Birth of a Killer (The Saga of Larten Crepsley, #1)

by Darren Shan

Following the massive success of the Demonata series, Darren Shan is back where it all started - telling the life story of the vampire Larten Crepsley. Spanning centuries and continents, taking in sea voyages, murder, war and love, this is the epic, bloodsoaked tale of a vampire who started out a nobody... and ended up changing the world forever.

When Larten escapes the terrible workhouse in which he toils, he doesn't know that he is running from an early death... into another kind of transformation. After meeting the mysterious vampire Seba Nile while sheltering for the night in a crypt, Larten finds himself drawn into the shadowy world of the vampire Clan. As he travels and learns, Larten finds himself enjoying the adventure he has always dreamed of, seeing a world beyond any he suspected in his poverty-stricken youth.

But Larten begins to discover something else, too. Much like death, becoming a vampire is something you can't come back from...

• ISBN10: 031607862X
• ISBN13: 9780316078627
• Publish Date: 5 September 2011 (first published 30 September 2010)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 288
• Language: English

Reviews

[celinenyx]

A prequel series to his Cirque du Freak books, The Sage of Larten Crepsley follows the life of vampire Larten, who will play such an important part in the later books featuring young Darren. Set three hundred years ago, we meet Larten as a human. We see the world through his eyes, and learn how he has become the person he is.

The thing that stands out first is the writing style in Birth of a Killer. It is so different from how Mr Shan has written his Demonata series, which I've read before this one. The language in Birth of a Killer is slightly more formal, richer, more detailed. Especially the more formal part worked really well with the historical feel. It was nice to see that he has such a diversity of writing.

Another thing that is remarkable in comparison with his other work is how little action there is in this book. Usually you can count on some kind of big fights at least three times throughout his books, but it felt like Birth of a Killer was way more mellow than his other books.

Even though there might not be that much action, this book can still classify as horror. Not because there are demons or vampires in it, but because it describes the horrors of what some human beings can do to each other. You know, the true evil in the world. There was quite some heavy stuff going on in the first part of the book, so I was glad there were also some lighter parts to give some relief.

Birth of a Killer is a very quick read, even though it doesn't rely on action to keep it moving. You should see it more like some kind of diary of Larten's childhood and the beginning of his vampire life. Not everything is told; just some key elements that have formed the way he is.

For lovers of the Cirque du Freak series, I would definitely recommend Birth of a Killer. Larten is one of the most interesting characters in the series, and he deserves some books of his own. If you haven't read any Darren Shan yet, I wouldn't recommend this book to start with. Especially the mechanics of the vampire society will probably go completely past you if you aren't familiar with the world.

Birth of a Killer is different, but not a bad different.

[Amber]

This is the first book in the new four book saga by Darren Shan. It’s the highly anticipated prequel to his previous saga - The Saga of Darren Shan - and it’s all about a certain Larten Crepsley! Words cannot describe how excited I was to read this book, as I loved Shan’s previous saga, as well as the Demonata series, and Mr Crepsley is one of my favourite fictional characters of all time!

The book is split into four parts, which all cover different sections of Larten’s life as a vampire assistant, and then as a vampire. This creates a fast moving plot with a lot of action thrown in. That’s not to say that the book is just for teenage lads who want to see some killing, oh no. It’s quite the opposite. There’s some pretty sentimental and emotional stuff in there too, and I was in tears at one point.

For anyone who’s read The Saga of Darren Shan (TSDS), you will know Larten Crepsley, but this book lets you in on his background and his past. You find out why he has bright orange hair, and you begin to understand why he was the way he was in TSDS. I loved Larten in this book, he was brave and funny, and at the same time very flawed as a person and he certainly had his demons.

The other characters were simply amazing. Every single one of them was beautifully developed and described. I loved meeting Seba Nile - Larten’s mentor - again, and I loved visiting Vampire Mountain and seeing all of those familiar names. There were also many connections to events and people in TSDS thrown in, even if we didn’t meet/see them first hand. Which was simply AWESOME! I’m particularly excited to see what happens with Wester - you’ll know who I mean when you read the book. He’s a great character.

Overall, I highly recommend this book but you should read TSDS first, as I did, so you get a feel for his writing, and also so you can make all of the connections that I did!