This one sure was a wild ride :o Penultimate in the series, been BRing it for a few months now, and I feel like as single individual books they've all been super boring and slow, but as a series you really do see the development and the time jumps between books is so much more realistic and really lends itself to the plot! I hate how underrated this series is, because these books are amazing and so unique! Proper well-thought-out saga of books.

I love how we see more into Darren's internal thoughts in this one, and can really sense that he's grown up and is battling with things. So many plot twists (as usual) in this one, and holy crap how is this all going to end!

Honestly.... What a let down on an ending. Darren let himself be killed? Really? After everything he went through?

Nah... That made no sense. Surely Darren would have tried to oppose des tiny instead of just giving up...

Left a bad taste in my mouth in a series that I had thoroughly enjoyed up until that point.

Recensione su Book Lover

Darren ora è di nuovo al Cirque du Freak, perché così gli dice il cuore. Le sue giornate e quelle di Harkat passano ad aiutare i membri del circo e ad aspettare il momento in cui i due amici si troveranno faccia a faccia con il Signore dei Vampaneze. Purtroppo, però, il passato richiama Darren inesorabilmente, e il giovane Principe si troverà di nuovo tra le strade della sua vecchia città. Cosa accadrà, è solo destino...

In questo undicesimo volume ne accadono di tutti i colori, tant'è che una mia amica mi ha detto che è il più triste di tutti prima che mi mettessi a leggerlo. In effetti, ha ragione.
Arrivati a questo punto non so neanche cosa scrivere, se non che Darren Shan (l'autore) è... un genio? Una persona orribile? Entrambi? Non lo so.
Comunque, ho trovato questo libro un po' lento all'inizio, o forse è solo il fatto che è l'undicesimo di una serie. Nella seconda parte, invece, tutto diventa più interessante e complesso, con qualche colpo di scena piuttosto triste (non nel senso che è fatto male, eh, ma che è da lacrime).
È stato bello rivedere qualche personaggio, altri molto meno (*tossisce* Steve *tossisce*), e ci sono stati dei punti che davvero non mi sarei aspettata.

Quello su cui mi sono concentrata di più, in questo libro, è Darren. O meglio, mi ha attratta il suo comportamento, l'immensa paura di diventare un mostro come Steve. E il fatto che a volte si intravede in lui quella crudeltà immensa che lui nega di avere. Praticamente sputando sulle ultime parole di Larten, Darren si lascia trascinare dalla rabbia e dalla vendetta e chi gli sta attorno deve fargli capire che sta sbagliando. La lotta esistenziale di Darren contro il proprio destino è una delle cose che mi attrae di più, e ho paura di scoprire cosa accadrà nell'ultimo volume.
Steve, la nemesi di Darren. dimostra sempre di più la sua inutile crudeltà, il suo odio infondato. Personalmente, non penso che se le cose fossero andate diversamente Steve sarebbe una buona persona. Non è nella sua natura.
A questo punto l'unico che può fare qualcosa, che può forse evitare una strage, è Vancha. Non per niente è il mio secondo personaggio preferito (al primo posto c'è ovviamente Gavner). L'unica sua pecca è che ha un ego smisurato!
Suo fratello Gannen... In effetti mi dispiace parecchio per lui, perché si ritrova Steve come una palla al piede, un Vampaneze che disonora l'intero clan col suo comportamento. Poveraccio, fate andare Gannen in vacanza, non so come non sia impazzito a stare così vicino a Steve.
Rivediamo, per poco, anche personaggi del primo volume, e ho intravisto un collegamento con la storia breve natalizia scritta dall'autore e che ho letto qualche mese fa. Non dico cosa, però.
Forse quello che non mi è piaciuto molto è il comportamento di Debbie, che non mi è mai stata molto simpatica. È debole, a tratti patetica. Non ha la stoffa per diventare un vampiro, e sinceramente rimpiango molto Arra.

Lo stile è sempre abbastanza semplice, adatto per i ragazzi per cui è stato scritto, e anche chi ha difficoltà con l'inglese penso possa leggerlo tranquillamente. Forse le cose cambieranno con la quadrilogia su Larten...

Intanto, io ho paura di prendere in mano l'ultimo volume.

