Young Writers Society

A Review on Darren Shan’s Lord Loss


An Insane Genius

Darren Shan – real name, Darren O'Shaughnessy – is the author of the best selling book series ‘The Saga of Darren Shan’ (referred to as the series of ‘Cirque du Freak’ by those odd accented Americans) and the two less known novels Ayuamarca and Hell’s Horizon.

He is said to be the master of children’s horror (ignoring the fact that his first two books, were, in fact, not for children) – but personally… I disagree. Or I did… Or… something like that…

At any rate, I didn’t find The Saga of Darren Shan to be all that scary. Nor was it really all that brilliant. Yes, it was an amusing read, but it was not the brilliant scheme many of his fans would make it out to be.

But this review isn’t about the Saga. Oh no – this is about his latest novel – Lord Loss.

And this is where he becomes the ‘Insane Genius’ of the above subtitle.


The Beginning

I have a personal hatred for spoilers, so in case you haven’t yet read (or finished) the book you can still read this with no fear of me giving away any plot points.

Grubitsh Grady (yes, that is the lead character’s real name) – otherwise known as Grubbs - is a teenager with a sick sense of humour. As in, sicker than your average teenager (yes… you can gasp in horror now).

The book starts off with Grubbs being yelled at by his mother for smoking. But… she let’s something loose in her anger. Something, at that point in time, was going on... Something upsetting for the family…

What could it be? Grubbs will be finding out soon. And when he does, he’ll wish he hadn’t. His entire world will fall apart.

Demons are real. Magic is real. Forget reality – this book will drag you into its world (thankfully, not literally) and you won’t want to leave it.


Not for Children?

There have been a number of claims that Lord Loss shouldn’t be read by anyone under the age of twelve. And you know what? I disagree.
Not because it isn’t scary.
Not because it isn’t violent.
Not because it won’t give them nightmares.

No – I think it should be read by those under the age of twelve because it’s scary, because it’s violent and most defiantly because it will give them nightmares.

Children (in my experience) love those things. They pursue fear and violence in the hopes of getting them before their parents stop them.

And after all – this is a horror book. It’s meant to scare you. It wouldn’t be a horror book otherwise… idiot…


Demons Look Funny

If you’ve read the Saga, then the first thing you’ll probably notice with Lord Loss, is that the writing style has changed. And - in my opinion – for the better.

Now written in the present tense, with the author favouring choppy sentences, the book gives a real feeling that Grubbs is simply telling the story as it happens. We feel his fears and his pains all the much better for it.

The demons in Lord Loss are described in beautiful detail – it’s obvious that Shan wants us to have a strong mental image of what they look like. And, more or less, it works well.
It’s clear that Shan put some thought into what his demons look like – they are not your generic, almost comical demons from other books. They have a real feeling of darkness and danger about them.

Lord Loss himself is described to us in beautiful and grotesque detail – right now, I can picture him in my mind’s eye. This is the next best thing to actually seeing a picture of him. Indeed, the book is almost visual.


Plotting Our Way Forwards

The plot for Lord Loss could be compared to a roller coaster designed by a deranged five-year-old – it grips you right where you don’t want to be gripped, and will drag you where the hell it likes.
Right when you think the story couldn’t get any more surreal something new is thrown at you.
Right when you think you’ve seen where the story is going it suddenly changes direction.

And this is where you are really going to love Lord Loss – the story line will be what you really remember from this story. Right from the gruesome beginning, through the disturbing middle and out into the action packed ending – you’ll just want to read the next page. And the next. And the next.

And when the pages eventually run out, you’ll be upset.


Rating

I’m going to go ahead and give Lord Loss a very nice 9/10 marks.

I’m expecting good things from the rest of this series Darren Shan.
Don’t disappoint me.

Me and my friend read this book at it rawks! To be honest I really think his stories are getting better each time.

I've read the first four books, and I enjoyed them.

Hmmm....*scratches chin thoughtfully*

Insane genious, eh? Well when I finish the Cirque du Freak (referred to as the series of ‘The Saga of Darren Shan’ by those odd accented English ), I'll probably check Lord out, since my favorate childhood Author bit the dust - R.L. Stine, in my opinion. I need to find someone else to keep me busy.

But I don't think the Cirque was poorly wrtten. It's amusing and unique: A new take on Vamps.

Again, will probably look at LS afterwards. Thanks!

Eh...

So far, I'm not too terribly impressed. The fragmented sentences for what it seems for every main character's point of view is redundant, and getting old fast.

Two, for every book, the plot takes a dreadfully long time to accelerate and become interesting. In other words, slow as hell.

Third, the dialogue frankly is quite flat and forced in my opinion. It's like the author has them babbling for the sake of babbling. The speech is also is boring, and no character seems to have their own unique voice. This is especially true in Bec.

I have many more complaints but perhaps I set my sights too high for this series only to be smashed down by disappointment. So far, I'm not sold, and in the fourth book in, I'm growing wearing of poor writing skills, when the Saga was written so well.

I love this whole series and I'm wating to read the fourth at the minute, but I have to say that as his books progress, he seems to lose control of his imagination somewhat and just lets it run wild.

I know it's a fantasy book and that is sorta what you should do, but there are still limits to what you should include and what are the boundaries. He has less and less as the books progress, and even though I enjoyed reading them thoroughly, I felt desperate to find a scrap of reality.

A recoomended read, none the less.