Cirque du Freak: The Saga of Darren Shan

[Alien Redrum]

So I read A Living Nightmare (book 1 in the Cirque du Freak series) hoping to have the shit scared out of me like Neon promised, and I was really let down.

One thing that really bothered me about the book is that everything is exciting! And needs an exclamation point! Every other sentence is not without one!

I completely realize this book is for young adults, but damn, the overuse of the exclamation points really took me out of the book. Madam Orca certainly could scare the shit out of me, if she wasn't so exciting!

However, I have to admit, the book was enjoyable because I went into it with the mindset that Sham really liked the series, and subconsciously I started reading "Shan" as "Sham" and before I knew it, Sham was the star of the book. That helped.

[Neon Maniac]

Madam Octa didn't scare you?!? You're all I could think about when I read that book. I'm sorry it was a let down.

I thought it was exciting.

[Alien Redrum]

Sham made it exciting.

[Neon Maniac]

I'm already on the 4th book. This series is pure awesomeness. I didn't notice the !!! as much as you did, but then I guess to a Mr. Toughguy like you, stealing a vampire's spider, killing your bff, becoming a half vampire and travelling with a freak show is just par for the course. Just another day in the life of AR and Sham.

[Alien Redrum]

That's way too long for my sig. Can you shorten that up some?

[Neon Maniac]

I guess to a Mr. Toughguy like you, stealing a vampire's spider, killing your bff, becoming a half vampire and joining a freak show is par for the course. Just another day in the life of AR and Sham.

How's that?

[Alien Redrum]

[Alien Redrum]

Okay, so I'm about 3/4 into The Vampire's Assistant, and Sham has finally got some new clothes after wearing the same thing for about 3 months (and he's going to make fun of the hippies for stinking, really?).

Anyway, he's all excited about his green shirt, purple pants, sinbad shoes and red sash and how cool it is he looks like a pirate.

No, Sham. No. Unless it's Halloween, this is 2009 and it's not cool to dress like a pirate, you jackass.

On a brighter note, the exclamation points have decreased dramatically. There's hope for this series yet.

[Neon Maniac]

Yeah, I thought him making fun of the smelly hippies was pretty funny too, since I don't think they mention him bathing once during the entire book. I'm on book 4, which takes place like 6 years after book 3, and he's still wearing the pirate costume. That suit went threadbare and bad really quickly, but 6 years later, that pirate costume is going strong. He's also like 20 in this one, hasn't had a woman, and isn't really all that interested.

[Alien Redrum]

He's also like 20 in this one, hasn't had a woman, and isn't really all that interested.

And with that, "Shan" will be continued to be misread as "Sham" for the rest of this series.

[Neon Maniac]

[Sham]

He's also like 20 in this one, hasn't had a woman, and isn't really all that interested.

And with that, "Shan" will be continued to be misread as "Sham" for the rest of this series.

Sorry you didn't really like the book that much. The juvenile writing definitely took some getting used to. I'm really just a fan of the story, mostly because it's laden with gay subtext. Did I mention that before?

[Alien Redrum]

I'm starting the third tomorrow because the second was better than the first.

I completely missed the gay subtext. I'll keep an eye out and report my findings.

[Neon Maniac]

I think I'm missing the gay subtext, aside from them being vampires. I think everything else is just Sham's vampire fantasy. I saw his copy of Twilight, and Bella was scratched out and Billy written in on every page.

[Alien Redrum]

Dude, that was my copy.