Sons of Destiny

Darren Shan's Sons of Destiny is the final, very dark book in his vampire series for 11 year olds, and it's really one for readers who've followed Darren all the way.

What happens

It picks up straight after the book before it. Shancus, the snake-boy, lies dead on a theatre stage, killed by Steve Leonard, the Lord of the Vampaneze and Darren's oldest enemy. His father Evra cradles him while everyone weeps. It's a devastating opening.

From there Darren does something he's avoided for eighteen years. He goes home. His sister Annie buried him when he was a boy, and her son Darius has just found out that his dad is Steve.

The scenes with Annie are the heart of it. There's shock, fainting, fury and a lot of hot chocolate, then a brother and sister trying to catch up on a whole lifetime in one night. It's surprisingly tender for a horror story.

Then it's back to the fight. The witch Evanna tells Darren there are only two ways this can go. Steve kills him, or he kills Steve and becomes the monster who will bring the world to its knees. (No pressure, then.)

Worth knowing before you hand it over

This is proper horror and it doesn't hold back. A child's death opens the book. There's talk of beheadings, killing and drinking blood. Darren swaps blood with his ten-year-old nephew through cuts in their fingertips to save him, and ends up fitting and vomiting on the floor. Darren himself has aged slowly, so he looks young but has lived a lot longer than your reader.

It sits right at the very top of this shelf, or even beyond it. A reader who is easily frightened, or who hasn't read the earlier books, should probably give this one a miss for now. So much depends on what's gone before.

For a teenager-in-waiting who has raced through the Cirque Du Freak story and simply has to know how it ends, though, it's gripping. Can Darren find a way to beat his own destiny?

What to read next

If your reader wants more vampire fighting with a lot less gloom, try Serwa Boateng's Guide to Vampire Hunting, about a girl from a family of slayers who's desperate to prove she's ready for the real thing.