Trials of Death

Last updated
Trials of Death
TrialsofDeath.jpg
First edition
Author Darren O'Shaughnessy
LanguageEnglish
Series The Saga of Darren Shan
Genre Young adult, Horror novel
Publisher Collins
Publication date
1 October 2001 (UK)
30 April 2003 (US)
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (Paperback)
Pages166
ISBN 0-00-711440-0
Preceded by Vampire Mountain  
Followed by The Vampire Prince  

Trials of Death is the fifth book in The Saga of Darren Shan by Darren Shan. [1] [2] [3] It is part of the Vampire Rites Trilogy, consisting of books four through six in the 12-book saga. It was first published by Collins in the United Kingdom in 2001, and in the United States in 2003.

Contents

Plot

Darren Shan is about to take the Trials of Initiation, a series of tests that vampires were forced to take part in during years gone by, to prove himself to the Princes. Currently, it is only used for vampires who want to become a general, or for those who wish to demonstrate their strength. However, Darren Shan is required to endure the trials to earn the respect of the entire vampire race for his mentor Mr. Crepsley's 'impulsive' decision to turn him. Darren is mostly trained by the games master of the Mountain, Vanez Blaze.

For the first trial, he must escape from a maze that is filling with water whilst dragging a stone weighing half of his body weight. The second trial Darren must complete is The Path of Needles, a barefoot journey through one of the mountains many caverns littered with stalagmites and stalactites, all of which are razor sharp and could fall at any second.

Luck is on Darren's side as the Festival of the Undead takes place right after his second trial. During this three-day period no official business can take place meaning he gets a five-day rest before his next trial. Suffering from a lot of cuts, notably on his hands and back, he finds it hard to enjoy the festival. A veteran vampire and Larten Crepsley's mentor, Seba Nile, asks to meet with him later as he has a cure for his discomfort. They go to a cavern deep inside the mountain which is covered in spider webs and Darren soon realizes that it is full of hundreds of thousands of spiders. Seba breaks up the cobwebs and applies them to Darren's cuts which he says helped immediately.

After the Festival of the Undead, Darren must choose his third trial which is The Hall of Flames, a metal room with various jets that emit flames periodically. Darren must remain in the room for approximately fifteen minutes, trying not to be 'toasted' by the scorching hot flames. This is revealed by many to be one of the hardest trials he could have picked, and he barely survives it.

The fourth trial is The Blooded Boars, a trial which is generally considered quite easy for full vampires. As Darren is only a half vampire and still nursing bad wounds from the previous trial, he struggles. The aim is to kill two wild boars which have been injected with vampire blood making them more aggressive than usual. Darren kills the first boar but it lands on top of him, and his lack of strength means he is unable to move the boar as the second closes in. It charges at him, certain to kill him when Harkat Mulds, the Little Person who accompanies Darren in his journey to the Mountain steps in and kills the boar. This causes an uproar as failure to complete the trials leads to death. Mr. Crepsley and Kurda, a soon to be Vampire Prince, argue that Harkat is not a vampire and cannot be expected to behave by their rules, and that Darren would've died if he had not been interrupted by Harkat. However, it is decided for Darren to be executed for not completing the Trials.

Kurda finds Darren in his room facing imminent death and encourages him to escape the mountain. Regretfully Darren follows Kurda as they make for one of the mountains many exits. Soon they are tracked down by Gavner Purl who tries to convince them to go back but eventually end up following them. They come across a cavern full of the Vampaneze. Kurda tells Darren to go on while he and Gavner would stay and fight the Vampaneze. Darren heads off but decides to come back and fight. He comes back and witnesses Kurda stabbing Gavner in the stomach and it is revealed he is an ally of the Vampaneze. Darren runs and ends up in the Hall of Final Voyage, where dead vampires were tossed into the strong current and washed out of the mountain. He realizes he is on the wrong side of the stream and attempts to jump over it. He falls short and manages to grab on to a rock as Kurda and the Vampaneze enter the cave. Kurda offers his hand to help pull him back to safety but Darren brands him a traitor and pushes himself out into the current. He is swept out of sight into the darkness beyond.

