The Demonata

The Demonata

Lord Loss, book 1 of the series
Author Darren Shan
Language English
Genre Horror and fantasy
Publisher HarperCollins
Published 2005–2010
Preceded by The Saga of Darren Shan
Followed by Futures books

The Demonata is a series of books by best selling author Darren Shan. It deals with the world of demons (as opposed to his other series, The Saga of Darren Shan, which involves vampires). The series is told by three different protagonists: Grubbs Grady, Kernel Fleck, and Bec MacConn, the last of whom is the one of the first female protagonists in a Darren Shan book, the other being the Zom-B Series. The series contains ten books.

Works

Publishing order

Cover illustration copyright Melvyn Grant

  1. Lord Loss - 6 June 2005 (5 October 2005 in the US)
  2. Demon Thief - 5 October 2005 (7 June 2006 in the US)
  3. Slawter - 1 June 2006 (1 November 2006 in the US)
  4. Bec - 2 October 2006 (1 May 2007 in the US)
  5. Blood Beast - June, 2007 (1 November 2007 in the US)
  6. Demon Apocalypse - October, 2007 (1 May 2008 in the US)
  7. Death's Shadow - May, 2008 (1 November 2008 in the US)
  8. Wolf Island - 1 October 2008 (1 May 2009 in the US)
  9. Dark Calling - 1 May 2009 (October 2009 in US)
  10. Hell's Heroes [1] - 1 October 2009 (May 2010 in the US)

Storyline order

Narrators

The narrator of each book in the Demonata series shifts between the three protagonists of the series; Grubbs Grady, Kernel Fleck and Bec MacConn.

Darren Shan stated there is a pattern to the narrations and "you'll guess who's narrating the others." What Shan was referring to was the fact that the order in which the narrators of the first five go in is the exact opposite of the order of the following five.

Name of Book Narrator
Lord Loss Grubbs
Demon Thief Kernel
Slawter Grubbs
Bec Bec
Blood Beast Grubbs
Demon Apocalypse Grubbs
Death's Shadow Bec
Wolf Island Grubbs
Dark Calling Kernel
Hell's Heroes Grubbs

Plot

The series centers around three protagonists: Grubitsch "Grubbs" Grady, Cornelius "Kernel" Fleck and Bec MacConn. Although they meet each other at various points, they are from separate times; Grubbs lives in the present day, Kernel in the 1970s and Bec in around 450AD. The books detail their fight against the evil demon master Lord Loss, his many demon familiars and the mysterious Shadow, who promises to destroy the human universe and to even stop death. Together with The Disciples, the main characters thwart the Demonata's attempts at world destruction multiple times.

Lord Loss was originally a poem written by Darren Shan, found in the front of Lord Loss. The story of Lord Loss and the Demonata came to Darren while he was working on The Saga. He wrote the book and left it alone until the Saga was finished. At first he had no idea it would be a series but then he wrote Bec, Blood Beast, and Demon Apocalypse. He felt that he needed another book to describe how Grubbs' magical power developed. So the idea for Slawter was born. At that time there was no Demon Thief, so he wrote another book to explain how it would be such a big deal when Kernel lost his eyes.

In Lord Loss(novel), Grubitsch "Grubbs" Grady is horrified to discover his family's mutilated remains at the hands of the demon master Lord Loss and his familiars, Artery and Vein. Grubbs escapes thanks to his newly discovered magical power, but goes insane with grief and is put in an asylum. His uncle Dervish, however, convinces Grubbs to come with him, as he knows about demons as well. They travel to Carcery Vale, and Grubbs meets Bill-E Spleen and Meera Flame. Bill-E reveals that he believes Dervish may be a werewolf due to the remains of local wildlife he found, but it is revealed that Bill-E is actually the werewolf. Dervish explains that lycanthropy is a family curse, and that Bill-E is Grubbs' half-brother. In order to cure Bill-E, they needed to beat Lord Loss in chess, his favorite game, and his familiars in battle. They manage to beat him, and Lord Loss cures Bill-E. He must take Dervish, however, to fight in his own realm, and Grubbs takes care of his body while Dervish's soul fights Lord Loss and, eventually, Dervish awakens.

