The Barnes & Noble Review
Darren Shan continues the saga of a teenage boy who gets unwittingly drawn into a world of vampires, werewolves, and other freaky creatures with this second installment in his innovative Cirque Du Freak series. Shan's protagonist, who bears the same name as the author, is one of the most complex and innovative characters ever to see the light of day -- a freedom he may soon lose if he gives in to his craving for human blood and becomes a full vampire rather than a mere half-blood. Darren's dilemma is a tough one: Drink the blood of a fellow human -- an act that will cost him the few remaining shreds of his humanity -- or die.

Feeling lost, lonely, and at odds with himself, Darren is delighted when his vampiric mentor, Mr. Crepsley, makes the decision to rejoin the traveling freak show. Among the oddball characters who comprise the show's performers, Darren finally makes some friends, most of whom are as weird or weirder than he is. In an effort to regain some semblance of his old life, Darren also befriends two outsiders, normal human beings whose well-intentioned actions will eventually lead to tragic results. As events unfold with the same sense of inevitability as the rising and setting sun, Darren is once again torn between his own needs and those of the others around him. His heroism and self-sacrifice -- all done in the name of friendship -- garner results that are both tragic and rewarding.

It's to the author's credit that despite their deformities, strange abilities, and offbeat appearances, most of the oddball characters who populate the Cirque Du Freak come across as refreshingly self-reliant, confident, and...well...normal. This tight-knit community of outcasts, with their strong sense of family and friendship, make for an intriguing supporting cast. And while most YA readers may not be able to relate personally to Darren's moral and ethical struggles with his vampirism, they will undoubtedly connect with his overwhelming desire to fit in somewhere and belong. (Beth Amos)

In The Vampire's Assistant, the second installment of the series begun with Cirque du Freak by Darren Shan, the hero returns to the old-fashioned freak show where, thanks to Mr. Crespley, he became a "half-vampire." Darren once again struggles against the urge to feed upon the human blood his health requires. (Sept.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Gr 5-8-After a breezy two-page introduction that gives the major plot points of Cirque du Freak, readers are plunged back into the world of a young, newly minted half-vampire (a concept that is never fully explained). With his mentor, the creepy full vampire Mr. Crepsley, Darren is learning the ropes of the undead. Readers quickly get a rundown of the facts, the most important one being that vampires, even half ones, must have human blood to survive, and Darren can't bring himself to drink. There is not much plot here. He and Mr. Crepsley return to the Cirque du Freak. Darren and Evra, a snake-boy, make what is ultimately a tragic friendship with a local boy named Sam and a self-proclaimed "ecowarrior" named R.V. It is R.V. who precipitates the real action as he becomes suspicious of animals disappearing from nearby farms. The first-person narration seems superficial, and there is little depth to Darren's character. That said, Shan creates heart-pounding, page-turning action that will keep kids reading. He certainly knows his horror, and this book cranks up the gore factor a notch or two. Readers will get more information about the genuinely weird denizens of the Cirque du Freak. There are some genuinely horrific, almost painful moments, particularly at the book's tragic climax. Readers will be turning from the page, sickened, and then come back to find out what happens next. The question remains, where can Shan take his readers from here? Just how far will he go?-Tim Wadham, Maricopa County Library District, Phoenix, AZ Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

The sequel to Shan's successful horror debut (not reviewed) is another guilty pleasure. Shan, the author/narrator of this putative true account, is now a "half-vampire" and the assistant to the well-meaning vampire Mr. Crepsley. Since he refuses to drink human blood, Darren is slowly dying. After exiling himself from his family and friends, he is also lonely; so he and Mr. Crepsley return to the freak show where they met. There he bonds with Evra, the reptilian snake-handler, and Sam, a precocious human boy. Unfortunately, he also gets involved with R.V., a stereotypical unwashed hippie eco-warrior, who decides to make his next cause freeing the show's animal acts. Shan won't win any literary awards for this one-Darren's voice is stilted and unconvincing, suspense is created by contrived cliffhangers, ominous foreshadowing keeps falling from the sky like anvils, and the plot is gutted by elementary scientific blunders (such as repeated references to the python's "poison"). Once Darren becomes a freak-show insider, the eerie creepiness is not so easily maintained; but Shan more than makes up for that by ladling out great glops of macabre grotesquerie: a snake-boy who can lick the inside of his own nose! Mute misshapen dwarfs who feast on human flesh! The circus performer who saws off his own limbs! Gross-out horror fans will devour it and clamor for the next in the series. (Fiction. 10-14) $250,000 ad/promo