#demon thief

[cbarc]

The Demon Thief

it’s reobsessing over childhood books time again and listen I get it sometimes a guys gotta steal a demon baby from another dimension call it his brother just to stave off the lonelies yknow

[facinrust]

Just realized I can talk about a book that fucked me up good when I was a kid this book was Demon Thief by Darren Shan

HEAVY SPOILER WARNING if you haven't read it, I think you should

so for some context my little brother had just been born when I was reading it at first I thought kernels and arts relationship to be relatable as I now had a little brother of my own, when I reached the final chapters with kernel in the maze realizing he was the thief then it's revealed that art is actually a demon that kernel kidnapped then disguised as a human from Lord loss so that he wasn't lonely then realizing the reason why they were moving out of town at the beginning was because everyone in town was wondering who art was and thought he was kidnapped my mind was fucking shattered and it left me with the questions of what if my brother isn't my brother? Would I care if he isn't directly related to me and was a baby my parents adopted? And the answer is no I wouldn't care I still would take care of him

It's been 18 damn years since I read it and the ending still fucks me up like

[thequicksilvermagician]

found this bad boy in a charity shop for only 99p!

despite having read all of the demonata i haven’t actually opened any of them up until this point!!

[words-and-coffee]

They’re dancing like crazy, leaping up and down or holding on to each other and spinning wildly. Some are fighting, but it’s good natured. They’re drawing blood, but they don’t care — that just adds colour.

Darren Shan, Demon Thief

[gfanz4ever]

Book 2, Demon Thief:

"Impossible," he croaks..."You're illusions. Lord Loss sent you to torment me with hope."

"Don't be a dope," Dervish snaps, "Could any illusion look this good?"

Book 3, Slawter:

"Grubbs?...You're not an illusion? He hasn't created an image of you, to torment me?"

"Don't be stupid. Not even Michelangelo himself could sculpt a face this perfect."

Like uncle, like nephew :)

[semper-legens]

16. Demon Thief, by Darren Shan

Owned: Yes Page count: 275 My summary: Kernel Fleck isn’t like other kids. He sees the lights - strange patches of light that float around his vision. When his brother is stolen by demons, Kernel must use them to travel into the world of the Demonata and find him. But not all is as it seems when Lord Loss is involved... My rating: 4/5 My commentary:

Book two of the Demonata, and this is where the series really gets going. One thing that struck me about Lord Loss this time round was how standalone it is - it’s a reasonably self-contained story that doesn’t leave too much hanging. This, however, definitely feels like a larger series, and has many big questions going unanswered. If Lord Loss is the pilot episode, this is season one episode one.

Let’s start with our hero, Kernel Fleck. This being the second in the series, the reader is going to be, consciously or unconsciously, comparing Kernel to Grubbs, and there’s some key differences off the bat. Kernel feels more introverted, moodier and less outgoing. He has a good relationship with his family, but always feels like something of an outsider, in part due to his condition. There’s something deeply wrong in his family, but he seems oblivious to it, unlike Grubbs who suspected something was up. He’s a lot more introspective than Grubbs, too. I think I like him better as a protagonist - Grubbs comes across as too self-consciously an everyman, which works less the older I get.

Next, demons! There are so many more demons in this book. Earlier we just saw Lord Loss himself and his two familiars, but now we’re getting a bouquet of creepy nightmare monsters. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Shan absolutely shines when it comes to the creepy and grotesque, and these demons and demon worlds are no exception. It’s utterly horrible and incredibly creative. I love it.

So this is going into the Spoiler Zone, but I love the twist with Art being Artery the whole time. It’s one of those that makes it really fun to reread just to watch for the subtler hints - how Kernel doesn’t mention Art until he’s holding him in his arms, the orange light and orange marbles, how weird his parents are acting. I don’t remember how I reacted to it the first time, whether it took me by surprise or not, but it’s one of those twists whose impacts isn’t entirely lessened by knowing it ahead of time.

As I mentioned above, this is the book where the larger picture begins to creep in. We meet Beranabus, plus recurring characters Nadia, Shark, and Sharmila. We see the demon universe for the first time, plus some hints that Lord Loss is perhaps playing a longer game. We also hear about the Kah-Gash, a major thread that will recur throughout the series. There’s a lot of plot being established here, but it’s introduced very naturally as Kernel learns about it, and I never felt overwhelmed by the body of information relayed. It helps that this info comes with some really cool imagery, from the demon universe most of all.

I also liked how subtly the timeline is being played with here. Kernel’s story takes place far before Grubbs’, which becomes obvious when Dervish shows up as a teenage punk. It’s never stated when this is, but I think the implication is that it’s the 80s. Laying the groundwork for timeline fuckery yet to come, and also seeing teenage Dervish is hilarious. I love this ridiculous punk man.

Anyway, that’s all I got for this - join me next time; or rather, a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away...

[demonairs]

ee if youre doing requests for the art thing, maybe bec in 1b, kernel in 2d, or my boy cal in 5a pwease

Three sketches of Bec, Kernel from the demonata series (though I am so sorry I accidentally misread it and thought to do 2B instead of 2D). And Callum from the novel, The fury. I hope you like it!!

[blueperks]

i drew 70’s dervish!!

this is my first (actual) art of the Demonata series by Darren Shan. i honestly love this series so much that im finishing reading a book in a matter of a day depending how busy i am!!

also half way through this i remembered that dervish had a leather jacket and no shirt on in Demon Thief but it was too late :((

im still really happy with the outcome!!

dm me if you also like the Demonata series and need someone to talk to about it bc im on the 8th book and i need to talk to someone whos read/ started to read the series!!