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Adoxy

Cirque Du Freak

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Anybody read these books? At the moment I'm reading a book(from Cirque Du Freak) called "The Vampires Assistant(and other tales from Cirque Du freak)"

 

So it includes: A Living Nightmare, The Vampires Assistant, and Tunnel. He goes to a freak show(Cirque Du Freak) and he turns into a half-vampire(to save his friend, who was dying) and his friend hates him because he wanted to be a vampire, but doesn't realize he saved his life

Lots more to that, but don't wanna spoil it. So any of you guys read, or like the book? There's also a movie about it.

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Cirque Du Freak is one of my favorites series, along with The Demonata by the same author.

 

I'm currently on the 12th book of my second read of the series. Reading it again because I somehow got bored and stopped towards the end of 10 my first time through.

The books are great. The movie sucked though.

 

I think my favorite in the series is Trials of Death. Dunno why.

Edited by Kei To Everything

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I've been thinking about to read it, but I haven't found it in the libraries yet... /: And I don't have enough money to buy any of the books until after Christmas. ):

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Read it, it's okay. A little basic fer me. /feels snobbish

Yeah, it is a bit basic.. I don't like how they didn't know such simple words(nor the way they acted) at that age either..

 

But it's still a good book overall

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I read somewhere around the first 3 or 4 because I was bored and had nothing else to read. I really didn't like their take on vampires AT ALL. I respect an author's creative control and all that, but I've never been okay with the idea of a Half Vampire. And that thing where they exchange blood through their fingertips? I hated it.

Now, as I'm writing this, I feel a little hypocritical, but not enough to change my initial reaction to the books. I can think of several books, just off the top of my head, that use the concept of a vampire that hasn't been turned yet. Books that I really enjoyed even. Jim Butcher uses this to explain away Susan. She has the blood lust, but has to fight against her own nature because she doesn't want to turn into a monster. I enjoyed Twilight, which takes all the rules of vamprism and throws them straight out the window. But my initial reaction to Cirque Du Freak was annoyance mixed with disgust and I don't think anything will change that.

I think part of the problem is also the target audience. Cirque Du Freak is written for, and at a reading level of, somewhere around 5th grade. It was not well written and could not be terribly complicated due to its target audience. I was too old for the books when I read them and that, combined with the way that they presented vampires, turned me off from the series. I think things would have been different if I'd been age appropriate for the books.

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I read somewhere around the first 3 or 4 because I was bored and had nothing else to read. I really didn't like their take on vampires AT ALL. I respect an author's creative control and all that, but I've never been okay with the idea of a Half Vampire. And that thing where they exchange blood through their fingertips? I hated it.

Now, as I'm writing this, I feel a little hypocritical, but not enough to change my initial reaction to the books. I can think of several books, just off the top of my head, that use the concept of a vampire that hasn't been turned yet. Books that I really enjoyed even. Jim Butcher uses this to explain away Susan. She has the blood lust, but has to fight against her own nature because she doesn't want to turn into a monster. I enjoyed Twilight, which takes all the rules of vamprism and throws them straight out the window. But my initial reaction to Cirque Du Freak was annoyance mixed with disgust and I don't think anything will change that.

I think part of the problem is also the target audience. Cirque Du Freak is written for, and at a reading level of, somewhere around 5th grade. It was not well written and could not be terribly complicated due to its target audience. I was too old for the books when I read them and that, combined with the way that they presented vampires, turned me off from the series. I think things would have been different if I'd been age appropriate for the books.

Yeah, I felt the same. Wasn't the best. Could have been written better, and done a lot better. But it's a okay book. But the audience the author wanted was very young compared to how old I am now.

Edited by Adoxy

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Cirque du Freak are the best books EVER! There's twelve in all and I've read EVERY SINGLE ONE! My favorite was the ninth!

Has anyone else here read them all?

