Vampire Mountain

Originally posted at Fantasy Literature. http://www.fantasyliterature.com/reviews/vampire-mountain/

It???s been six years since the events of the previous book, Tunnels of Blood. Darren and Mr. Crepsley have been travelling with the Cirque du Freak, but this is the year that the Vampire Council meets in Vampire Mountain and so it???s time for Mr. Crepsley to present Darren to the other vampires. Thus they set off on the long and perilous journey to Vampire Mountain, bringing with them two of the mysterious Little People who belong to the even more mysterious Mr. Tiny. Along the way they encounter a friendly wolf pack and we learn that wolves are cousins to vampires and that Mr. Tiny has something to do with the breeding program. The travelers also encounter various frightening and foreboding signs that the vampaneze are getting ready to attack and it turns out that Harkat, one of the Little People traveling with them, is bringing a warning message from Mr. Tiny for the vampire princes. According to Mr. Tiny, the vampaneze have a new leader who plans to destroy the vampire race. Will the princes believe the message? Will the vampires be able to get prepared in time?

Traveling to Vampire Mountain takes up about half of the page count. Once we finally get there, Darren learns a lot about vampire ways and meets a bunch of new characters. Most of these are vampires but some are another strange race of people that work in the caves and tunnels of the mountain and have a symbiotic relationship with the vampires. (There are also other creatures lurking in the mountain???.) When the princes find out that Mr. Crepsley turned Darren in an unethical manner ??? mainly by bribing him and by not disclosing all the fine print ??? things get ugly and Darren is given the option to prove he is worthy by undergoing a series of trials. .... Read the rest: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/reviews/vampire-mountain/

This is a 3.5 read for Me. I was told My reviews are better without a summery so I am going to try this without summarizing. I am enjoying this series on a few points. 1 I like the growing bond that is going on between Darren and Mr. Crepsley. or as I like to call him Mr. Crapsley. -smirks-
I am also enjoying the unfolding story of all the supporting characters of this book. I just hope that the pace of the next book is as quick as this was. Trials of death is on My to read list I may even start tonight!

Despite being written for children, these books continue to unfold at a great pace which keeps them interesting despite me no longer being 13. This is one of the books I remembered quite vividly as I always used to imagine going to Vampire Mountain myself. Neat lore for the series which we've not had a great deal of, but also many cool characters introduced along with some more set-up and foreshadowing.