Lord Loss

With sales of over four million copies for the 12 volumes of his ‘Saga of Darren Shan’ sequence, it is unlikely that Shan fans will need much persuasion to move on to the ‘new nightmare’ (as the cover of the proof copy describes it) of Lord Loss. Strictly for those young readers who relish copious amounts of blood and who have a ghoulish fondness for quite frightening tales of demons and corpses, this is a ‘horror’ novel which, while staying largely within the conventions of the genre, can genuinely claim to be more compellingly and inventively written than many others of its kind. Part of the reason for this is its pointed focus on its young hero, ‘Grubbs’ Grady, and what he refers to early on as his ‘cutting-edge humour’, an attribute which sees him (and the reader) through some exceedingly gory moments. Part of the reason also is to be found in the cast of picturesquely grotesque characters, the most memorable of whom is Dervish, Grubbs’s uncle. His advice at one point to his nephew – ‘And never stop to marvel at what you’re doing – you must suspend the laws of reality completely, or else you’ll fall foul of them’ – would serve as an appropriate recommendation to anyone wishing to enter ‘that world of darkness’ where Mr Shan has so lucratively set up residence.