The Saga Of Darren Shan
Created | Updated Mar 24, 2005
The saga of Darren Shan is a series of twelve books by the author Darren O'Shaughnessy. The story is about the main character Darren Shan. To cut a long story short, he steals a vampire's spider, gets his best friend Steve Leonard bitten and the Vampire (Larten Crepsley) will only cure Steve if Darren becomes his assistant. So Darren becomes a half-vampire, fakes his own death and leaves his family forever. Before leaving Steve swears he'll kill Darren and Crepsley for calling him evil and taking away Steves 'rightfull' place as a vampire.He learns all about the vampires on his journeys. They don't fear holy water, garlic, crosses, running water or churches. They do drink human blood, but they dont kill, they just a take a little from each human. They can heal wounds with their spit, they can breath out a knock out gas, they are supper strong and have super sensitive senses, they can run at a speed so fast that they cant be seen, called fliting, and they age 1 yr for every 10 that passes. Sunlight will kill a Vampire, but they wont just turn to dust at the first ray. It would take 2hrs to kill one. They can be killed by far more than a stake through the heart. Bullets, fire, drowining, diseases, crushing, suffocation and old age will all kill Vampires. But they never simply turn to dust. As a half-vampire Darren has less strength, speed, sense etc. He can walk in daylight. He cant flit, heal wounds with spit or produce knock out gas. ^o many events happen to list them all so i will list the basic outline of the story. He learns in book 3 (tunnels of blood) about Vampanese. 600yrs ago they broke away from the Vampires because they believed in draining humans dry, killing every time. They have red hair, lips, nails, and eyes and they have purple skin. They arent evil, they never lie and they are noble and fair, but they are the Vampire main rival. They have basicly the same power as Vampires. Eventually he goes to Vampire mountain. On the way he gets a message that 'The night of the Vampanese lord is coming'and the other Vampires explain that an all powerful time meddling agent of chaos, Mr.Desmond Tiny (or des tiny, destiny!) predicted that a Vampanese lord would rise and lead the Vampanese into a victorious war over the vampires. At Vampire mountain, the home of the Vampires Darren gets judged. He is sentenced to face the trials of death, 5 deadly tests, if he fails he will be killed. He fails and escapes. He somehow unveals a Vampanese plot to take over Vampire mountain. The Vampires, the Vampire generals (supirior in rank to normal Vampires) and the Vampire princes (four Vampires who rules all others, including Paris Skyle the oldest Vampire living at over 800yrs!) manage to fight of the Vampanese and discover that Kurda Smalt, a Vampire who was going to be a prince betrayed them, he was trying to force the Vampire to make peace with the Vampanese to avoid the war. Then come the time for Darren to be executed for failing the trials. The Vampires realise that the only way to by pass the law is to make him a Prince! He stays in Vampire mountain for 7 years, learnig to fight and the ways of the Vampires, aand managing the troops all over the world in the war of the scars (the name of the war with the vampanese). Eventually Mr Tiny arives and says that three hunters, Darren, his mentor Larten Crepsley and a third hunter must have four chances to kill the Vampanese lord, if the kill him the war will be their, if not the Vampanese will win. If anyone but the hunters kills the lord of the Vampanese then the Vampires will lose. And if anyone but the Lord kills the hunters then the Vampanese will lose. They set off from Vampire mountain, meeting Vancha March along the way, the one prince who Darren hasn't met. They use up one of their chances when Vancha brother, a Vampanese Gannen Harst is protecting the Vampanese lord, he is so shocked that he dosent strike and Gannen and the lord get away. They then go on to a city where ther are reporting of blood drained corpses. There they find Debbie, Darren ex-girlfriend and Steve Leonard, who is now a Vampanese hunter and dosent want to kill Darren or Crepsley. Eventually they doscover that Steve is a half-vampanese and was plotting with the Vampanes lord all along. Later Mr Crepsley kills who he thinks is the Vampanese lord and sacrifices himself, Darren is even more destraught when he discovers that STEVE is the Lord of The Vampanese. Darren also finds out fomr Lady Evanna, the daughter of Mr Tiny that if Darren kills Steve then darren will become the Lord of the Shadows, an allpowerful super tyrant and will kill evrything and visa versa in Steve kills Darren. Eventually the Cirque du freak, where Darren first met Crepsley and where Darren often goes through out the books is under attack and the magical performers, plus Debbie his girlfriend are held captive by Steve. Then Darren and Vancha, the remaining hunters, plus Harkat a Stunted grey little person who has been darrens faithful friend since the beginning (i should have mentioned him) atack the footy stadium where the cirque is being held, they free the performers who help them in the fight. Eventually Steve anf Ganned Hrst and Darren and vancha have the final face off far from everybody else. Darren fataly stabs Steve and Mr Tiny emerges admitting that he is Darren and Steves father, that he craeted the Vampanese and gave the vampire their powers, that he created the whole thing just because he thought the earth was getting too peaceful, and now that steve was dying, Darren would become the lord of the Sahdows and create a wolrd of twisted chaos. Desparate to stop this Darren lets Steve kill him. They both die, and Mr Tiny's sinister future is ruined. Darren's soul goes to the lake of souls, were all the bad or uncertain people go. He stays tormented there for thousands of years, eventualy his soul his fished out by Lady Evanna, Mr Tiny's daughter, his half-sister. She says that the two Vamp' races are discussing peace. Mr Tiny only let her get him out if she had a child with a Vampire or Vampanese (all Vampire and Vamapese are infertile and cant have kids, thats why hardly any women become them). Evanna is the only being capable of carrying a Vamp' child. Mr Tiny reasoned that if the child mixed with Evannas magical blood, it would have powers greater that any other Vamp' creature and which ever side the child was on, would be tempted to use it to destroy the other clan, and the clan who didnt have the child would always be wary of the other, peace would never happen. Darren is angry but Evamma tells him that she is haveing twins, one kid with Vancha a vampire, and one with Gannen harst, vanchas brother, a vampanese. Her blood and the Vampanese and Vampire blood have mixed creating a new cross breed. The new half and half kids will bring the clans closer together than ever. Mr Tiny is furious with Darren but because Evanna had a Vamp' child he lets Darren go back in time and stop himself ever stealing the spider and doing the killing and bloodshed that he did as a half-vampire. This will not stop the events happening, another kid will replace Darren as destiny cannot be changed only the people in it. Another child will steal the spider, become a half vampire and lead out Darrens life. This way Darren will grow up normaly and his soul will go to paradise (the Vampire heaven). And so will the soul of the kid who replaces him because it wasn't his fault, it was fate. He also gives his diaries of everything that happens since the beginnig to Mr Tall, Mr Tiny's sonf, the leader of the cirque du freak, so that he can give them to the adut un vampire darren shan, who can prehaps publish them and let the vampire and vampanese know the truth before the war happens.
(apologies if this is a bit long, it's a twelve book story!)
(apologies if this is a bit long, it's a twelve book story!)
