Bec
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 First edition cover. Shows the rock merged face of Brude |
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| Author | Darren Shan |
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| Country | Ireland |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Demonata series |
| Genre(s) | Horror, Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
| Released | 2 October 2006 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 272 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-00-723131-8 (first edition, hardback) |
| Preceded by | Slawter |
| Followed by | Blood Beast |
Bec is a book by Darren Shan in The Demonata series. It is the fourth book released of the series but so far it will be first chronologically. The protagonist of the book is the central character Bec. It takes place in Ireland around 1600 years ago.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
Bec is a young orphan living in a small ring fort in Celtic Ireland. She is studying to be a priestess. She's not especially powerful, but she has an extraordinary memory, as she can remember her own birth, and her teacher, Banba, believes she can one day prove herself useful to the clan they live with. It is a time of great change -- Christians have come to the country and many clans have already converted to the new religion. Bec's clan still cling to the old ways, but they know they cannot stand against the tide of Christianity for much longer. Bec is worried -- where will a priestess of ancient magic like her fit into the new world? But then her people are faced with a far greater threat -- demons invade and take over much of the country. Night becomes a time of fighting and bloodshed. The world seems poised to fall to the demon invaders.
When an autistic boy named Bran who can run incredibly fast comes to Becs rath, she and a small consignment of warriors go with him. He leads them to a crannog, where everyone is dead except a druid, Drust. The druid tells them about the tunnel, and how he aims to destroy it. They go with him.
Eventually they arrive at a a village, where Bec learns about her heritage and that she is part of those prone to lycanthropy(This is a link to the Garadexes, Grubbs' ancestors). After a long journey, they arrive at the cliffs. Bec and Drust use magic to go down into a cave, and they meet the Old Creatures, who tell them how to destroy the tunnel. Bec realises she needs to be sacrificed. When talking about it with Drust, Bran overhears and tries to help. When Bec is about to be sacrificed, Drust is knifed in the back by Bran and Bec realises Bran wouldn't let her die. Drust tells her to use him as the sacrifice, as he is about to die anyway. When the tunnel is destroyed, Brudes mouth starts to close. As they run along it, they are almost going to make it, but Vein (Lord Loss' familiar) catches onto her leg. She fights her off, but too slow. They couldn't make it out of the tunnel. Bec uses magic to force Bran to use his running skills to escape. Then the tunnel closes. She is finally during the last sentences of the book being torn, ripped and shredded to death by the demons, and is trapped in the tunnel. Presumably, the only survivor of the group of warriors is Bran.
[edit] Trivia
- One of the main differences between this book and the others in the series is that, in this book, the existence of demons is a universally accepted fact.
- The audio CD version of "Bec" is on sale in the UK and Ireland now. It features the voice talents of actress Lorraine Pilkington.
- The first and last line of the book "Screams in the Dark" is also the tag line on the cover.
[edit] Expected release dates
- Hardcover
- UK and Ireland - OUT NOW
- United States - May 2007
- Paperback
- UK and Ireland - mid 2007
- United States - unknown
- Audio CD
- UK and Ireland - mid 2007
- United States - unknown
[edit] References
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| Released Novels | Lord Loss · Demon Thief · Slawter · Bec |
| Upcoming Novels | Blood Beast · Demonata book 6 |
| Protagonists | Grubbs Grady · Kernel Fleck |
| Other Characters | Dervish Grady · Billy 'Bill-E' Spleen · List of characters from The Demonata |
| Demons | Lord Loss (character) · Artery (character) |
