Hunters of the Dusk

The Saga of Darren Shan #7

by Darren Shan

The pursuit begins...

Darren Shan, the Vampire Prince, leaves Vampire Mountain on a life or death mission.

As part of an elite force, Darren searches the world for the Vampaneze Lord. But the road ahead is long and dangerous - and lined with the bodies of the damned.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Horror, Vampires, Fiction, Paranormal, Supernatural

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Librarian's note: Also writes books for adults under the name Darren Dash. And in the past he has released books for adults under the names D.B. Shan and Darren O'Shaughnessy.

Darren Shan (born July 2, 1972 in London, England) is the pen name of the Irish author Darren O'Shaughnessy, as well as the name of the protagonist of his book series The Saga of Darren Shan, also known as The Cirque Du Freak Series in the United States. He is the author of the series The Demonata, The Saga of Larten Crepsley, and Zom-B. He has also released the stand-alone novel, The Thin Executioner, and the stand-alone short novels, Koyasan, and Hagurosan. Plus, for adults, he released The City Trilogy (originally under the name of D.B. Shan), and Lady of the Shades..

Reviews

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another adventure off to a good start.

Prince Darren, along with Larten Crepsley and Harkat Mulds, are sent off on a special mission to hunt the Vampaneze Lord by Mr. Tiny.

I really enjoy Darren as a main character. It will be interesting to see where the other takes things as the story progresses. As with the other stories in the series, the book is well written, and has no ending. I'll have to read the next book in the series to continue the plot started in this book. Which is one of my biggest annoyances about this series. Why three 200 page books rather than one 600 page book?

It's so hard to rate a book when it's not finished. Did I like what I've read so far? Sure it was engaging and I want to pick up the next book so i can see what happens next. But I really shouldn't have to. I should be able to just turn the page and start the next chapter.

To read my review of the other books in this series, use the links below:

Book One: A Living Nightmare
Book Two: The Vampire's Assistant
Book Three: Tunnels of Blood
Book Four: Vampire Mountain
Book Five: Trials of Death
Book Six: The Vampire Prince

[Sara Kamjou · Rating 4 out of 5]

تازه پیچیدگی‌های داستان داره بیشتر می‌شه. شخصیت ایوانا خیلی جالب بود.
-----------
یادگاری از کتاب:
تنها راه عاقل شدن تجربه کردن است.

[Shannara · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I’m really enjoying listening to these books!! Darren Shan is growing up and becoming a much more dynamic character. I just love reading about his adventures even when the real action begins at the end of the book.

I recommend listening to these via audiobook. The narrator is good and has a nice soothing voice. Each time I finish one of these, I want to start on the next one immediately. Still keeping these reviews short because I have so many more to read!!!!

[Shawna Finnigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was mainly just a filler book. Most of the book was spent setting up the rest of the series and the conflict didn't appear until the very end of this book, but I still enjoyed this one. I feel really attached to the characters and I'm always eager to find out what happens next even in the slow parts.

I have so many questions about this series though that I hoped get answered in the next books. Here's just some of my many unanswered questions (slight spoiler warning):
-Where is that kid from the first book that was friends with Darren? I thought he wanted to hunt vampires, so I assumed he was going to come back as a villain, but he literally just disappeared. What happened to him?
-Why do they trust Mr. Tiny and how did Mr. Tiny get his powers? Is he a god?
-How does Darren still know that he has human cells after the thing that happened to him in this book? Cells are so tiny that I wouldn't think someone would know which cells are in or not in their body without testing?
-Why is the series called "Cirque du Freak" when it barely involves the cirque anymore?
-Why is a kid named Shankus? I mean it sort of answered this, but imagine meeting someone new and saying "My name is Shankus." Like no! That poor child...

I will be continuing with this series in the future and if my concussion symptoms ever go away, I want to watch the movie adaptation of this series just to make fun of how awful it is.

[Rosaline (Rosaline's Rolls & Scrolls) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reread: Aug-20-2019
Actual rating: 2.5 Stars

I did not really care about this book. I first read it so long ago that I felt like I was reading the book for the first time. But this time I didn't enjoy it much. Gone was the excitement and wonder of youth and I found myself bored instead.

