Cirque Du Freak: Trials of Death, Vol. 5

Cirque Du Freak: The Manga #5

by Darren Shan, Takahiro Arai

In agreeing to undergo the Trials of Initiation in order to restore Mr. Crepsley's honor, Darren may have bitten off more than a half-vampire can chew. Each trial is taxing than the last, and despite his resolve, Darren simply may not be up to the task! In the depths of Vampire Mountain, though, a threat even deadlier than the Trials is stirring...

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Vampires, Horror, Graphic Novels, Young Adult, Paranormal

208 pages, Paperback

Published April 20, 2010

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

[Totoro · Rating 5 out of 5]

gavneeeeeeeeer <:'(
after all the times i've read this book, that part is still so saaaad :'(

[Btheilmanngohr3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, we have the five trials. First one is the aquatic maze. It was actually a quite interesting concept. Here, Darren must find a white X and press a button on it. He also had a rock attached to him half his weight. Anyway, he barely manages out, with little air. Next was the path of needles. Here, he has to climb on needles from one side to the other I believe. Here, he gets impaled and survives. Impaled. It's not the most sensical thing, but whatever, he lives, hurrah! The third trial is the room of fire, or whatever it was called. for fifteen minutes you had to survive fire. He gets scorched, but survives, barely. Luckily, he gets a break. the next trial was the blooded boar, and nearly completes it, but is interrupted by the character harkat, and had to be executed. Luckily, though, he went to escape. Turns out there were vampaneze. Gavner gets murdered by Kurda, and Darren is in the hall of final voyage. The book was quite nice, and a bit of a twist when he didn't finish the trials.

[Joseph Devall]

I liked the cliff hanger at the end when Darren and the others fond the vimpanzese inside the mountain when they ran away. In the beginning when Darren was training he had to do the water maze and almost drowned but found the door on the way out. And on the second trial when he had to go over that path of needles and had one big rock go through him and he pulled it out and kept on going. Then He had to do the hall of flames and he ran though it and burnt himself to a crisp. finally i liked it when he did the blooded boar (The take a boar and put vampire blood in it witch makes it much bigger and more angry.) And harkhat kill the second boar to save Darren's life.

[Omar Vilchis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is very interesting and exciting. I say this because there are many problems that come across the people in the story, who are all vampires, that are both difficult and exciting since these vampires have special abilities that no ordinary human does. These characters have super speed and are harder to die. They develop at 1/5 the speed of a regular human, so they can live for hundreds of years. These characters encounter an evil army called the vampaneze that want the vampire´s artifact.
I liked how the author slowly introduced a problem when the story was focused on the protagonist, Darren Shan, proving himself worthy to be a vampire because he is not completely a vampire yet.

This book is in a series so you have to read previous books to understand the current situation. The book does include many protagonists, so this causes the story to lose the reader during some parts of the book because the characters are forgotten. The book also leaves unexplained situations, which leaves the reader thinking "what happen ?" The antagonists are not making the book exciting because they are almost the same as the protagonists, but they just rebelled. Lastly, the book takes place mainly in the same setting, a big mountain called Vampire Mountain.

Overall, I would recommend this book. I would recommend it for people that have been reading the Darren Shan series to continue it. I would also recommend it to kids that enjoy reading fiction because this book includes plenty of, as well as the series. I would recommend it to people who have read books similar to characters with super human abilities. You will enjoy this book.

[Angel Camacho · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I read was Cirque Du Freak: Trials of Death, by Darren Shan. The setting of the book is at vampire mountain where the vampire princes are at. Every 12 years they gather and have the Council of Vampires. The main character is Darren and kruda. Darren is the half-vampire going through the trials to prove he is worthy of being a vampire, and Kruda is a vamp prince. I found this book at the library but I love reading these books just could not find them.

The book was very interesting and a pageturner. Darren had to go through a lot of dangerous trials that would easily lead to his death. He would have to train for each and be very tired, he even would have to train super hurt and damaged from the one before. If he failed he would have to die because it was a vampire law. He failed one and had to follow Kruda who wanted to help him escape his death. But in the process of doing that Darren finds out that Kruda is a traitor and does what he can to escape him. Which led him to fall in a river and almost to his death.