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MY FAVORITE BOOK SERIES OF ALL TIME! biggrin.gif

I cried when Larten died....My favorite book out of the series is #10 and #12

"COME GIVE YOUR FATHER A HUG DARREN MY SON" EWWWW

They really messed up the movie though...and here is a story i found about the

Dear Little Man Des Tiny heheheh:

 

This is an account of a graveyard incident which took place shortly before Mr Desmond Tiny and his Little People returned to the Cirque Du Freak in the second book of the series, "The Vampire's Assistant". The text was found in a hollow skull in the cave of a sorceress called Evanna. It was written in blood on dried frog skin.

 

Tiny Terrors

 

A long white worm crawled across Mr Tiny's right wellington boot. The short man in the yellow suit watched quietly as it crept across the toes of the green boot. When it got to the end it stopped and raised its head, searching for a direction. Mr Tiny bent, picked up the worm, then flicked it away over the graveyard wall. Chuckling, he turned back towards the grave and ducked quickly as a load of damp earth came shooting towards him.

 

"Careful, fools!" he barked at the two creatures in the open grave. "Do you know how difficult it is to clean this thing?" He brushed down the lapels of his smart yellow suit and tutted.

 

In the grave, two small creatures in dark blue hooded robes gazed up at their master and said nothing, waiting for him to speak again.

 

"Go on," he sighed, stepping aside so he was out of their range. "Continue."

 

At Mr Tiny's order, the Little People bent and began digging again. They used only their wide, grey hands, shovelling the dirt out of the grave with their fingers, swiftly working their way down to the coffin at the bottom of the grave.

 

Mr Tiny sniffed the air and sighed happily. He loved the smell of graveyards. The stench of rotting flesh, decaying bones and fetid earth was perfume to his nostrils. Sometimes he wished he was capable of falling asleep, just so he could sleep in a graveyard and wake up to that wonderfully rancid smell. But Mr Tiny was not a person for sleeping. He was forever awake, forever vigilant, forever fiddling with the living and the dead.

 

There was a dull thumping sound: the Little People had dug through to the lid of the coffin. Mr Tiny waited patiently for them to clear it, then ordered them out of the grave. Jumping down, he tapped three times on the head of the coffin, then three times on its base. He jammed one foot against either wall of the grave, then whistled softly. The wood of the coffin lid trembled, then crumbled to dust and fell away, revealing the corpse within.

 

The dead body was that of a man. He had died only a couple of weeks earlier and was in relatively good condition. Mr Tiny reached down, picked him up with one powerful hand, and tossed him to the two Little People standing above him.

 

"He'll do," Mr Tiny said, climbing out of the grave. The Little People laid the body down next to the four others they had dug up since coming to the graveyard, then quickly filled in the grave and got busy digging on the next one.

 

Mr Tiny studied the five bodies, all different shapes and sizes. He preferred dead people to the living. There was a strange beauty in death. Living people were always moving and talking and fidgeting. Only when they were dead could you get a good long close-up look at them and appreciate the intricate wonder of their design.

 

While Mr Tiny was brooding upon the differences between life and death, the heart-shaped watch he always carried with him chimed softly. Glancing down, he checked the time, then nodded understandingly. "How time flies," he sighed.

 

Stepping away from the bodies, Mr Tiny spread his arms wide, threw his head back, and opened his mouth and eyes wide. The heart-shaped watch began to glow a dark, pearly red. As it grew in strength, Mr Tiny's hair changed colour, from a pale white to a vibrant red. His suit also reddened, and his skin, and soon only his green wellington boots retained their original colour.

 

When the small man was a pillar of burning, glowing redness, the air in front of him shimmered. A doorway formed, with jagged red edges, and a procession of Little People - just like the two digging in the graveyard - passed through. The land they came from was grey and cold, like their skin, but they took no notice of the change in surroundings, merely stepped through the doorway and circled their demon-red master.

 

Once the last of the Little People had crossed over into the graveyard, the doorway dulled and disappeared. The angry red glow seeped from Mr Tiny, first from his suit and hair, then from his skin, finally from his heart-shaped watch. His mouth closed and his eyes narrowed. He let out a hot breath of air, shivered, then glanced around at the ten silent Little People.