Reception

MuggleNet's senior reviewer praised Trials of Death and gave it four lightning bolts. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vampire literature</span> Speculative literary genre

Vampire literature covers the spectrum of literary work concerned principally with the subject of vampires. The literary vampire first appeared in 18th-century poetry, before becoming one of the stock figures of gothic fiction with the publication of Polidori's The Vampyre (1819), which was inspired by the life and legend of Lord Byron. Later influential works include the penny dreadful Varney the Vampire (1847); Sheridan Le Fanu's tale of a lesbian vampire, Carmilla (1872), and the most well known: Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897). Some authors created a more "sympathetic vampire", with Varney being the first, and more recent examples such as Moto Hagio's series The Poe Clan (1972–1976) and Anne Rice's novel Interview with the Vampire (1976) proving influential.

Professor Abraham Van Helsing is a fictional character from the 1897 gothic horror novel Dracula written by Bram Stoker. Van Helsing is a Dutch polymath doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his name: "MD, D.Ph., D.Litt., etc.", indicating a wealth of experience, education and expertise. He is a doctor, professor, lawyer, philosopher, scientist, and metaphysician. The character is best known through many adaptations of the story as a vampire slayer, monster hunter and the arch-nemesis of Count Dracula, and the prototypical and the archetypal parapsychologist in subsequent works of paranormal fiction. Some later works tell new stories about Van Helsing, while others, such as Dracula (2020) and I Woke Up a Vampire (2023) have characters that are his descendants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darren O'Shaughnessy</span> Irish novelist

Darren O'Shaughnessy is an Irish writer and novelist. He is best known for his young adult fiction series The Saga of Darren Shan, The Demonata, and Zom-B, published under the pseudonym Darren Shan. The former was adapted into a manga series from 2006 to 2009 as well as a live-action film in 2009, with a prequel series, The Saga of Larten Crepsley, being released from 2010 to 2012.

<i>The Saga of Darren Shan</i> Series of books by Darren Shan

The Saga of Darren Shan is a young adult 12-part book series written by Darren O'Shaughnessy about the struggle of Darren Shan, a boy who has become involved in the world of vampires. As of October 2008, the book has been published in 33 countries around the world, in 30 different languages. A film based on the first three books in the series was released in theatres on 23 October 2009. Blackstone Audio has also released CD recordings of all 12 books in the series, read by Ralph Lïster.

<i>Lord Loss</i>

Lord Loss is the first novel in the Demonata series written by best-selling teenage horror author Darren Shan. It was originally published in the UK on 6 June 2005. Soon after, it appeared in Japan and America, where Shan's previous series, The Saga of Darren Shan, had sold millions. The novel is set in Ireland and is told in present tense first person through Grubbs Grady, a child whose family are all chess players.

<i>Tunnels of Blood</i> Novel by Darren Shan

Tunnels of Blood is the third novel of twelve in The Saga of Darren Shan by Darren Shan. In this book, the history of the vampires is explained to a small bit, and introduces the clan of the Vampaneze, which will become one of the major focuses of the story. It is also the final book of the Vampire Blood trilogy and where Darren's loyalty and trust in Mr. Crepsley is put to the test.

<i>Allies of the Night</i>

Allies of the Night is the eighth book of The Saga of Darren Shan by Darren Shan. It is part of the Vampire War trilogy, which comprises three books: Hunters of the Dusk, Allies of the Night and Killers of the Dawn. Allies of the Night was first published in Great Britain by HarperCollins in 2002. It was then published in the Vampire War Trilogy in 2005.

<i>Vampire Blood</i>

Vampire Blood is the first trilogy in The Saga of Darren Shan by the author Darren Shan. It contains the books Cirque du Freak, The Vampire's Assistant and Tunnels of Blood. These starting books explore how Darren must adapt to his new life, and what that entails. The first book contains the reasons why he became a half-vampire and what he had to give up in order to save his ex-best friend, as well as introducing the character. The second and third go into more detail about how he has to change and what he will never be able to do. The main theme for the whole of the trilogy is insecurity. Darren has just been changed into something hardly anyone would accept, and this, combined with the fact that he is just a child, leads into a darker and more unusual way to grow up.