The last few chapters just had you at the edge of your seat. The idea of Kruda killing their own friend was a shock. Darren going into the river that would cost his life was guts, means that he was brave to risk his life just to not get captured by the traitor Kruda. Darren was not gonna end up like their friend and die.

I personally loved this book, talks about a young boy who was blooded to be a vampire. Filled with excitement and parts that would leave your heart pumping. this book is good for people who like action and vampires.

[J Jahir · Rating 5 out of 5]

la hora de la verdad. Darren debe pasar por las 5 pruebas que pondrán a prueba su resistencia física y mental para ser aceptado como un miembro más de la corte de los vampiros. de no lograrlo, representa la muerte. en ese aspecto me pareció muy chocante y bastante injusta esta sociedad, y todavía más cuando vemos algo que da un giro de tuerca a las cosas, cuando él se enfrenta a la cuarta prueba.
Debo mencionar que este libro te deja en una tensión y un suspenso de lo más desesperante, pues cada prueba se va poniendo mucho, mucho más difícil. cuando pensé que ya terminaría todo ahí, fue en la tercera: las llamas. dije: valió madres. pero entre todo esta tensión, le agradezco a Darren por darnos un pequeño respiro con la fiesta que hicieron. eso créanme que se agradece. No dejo de asombrarme cómo a pesar de que los libros tienen un formato muy corto es capaz de hacer que pasen tantas cosas y llevarlas a un punto de interés tan bueno. Encima, el lenguaje para nada es complicado, es de lo más sencillo y en ningún momento te aburre, los cliffhangers son cada vez más atrapantes que quieres tomarte el siguiente ya. y en particular lo que ocurre al final... mejor que lo vean por su cuenta.

[The Book Dragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darren has agreed to undertake the general trials, tasks that could easily kill even full vampire men, let alone a half-vampire boy. But it’s the only way to redeem both himself and Crepsley. Except if he fails, he dies. The good news is that there are a lot of friends ready to help any way they can.

But trouble is brewing and with the growing threat of Mr. Tiny’s prophecy about the Vampaneze Lord everyone is on edge.

And Kurda killed Gavner! I only just picked him as my favorite! Why?! And still no Steve. I know he’s gonna show up eventually.

This series has 12 volumes and is based on the Darren Shan novel series Cirque du Freak.

[Imogen Brand · Rating 5 out of 5]

I personally love Cirque Du Freak Trials Of Death more than any other volume because of all of the touching personal connections to each of the characters.

Especially for Gavner his pink elephant pants wrapped nicely as a present with a hand written letter always bring a smile on my face and tears to my eyes as it be his lasting memory he bring to the next world. Can't imagine a world where Gavner does not have a relaxed goofy smile on his face.

Even In Death May He Be Triumphant

[Hannah Belyea · Rating 3 out of 5]

The initiation continues for Darren as he desperately attempts to survive test after test, all while an even greater danger lurks beneath the surface. "Trials of Death" will have readers begging for more as its exciting story is accompanied by magnificent work by Arai. Fans are sure to get more than they bargained for as the action and mystery continue!

[Meri · Rating 5 out of 5]

The manga artist had their work cut out to pull together the trials and aftermath in one volume. But they've done a great job here - it's engaging, fast paced and doesn't lose the spirit of the source material. I personally loved the subtle references towards Shan's short story An Affair of the Night. It made me sad all over again!

[Amara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing depth of story and characters in this volume. Like the mangaka confessed in the end of the volume I would have liked this volume to have been a bit longer. Would have been nice to learn more about the festival of the undead.

[James Biser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darren faces certain death repeatedly as he is challenged by the Trials that are designed for vampire heroes. Luckily he is well prepared for each test by his good friends. Unfortunately, survival is not likely for the vampire apprentice.

[David Kernan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book had a cliffhanger ending, but it still expanded on characters that were introduced in the last volume and had good detail in how Darren felt in the trials

[Carrie-Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Najera DVD 10 · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Rose River]

How do I read? Please help me 😭

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good. He was trying to get the respect of the Vampires 🧛‍♂️

[Daniel Ruiz padilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy emocionante, todo el tiempo están ocurriendo cosas y el ritmo es bueno.

