Procession of the Dead (The City Trilogy)

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Customer reviews

review by: The Book Swede date: 2008-09-06 rating:
Very good fantasy, but not perfect
Feeling a bit gentle in my reading choices of late, I needed a gritty, dark, urban fantasy to set me back on the straight and narrow...

Procession of the Dead is all of those things. Nearly. D.B. Shan is, of course, the nom de plume of Darren Shan, the hugely successful author of a Young Adult vampire series of the same name. A series I rather enjoyed, I might add! Moving on from that series, and the later Demonata series, Procession of the Dead is Shan's first adult work. And does it show?

That's a very difficult question. This edition being a supposed "directors cut" it certainly moves away from whatever YA elements I was anticipating, and was written well, funny in places, and a captivating read. Procession of the Dead is also a suitably moribund title, and Shan doesn't shy away from killing (lots and lots) of people. The cover, however, does do nothing to dispel ideas that this is aimed at a younger audience, which is a shame.

Procession is very gritty and dark, and although I was slightly disappointed by how late the magic came into the novel -- it had up until that point just been a well-written crime novel --, when it did come, it was surprisingly creepy, and utilised ideas that aren't that commonly used. I particularly enjoyed the links with the Incan people -- each chapter (and some characters) are named after a month in the Incan calendar -- but I would have liked a stronger explanation of why certain things happened.

Capac Raimi (June in the Incan calendar, I believe), the wannabe gangster suddenly employed by The Cardinal -- the most powerful man in the city, with infinite resources, loyalty ... and strange, almost life-like puppets with beating hearts... --, was the main protagonist and we saw everything from his (first-person) point of view. While it was a fun ride with him, and he was a very interesting character, I found some of the things he did at the end of the book a little unexpected. A character of more interest to me, Paucar Waimi -- the probably psychopathic murderer -- was quite entertaining in a disturbing way.

This is a good book, and the characterisation was one of the best bits. Sadly, though, there seemed to be a sudden change in many characters attitudes towards the end of the book, but on the whole, I was surprised by just how good this was. I'll be there for the other two books in the trilogy, though this book was fairly self-contained. There is also a rather cool thought at the end on what it's like to be immortal and un-killable ... while having hold of some weapons of mass destruction...

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review by: Purdeys date: 2008-09-02 rating:
phenominal!
this book is amazing! passionate... fast paced! i started reading at 3am planning to stop within 30 minutes but i got hooked and i finished in one sitting! i read his demonata saga... and his vampire saga loved them both... i cant wait till the next book in the trilogy is released!

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review by: date: 2008-06-29 rating:
scott jones
What another superb book from darren shan i would definately reccommend this book to anyone, i purchased this book purely on reputation and found myself yet again immersed in another shan book,it just goes from one twist to the next and you never know what's around the corner,simply pure brilliance.

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review by: date: 2008-05-06 rating:
Another great book by Shan
Not much needs to be said. As usual, Shan delivers a fast-paced 1st person tale that delves into the supernatural. Capac is a great lead character and meets a load of other interesting guys and gals along the way. Or does he? That's the hook. The story is full of mystery - people popping up here, vanishing there - and keeps you reading. The chapters are fairly long, so if you are used to his 6-10 page chapters from the Saga and the Demonata, be prepared for 20-30 pages per chapter in this. All in all, though, a great book to set up the trilogy.


review by: date: 2008-03-11 rating:
Bring out the next one!
After having read all his previous books and loving them, I was excited when I heard about a remake of his City trilogy being made and hopefully being completed this time. I was not disappointed.

The plot is easy to follow, the turns of the story making the whole scene clearer for the reader. Although I felt the ending was slightly disappointing, the rest of the story had me hooked and I can't wait for the next book to appear next year.

This book will appeal to many different kinds of people, whether you are familiar with his previous works or not. Definately worth the money :)

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