Sons of Destiny by Darren Shan
Sons of Destiny is the twelfth and final (finally!) book in Darren Shan’s CIRQUE DU FREAK horror series for children. If you haven’t read the previous volumes, but you intend to, you have no business being here. Go away. If you have read them, you probably don’t care at all what I think about Sons of Destiny. It’s not like you’re NOT going to read it, right? But, since I’ve reviewed all the novels so far, I’ll talk about this one a bit, just for a sense of closure.
We know what needs to happen in this final volume: Darren must kill Steve, his former best friend but current archnemesis. One of them must die. The other will become the dreaded Lord of the Shadows who will bring chaos to the world and destroy it. Why must it be this way? Because that’s what Mr. Des Tiny (get it?) says.
At first, the plot begins to fall out like anyone would expect it to. The main characters gather for a final battle between Darren and Steve and it looks like one of them will triumph. Darren has a chance to kill Steve when Steve’s back is turned, but he doesn’t because that would be dishonorable. (Apparently, it’s better ethics to let the mad homicidal tyrant who will destroy the world have a chance to kill you before you kill him.) There’s a lot of gruesome fighting while Mr. Tiny claps. (His villainy is really over-the-top in this final novel and it’s emphasized by Ralph Lister’s over-exuberant narration in Blackstone Audio’s recent version.)
As I’ve mentioned before, the Destiny thing, which has become more contrived and nonsensical with each book, has been the series’ downfall, in my opinion. (But clearly, based on the popularity of this series, my opinion is the minority one.) All the Destiny and Fate gets even more bizarre in Sons of Destiny. The rules keep changing and the plot gets sillier and sillier as Mr. Tiny and his daughter reveal more information to Darren and Steve. It doesn’t seem fair to the reader. It also doesn’t make sense. For example, we learn that Mr. Tiny can go back to the past to change events he doesn’t like. If that’s the case, then there are many times when he seemed to forget he had this power.
At the end author Darren Shan throws in a big weird plot twist and completely turns the story around in a way that I didn’t expect (and I doubt most others will either). This big weird twist will seem clever to many fans, but will infuriate others. Obviously, I can’t tell you what it is. But it doesn’t really matter because like I said above, we all know that anyone who’s read up to book 11 isn’t going to stop there and, even though I didn’t like Sons of Destiny, I wouldn’t suggest that you stop either— you need closure, too. Just be aware that Sons of Destiny has a lot more Destiny and a lot less exciting plot than the previous CIRQUE DU FREAK books. I thought it was disappointing, but I hope you like it better.
Cirque Du Freak (The Darren Shan Saga) — (1999-2004) Ages 9-12. Publisher: Darren Shan is just an ordinary schoolboy who enjoys hanging out with his three best friends. Then one day they stumble across as invitation to visit the Cirque du Freak, a mysterious freak show. Only two tickets are available, so they draw straws to see who will go. As if by destiny, Darren wins one, and what follows is his horrifying descent into the dark and bloody world of vampires. This is Darren’s story.
Related:
The Saga of Larten Crepsley — (2010-2012) Young adult. Publisher: The highly anticipated prequel to the New York Times bestselling Cirque Du Freak series! Before Cirque Du Freak… Before the war with the vampaneze… Before he was a vampire. Larten Crepsley was a boy. As a child laborer many centuries ago, Larten Crepsley did his job well and without complaint, until the day the foreman killed his brother as an example to the other children. In that moment, young Larten flies into a rage that the foreman wouldn’t survive. Forced on the run, he sleeps in crypts and eats cobwebs to get by. And when a vampire named Seba offers him protection and training as a vampire’s assistant, Larten takes it. This is his story.
Thank you for waiting over 7 years for my answer, Kat :) Now that the series is finished, I went…
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the kind words, Steve! And I am very envious of that first edition!
Dang it, I missed out because the giveaway notification subscription *still* isn't working, and you stopped posting Thoughtful Thursday giveaways…
A very informed review. I am pleasantly in possession (right word?) of a Macmillan 1912 1st edition and just read…