The Vampire's Assistant
File:TheVampiresAssistant.jpg | |
Author | Darren Shan |
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Language | English |
Series | The Saga of Darren Shan |
Genre | Young adult, Horror novel |
Publisher | HarperCollins |
Publication date | 30 May 2000 |
Publication place | United Kingdom |
Media type | Print (Paperback) |
Pages | 256 pp |
ISBN | 0-00-675513-5 |
OCLC | 59556296 |
Preceded by | Cirque du Freak |
Followed by | Tunnels of Blood |
- For the 2009 film adaptation, see Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
The Vampire's Assistant is the second novel in The Saga of Darren Shan by Darren Shan (Whose real name is Darren O'Shaughnessy). It is part of the Vampire Blood trilogy, which comprises the three books Cirque Du Freak, The Vampire's Assistant and Tunnels of Blood. The Vampire's Assistant was first published in Great Britain by Collins in 2000, and was later published in the Vampire Blood trilogy in 2003.
Synopsis
The story begins with the protagonist of the last adventure, Darren Shan, and his guardian Larten Crepsley moving in for a drink of blood from an ex-scout. Darren is beginning to cope with life as a vampire's assistant though he still refuses to drink human blood and hates his companion, Mr. Crepsley, for turning him into half-vampire which has led him to faking his own death. Although he is far stronger than any human and is still finding it hard to adjust to his new life, his unchallenged strength causes him to be alone, as he can not make any human friends without harming them. Larten teaches Darren all about vampirism, but is sometimes shown to regret blooding him. He decides to take Darren to the Cirque du Freak.
He makes good friends with Evra Von, the snake boy. When they meet a young boy called Sam Grest, who happens to love pickled onions, things begin to look up...and down. A local ecological preserver hippie, known as Reggie Veggie (RV), befriends the trio of boys, but soon begins to learn that the Little People are feeding on animals stolen from farmers. Darren soon begins to worry Reggie, so he goes to tell Mr. Tall, but he becomes preoccupied on his way because Truska, the bearded lady, put together a new set of clothes for him. Darren must then do Evra's chores, as Evra is tending to his sick snake, and he forgets to tell Mr. Tall about Reggie that day.
As a night of performance comes, Mr. Tall finally gets wind of Reggie from Darren, but he doubts that Reggie can do any damage. The Cirque does move along from that place, though, because of Reggie's threatening to call the police. Darren, who still refuses to drink human blood, decides not to perform and sets off. He hears a sound coming from the wolfman's cage, and decides to investigate. It turns out to be Reggie, who is trying to free the wolf-man, but who has no idea how violent the wolf man can be. After biting off Reggie's arms, the wolf-man sets off after a figure behind Darren, who has dropped a bag of clothes and onions that belongs to Sam. Darren learns Sam was going to smuggle himself away with the circus. Eventually, Sam is killed by the wolf man. While standing over Sam's corpse, Mr. Crepsley convinces Darren to drink Sam's blood, therefore "preserving" some of Sam's soul, including his love for pickled onions, as decided from a discussion of vampirism between Crepsley and Darren.