About the Mangaka
Darren Shan is an Irish author who has written both adult and young adult novels, as well as scripts for both TV and radio.
No info on Arai Takahiro drop me a line if you have any.
About the Manga
Another awesome volume that really got me into the story all the more. Though I have to admit I don’t like time slips.
I really got into the art for this volume. Partly I think because I’ve become used to the odd style, but also because it fits so perfectly.
I like the cover design this time, it has a good feel to it and sets the stage well for the volume.
As with the previous volumes the art really does get better as it goes. The scenery is really awesome at times. My feelings on the art lacking at times really have gone a full circle, and I can’t see this series doing as well drawn any other way.
I really liked the wolves in this volume, and while it’s true they weren’t around for long, they looked awesome.
This volume introduces a lot of new characters, and I found I really liked the character designs for them. One of these that’s come in is Arra Sails, and I really like her, though she looks like a guy.
The next main one is Kurda Shalt, one of the new vampire princes. His design is also really well drawn, but has a creepy atmosphere to it. It made me consider him as a hidden bad guy, though this came at odds with some of his later actions. It’ll be interesting to see how that will play out.
Story wise it starts off a bit wrong for me. We get a huge time slip, and while the explanation is great, I’d of preferred to have seen some of the events in the slip. especially since it is a long one.
However from there it gets better and better, and is predominantly about Darren’s journey to Vampire Mountain. While it focuses on the actual physical journey, we also get to see some character development with Darren and Lefty.
I really liked the way the journey played out, with equal amounts of fun, discovery, and danger.
When we finally get to the journey’s end we start a new one, mostly character development, as we get introduced to some of Darren’s more, bizarre behaviour. While these are explained at the time, I also found myself wondering if the little event at the beginning of the volume plays any part in his behaviour.
I also found I still love how he can be so naive at times and jumps into trouble head first without really considering the bigger picture to well. In this volume that little flaw of his plays a huge role IMO, as it shows that while he has changed and grown a great deal, at heart he’s still the kid he was when he was turned.
Yen Press do their usual awesome job with this release. A good translation that flows really well, good choice of fonts coupled with excellent editing. Best of all no guttering worth mentioning.
While I’ll admit I’m highly unlikely to ever read the books again, or see the movie, the manga is without a doubt an excellent read that’s worth buying, and more than deserves it’s place on my essential read list.
Where to Buy
