Ocean of Blood ~ Darren Shan review

Ocean of Blood (The Saga of Larten Crepsley #2)

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

April 28, 2011

256 pages
Amazon

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

Ocean of Blood is the second book in a four book prequel series-- to author Darren Shan's wildly popular Cirque Du Freak series. Picking up not too long after the ending of Birth of a Killer the first book in the series, this book tells of Larten and Wester's life on their own.

Readers are taken on the journey with the two vampires as they explore what it means to be on their own. They also get to see where the two end up -- at least for now.


Ocean of Blood is more (than Birth of a Killer) about the vampire world and its politics. More of the hierarchy and how things are achieved is explored. Through the two men's (or boy's, depending on how you look at them) adventures, we get to meet new vampires and see more of how the vampires operate outside of the small society portrayed in Birth of a Killer.

A lot more of Larten's personality is also unveiled in this second novel. He's grown a lot, both from where he was at the start of the first novel and over the course of this second. Readers are taken with him as he explores what it is he might want out of this life as a vampire (but, of course, there are two more novels in which to possibly find that out).

Readers of the Cirque Du Freak series will probably know where everything is leading but should enjoy seeing how the character(s) make their way there. Readers who haven't read the Cirque Du Freak series will likely very much want to after reading Ocean of Blood.

Very much like Birth of a Killer, Ocean of Blood ends on a cliffhanger--with a 'to be continued'--something that seems much more like the end of a chapter than the end of a novel. It will leave readers nearly salivating for book three . . .

8/10

Thank you to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and Faye Bi for my copy of this book for review!