I did not like the writing at all. The book read like the first draft of half a story. I felt like it was written in a day or two. And nothing really got concluded in Hunters of the Dusk as is the way of Darren Shan's books. They all feel like part of a bigger novel instead of separate novels in a series.

I did not like the main character, Darren. I saw no developments on his part and for me he has lost all personality.

All the other characters, especially the supposedly big and powerful vampires were like adult characters in children's cartoons. They had weird logic and just were so indecisive and overall unnecessary.

I, however, did not absolutely hate the book either. It was okay for what it was. Though I'm not sure what it was. For me Cirque Du Freak was good when I was a kid. Now it's just a sloppy excuse for a series.

Also, the "mysteries" are so obvious. They should reveal them already!

 

[Narges Amooei · Rating 4 out of 5]

اولش با هیجان شروع شد و آخرش هم با هیجان و برانگیختن حس کنجکاوی‌مون تموم. ولی اواسط داستان خیلی آروم و بی‌اتفاق می‌گذشت که البته به نظرم برای تعادل لازم بود.

[Whitney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Six years have passed since The Vampire Prince and the vampires are at war with the vampaneze. Along comes Mr. Tiny, bearing an ominous look into the future. Darren, Mr. Crepsley, and Harkat Mulds are dispatched on a mission to do the impossible; find and kill the Lord of the vampaneze. If they should fail, the destruction of the vampire world will be on their hands.

Plot

Though I found the overall plot of Hunters of the Dusk boring, I’m glad I didn’t have to sit through the six years that Darren was stuck inside of Vampire Mountain. The short amount of time with Darren inside Vampire Mountain in The Vampire Prince was more than enough, six years honestly might have killed me. And it’s sad to say, the plot in this book was boring as the last one and didn’t pick up until the very end. The same thing happened in The Vampire Prince; the majority of the book is about preparing for something and the last part is action packed. I wasn’t as enthused to read this book since it has a same sort of feeling as The Vampire Prince. At the very least, the story is finally, finally moving forward. It’s taken many set up books but at least the end is in the horizon.

In Hunters of the Dark, after a six year time skip, Darren and the vampires are at war with the vampaneze. Mr. Tiny shows up and really gets the ball moving. This is good, but it feels forced. And then Darren & Co. go out into the world to search for the Vampaneze Lord. The majority of the book is just them travelling around; that’s where the boring part comes from.

Writing

The writing was lackluster. If a writer has to include things into their book that isn’t very thrilling, they need to be able to make it exiting anyways. I’ve said before in and earlier review of one of the books in this series that Shan doesn’t do this particularly well. Usually he just skips over these parts, but when he can’t and has to write them, the reader suffers. His writing is still good, I’d probably never say it wasn’t, but when he’s not introducing new things or writing action scenes, Shan’s writing isn’t very engaging.

Characters

I feel very odd about Darren. He’s mentally around twenty-five, I believe, yet he still thinks rather foolishly. The scene where he’s going through the Purge is the best example I’ve seen. He’s actually talking to his reflection like a toddler; not like a child but more like a baby. I don’t know if Shan wrote that part for laughs or what but it wasn’t all that funny. We know Darren is smarter than that so I don’t know why that scene was dragged out for more than a second where Darren should have been startled at first but then quickly realized that it was his reflection.

We have two reoccurring characters: Mr. Crepsley and Harkat Mulds. Even though Darren is supposed to have a close relationship with the two of them, once again, it’s not really shown. It’s not like Shan doesn’t know how to write friendships, he did it easily with Darren’s friendship between Steve, Evra, and Sam. I guess because they are more adult characters.

And we meet a new main character, the missing Prince Vancha March. The first few chapters with Vancha made me not really like him. He was obnoxious and it feels like his personality was played up too much. I can see the potential in him and liked him a bit close to the end of the book.

Things I Didn't Like

My biggest problem with Hunters of the Dusk was how boring it was. It was just dull. I hope the action picks up again the next book, because it’ll be difficult going through five more books like this. There’s not much more to say about that.

