Reading order
The Saga of Darren Shan reading order
Sub-series with their own page: Vampire Blood Trilogy, Vampire Rites Trilogy, Vampire Destiny Trilogy
- Cirque du Freak2000
- The Vampire's Assistant2000
- Tunnels of Blood2000
- Vampire Mountain2001
- Trials of Death2003
- The Vampire Prince2002
- Hunters of the Dusk2004
- Allies of the Night2004
- Killers of the Dawn
- The Lake of Souls2003
- Lord of the Shadows2004
- Sons of Destiny2006
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4
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7
8
9
10
11
12- 7.97.9 / 10147 ratings
- Score
- 12 volumes
- Volumes
- 2000–2006
- Published
- about 50 h
- Reading time
- Completed
- Status
- Children’s books
- Genre
Quick answer
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Publication order
12 volumes2000–2006Completed
- Twelve books, one story, and it has to be read in order — Darren ages across the whole saga and the ending answers the first chapter.
- The order is Cirque du Freak, The Vampire's Assistant, Tunnels of Blood, Vampire Mountain, Trials of Death, The Vampire Prince, Hunters of the Dusk, Allies of the Night, Killers of the Dawn, The Lake of Souls, Lord of the Shadows, Sons of Destiny.
- Publishers also sell them as four three-in-one volumes — Vampire Blood, Vampire Rites, Vampire War and Vampire Destiny — which are the same twelve books and not extra ones; buying both is the usual mistake.
- The books are far darker than the covers suggest, and the 2009 film covers only the first three.
A plan for the whole series
12 volumes, 2,702 pages, about 50 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 9 weeks.
Stages
3 stages, with 2 short books from outside the series between them. You finish around January 16, 2027, 13 days later than in one go.
- Stage 119 habout 4 weeksby November 24, 2026
- BreakMaus · Art Spiegelman · 295 pp. · score 9.0
- Stage 216 habout 3 weeksby December 24, 2026
- Short breakThe Fire Next Time · James Baldwin · 120 pp. · score 8.8
- Stage 314 h19 daysby January 16, 2027
- The end of the series
We count 1.1 min per page, the pace of an average novel reader. Faster? Move the slider.
≈ next to a page count: a volume with no page count in our data is counted at this series’s average.
How this plan is calculated
The plan comes from the pages and ratings of each volume: we split the series into stages of about three weeks’ reading, size each break to the stage before it, and read the chance of finishing from how many readers rate the last volume compared with the first. How we work out the plan →
Every volume in order
Order checked by hand · Order and years: Wikidata (CC0). Spotted an error? Tell us. · Data updated October 29, 2026
Frequently asked questions
Which The Saga of Darren Shan book is the longest?
“Sons of Destiny” is the longest at 272 pages; the shortest is “Tunnels of Blood” with 161 pages.
What should I read after The Saga of Darren Shan?
Other series by Darren O'Shaughnessy: The Demonata, Vampire Blood Trilogy, Vampire Destiny Trilogy.