In Demon Thief, Cornelius "Kernel" Fleck, a troubled boy who can see patches of light invisible to all else, opens a window to Lord Loss' realm (without knowing), and disappears for days, only to reappear with his baby brother Art on his chest. His family decides to move and start fresh, but a year later another window opens, this time bringing a demon named Cadaver who kidnaps Art before returning. Kernel follows the demon through the window, and meets Beranabus the leader of the Disciples, along with Disciples Raz, Sharmila, and Nadia. Kernel joins them when it is revealed he has magical potential, and he follows them as they track down Cadaver. Eventually, it is revealed Kernel can create windows at incredible rates, and is separated from the rest of the group. Trying to get back to the Demonata universe, he runs into Disciples Shark and a younger Dervish, who join him after taking down a demon. They make it to Lord Loss' realm, and he gives the group Cadaver in exchange for Nadia, who switches sides. After passing into the universe of the Original Board in order to retrieve his brother, Kernel discovers that he himself took Artery the demon familiar and changed him into his brother. Heartbroken, Kernel goes back home and learns that he has been gone for seven years, and his parents no longer want him. He returns to Beranabus, and reveals that he may be part of the demonic weapon capable of destroying a universe known as the Kah-Gash.

In Slawter, Grubbs and Dervish are still recovering from their demonic encounters when a movie producer named Davida Haym asks the two to come on the town set of her new movie Slawter to help with advice on the demons used there. When Grubbs, Dervish, and Bill-E get there, Grubbs witnesses some of the scenes featuring demons and is convinced there are actual demons in Slawter. Dervish has been brainwashed by the evil Chuda Sool, and refuses to believe Grubbs . Grubbs breaks into the "D-Workshops" with Bill-E and Juni Swan, a child psychologist on the set, and discovers human sacrifices powering up a tunnel to let demons come through and kill the whole town.Juni manages to convince Dervish and Grubbs, Bill-E, Juni, and Dervish try to leave, but are stopped by an illusion of Bill-E being kidnapped by the Lambs, family executioners of changed Gradys.They travel to the Lambs lab to rescue Bill-E. Grubbs notices that everything goes to swiftly and the lab looks familiar. He realizes on the way he feel asleep but didn't dream.Grubbs realizes the trick and says a spell to wake them up only minutes before the demons are unleashed, with Lord Loss leading the army. Grubbs, Dervish, Bill-E, Juni, and a few others are able to escape the town's magical barriers, while the rest inside are killed. Later, Dervish tests Grubbs' magical potential to see if he would be a good cause to the Disciples, but Grubbs hides his magic from his uncle without even knowing it. He knows though that he must have magic in him. He gets up and goes to the bathroom. he turns the light on and off with magic. He realizes he does have true magic.

In Bec(novel), Bec MacConn lives in 350-400 AD Ireland, and her clan is constantly attacked by demons during the night. Eventually, a simple boy with magical speed named Bran takes Bec and a group of warriors to Drust the druid, who tells them of the Demonata and how they are creating a tunnel that could destroy the world if left open. They travel the land, losing warriors one by one thanks to Lord Loss, who Bec drained power from earlier. She meets up with her true clan, who reveals that her family has been afflicted with the werewolf curse for generations, and the Old Creatures, who tell Bec the only way to close the tunnel is through the sacrifice of a druid or priestess, revealing why Drust needed her. Nevertheless, she accepts her task, and they reach the tunnel, but only Bec and Drust make it to the magical lodestone keeping the tunnel open. Right before Drust sacrifices Bec, however, Bran comes and fatally wounds Drust, who decides to become the sacrifice instead. Bec completes the spell, and the tunnel collapses. Bran is able to make it out before it closes, but Bec is left in the cave, and Lord Loss sets his familiars on her. They kill her but her ghost survives, trapped in the cave for 1600 years.

In Blood Beast, Grubbs has tried to hide his magician's powers from Dervish, but they reach to a point where he will perform magical feats without knowing he is doing so, such as when he breaks a bottle in midair during a party, and also seems to partially change into a werewolf during the night. He, Bill-E, and their friend Loch try digging for buried treasure around Dervish's mansion, but they stumble across the cave used in Bec for the tunnel, and Loch seems to fall to his death. Dervish, after covering up where Loch died, explains to Grubbs what the tunnel is, and Grubbs comes clean with his magician abilities and werewolf turnings. Days later, Grubbs and Bill-E are visited by Juni from Slawter, who comes to help the boys deal with Loch's death and renew her relationship with Dervish. She helps Dervish in keeping Grubbs in a human form when the curse tries to turn him, but then escapes with him when she tells Grubbs that Dervish called in the Lambs. While on an airplane, the plane is attacked by Lord Loss and his demons, and it is revealed that Juni is his servant.