 

"So much time to play with," he murmured. "So few servants. Ah well: life would be dull if it was easy."

 

Clapping his hands, he told the two diggers to quit their task and join the others. When the dozen Little People were standing around him, he turned slowly, casting an eye over them all, and nodded approvingly. He stopped when his eyes alighted on one of the Little People. "You," he grunted. "Step forward." The Little Person obeyed, and took three step forwards, limping slightly on his left leg.

 

Mr Tiny spotted the limp, recognised the Little Person, and recalled the vital role he was to play in the grander scheme of things. Stooping, he locked gazes with the green-eyed creature for several long, searching seconds. The Little Person gazed back emotionlessly.

 

"Do you know who you are?" Mr Tiny asked. "Do you remember our deal? Do you know what you have to do?"

 

The Little Person said nothing, but shook his head slowly, from left to right.

 

"Good," Mr Tiny beamed. "This is not the time for you to know. But bear this in mind: when we get to the Cirque Du Freak - which is where we are going - I want you to keep a very close watch on the one they call ... Darren Shan. Understand?"

 

The Little Person paused, filed the name away, then nodded obediently.

 

"Excellent!" Mr Tiny rubbed his hands together, stepped through the ranks of Little People, and stood looking down at the five corpses on the damp night grass. "Now," he mused aloud, "I wonder what we should do with these ..."

 

For a moment he hesitated, mulling it over, and then, with a grin born of an inhuman soul, he turned to the nearest Little People, produced a knife and fork out of thin air, and asked conversationally, "Torso or limb?"

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Mr. Tiny has to be one my fav people in the book...i tend to like evil people

Found this story of Darren Shan's Website

Edited by DarkPanther

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correct me if i'm wrong but isn't the series called "The saga of Darren Shan"?

also: yeah i've read the books a few times

the movie was not worth watching

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I've read the series at least twice straight through and love it - my favorite vampire series ever! biggrin.gif The ending did make me go blink.gif the first time.

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Read the whole series, but like all series that go a few books too long, it sort of got more boring and worse in general starting with the third trilogy and going further.

Edited by RubyRed74

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One of my favorite books...

 

i read it all over again just a few days ago QWQ

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o my friend brisingrrider told me about these... should i read them?

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I've read all twelve Cirque du Freak books and nine out of ten Demonata.

The Cirque du Freak series is pretty good, I have to say that Darren Shan is one of my favorite authors. None of what he writes is sugar coated. Good with detail and description. However the series isn't for everyone. tongue.gif I've had a lot of people tell me that they're stupid just because it looks weird. *rolls eyes*

The twist at the end is what you gotta look out for though.

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I used to read them but I was recently debating whether or not to read them again. I vaguely remember not likely the authors views on vampires but I can't clearly remember them.

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i read all 12, and i admit, the plot scared and confused me for a while.

But I figured it out eventually. A pretty good series.

For new readers, it's a bit gory but it pulls you in all the same.

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I loved those books. I remember waiting for them to come out in elementary and middle school right alongside Twilight. (don't kill me, I was like 10) The books are clearly written for male audiences, but the sheer amount of action in them makes them a real page-turner.

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Cirque Du Freak, by Darren Shan.

Anyone else like these books? I couldn't believe the end!

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Darren Shan lives in ireland, but the books were also made into graphic novels.

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~Merged~

 

Since I don't seem to have posted here, I loved these books. I haven't read them in forever, so there's a lot I've forgotten, I'm sure. The movie was pretty good, too, actually.

 

(What is a code blue!?)

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I have read ALL of them, and the last one was definitely the best because he died in the end.

 

Lol, i thought that they were all good, i can't specify a favourite book because i really liked them all.

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I read these books a long time ago. Saw the movie and wasn't to impressed. I'm in the middle of trying to buy them all, and so far I only have book one and book 12 haha. Keep getting distracted with finding really old books and getting those instead.

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