The romanticized vampire image has often been exploited in books and films over the past few years, but the Darren Shane Saga is not the case. This series of books tells a dark story about a teenage boy who, by the will of fate, abandoned his usual life and joined the kingdom of darkness.
about the author
Darren Sheng, whose real name is Darren O'Shaughnessy, was born on July 2, 1972 in London and is of Irish descent. He currently resides in Limerick, Ireland.
At age 14, Darren bought his first typewriter, on which he wrote stories, scripts for comics and stories as a hobby. At age 15, he won the competition for screenwriters of the Irish channel RTE with his black comedy titled "One Day at the Morgue." At 17, he wrote his first novel, which was never published. After finishing work on it, Darren switched from writing short stories to full-fledged novels. In January 2009, the first part of the Darren Shane Saga series, The Freak Circus, was published in the UK and Ireland, where it became successful. However, only by 2016 she scattered around the world.
About a series of books
The saga consists of 12 books that tell about a boy who had to leave home and start living according to the laws of the vampire world. Throughout history, Darren evolves. In the first book, he is a half-vampire and assistant to Larten Krepsley, and in the sixth, Darren Sheng is the prince of vampires.
The series of books has its own, original and unique world, which is based on legends and myths about vampires. At the age of 15, the main character has to make a deal with the vampire - circus artist Freak, Larten Krapsley, in order to save the life of his friend Steve Leonard. The vampire agrees to release Steve on condition that Darren Sheng becomes his assistant semi-vampire, will help him in his work in the circus and will become his personal assistant. Working in the circus, he finds a close friend - a snake boy named Evra.
The name of the main character coincides with the author's pseudonym, and the books themselves are written as memoirs or diaries. At the beginning of the first book is a warning that everything described is true, only names are changed.
In addition to 12 volumes, spin-off books on various topics were released for the series, a total of eight pieces.
Darren Sheng
At the time of the beginning of the story, the main character is only 16 years old. Darren is a smart, honest, responsible and courageous young man. All the time described in books, he courageously endured all the hardships of fate. He has come a long way from the "six" Larten Crespli to the prince of vampires.
Series Features
The books are written in the form of memoirs of the main character Darren Shen, whose name coincides with the author's pseudonym. This is done so that the reader feels the reality of what is happening and plunges into history. The plot is designed so that even the published books themselves are part of it.
For many reasons, it may seem that the Darren Shen Saga is a book for children and adolescents: the protagonist is a teenager, the genre of books is science fiction, and vampires are the center of the series. In fact, children are not recommended to read these books because of the large number of battles, blood, cruelty and a difficult psychological atmosphere. The series is suitable for fans of action, action, fiction and dynamic bloody stories with an exciting storyline and thoughtful world.
Film based on the series
In 2009, the movie "Darren Sheng: The Story of a Vampire" was released. It is a film adaptation of the first three books of the series, and in some places differs from the original source.
According to the plot of the film, schoolchildren Darren Sheng lives an ordinary life, is fond of spiders, and studies at school. Once, a leaflet fell into his hands telling him that the Urodov Circus had arrived in the city. At the performance, a certain Mr. Crepsley speaks with his exotic spider named Madame Octa. The boy remains in deep delight, bewitched by Madame Octoy, he decides to steal the pet of the mysterious gentleman.
At night, Darren secretly sneaks into the building where the Circus is located, and takes the spider. The next day, by an unlucky coincidence, Madame Octa bites her best friend and classmate, the main character - Steve Leonard. To save Steve's life, Darren returns to the Circus with the spider and begs Mr. Crepsley to cure his friend. Mr. Crepsley is a vampire and agrees to help, only on the condition that Darren becomes his personal assistant. Thus begins the life and adventures of Darren in the Circus of the Freaks under the auspices of the vampire Larten Krapsley.
The film involved both little-known actors and stars: Salma Hayek, Josh Hutcherson, Willem Dafoe, John Christopher Riley, Ken Watanabe and Ray Stevenson. The director and producer was Paul Weitz.
The Darren Shen Saga is a great example of how you can correctly use the image of a vampire, fit it into modernity and breathe new life into the "creatures of the night", make them interesting in the eyes of a sophisticated modern reader. These are exciting books with a dynamic plot and a carefully thought out world.