Home
  • Home
  • Latest Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Authors & Artists
  • Articles
  • Reviews
  • News
  • Forums
  • Search

Bec

  • View
  • Rearrange

Digital version – browse, print or download

Books for Keeps is packed with articles, interviews comment and, of course, reviews.

You can read the whole issue online here, for free!

How to print the digital edition of Books for Keeps: click on this PDF file link - click on the printer icon in the top right of the screen to print.

BfK Newsletter

Receive the latest news & reviews direct to your inbox!

BfK No. 163 - March 2007

Cover Story
This issue’s cover illustration is from Meg Rosoff’s Just In Case. Meg Rosoff is interviewed by Nicholas Tucker. Thanks to Penguin Books for their help with this March cover.

  • PDFPDF
  • Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version
  • Send to friendSend to friend

Bec

Darren Shan
(HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks)
272pp, 978-0007231317, RRP £12.99, Hardcover
10-14 Middle/Secondary
Buy "The Demonata (4) - Bec" on Amazon

To my shame, this is the first of Shan’s books I have read; I now understand why they are so popular. This is the fourth in the Demonata series, but the novel can stand alone. However, Shan fans will no doubt be intrigued by its hints about Lord Loss’s first appearance in our world.

Ancient Ireland is overrun by a variety of flesh-eating demons, ingeniously constructed of dead people’s body parts and generally sporting lumps of flesh and spots of bile. Bec, a foundling who is now a trainee priestess, undertakes a mysterious journey which is gradually revealed as a quest to rid the island of all the demons. Her companions are one by one overcome by demons, their leader Drust’s motivation is suspect and there is a traitor in their midst…

The plot is pacy and the characters, though they are easily recognisable as quest types, are fully realised. The setting, Ireland at a time when pre-Christian and Christian religions co-existed, is more than decoration: Shan uses the setting to support his characters’ motivations and powers. There are some marvellous set-pieces describing battles and magic. Very enjoyable.

Reviewer: 
Elizabeth McConnell
4
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Help/FAQ
  • My Account