vampire
Prince
Vancha
March
and
Larten
Crepsley,
Darren
was sent
on a
mission.
Vancha,
Larten
and
Darren
were
named as
the only
three
vampires
who
could
kill the
Vampaneze
Lord and
prevent
the
murdering
vampaneze
from
destroying
the
vampires.
Darren
met up
with his
old
friend,
Steve
Leonard,
now the
Vampaneze
Lord,
and the
two know
that
they
must
fulfill
another
prophecy:
Whoever
kills
the
other
will
live to
become
the Lord
of the
Shadows.
While
Steve
believes
that
killing
Darren
will
lead to
a great
future,
Darren
worries
that if
he's the
one who
survives
the
battle,
he could
cause
the
world to
become a
desolate,
horrible
place
where no
vampires,
vampaneze,
or
people
can
survive.
As
Darren
predicted,
he must
face
Steve
alone in
their
final
battle.
Steve
injures
Darren
badly,
but
Darren
is able
to deal
a fatal
stab. As
Steve
dies,
Darren
learns
that Mr.
Desmond
Tiny has
manipulated
most of
his
life.
Steve
and
Darren
have
been
controlled
in many
small
ways by
Mr. Tiny
since
their
births,
and
Darren
is
determined
that he
will not
be
manipulated
again,
even if
it means
his own
death!
The way
Darren
sees it,
the only
way to
avoid a
lifetime
of being
controlled
by Mr.
Tiny is
to take
his
destiny
into his
own
hands…but
he's
going to
need
Steve's
help to
do it.
When
Darren
emerges
from the
battle,
he's in
the last
place he
ever
wanted
to be:
the Lake
of
Souls.
Memories
of the
past
plague
him, and
he
almost
resigns
himself
to an
eternity
of
insanity
when he
is
pulled
from the
lake.
Given
one more
turn at
life,
albeit a
very
different
life
than the
one he's
known,
Darren
is
determined
not to
waste
his
chance
to
ensure
the
safety
of
humanity.
He
travels
back in
time to
a moment
when he
can
change
the
future,
but will
he have
the
courage
to do
what he
has to
do?
Hold
your
breath
and draw
your
sword
for the
last
bloody
journey
into
Darren
Shan's
world of
battling
vampires.
Here
there be
dragons
--- and
vampaneze
and
circus
freaks
and
humans
and
witches
and
Little
People
and a
really
icky
lake.
All your
questions
about
Darren's
past,
present
and
future
will be
answered
here, as
well as
some
curiosities
you may
have
about a
certain
Desmond
Tiny. In
the end,
as
always,
the
story is
Darren's,
but does
he have
any hope
for a
future?
Only
time
will
tell.
http://www.kidsreads.com/series/series-cirque-titles.asp#0316156299
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