The story continues in Demon Apocalypse, where Grubbs is saved by Beranabus the magician from the demons. The two magically fly to Beranabus' base, where Kernel and Grubbs meet, before traveling to the Demonata universe to train Grubbs in the ways of the Disciples. But when Grubbs proves to be cowardly and weak, Kernel sends him back to the human universe, where he spends seven weeks alone before the two return. When they get back, they are contacted by Sharmila, who tells them that waves of demons have successfully crossed over through the tunnel. In a last effort to stop the Demonata, the Disciples fly to the tunnel's location, but before they can get to it, Kernel is blinded and Grubbs loses hope when he sees everyone he knew dead. Suddenly, the spirit of Bec comes from the tunnel and joins with Grubbs and Kernel, and the three pieces of the Kah-Gash reverse time to the night the tunnel opened. They try to stop Juni, who is believed to have sacrificed a human and intends to join with the tunnel, but when they kill her, it is revealed that Bill-E made Loch fall and die, and so is the key to opening the tunnel. When they see a large black demon try to escape the tunnel, the heroes have no choice but to kill Bill-E. Before Lord Loss can kill them, Bec takes over Bill-E's body and wards him off. Later, Beranabus and Kernel prepare to return to the Demonata universe, and after urging him to come with them, Grubbs follows.

Some time later in Deaths Shadow Bec is living with Dervish when werewolfs attack Dervish's mansion, luckily they manage to escape but Dervish suffers a heart attack. Bec and Meera take Dervish to the hosipital. A few days later the hospital is attacked by demons but in the nick of time Beranabaus, Kernel and Grubbs come through a window and kill all the demons. After they kill all the demons they decide they need to take the fight to the demons. Later on they find out Juni is on a ship on earth. Kernel opens a window and they all go. They find Juni in the hold of the ship and she summons "The Shadow" which they later find out is "Death" through Bec's ability to absorb memories. Beranabus transforms into his demonic side to fight death and manages to push it back through the window, Beranabus dies in the process. They explode Sharmila against the barrier around the ship and Bec, Deverish and Kirilli (a disciple they met on the ship) find themselves stranded in the ocean.

Parallel to that in Wolf Island Grubbs, Shark, and Meera, along with several of Shark's associates from his time in the military, travel to an island where humans have been breeding werewolves for years. This island is known as Wolf island. There are several hundred wolves there, as well as humans that follow the demons. The characters all get into a situation where they're trapped and they attempt to escape the island. All of Shark's acquaintances save one get devoured by the wolves. Shark himself is nearly killed, and he loses several fingers. They are eventually surrounded and Grubbs reluctantly surrenders to his werewolf side. The other wolves acknowledge him as their alpha male, after which, Grubbs goes into a not-quite-human not-quite-werewolf form. Grubbs takes a few dozen of the smarter werewolves as shock troops against the demons, which are beginning to invade en masse. The book closes with them in an unspecified city fighting off the invasion.

Another parallel time, Dark Calling is about Kernel, who has recovered his eyes with magic, and discovers new patches of light which he can't move. The patches of light can also speak, and seem to be manipulating the Disciples. The whispering lights somehow lead the Disciples to meet The Shadow, and Kernel is forced to follow a ball of whispering lights through a window, where he re-meets his younger brother, Art(which the sphere takes shape). Kernel then hears how the old universes of demons and humans work. Art is then killed and Raz, another Old Creature, appears and tells Kernel about the Ark. However, Kernel decides to go back to help Grubbs and Bec instead of being the 'Noah' to save creatures of the Ark. After reuniting with his friends, Grubbs and Bec start arguing about whether they should search for Beranabus or not. Finally agreeing about the idea, the group enter Death's body via Kernel's window. They find Beranabus, who talks to them about defeating Death. Although Beranabus tells the group this is impossible, he has a private talk with Bec, causing Kernel and Grubbs to grow wary of her. Later on Death grows suspicious of the group, and starts attacking them. The group manages to destroy Death, and set all the souls free, but then falls into the world Kernel had seen before. They start a ferocious battle with the demons which surround them. Kernel starts making a new window, with Dervish defending him. Meera Flame also sacrifices herself to kill Juni Swan, with Kernel succeeding to open the window, but leaving Bec behind. At the end, to prevent Kernel from escaping, Grubbs breaks Kernel's eyes, then taking Dervish out to bury. Kernel remembers Beranabus saying they have tried hard, but that the world is ending.

References

  1. ↑ "Shanville Monthly December 2008". Retrieved 2008-12-01.
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