The other problem I had with the book was how I noticed the female characters are treated. There are six women total in the Cirque du Freak series thus far that have at least one line of dialogue and names. They are Mrs. Shan, Mrs. Leonard, Mrs. Hemlock, Debbie, Arra Sails, and Evanna (who is introduced in this book). The first three women have no other roles except to be mothers for a short period of time. Debbie and Arra Sails are both love interests, Arra of which who is killed to incite man-pain in Mr. Crepsley. Evanna, we are told, was created so that vampires could have babies with her. IF a vampire wants to have a baby, she is the only person who can carry it. This is a terrible ensemble of female characters. Yes, Arra and Evanna are powerful in their own right but Arra was defeated and killed and Evanna is was literally created just to be a vampire baby-maker! Why are there no good, well-rounded female characters that actually have some purpose to the story?

Diversity

Evanna is a woman who is introduced to the reader. She is strong and powerful but the way her existence is explained is a bit problematic. And there’s honestly not all that much of her in the book to be seen. Other than that, no other diverse characters come to mind.

Overall

If I had to describe Hunters of the Dark with one word, it would probably be “forced”. The plot is forced forward by Mr. Tiny. The writing feels forced. This books just wasn’t enjoyable to me. This is another bridge book and there are already too many in this series for me to be sympathetic towards it.

Here is a link to my notes.

[Sabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

8.26 CAWPILE

[mitween books · Rating 5 out of 5]

دارن شان واقعا چجوری یه همچین چیزایی به ذهنت میرسه؟؟

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing like opening a book in a series and finding out it’s skipped forward…by six years. Yes, six years. Hear me sigh in irritation.

The last book left off with a stunning revelation, but we’ve skipped forward now. Once I got past that annoying development, the story continues to demand my attention.

Darren hasn’t seemed to think or tend to the views of the former traitor he was considering before (peace treaties), and while not enjoying killing, does it with more natural ease when it’s needed. Or else, when he thinks it’s needed. Mr. Tiny has returned and along with his encounter, an interesting sorceress who tells the potentials of the future as well. Characters like Lady Evanna amp up the fantasy aspect.

The trio – Darren, Crepsley, and Harkat – leave the mountains finally to begin a classic adventure journey. Fits in well no matter the age level. There are four foretold chances, and the fate of the entire race depends on failure or success.

There was also a tossed in other possible outcome that affects Darren more personally, something I hope the next book covers in more detail. It’s dark, it’s serious, and it raises the stakes in a different direction. Curious and revving to go continue this journey in the next book – these just fly by when reading them.

Another four star book in the series that works in making this world more complex, more captivating.

[Miranda Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

THIS BOOK DOES NOT have any Cirque Du Freak

Unfortunately, this book has completely veered off from the original series. I remember my first time time through it that I was throwing my hands up in the air going - where's the freaks?? I really enjoyed the first few books where they are running around with the circus - meeting all the quirky characters and getting into trouble. This book definitely feels like everyone is in for the long hall.

Audiobook Comments
Read by Ralph Lister - an excellent reader!

YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads

[Jarrod · Rating 5 out of 5]

The time jumps in these books get me a little bit because it doesn't seem like Darren matures (internally, not externally) as much as he should. But the author does a good job getting us up to speed and onto the next adventure quickly. I enjoyed the return to the Cirque, however short-lived, though the crux battle and reveal of the book really happens in a flash.

[Mostafa Tabrizian · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10
جذاب و خواندنی. مثل داستان گرگ و میش 🧛🏻‍♂️
دو قسمت بعدی رو خریدم با اشتیاق خوندن ادامه داستان 🖤
__________________
#12-2020
#146-Entire
9 'til 17 Aban 1399
30 Oct 'til 7 Nov 2020
__________________
👥 به یادتون میمونم: ونچا، کرپسلی، ایوانا
__________________
مصطفی تبریزیان
۱۷ آبان ۹۹

[Emad · Rating 2 out of 5]

همه چیز داشت خوب پیش می‌رفت تا جایی که آن انتها داستانِ برادری مطرح شد، آن هم با چنین پلاتِ ضعیفی.
ولی به هرحال پتانسیل‌هایِ این قسمت از مجموعه نشان می‌داد که داستان هنوز هم می‌تواند جذّابیّت‌هایِ خود را بالفعل کند، هرچند این اتّفاق باید بعد از «دخمۀ خونین» می‌افتاد.

