Customer Reviews

Lord Loss (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) (The Demonata)

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As always, Darren Shan's writing is intense and deeply moving, and above all believable. Told from a first-person point of view, you really see the heart and soul of Grubb, an average, broody adolescent who suddenly finds his whole life changed in one horrifying, terrible night.

The cast of characters is small, but there are enough people for the characters to interact well with each other, giving the reader the ability to really see each and every character in-depth.

Overall, a spellbinding book. I look forward to reading the second of the Demonata series.

Darren Shan is an outstanding writer. First the 12 Cirque Du Freak books and now Lord Loss. Shan's interpretation of other dimensions and evil like the Demonata that exist in those dimensions leave the reader spellbound.

This book begins with a normal brother and sister relationship with cruel revenge because the sister rats on the brother, so he RATS on her so to speak.

I won't give anything away, but after a tragedy, Grubbs finds himself grief-stricken and alone, and that is only the beginning. Grubbs is introduced to a whole new existence and a family genealogy and curse that he could never imagine.

Will Grubbs have to face the Demonata, will his new friend and Uncle Dervish be able to break their family curse in a battle of humans versus demons and their familiars, or will Grubbs former grief be too much for him to overcome?

Read The Demonata Lord Loss and enter Darren Shan's never-ending world of intrigue with his own ideas of topics that have been told and retold, but nothing compares to Darren Shan. He took vampires to a different level, and now...The Demonata Lord Loss...LOOK OUT!!!

I read the book "Lord Loss" and found it very enjoyable, full of action and suspense. The main character, Grubs Grady, notices a dramatic change in his parents, and when his parents and sister supposedly go to a ballet performance and leave him with his aunt, he decides to follow them home. When he enters his parent's room, he witnesses hell. In the room, demons have brutally murdered his family, and move in on him. Using an inside source of magic, he escapes. He is sent to a mental hospital, and is plagued by dreams of demons. Months later, he is visited by his uncle Dervish, who shows him pictures of the demons that he had seen on that night. Dervish says that if he wanted to know more about why his parents were dead, that he would have to cooperate with the doctors, and that when he was released, that he would stay at Dervishes house until he could fend for himself. Grubbs accepts, the doctors cure his grief, and he goes to stay with Dervish.

At Dervishes mansion Grubbs feels safe, and meets a new friend called Bill-E. Bill-E suspects that Dervish is a were-wolf and so Bill-E and Grubbs follow him. He installs a cage with a deer in it in a secret basement, which Grubbs gains access to, by means of a wine rack. On the night of full moon, Bill-E and Grubbs follow Dervish, but instead of going into the cage, he heads towards the village. For the whole day Bill-E has been sick, and now he seems to be fatally ill. Then Dervish shows up and tells Grubbs that Bill-E is the real were-wolf, and that Bill-E is really his brother. They head towards the house, and Dervish explains that if they wanted to rescue Bill-E from a life of being a were-wolf, they have to beat Lord Loss (a demon master) in an extravagant chess match, with "special rules". Dervish must play chess with Lord Loss, while Grubbs battles two of Lord Loss's demons, if they win, Lord Loss must cure Bill-E, and Dervish must battle Lord Loss in the world of demons. If they lose, then Lord Loss can kill all of them. Dervish explains to Grubbs that his sister was becoming a were-wolf, and that his parents had made the same deal with Lord Loss, and lost. Dervish leads Grubbs into the basement, and sets up the "meeting". Lord Loss enters the room, with his two demons, and the chess match begins. Grubbs bravely fights the demons, until he is overpowered. Dervish breaks the rules and Lord Loss makes an exception that Grubbs can play on, while Dervish must battle the demons. Grubbs makes a risky decision, and to find out what happens, you have to read the book.

Personally, I really liked the book, because it was impossible to put down. If you have read the other Darren Shan series, then this book, and its sequel, Demon Thief, will not disappoint you.

this book is pure greatness...It is about a boy named Grubbs Grady who finds out that 3 evil demons had slaughtered his family leaving them crushed up into pure blood and gore...The Demonata series is neat because each book can be read as a stand alone book meaning you dont have to read it as a continuous series...

this book is scary and gory!!!...bloody (which is a good thing) (for me)...if u had not read this book, i strongly reccomend u to buy it...its heart pounding/nerve racking...REAALY GOOD..THUMBS UP...5 STARS

This book is great. It is so intense that you never want to put it down. This book isn't that gory, the only real nasty stuff is in the beginning. Darren shan is by far the best author i have ever read. His Cirque Du Freak books are awsome too.