Vampire Rites is the second trilogy in The Saga of Darren Shan by author Darren Shan. It contains the books Vampire Mountain, Trials of Death and The Vampire Prince. This trilogy involves more of the various vampire characters, and their beliefs and customs. This trilogy's main theme is religion, compared to the previous one, it brings a whole new take on the vampire way of life and shows the kinder, better side of the vampires involved. These books show a more relaxed character of Darren Shan towards the more gruesome aspects of vampire life.

Vampire War is the third trilogy in The Saga of Darren Shan by Darren Shan. It contains the novels Hunters of the Dusk, Allies of the Night and Killers of the Dawn. This trilogy continues the war between vampires and vampaneze. Mr Tiny forms a group of three "hunters" - Darren Shan, Mr Crepsley and new character Vancha March, a Vampire Prince who lives in the wild and follows the old vampire traditions, and has unusually pink skin from staying out in the sun too long. Also, Lady Evanna, who may or may not be a witch, comes along with them. She tells Darren that either he or the Vampaneze Lord will be the Lord of Shadows. But instead of that being on his mind: he will only have four opportunities to kill the Vampaneze Lord, or else the vampires will be destroyed. But there is a gruesome twist involving the Vampaneze Lord and Darren's childhood friend, Steve "Leopard" Leonard, who is the dreaded Vampaneze Lord himself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torc Mountain</span> Mountain in Killarney, Ireland

Torc Mountain, at 535 metres (1,755 ft), is the 329th–highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin list. It is a popular mountain for hill walkers as it has a stone or boarded path from its base at Torc Waterfall to its summit, which has views of the Lakes of Killarney. Torc Mountain is part of the Mangerton Mountain Group range in County Kerry, Ireland.

<i>Dracula II: Ascension</i> 2003 vampire film by Patrick Lussier

Dracula II: Ascension is a 2003 direct-to-video American-Romanian vampire film, directed by Patrick Lussier. It stars Jason Scott Lee, Stephen Billington and Diane Neal. Filmed entirely in Romania by Castel Film Studios, the film is the sequel to Dracula 2000. It was released direct-to-video on June 7, 2003.

Undead is a paranormal romance book series that is written by MaryJanice Davidson and published through Berkley Books. The series was first launched in 2004 with the publication of Undead and Unwed, and as of 2016 there are fifteen books in the series, and several accompanying short stories. Davidson attributes the popularity of the series to the absurdism, tone, and believability of the characters. The series was a reaction to what Davidson saw as cliches and unrealistic characters in paranormal romance novels.

<i>Cirque du Freak: The Vampires Assistant</i> 2009 American film

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant is a 2009 American fantasy film directed by Paul Weitz and co-screenplay adapted with Brian Helgeland, loosely based on the Vampire Blood trilogy of the book series The Saga of Darren Shan by author Darren Shan. The first three books in the 12-part series—Cirque du Freak, The Vampire’s Assistant, and Tunnels of Blood—inspired the film. The film received mixed reviews and was a commercial failure.

<i>Cirque du Freak</i> (manga) Japanese manga series

Cirque du Freak, known as The Saga of Darren Shan in Japan, is a Japanese manga series illustrated by Takahiro Arai and based on the book series The Saga of Darren Shan by author Darren Shan. The series was published in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday from August 2006 to February 2009, with its chapters compiled in twelve tankōbon volumes.

<i>Dracula the Un-dead</i> 2009 novel by Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt

Dracula the Un-dead is a 2009 sequel to Bram Stoker's classic 1897 novel Dracula. The book was written by Bram Stoker's great-grandnephew Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt. Previously, Holt had been a direct-to-DVD horror screenwriter, and Stoker a track and field coach.

"You're Undead to Me" is the fifth episode of the first season of The CW television series, The Vampire Diaries and the fifth episode of the series overall. It originally aired on October 8, 2009. The episode was written by Sean Reycraft and Gabrielle Stanton and directed by Kevin Bray.

References

  1. "Trials of Death (review)". Horn Book Guide (Book Verdict). Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  2. "Trials of Death (review)". School Library Journal (Book Verdict). Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  3. "Trials of Death (review)". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  4. "Review: Trials of Death by Darren Shan". MuggleNet. Retrieved 2 August 2014.