The Saga Of Darren Shan - Vampire Rites Trilogy

This is a 3-in-1 book Part 4,5 and 6 of The Darren Shan Saga. I have posted Part 1-3, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11 and Part 12 earlier on because I could not get my hand on the full set of the books.

Book 4 : Vampire Mountain

Mr Crepsley decided that they should journey to The Vampire Mountain coz it's time to present Darren to The Council Of Vampire Generals. They meet once every twelve years. If they missed this round, it would be a long wait for the next meeting.

Mr Tiny insisted that they bring along two of his Little People. This infuriate Mr Crespsley but he was forced to accede.

It was a very harsh journey during which they found a Vampeneze's buried body and in one event one of the Little People was killed and another broken the century old golden rules of never to speak. His name is Harkat Mulds. He also brought terrible news from Mr Tiny to the Vampire Princes

They managed to reach Vampire Mountain safety. Darren was welcomed by the people there. Among which consist of Mr Crepsley's old mentor Seba, Kurda (a future Vampire Prince) and Arra (Mr Crespley's ex-mate).start learning a lot of things, one of which Mr Crepsley was not supposed to "blood" him and make him into a Vampire Assistant. Mr Crepsley was to be punished and the punishment is DEATH.

Noble Darren could not let Mr Crepsley be killed and had agreed to be subjected to five Vampire Trials without know fully what it meant. It was too late when he was informed that he had to perform the 5 Five with success or die trying.

Comments : Love the plot. It's like "honeymoon year" before the nasty things comes up. The conditions and traditions of the vampires was finely outlined.

Book 5 : Trials Of Death

Darren had unknowingly agreed to perform 5 trials in order to save Mr Crepsley and himself. To show to the Council that he is worthy to be blooded.

His friends were anxious for him to come out alive from the trials. Each evening, Darren would be allowed to draw a number from the bag. The number is the code for the task/trial which he had to go through the next day. He have 24hrs to prepare for the task and his friends taught him as much as they can .

He got thru the first three trials. There were some narrow escapes but he survived. On the fourth trial, he was nearly killed but he was rescued by Harkat Mulds. There are cries for his life as nobody is to interrupt the trial. Many calls for Darren to be executed since he did not complete the trial. It was considered that he failed.

The Vampire Princes adjourn to discuss the matter. Almost everyone knew the answer to the question already. Darren will be condemned to death.

Kurda is of the "modern" thinking Vampire and does not think it's fair that Darren be condemn to death. Hence he discussed with Darren to runaway from the Vampire Mountain.

Darren agreed to the plans. Together they used Kurda's map to journey out of the mountain. But their plans were discovered by Vanez, another of Darren's friend. He went to intercept them  for there are no escaping from the wrath of the Vampire Princes.

They bumped into a cave full of Vampeneze. Very surprising why would there be so many Vampaneze? Are they planning to attack? Is there a traitor among the Vampires?

The end result was bad. Darren was plunged into a river with strong current.

Comment: The part about the trials was rather gross/scary. Very fast paced book as there is no time to rest. Very amazed at how Darren's friends managed to find loopholes in the ancient law to help Darren.

Book 6 : The Vampire Prince

Darren nearly died when he was wash out of the mountain by the river. He was "rescued" by Rudi. A wolf cub which he befriended on his way up the mountain.

Rudi brought Darren to the she-wolf who nursed him back to health.

After a few days, Darren felt much better but deep down in his heart there is another matter to be dealt with. He have to inform the Council that there is a band of Vampeneze in the mountain and is preparing to launch an attack.

Darren managed to find his way back to the mountain with the help of an old she wolf. As he is a fugitive, he dare not show himself to others Vampires. He can only trust very few people. He can't get to Mr Crepsley but he managed to contact Seba. Seba listen to his story. At first, Darren was fear that Seba might not believe his story especially about traitors among Vampire. But Seba managed to see through Darren and believe him

They went to the Vampire Prince just when Kurda is to be "crown" as  a Prince.

Many were outraged by Darren's story and did not believe him. That is till Seba spoke and also Kurda's admission.

They then prepare for "Battle" with the Vampeneze. Both side have heavy loss but in the end the Vampires triumph. The triumph was temporary as it opens up the road for Mr Tiny's prediction to come true.

Meantime, the Vampire were grateful for Darren's early warnings. However, the fact stands that Darren failed the fourth trial and the laws says that he is to be put to death. The Vampire Princes discussed the matter thoroughly. There is no way out for Darren. Everyone except the Princes who failed the trail have to die no matter how great his service have been to the Vampires.

There is only one way out for Darren. However, there is no precedent on this. Would this move gain support of all the other Vampires?

Comments : There seems to be a lot of mystery. And it thickens by the pages. Just when I feel that I got the hang of the story, the story changed dramatically. But at least now I know what Part 10 and Part 12 was talking about. It is related to this book