Darren, the lead charactor, was influenced too much by situations around him, so he never decided his act by himself.
Although he hated his fates, he didn't try to change that entirely.
There is a tendency to do so after the seventh volume, but this book is awful.
I wonder that The last volume will recover it...

Now this book is exactly what this series has been leading up to. There's a lot of great action. Darren and Steve are finally facing each other. And there is a looming dark prophecy about the Lord of the Shadows.

All of the ultra powerful who meddle with the future make appearances. You have to love Evanna the witch of the wilds.

As always, it ends on a cliffhanger which is so beyond annoying at this point. I'm ready to finally see the end of the War of Scars, I just worry there won't be a full wrap up of the Lord of Shadows/future craziness.

**Some minor spoilers ahead, so you might want to avoid**

I just want to say two things:
First, it is getting REALLY annoying that at the end of each book Steve reveals sth heartbreaking and leaves everybody baffled and frozen. How many times are you going to use that trick? Cause it's getting really old.

Second, I hate Debbie. I really do. She is always weepy, full of mushy feelings and without an once of reason. There's no character there, no personality. She's like an element brought in every time we need someone soft and touchy-feely. She may have been put in the story to add a side of romance, but honestly she comes across as revolting.

Plus: Have you ever noticed how clumsy Darren is in fighting? In every encounter, Larten and Vancha are handling two or three people each, but Darren is always knocked out or injured in the first moments. Always needs someone to come and rescue him. He was such a hero in his trials of initiation and his training, what happened??

This is a good book! I can't wait to read more! I'm still not sure either one of them will be able to kill the other. I mean they both have had plenty of chances and opportunities and they keep stopping and hesitating and turning away with another excuse. It probably will make whichever one of them that survives totally evil, beyond saving for finally killing that one person, that they don't want to admit to still caring about no matter what they end up doing in they're lives. I can't imagine having to do that and having to try and do something like that must be one of the worst things ever.

review of manga

We're only one away from the end! I think I enjoyed this volume more that the previous few, the story is balanced, the characters are great and it managed to portray some hard hitting scenes in a dramatic way.

I have loved all the books in this series, but this one... I’m not so sure. All because of that ending, which I will not go into specifics or any spoilers. Once this series really got going the action and intrigue. And I was absolutely loving it!!!

But not this one. The action was still going one, but there were irreparable moments that are absolutely horrid and I’m super upset about it. At this point I’m wondering why that was necessary, but who knows, maybe the last book with enlighten me and I’ll see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I seriously doubt it. That’s why I gave it 3 1/2 stars rounded down. I hope the last one is amazing!!!

I do still like most of it.. most. I also still recommend this series, but watch out for the ending. It’s emotionally trying and harsh in my opinion. Now excuse me while I download the next and last book of the series. Which, if you do decide to pick this series up, have them all ready to binge. Because those cliffhangers are intense!!!. The narrator, Ralph Lister has done a great job!!

No, he would still have become the Lord of the Shadows- true he hated Tiny but the monster in him would carry on growing until there was nothing left of Darren as we knew Darren, all this was explained in Sons of destiny, the evil that was in Darren would only have grown and matured, he would have become worse than Steve. He might not have liked it but he couldn’t help it. Neither could Steve, but Steve embrassed the evil and let it consume him from the start, Darren tried to be good, the fact that at some point the monster in him was going to take over any good intention he ever had is irrelevent. And clearly this guy hasn’t read Sons of destiny or hasn’t understood a word of it.

.
اوایل این جلد یه ذره خسته‌کننده بود به نظرم، ولی اواخرش خوب شد. ولی کلا پلات‌توییست‌هاش خیلی قابل حدسن.
دوست داشتم درمورد آقای تال بیش‌تر بخونم، واقعا شخصیت جالبی داشت و یه جورایی الکی مرد؟ اینکه پسر دیسموند تینی بود رو حدس نزده بودم. جالب بود.
و واقعا فکر نمی‌کردم استیو شانکوس رو‌ بکشه. پسر ماری قشنگم ):
دو تا از شخصیت‌های واقعا دوست‌داشتنی مجموعه توی این جلد مردن ولی فقط در حد یه لحظه شکه شدن ناراحت شدم از مرگشون. دوست داشتم شخصیت‌پردازی بهتری می‌داشتن که بیش‌تر ناراحت می‌شدم.

Wasn't expecting that at all is all I can say