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Author (Platform): Darren Shan (Kindle)
Publisher (Release): HarperCollins (2008)
Length: 228 pages
Genres: Young Adult; Horror; Fantasy; Action; Adventure
❗️Disclaimers❗️:
contains visually descriptive scenes of blood, violence, and gore
this review contains low-level spoilers
recommendation: must read
👍 Pros 👍
Follows on from its predecessors with just as much gravity
Fantastical magic battles full of blood and gore
Timeless existential themes that can be appreciated by both young and old
👎 Cons 👎
None
👀 Synopsis 👀
You can’t cheat death…
The apocalypse came and the world burned. But it wasn’t the end, and out of the destruction, new life has emerged. Bec is back to face the Demonata. After centuries of imprisonment, she’s more powerful than ever, but the demons no longer stand alone.
Something else has crawled out of the darkness with her. Lord Loss is no longer humanity’s greatest threat…
🛎️ Introduction 🛎️
Death’s Shadow had huge shoes to fill after the apocalyptic bonanza of its two-parter predecessors Blood Beast and Demon Apocalypse, but, after a brief, brief respite, it loses no time in bursting those shoes with grotesquely massive feet. Returning to Bec (last the protagonist in, funnily enough, BEC), Shan’s first-person, present-tense narrative crafts a deliciously frenetic pace as the series’s story slips and slides through the bloody remnants of predictions to set astronomical stakes in the gear up for the final few books.
🧩 Plots 🧩
Death’s Shadow knuckles down on the series’s existentialism, rearranging the board to really push the young protagonists from innocence to adulthood. Its violence and gore pale in comparison to the hauntingly relatable realisation that, at some point, the only person you’re going to be able to rely on is yourself, and you will never, ever be properly prepared for it. It’s surprisingly mature, brutal with its themes of life and death, with this entry giving the latter an unsettling amount of the former.
The path divides eventually…
A moderate kick-off gives Bec time to acclimate after her return during the finale of Demon Apocalypse. Centuries have passed since she was entombed in stone and her return has shocked the very fabric of the series’s world. It’s bittersweet and heartbreaking, compelling in a way that depicts the unfairness of loss and grief.
But, in all its realistic glory, even the reader isn’t given much time to examine the feelings before the viscera hits the fan. Death’s Shadow throws in an eclectic array of threats, conspiring a mystery that sees the cast splitting off to investigate and, knowing that our protagonists are moving to their own instalments, inspires a sense of narrative FOMO that’s as delicious as it is frustrating.
Everyone’s timer hits zero at some point
I’ve read this series I don’t know how many times after discovering it when I was young and dumb, and it never fails to completely capture my attention. The sheer awe and fantastical creativity (and of course the bloody brutality) make a magical journey unbridled by any sense of innocence but inspired by no small amount of hope in the face of overwhelming odds.
‘…a magical journey unbridled by any sense of innocence…’
🎭 Characters 🎭
Characters old and new erupt into Death’s Shadow’s, um, shadow as omens coalesce to reveal the Big Bad for the franchise. The odds are unbelievable and hooking, delivering fantastical battles drenched in adrenaline and shaping our coming-of-age protagonists with deadly stakes into the flawed adults we all are.
Bec herself is launched into a world that has long since left her in its past. When you’re forced to grow up too quickly in a world you know, how do you do it again in a world you don’t? Her sense of isolation and fear mirror her contemporaries in Grubbs and Kernel, but Shan still manages to shape it to feel wholly her own. She lives in the shadow of another, with allies that see her as an intruder, but her wise calm and pure heart create a compelling adventure in finding her place.
We all face ourselves alone
Supporting characters delight in their colour, unique in both visuals and personalities that spark some crisp chemistry. Death’s Shadow delivers some truly epic twists as it sets the final board, but its real impact lies in its transition from the old guard to the new, long before either feels ready. It’s an emotional apex, a finality before we hit the steep drop that’ll propel us into a rollercoaster of a series close.
‘…omens coalesce to reveal the Big Bad for the franchise.’
💭 Final Thoughts 💭
Death’s Shadow delivers yet another demonically delightful ride in Darren Shan’s young adult horror franchise, embodying the title as good and evil dance across a bloody chessboard in the lead up to the series’s conclusion. Innocence is long gone and characters old and new are thrown into magical forays with deadly consequences, compounding an emotional adventure with undeniable consequences as the stakes continue to rise past the point of reason.
Young or old (or the young olds like me) will appreciate the uncomfortable exploration of existence, purpose, and the consequences of any choices we make when the parachutes we rely on when we’re younger are taken away. Responsibility is a heavy burden, and Shan has just unleashed a fresh hell of it onto the backs of our beloved cast in a haunting final line that, if you don’t have the next books in the series, you will now.
The Phoenix Project 