''The Demonata'' is a

young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

horror/

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

series by author

Darren Shan Darren O'Shaughnessy (; born 2 July 1972), is an Irish writer and novelist. He is best known for his young adult fiction series '' The Saga of Darren Shan'', ''The Demonata'', and ''Zom-B'', published under the pseudonym Darren Shan. The former ...

. It deals with the world of

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in Media (communication), media such as comics, video ...

s. The series is told by three different

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

s: Grubbs Grady, Kernel Fleck, and Bec MacConn. The series is notable for its extensive graphic violence, despite being aimed towards children. This has caused the series some controversy, but ultimately aided in its popularity, author Darren Shan being praised for his more mature approach to his writing, and his ability to reflect the children's mental growth with each iteration in the series.

Works

Publishing order

Cover illustration copyright

Melvyn Grant Melvyn "Mel" Grant (born 1944) is an English artist and illustrator. Trained traditionally, he originally worked with oil paints, but in the late 1990s Grant switched to creating most of his work digitally with a digitizing tablet and the software ...

#''

Lord Loss ''Lord Loss'' is the debut novel, first novel in the ''Demonata'' series written by best-selling teenage horror author Darren Shan. It was originally published in the UK on 6 June 2005. Soon after, it appeared in Japan and America, where Shan's pr ...

'' – 6 June 2005 (5 October 2005 in the US) #'' Demon Thief'' – 5 October 2005 (7 June 2006 in the US) #''

Slawter Darren O'Shaughnessy (; born 2 July 1972), is an Irish writer and novelist. He is best known for his young adult fiction series ''The Saga of Darren Shan'', ''The Demonata'', and '' Zom-B'', published under the pseudonym Darren Shan. The former ...

'' – 1 June 2006 (1 November 2006 in the US) #'' Bec'' – 2 October 2006 (1 May 2007 in the US) #''

Blood Beast ''Blood Beast'' is the fifth book in Darren Shan's ''The Demonata'' series and was released 4 June 2007. It is narrated by Grubbs Grady, the narrator of ''Lord Loss'' and ''Slawter''. The plot is part of a two-part story, which continues in book ...

'' – June, 2007 (1 November 2007 in the US) #''

Demon Apocalypse ''Demon Apocalypse'' is the sixth book in Darren Shan's ''The Demonata'' series. Darren Shan released the title of the book September 29, 2007 at the Baeth Festival of Children's Literature. Darren Shan wished that nothing about this book, not ...

'' – October, 2007 (1 May 2008 in the US) #'' Death's Shadow'' – May, 2008 (1 November 2008 in the US) #'' Wolf Island'' – 1 October 2008 (1 May 2009 in the US) #'' Dark Calling'' – 1 May 2009 (October 2009 in US) #'' Hell's Heroes'' – 1 October 2009 (May 2010 in the US)

Storyline order

* '' Bec'' (Between 351 AD and 400 AD, during ancient Ireland's conversion from

Paganism Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. I ...

to Christianity, about 1600 years before ''Demon Thief'') * '' Demon Thief'' (Mid 1970s, about 30 years before ''Lord Loss'') * ''

'' (Early 21st century) * ''

'' (Fourteen months after the end of ''Lord Loss'') * ''

'' (About a year after ''Slawter'') * ''

'' (Directly following ''Blood Beast'') * '' Death's Shadow'' (Six months after ''Demon Apocalypse'' and roughly parallel to ''Wolf Island'' and ''Dark Calling) * '' Wolf Island'' (Roughly parallel to ''Dark Calling'') * '' Dark Calling'' (Roughly parallel to ''Wolf Island'') * '' Hell's Heroes'' (Directly following ''Dark Calling'')

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.

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 demon master Lord Loss, his many

familiars and the mysterious Shadow, who promises to destroy the human universe and to even stop death. Together with The Disciples, the main characters attempt to thwart the Demonata from destroying the world.

Characters

Grady-MacGrigor family tree

Overview

References

External links

Author's official website
{{Darren Shan The Demonata Demon novels Horror novel series HarperCollins books