[Kallie Beltrami · Rating 2 out of 5]

I originally read this book, not because I thought that I would like it, but because I found it in my older sister's bedroom and I needed a book to read for credit in my English class. I chose it almost as a joke, because judging by the cover I knew it wasn't the type of book I would ever enjoy. This book is the fifth in a saga of 12 books that are split into trilogies. This one is a trilogy that is all about vampires. I have not read any of the other books by this author, but I had been told that they do not all directly correlate and you do not have to read previous books to understand any of them. I was pleasantly surprised that it was somewhat, yes only somewhat realistic. Aside from the vampires and other mythical creatures that advance the plot, the author did a good job at keeping me engaged as a reader. My personal favorite aspect of the book was the names of the characters because no matter how many times I read them, I still found humor in them (I mean come on... what kind of name is Harkat?) The general plot of this book is that there are four trials that all vampires must go through in order to be accepted by the Vampire Princes. It is a initiation process for the newly turned vampires to earn the respect of their peers. The trials are composed of difficult tasks that one must complete like, fighting a boar, or escaping a maze, but magnified with challenges by 1000x. There is a large plot twist at the very end of the book that is surprising and relieving since the entire book is suspenseful and it is the first time in the entire book that the protagonist handles a situation in the same way I would. I read this book very quickly, but not often, which means I had little desire to read it most days, but when I did, it took minimal time since it is written at the level of a 5th grader (my rough estimate). The language used it often simple, and occasionally contains difficult vocabulary.

[Selena Pigoni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh, at some point, I just stopped caring.

There's a case of "That guy we thought was good was actually a traitor" (but I figured he was evil three volumes ago upon his introduction). There's a case of "inexperienced child gets in over his head, mostly succeeds when he should have no chance, and when he fails there are no consequences" (which pretty much happened exactly like that, and though it wasn't necessarily "without consequences", it's not like he's punished in the end).

Ultimately, Cirque Du Freak has become more and more predictable, made even worse by Darren's "foreshadowing". Why the sarcastic quotation marks? His foreshadowing is like a neon sign blinking in large friendly yellow letters.

[Brenden · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book Cirque Du Freak, Trials of Death is a thrilling book about vampires, just from the mere description it will make you cringe from the pain the main character has to endure through the trials.
The main character's name is Darren, his mentor Mr. Crepsley made Daren a half vampire so he could run arons for him during the day but a different type of vampire known as the vampaneze (a clan of vampires that suck the humans dry, vampires do not they take a little blood and leave) they want Darren for and unknown reason, Darren has to go through the trials of death to be respected by the other vampires.
One thing i really liked about the book was the description, you could almost feel his pain and imagine the gruesome scenes.
the story takes place on vampire mountain, where Darren has to prove he has what it takes to stay with them by going through the trials of death.
This story is great for anyone that likes action and anything strange, my personal rating of this book would be 5 stars out of five because i never got bored of the story it kept me in suspense throughout the The Aquatic Maze was a man-made, built with a low ceiling and watertight walls. There were four doors in and out of it, one in each of its four external walls. from the center where I would be left, it usually took five or six minutes to find your way out, if you didn't get lost.
The Path of Needles was long, narrow cavern filled with sharp-tipped stalactites and stalagmites. That you must scale.
those are only two of the trials he has to face

[Grace Zhen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was so exciting and scary at the same time. The main character Darren Shan has to go though numerous dangerous trials in order to prove that he is a strong half- vampire and save his master's reputation. Darren almost died a couple of times and after every trial he got super injured. In the trial before his last one was the most extreme and dangerous out of all of his earlier ones because he had to survive numerous enormous spinning fires in a time limit. He managed to barely survive but he suffered 4th degree burns everywhere, lucky him that he was a half-vampire if not then he would have already died. In his last trial he almost died fighting two wild boars in an injured condition luckily his friend saved him but that interference caused Darren to be sentence to death for "mocking" the trials. I was so scared that he might have to die, i mean how else was he going to get away with this. Then he attempted to escape with his friends and soon he found that vampanaze were hiding in the vampire mountain. He also discovered that one of his friends was a traitor and killed his other friend. I liked the friend who was the traitor, it was saddening to found out he was a traitor but i believed in him that he betrayed the vampire clan for a good cause.