After reading some of Darren Shan's Cirque Du Freak books but stopped because of other things that came up (not saying that the Cirque Du Freak books are not good) when I saw that he was starting a new series about Demons, I was interested on what the series had to offer (I am more into demons than vampires). The first book in the Demonata series has more suspense than the Cirque Du Freak books. It tells the story of an adolescent who witnesses the bloody murders of his parents and older sister. After being held in an asylum for some time, he goes to live with his uncle, who slowly reveals the reason to the bloody murders and the demons that performed the murders. There are several trists within the plot, with one being somewhat predicable from the events that occur in the chapter preseding it. Also, the mention of all the chess boards and games played throughout the book gives the impression that something about chess will be part of the ending. This is true, but the outcome of the chess match at the end is still exciting. I can't wait till the second book in the series and hope that the series does not loose steam like Cirque Du Freak did in its later books.

First book in the Demonata series.

Grubitsch "Grubbs" Grady goes to live with his Uncle Dervish in a creepy old mansion after his parents and sister are torn to shreds by an evil demon named Lord Loss and his familiars, Vein and Artery. Grubbs witnesses the gory scene, but escapes by tapping into a magical ability he never knew he possessed. Once in his uncle's house, Grubbs learns more than he ever wanted to know about the Grady family curse, which involves werewolves, demons, and chess.

I recently read this book and was transfixed by the fast-moving plot. Literally, I began reading the book late in the evening and was unable to put it down until I finished.

That said, don't buy this book on the basis of it being written by the same author of the Cirque du Freak series. In my opinion, it bears little resemblence to the Cirque du Freak books, which are a much lighter horror book than Lord Loss.

Lord Loss is extremely gruesome. In the second chapter, the main character Grubbs comes home to find his father hanging headless from the ceiling, his mother being ripped apart by a demon, and his sister's butchered body being animated by a second demon. The lord of these demons, Lord Loss, sets the two "familiars" upon Grubbs who must fight for his life. The remainder of the book is Grubbs' struggle to regain sanity and another spine-tingling battle with the demons.

In addition, Lord Loss contains a great deal more profanity than any of the Cirque du Freak books, although it is limited to h--- and d---.

That said, I thought the book was excellent although NOT for younger readers. I teach fifth grade and am quite comfortable having the Cirque du Freak books on my shelf, but I would NOT place this book there. However, like the Cirque du Freak books, reluctant readers would be riveted by this book as well, and they would be appropriate for, say, ninth or tenth grade up.

This review is grudgingly given because I can't believe I'm saying a book about demons is appropriate for kids of any age. However, the reasoning behind WHY the demons have been set loose upon people was unexpected and quite interesting.

I loved this book. I usually don't like to watch or read horror, but this book was recommended by a friend who knew I was looking for titles with more depth. I was on the edge of my seat and couldn't put the book down. A great read for anyone who is tired of the same old jump on the band-wagon genre books hitting the market today. I will be finishing this series and looking for other titles by this author.

Lord Loss by Darren Shan was an incredible read! It was about a boy named Grubbs and how his life changes over night, he sneaks out after being at his aunt's house for hours and goes home to find that his whole family is slaughtered by demons with little time to escape before the demons rip him to shreds just as the rest of his dear family.
He rushes to the door from which he entered and flew through the doggie door flap and escaped from a demon named Lord Loss and his familiars, and he really flew and hit a fence and later people called him crazy because he said demons killed his family and no one believed, Well almost everyone his uncle knows he's telling the truth because he has seen them before. It was his Uncle Dervish knew a lot about demons and those kinds of things and he also knows about magic and put a protective spell on the house so demons can't get in. Grubbs meets a new friend named Bull-E (yes he spells it that way) and they like to run around a place called Carcery Vale like to explore the place since Grubbs is new to the area and all. He didn't go to school its mid term so what's the point? He missed out on too much to know what is happening it would be kinda pointless. So he gets to stay home watch TV. Sounds fun but then one night Bull-E brings up werewolves and says he thinks Dervish is one but he can control it because Lycanthropy (or for those who don't know what that means its being a werewolf) runs in the family but doesn't strike all of the members of the family it randomly takes control of someone, Somewhere in your teens it hits you, once you turn 18 then your fine and you wont turn into one at all but for the unlucky few that do there are options Option 1; summon a demon a demon (Lord Loss) find a partner and play a game of chess on 5 different boards at the same time and the other fights off two demon familiars. Option 2; kill the family member affected by lycanthropy. Option 3; you call in the lambs and they kill the werewolf. That's all im telling you... get the book and read!! I give it 10 out of 10!!! The thing I like about this book is it's well written and it brings me into a new cool world every time I read it. The theme of this book is getting courage to fight demons to protect the ones you love....and yourself. The conflict is basically Grubbs beating on the demons for revenge of his family's death and facing your fears to do so which if you think about is really hard to do for a lot of people.