That... was interesting

Just finished City of the Snakes, and I must say, it came together nicely, however, it was surprising. One of the most surprising parts: when Shan brought together his two pivotal characters (Raimi from book one, and Jeery from the second), each man had his own narrative towards the end. To distinguish between the two, Shan used different fonts. I can't tell which type it was, but it was noticeable. At first, the change in letters was confusing, but once I read on, I figured out who was saying what. My only real concern was the fact it revolved a little heavy on the Jeery character, rather wrap the first two books together, nicely. True, this one did elaborate a lot more in to Jeery's history and why the people he's known to trust, seem to have screwed him over, but like the second book, they kept Raimi a lot out of the picture. It seemed rushed in places, to make the two stories mesh in the third, but beggars can't be choosers. Each character's history did end up being explained... rather hastily in some points, but done in taste in others.

In all, this series was great. It kept you interested in reading about "history" and what corrupted power can do to you. I compare it to what we fictitiously know about some big mob figure head, straight out of New York, ruling the state and taking no prisoners. There are talks in the series where this Raimi needs to talk over the rest of the world, so attribute the New Yorker to take over Jersey, all of New England and then the rest of the United States. Stupid comparison, I know. But like I've said before, Darren Shan has written a trilogy that keeps you second guessing and wanting to delve deeper into some gangster's underbelly world, praying you come out alive.

If you make it out of New York, aim for Vegas. Make it out of Vegas and you rule the world.


I'm excited to read more of Mr. Shan's work!


Cheers;





Further reading:

Darren Shan on Amazon