دودیگر این‌که آقا جان، این چه طرحِ جلدی است؟
تازه «صفیر» را هم نوشته‌اند «سفیر؛» آن هم نه یک بار، سه چهار بار :)

[Matti · Rating 3 out of 5]

The reread continues!
This is another very... set-up-y(?) book? It picks up after a time skip and the plot is very light, most of it is filling in the reader, establishing new characters and concepts, expanding on the world and so on. This is great on a first read, but having read these books a solid handful of times now it doesn't really do much for me anymore. It's good stuff, but there's nothing else there to keep my attention. Except Vancha, who is one of my favourite characters. He's so gross I love him.

[Leoni Dempsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 star read for me overall ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ this instalment sees Darren, Mr Crepsley, Vancha and Harkat heading off on their mission to find and kill the Vampaneze Lord as the three chosen hunters in Mr Tiny’s prophecy! I loved the part where they revisited the Cirque du Freak and the character of Lady Evanna with her poisonous frogs was intriguing. Looking forward to seeing what happens next in this series! 😊

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

When a friend of mine recommended a young adult series to me about vampires I was a little hesitant. Thinking back a few years to the time I tried many vampire series friends of mine loved I almost lost interest completely. But I trusted this friend and decided to check it out. I could always stop reading after the first book. I was relieved to see that this book didn’t look like any of the other vampire books I tried to read so I didn’t have come up with an excuse why I couldn’t read this series. I’m so glad I gave it a chance.

This is the seventh book of the series and it still isn’t boring or predictable. These are great books if you feel yourself getting into a reading slump and you need to read a book that’s interesting and easy. I usually read these books when I’m reading a something that’s hard to get through and I need a break.

I liked this book but I did have a few problems with some things:

This book had a new character I didn’t like. We meet a new prince: Vancha. The way he acts is just too much and extreme. I would have liked him better if the way he behaved was more subtle. There was a conversation between him and Darren where we find out he want to beat the sun so he tortures himself by walking around in daylight. I don’t know maybe I’m wrong but that makes no sense to me.

Darren goes through something called '’the purge’’. It’s a sort of super-fast vampire puberty. I didn’t like this because I loved reading about him struggling with growing up so slowly and it was so unexpected and felt forced.

The names vampaneze and vampets. I don’t think it should be very hard to come up with something better than that.

[Siobhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book in the series is very much focused around the larger plot related to the twelve books. Whilst some of the previous books were focused more upon Darren’s experiences this one brings us back to the war which is going on.

After being visited by a character from one of the past books, our main characters find themselves at the Cirque once again. Here events are not quite what they once seemed, with questionable motives in the air. Our characters find out that completing the mission that they are upon isn’t quite as straight forward as it may seem.

[Stormy · Rating 5 out of 5]

so I absolutely love this book and I loved how it was different to the others in the sense that it was told 6 years on and we get to find out what Darren's been doing in that time all of his training how he decided to do the games even though he didn't have to and everything about the Vampaneze and how he and Mr Crepsley and the little person needed to go on a secret Mission this was my favourite bit in the book That's funny. You were singing about how much you … loved it earlier. 'Ale, ale, I drink like a whale, I am the … Prince, the Prince of ale'."

[teddy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hunters of the Dusk was most definitely the least interesting of the series thus far, which is upsetting since it's supposed to be drawing closer to the huge finale. Nevertheless, I did find myself enjoying the snippets of information that were littered every so often about Harkat's previous form! I believe he was maybe the brother to Evanna… I'm also pretty sure that the Vampeneze Lord is Steve Leopard/Leonard — since that would make perfect sense!

[Maddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one felt super short! Nothing really happened! At least we did learn about how Mr Crepsley got his scar. Interesting. And we went back to the Cirque to see Evra again! And he's got kids now. So strange, especially the name of his son, Shankus. I definitely wouldn't name my kid that XD
Who knows when I'll get to the next one, but I will see where they go next.

[Martin Kurij · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found myself having to really persist with this book, the pace of it seemed very slow compared to the past books and the story a tad boring and stale at times.
I did however quite enjoy the last quarter of the book, even though it was very obvious apart from one point which was quite refreshing.
An overall mediocre read in my opinion.

[Kraipob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Fun story. Great characters. Cover scares the crap out of me.

[Vanessa Kiara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great tale of Shan.

Luckily for Darren - he got to age a lot!
Eternal youth (for vampires how we usually know them) might seem good but to stay as a child for years on, while ageing must be hell!

Here Darran and Crepsley are on the road again, with Harkat and meet Vancha - a quite disgusting (literally, not his personality) and wild vampire - and later on Evanna, some kind of witch.

We get to know that there are four possibilities to save the vampires and that this will only happen, when the vampaneze Lord is killed.
I do think it will turn out to be Steve but that is because of the movie. Of course, the importance of said person at the beginning was questioned by me before, because of the lack of further appearances but I don't think I would suspect him of being the Lord, if not for the movie.

I also enjoyed this book a lot and like that we got to see old beloved characters, I want to see more of them and also Evanna (I by the way hope this is the correct writing of her name).

I am excited for more and think the way the war and confrotation is build up is genius. Yes it takes a lot of time but I would say it's the right amount of time - I am in anticipation, not in distress (because too long, it really isn't.)

I am intrigued in what comes next.

[Harold Smithson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shan's attempt to escalate his series has turned it into something completely different, and sadly one that is more predictable and much less interesting. The evocative slice-of-life scenes from the first three books are all but gone, and despite stabs at moral complexity (which were admittedly successful in the previous book) Shan's grand war plot just lacks the characterization that lent the first three books their appeal. It no longer has a unique selling point, and the structuring leaves much to be desired. Each book is half of a plot, half of a character arc, which I guess makes sense in a series, but the first three books were all relatively self-contained, so we've gone from one story told in two hundred pages to one story told across six.

[Julianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This starts with a pretty significant time jump. 6 years have passed since Darren became a vampire prince and they're training for the war against the vampaneze.

Except not a lot happens. Its actually painfully slow. Mr Tiny gives a lot of exposition. They have Vancha March, who really feels like a stand in for every other vampire we've lost in the last part of the series, join their vampaneze lord quest. They travel back to the cirque and then the book is almost over!

Theres one fight scene and some more exposition and now its on to the next. Definitely a little bit of a let down from the excitement of the trials of death.

[Cassandra Marie Darling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another filler. Great build up and layers to the series so far. More background to this ever developing story.

I am really interested in Hakats tale and what his dreams means and ultimately who he is.

Evanna is playing a risky game inbetween all thus conflict and I hope she sees sense on Mr Tiny and his ludicrous dabbling into the future.

We got 4 chances at the vampaneze... We knew it wasn't going to be on chance one...

Big question is will Darrens thumb be ok? 😂

[Etienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always good, this series never let me down. This one was a bit slower in term of action, but I enjoy it anyway. I like that we get back at the Cirque du Freak a bit and we get to see some of those old characters from the beginning! We continue to learn, the plot continue to evolve, we get an idea of where it goes and how it might end. I like it a lot!

[Danielle Messier · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually lost this book for quite a while... could not find it anywhere. So, anyway.

We are still following Darren as he is coming more into his role in Vampire Mountain and his duty with the prophecy. He meets up with Mr.Crepsley and the sun-loving, crazed vampire prince Varta March. They are trying to fight the Vampaneze still, and stop them from overtaking the vampires for good.

[Hayli · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was definitely hard to follow up the previous book, and this one was definitely a lot slower in comparison. This book is the beginning of their journey that will determine their fates as Vampires, as well as the Vampaneze.