[Sarah Maddaford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the last one, this book felt a bit rushed. The artist did an excellent job of portraying events, but he had so many that he needed to show that he couldn't spend enough time on each one. I may actually have to pick up the novel on this one because I felt that a good deal of subtext was left out. There's more politics in this one, but I think the vampire princes show their better nature by acknowledging lesser known rules.Even though Harkat is portrayed very positively, he still creeps me out beyond my sympathy threshold and manages to screw things up. I also don't see the reason that Darren likes Kurda so much. He is helpful and nice, but it feels forced to me. I can very easily understand why he almost lost the vote to become a prince. His overtures to Darren succeed in making others trust him more which really bothered me. This one is also a bit more gory than the last. Darren has to go through three different trials two of which would result in rather gruesome deaths if he failed. I would have preferred to read the fire chamber part because even the amount they showed was a bit disturbing to me. Still no sex or language at all.

[Franklin]

This book was better then just reading about it, becase now i see what the characteres look like. This book was one of the best books in the series i read because there was an injured boy and a betrayed best freind. One of darrens best freinds died that was like a gramdpa to him died by one of his best freind name Kurda who betrayed him because he joined forces with the Vampanize because he said he didnnt want the vampanize tribe to kill the vamapnize. But at they end Kurda died in the Hall of Death because he confesed that he was with the vamanize. I think that Darren was really Sad at they end because his best freind died but he affenged him by killing a really strong vamanize. Now Darren must escape the cave and go some where else because ther vamanize r gonna kill Darren. I hope Darren the vampire lives.

[Khadija · Rating 4 out of 5]

DARREN SHANE IS A HALF VANPIRE HI WAS BLOODED WHEN HIS WAS YOUNGH.FOR EIGTH YEAR HE HAVE BEEN TOURED THE WORLD WITH THE CIRQUE DU FREAK .

EVERY FOUR YEARS THE VANPIRES GENERAL WILL HAVE A CONCIL.IN VAMPIRE MOUNTAIN. DARREN AND MR CRESPLY WILL HAVE TO TRAIL TO THE MOUNTAIN. WITH THEM THEY WILL BRING A LITTLE PERSON HIS NAME HI(HARKAT MULDS),GAVNER PURL (HE IS ONE OF THE GENERAL)AND FOUR WOLF MALE THAT DARREN NAMED STREAK AND A BABY CUB NAMED RUDI.

WHENE THEY GET TO THE VAMPIRE MOUNRAIN.DARREN HAD TO PROVE HIM SLEF WROTHY.SO THER E FOR HE HAD TO PASS ALL FIVE TEST.IF HE WERE TO FAIL ,HE WERE TO BE KILLED.DARREN PASS THE FIRST THREE TRAIL,BUT THE FOUR THE ENDED BY DISASTOUSLY DARREN HAD FAIL THE TRAIL BECAUSE HARKAT HAD SAVED HIM

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cirque du Freak Manga, book 5.

Darren must participate in the "trials of Death," five random and very dangerous tasks, to prove that he is worthy of being a vampire. The punishment for failure is death. The action sequences will keep readers turning pages, and a surprise betrayal after the final task will make them eager for the next installment.

[George Lathouris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much the series just keeps getting better and better. The book is about a half-vampire named Darren Shan who is undergoing trials to prove himself worthy. My favorite part was when Darren completed his third trial when all odds were against him. I recommend this book to kids 11 and up because there is a sad surprise in the book.

[Miss Ryoko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Darren's vampire trials have begun, and they are crazy tough.... how are there even so many vampires that are alive is beyond me :-p There was a bit of a twist near the end that did surprise me a bit... and now I'm really curious to see what happens next!

[Mac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darren Shan is at Vampire Mountain, and he to pass five life and death tests to pass the trial to become a full vampire. While he is doing the trials he only gets a 24 hour break! I would recommend this book to all boys and girls that like vampires and heart racing action.