Slawter by Darren Shan4 out of 5 stars
This is the 3rd book of the Demonata series. May contain spoilers for previous books in this series.
My literature teacher said to class once: a writer that writes countless books, writes the same story over and over again. And I think there is a core of truth in this.
Darren Shan writes an insane amount of books in such a short time period. He publishes two books every single year. And what most people forget is that he actually is still fairly young; according to his Goodreads page he isn't even forty yet. By the time he's too old to write he will have written enough for the library to dedicate a whole cabinet just to fit in his books.
That makes you wonder though. Are all these books still unique? Or is it the same story told over and over again, only slightly different every time?
I don't know what the future may hold for Darren, but I do know that he still has enough creativity to keep us entertained and on the edge of our chairs. Slawter is slightly different from the previous parts in this series regarding the pacing. Darren's other books contain a lot of fighting off horrible demons and keeping them from ripping you apart. There is a lot of action in those books and they're lighter on the plot side. Slawter on the contrary doesn't have that much action going on. Looking back on the book, there is only really one big fight at the end of the book. Instead of a constant stream of blood and intestines, we now have a book that is more subtle, with more intrigue and plot twists. I liked to see this other side of Darren's writing in the Demonata series.
As the books in this series don't all follow the same persons, you need some kind of connecting factor to keep this series together. I love the way the author has managed to do this so skilfully subtle. He makes sure his readers see and recognise details from the other books, but keeps his characters in the dark, like they should be. They never know things they shouldn't and I really appreciate he took an effort to stay true of his storyline, and not to take the easy way out.
It was great to see Grubbs from Lord Loss (see below) back. He is scared, yet responsible. I like that he is so human, yet still a hero. While he is noble and saving everyone's ass, he would rather run away. He doesn't seek out the danger, he tries to avoid it. But when time comes he has the guts to fight back.
I'm really enjoying this series. This book was like seeing old friends. I'm curious to see where Darren Shan is taking us with these books. Will the terrifying Lord Loss ever be defeated?
Blurb
Lights. Camera. Slawter! Grubbs Grady and his half-brother Bill-E are thrilled to join their uncle Dervish as onset consultants for the newest movie by cult horror producer David A Haym. Shot in a deserted town renamed Slawter, the demon-themed movie is to be Haym's masterpiece. But as strange incidents disrupt the set, Grubbs begins to wonder whether more than filming is afoot.Other reviews you might be interested in
2 comments:
Great review. I like action packed plots. Might need to give this series a try :)
@ Nic; If you're not shy of some blood and other horror elements, I would definitely recommend this series (:
Post a Comment
I love to hear from you!
Make sure to come back as I try to answer all of the comments (: