Publication Date: April 12, 2010 | Series: Demonata (Book 8)
As the mysterious Shadow builds an army of demons, Grubbs Grady and his team search desperately for answers. But when they follow up a new lead, it takes them to an old, unexpected foe - the Lambs.
"We spot the werewolves as we skim the treetops. Mutated, vicious, hairy monstrosities, all fangs, claws and muscles. The beast within me tries to force its way to the surface, howling silently at its warped brethren. I've never rid myself of the wolf..."
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Grade 7–10—Grubbs Grady, his magical mentor Beranabus, and their ally Kernel-all featured in previous volumes—battle their way through the alternate worlds of demons and other creepy creatures. They kill all the demons they can while hoping to learn more about the monstrous power that propels the demon forces to slaughter humanity. The teenager Grubbs, as readers know from earlier installments, carries a family curse that could turn him into a werewolf, and it takes all of his magical talents to keep that curse at bay. If that happens, he will be hunted down and killed by a group called the Lambs. When fellow demon-fighters Meera and Shark appear through a window from the human world, they ask for help. Grubbs's beloved Uncle Dervish has been attacked by werewolves and is near death, and the Lambs may have allied with Lord Loss, the series' main villain. Grubbs and the other demon fighters learn that things are worse than they thought (in the "Demonata" books, they always are)—the Lambs are now breeding werewolves at Wolf Island, a remote lab and fortress. Like all of the books in this series, Wolf Island is not for the squeamish; blood and death are gruesome constants and triumphs are only temporary.—Walter Minkel, Austin Public Library, TX END
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Darren Shan is the author of the New York Times bestselling Cirque Du Freak and Demonata series. He is currently working on the highly anticipated Cirque Du Freak prequel, The Saga of Larten Crepsley.
Product Details
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (April 12, 2010)
Darren Shan's real name is Darren O'Shaughnessy (pronounced O-Shock-Nessy, though it can also be pronounced O-Shawn-Essy_. Although he is Irish, he was born on July 2, 1972, in St. Thomas' Hospital, London -- directly across the river from the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, which may explain his fascination with evil bloodsuckers! He lived in South East London, near the Elephant & Castle. He started school at the early age of three (he was such a wild child, no pre-school facility would have him!), in English Martyrs. At the age of six, he moved to Limerick in Ireland, with his parents and younger brother, and has lived there ever since.
Shan went to primary school in Askeaton, where his mother was a teacher, then to secondary school in Copsewood College in Pallaskenry. Later, he went back to London to study Sociology and English at Roehampton University. He then worked for a cable television company in Limerick for a couple of years, before setting up as a full-time writer at the age of 23.
Although Shan always wanted to be a writer, it was only in his teenage years that he began writing in his spare time for fun (before that, he only wrote stories if they were for homework). He bought his first typewriter when he was 14, and never looked back, knocking out loads of short stories and comic scripts, and making false starts on several books, which he never completed. He enjoyed his first taste of literary success at age 15, as a runner-up in a television script-writing competition for RTE in Ireland, with a dark comedy script titled A Day in the Morgue (he was morbid even then!).
Shan was 17 when he finished his first novel. Although it was never published, he relished the writing experience, and found himself focusing more on novels in the coming years, leaving behind the short-story format. For the next several years, sandwiched between university and work, he wrote an average of one book a year, experimenting with different ideas, genres, lengths and styles. When he started writing full-time, his output shot up to 5 to 6 books per year! But that has dropped back to 2 to 3 recently, due to all the travelling around he's been doing to promote sales of his books.
All of these early books were adult-oriented. Although Shan quite liked the idea of writing a children's book one day, he considered himself an adult writer first and foremost. In fact, Shan's initial breakthrough was with an adult book, in 1999, titled Ayuamarca (since re-released in the UK as Procession Of The Dead, and coming to the USA in 2010).
In January 2000, his first children's book, Cirque du Freak, which he'd written as a fun side-project, was published. The first book in a series titled The Saga of Darren Shan (or Cirque du Freak, as it's known in America), it attracted rave reviews and an ever-growing army of fans hungry to learn more about vampires which were quite unlike any that anyone had ever seen before!
Shan loved writing for children so much, that for the next several years he focused exclusively on his books for younger readers. First, he wrote a total of 12 books about vampires. He quickly followed up his vampiric saga with The Demonata, a series about demons. Running to ten books in total, The Demonata cemented Shan's place in the UK as the Master Of Children's Horror, and saw him score his first UK #1 bestseller. He also wrote a one-off short book, called Koyasan, for Wold Book Day in the UK.
There was a very successful manga adaptation of Shan's vampire series, drawn by the Japanese artist, Takahiro Arai. It was originally serialized in Japan, but collected volumes are now on sale in the USA, UK and other countries.
In addition to writing for children, Shan has now returned to his first love and is once again writing for adults as well. He has had two adult books published in the UK, Procession Of The Dead and Hell's Horizon. They have been released in a number of other countries too, and are due to hit the USA in 2010. A third, City of the Snakes, goes on sale in the UK in March 2010. His first adult books were released under the name of D B Shan, but they are being reprinted under the name of Darren Shan in March 2010, and City of the Snakes will be released under the Darren Shan name.
By the start of 2010, Shan's books were on sale in every continent, in 39 countries, in 31 languages, and have been children's bestsellers in America, Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and other countries. The books have topped adult bestseller charts in Hungary, Japan and Taiwan. In total, Shan's books have sold close to 15 million copies worldwide!!!!
The movie rights to Cirque Du Freak were bought by Universal, and the first movie (which combines elements from the first three books in the series) was released on October 23rd, 2009, starring newcomer Chris Massoglia as Darren Shan, along with a wide array of established stars such as Josh Hutcherson, John C Reilly, Salma Hayek, Willem Defoe and Ken Watanabe. The movie was called Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant. It was released on DVD and Blu-Ray in February 2010.
A big film buff, with a collection of more than four thousand movies at home, Shan also reads lots of comics and books, and likes to study and collect original artwork, especially comic art and impressionist and post-impressionist art. He has recently started adding sculptures to his collection, making use of the large, empty field outside his back door. Other interests include long walks, watching football (he's a Tottenham Hotspur and Ireland fan), listening to pop and rock music, theatre, worldwide travel, sampling the delights of both gourmet cuisine and finger-licking junk food, and dreaming up new ways to terrify his readers!!!
Shan spends most of his time in Limerick, Ireland, with his girlfriend Bas. He has no pets, but a neighbourhood dog called Goldie joins him on his walks most days. He also feeds a variety of wild birds, and spots the occasional hare and pheasant strolling through his back yard. In addition to his main home in Ireland, Shan has an apartment in London, to which he escapes for a burst of high-speed living every so often, when he feels the need to get his juices flowing!! Shan rarely writes when in London or on the road, preferring to tie himself to his computer when at home in Limerick, where he can work away solidly without any distractions in the peace and quiet of the Irish countryside.
The last thing that Grubbs Grady would ever want to do is to face the lycanthropic family curse. He knows what his heritage entails, and being a werewolf is one of them. Dangerous and overpowering, this is a side to his personality he tries hard to suppress. Little does he know that in this phase of fighting the relentless Lord Loss and the mysterious Shadow (can they be one and the same?), he will actually confront himself as never before. In this eighth book of the popular Demonata series, Grubbs's worst nightmare is realized.
As Grubbs, Beranabus and Kernel are fighting demons in one world, Dervish, Bec and his league are engaged in their own battles. Though Dervish is his uncle, for Grubbs, he is much more like a father. Dervish has been weakened by years of attacks, and the last encounter resulted in too much strain on his heart. When Meera and Shark come through a "window" and inform them that Dervish and Bec have been attacked by werewolves, there is no hesitation for Grubbs as he and the other Disciples are off to the rescue. Going through another magic window leads them into a hospital spattered in bloody gore where Grubbs finds Dervish:
There's a demon on top of him, shaped like a giant insect with a golden shell. It's snapping at Dervish's face, mandibles grinding open and shut....
Though he is able to rescue Dervish, he sees the weakened state he is in and knows that time is not on their side. Grubbs also discovers that while Lord Loss is behind these attacks, there seems to be a definite connection with the Shadow. Other questions need to be answered because the werewolves are being bred for specialized destruction. Prae Athim and the Lambs are involved, but how far have they gone? There is no question that the Disciples must gather in force and rid the world of these particular terrors. Shark helps put together what they laughingly refer to as "The Dirty Dozen," which includes one of the geekiest of persons named Timus Brauss. It is Timus who ends up being the surprise safety package for them. Between Grubbs, Shark, Meera, Kernel, several carefully selected Disciples and the skills of Timus, they are indeed a force to deal with and so their hunt begins.
Though they find the building Prae Athim has used, they discover that she is not there and that operations have been taken over by a slick, smooth-talking man known as Antoine Horwitzer. Horwitzer claims that Prae Athim is missing, and he has been put in charge. To their horror they discover that an army of werewolves are being mutated, animals are being cruelly experimented on by the hundreds, and worse, the Disciples have been led into a trap.
There are unbelievable battles ahead, terrible losses and gobs of blood and guts along the way. Naturally, or unnaturally, the zombie --- like Juni Swan --- appears (now always under the command of Lord Loss) and attacks Grubbs (who is more werewolf than ever) in one of their most horrific battles ever.
I slam her to the floor and drive a claw into the putrid, oozing flesh of her stomach. She moans, eyes shooting wide, baring her teeth, trembling with agony. I make a fist, grab some of her inner organs and jerk hard. My hand shlups out, trailing guts. Blood splatters the floor. I gurgle with delight.
It is all-out war and anything goes. Grubbs knows that by letting himself give in to his werewolf nature, he has left whatever childhood he had behind. He says: We're fighting a war. The survival of the human race is at stake. Winning is all that matters. If we have to become kill crazed beasts to defeat the demons, so be it...
There are more unexpected twists and turns as Darren Shan keeps his readers absolutely on the edge in this latest Demonata book. Brimming with action and plenty of surprises, fans will love every gore-filled minute.
--- Reviewed by Sally M. Tibbetts
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This review is from: The Demonata #8: Wolf Island (Paperback)
The Demonata have a new leader rallying them up like no being has before. While Bec, Barneabus, Dervish, and Sharmila head to the Demonata universe to try and find out about the mysterious Shadow, Grubbs, Shark, and Meera gather some soldiers and try to find out why Grubbs's relatives, werewolves, attacked his uncle's mansion. This is the basic premise of Wolf Island, the 8th book in the Demonata series. It contains dynamic characters, a great setting, and a twisty-turny plot that will making you wonder what is really going on. One major dynamic character is Grubbs Grady. His family is plagued with the werewolf curse. There is no known cure and some of his relatives start to change when they are 16 or up, around the time of the full moon. They change into blood-thirsty savages with grotesque bodies, and no sanity whatsoever. Grubbs managed to fight off his curse with the magical artifact inside his body. But as he and his friends are trapped on Wolf Island, he slowly begins to give into his urges and becomes.... something in between. As I've already mentioned, Wolf Island is the setting. Bought by the Lambs, (The Grady executioners), it has been secretly used to test on werewolves. With well over a hundred of them running free on this lush tropical island, everyone who is stupid enough to go outside the barrier surrounding the facility knows that every single thing on the island has a scent and is on the way. This hopelessness is felt by all the characters and the reader and creates a great setting. I can't tell you every twist and turn, because that would ruin the story, but every single one catches you by surprise. It really makes you wonder what's around the next corner, if it's a great twist, or a werewolf ready to rip you apart.
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I loved all of the Demonata books up until this one. It's been my least favorite in the series. Wolf Island was much more violent than the previous books, and in my opinion, not in a good way. This seemed to have gore just for the sake of having gore.
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