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The Lake of Souls
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Read The Lake of Souls
Cirque du Freak: The Saga of Darren Shan: Book 10

The Lake of Souls (2003) (edit title/settings)

Fish for the Dead

by Darren Shan (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

"If you step through after Harkat, you might never come back. Is your friend worth such an enormous risk?" Darren and Harkat face monstrous obstacles on their desperate quest to the Lake of Souls. Will they survive the savage journey? And what awaits them in the murky waters of the dead? Be... read more

Summary edit see section history

The Lake of Souls takes place right after Killers of the Dawn, with Mr. Crepsley dead and Steve's revelation that he is the Lord of the Vampaneze. Darren is unable to cry. He feels numb, but with the help of the bearded lady, Truska, he eventually does so. Mr. Tiny then appears and tells... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

The Lake of Souls takes place right after Killers of the Dawn, with Mr. Crepsley dead and Steve's revelation that he is the Lord of the Vampaneze. Darren is unable to cry. He feels numb, but with the help of the bearded lady, Truska, he eventually does so. Mr. Tiny then appears and tells Harkat that if he wants his nightmares (which have returned) to stop, he must walk through a portal that Mr. Tiny makes. Harkat refuses to let Darren go with him. Debbie Hemlock and Police Chief Alice Burgess want to start an army to combat the Vampets, but have to get the approval of the Vampire Princes first, so they are only mentioned briefly. Darren later decides that he should go with Harkat, much to Harkat's dismay. Darren and Harkat then walk through the mysterious portal, and are thrown into a strange, gray world.
Darren and Harkat are forced to complete many diffucult tasks. They first hunt down a black panther and collect a map inside it. Darren finds that the panther's teeth have been marked with letters. They start rearranging the teeth, with Harkat using up all the teeth to get SLAM DARK HUT, and then again to find it reads HARKAT MULDS. Harkat dismisses it as an utter waste of time, as Mr. Tiny loves to meddle with time. Harkat keeps the teeth, saying that they might be useful as they are sharp.
Next they have to steal 'gelatinous globes' from the world's biggest toad. They arrive to see the toad standing in the middle of a lake surrounded by crocodiles. Darren and Harkat zip through the lake, grab a few globes, then run off.
Darren and Harkat eventually meet up with Lady Evanna. Her appearance is completely unexpected, and she does not wish to tell the two how or why she is there. She helps them get across the lake where they meet a man who calls himself Spits Abrams. Spits is a former pirate and heavy drinker, and although Darren and Harkat do not trust him very much, they decide that Mr. Tiny put him in that world for a reason, and decide to take him with them.
They soon reach a small area filled with 'people' called Kulashkas (since they are chanting "kulashka" more than any other word.) They are required to steal vials of 'holy liquid'. Darren and Harkat enter the village, Spits being afraid, to find the 'holy liquid' to be the venom from the fangs of a huge creature called the Grotesque. The Grotesque is apparently the Kulashkas' god. Darren and Harkat rush to two vials containing the venom and are attacked by the Grotesque.
Harkat raises the vial as the Grotesque attempts to kill him, and the Grotesque backs off. The Kulashkas arrive, pointing spears at Darren and Harkat, trying to drive them back. They are driven closer to the Grotesque and Darren drives them back with his vial. The chief of the Kulashkas starts trying to speak to them in a non-understandable language, with Darren saying that he can't understand them. The chief starts gesturing that they are free to leave, but must return the vials to the altar which carried them. Darren starts to do so, but a drunken Spits arrives,and cuts the kulashkas with his knife as Darren throws one vial at the Grotesque, which explodes, hurting the Grotesque and those nearby it, revealing the liquid to be highly explosive. Harkat sees floorboards underneath them and starts stomping on them. Darren joins in, with Spits saying, "What in the devil's name are ye..." before crashing through the floorboards.
They end up in a tunnel, following it until they reach a room. There is a fridge, which Spits asks about, as he did not have fridges in his time. There are also postcards, signed by Mr. Tiny. Harkat is bothered by the postcards, but does not explain why. They then leave the room, Spits taking a few extra bottles of whiskey.
They soon reach the Lake. It is seen to be covered with dragons and Darren and Harkat figure out that they should make bombs, filling the 'gelatinous globes' with the Grotesque venom and throwing it at the dragons. They finally get up close to the Lake and Spits says that when Mr. Tiny brought him here, he told him that there was a spell on the Lake forbidding dragons to be closer than eight metres to the Lake unless a living person fell into the Lake. Then Spits quotes on how many people are in the Lake of Souls. He starts talking about how the crew on the Prince o' Pariah, the ship he used to serve, loved his meals, revealing that he is a cannibal. Spits says that he plans to stay by the Lake of Souls, feeding of the people who lived there. He is persistently told not to feed on the souls and is accidentally knocked away from the eight metre zone. A dragon soon breathes fire at him and he is seen burning, running around not able to see, and then falls into the lake, breaking the spell.
While being ruthlessly attacked by a dragon, Harkat pulls up his former identity, revealed to be Kurda Smahlt. The world freezes and Mr. Tiny appears to congratulate him. He also tells them, since Kurda and Harkat are of the same soul, only one could survive. It is decided that Harkat will remain alive.
Back at the Cirque du Freak, Harkat removes the panther's teeth and starts juggling the letters around, and just when he reaches HARKAT, he stops, apparently shocked, then rearranges it to find it reads KURDA SMAHLT. Darren then realizes that Harkat's name is an anagram and that the answer was in front of them all along, saying that if they spent more time on the teeth they might not have had to go through all the tasks. Harkat also takes out the postcards, pointing the time and date it was sent, noting that it was all dated twelve, twenty, thirty, and fifty years later. Harkat then reveals his theory: that the barren land they had visited was the future.
It is also told by Lady Evanna that no matter who wins the War of the Scars, either Darren or Steve would become the Lord of the Shadows who is a ruthless ruler of the night.

Characters edit see section history

  • Darren Shan: The main character.
  • Harkat Mulds: A Little Person - one of Mr. Tiny's followers - who became Darren's closest friend and ally. Like all Little People, Harkat was brought back from the dead by Mr. Tiny, with no memories whatsoever of his former life.
  • Mr. Desmond Tiny: Someone who can see the future.
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Quotes edit see section history

  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • “No,” Harkat sighed. “If he comes in the dark, it’s … KYAG time.” “KYAG?” I echoed. “Kiss Your Ass Goodbye!”
    Highlighted by 48 Kindle customers
  • “Victims wait for others to fight on their behalf,” Alice said roughly. “Those who don’t want to be victims fight for themselves.”
    Highlighted by 30 Kindle customers
  • “A mortal can drive himself crazy thinking about the nature of the universal puzzle. Concern yourself only with the problems of the present and you will get along fine.”
    Highlighted by 19 Kindle customers
  • “OK. But if they kill us on … our way out, I’ll never speak … to you again.”
    Highlighted by 19 Kindle customers
  • “What will we need a raft for?” I asked. Evanna pointed to the lake. “Three guesses, genius.”
    Highlighted by 17 Kindle customers
  • “I’ll leave first thing in … the morning.” He stared seriously at my glum features, then burst out laughing. “You idiot! Of course I won’t go!
    Highlighted by 13 Kindle customers
  • “So if plan A fails, there’s no plan B?” “No.” Harkat chuckled dryly. “It’ll be straight to plan P — Panic!”
    Highlighted by 7 Kindle customers
  • “Maybe an insect did it,” I suggested. “A parasite that burrows into an animal’s teeth and gnaws its way upwards, feeding on the material inside.” Harkat stared at me for a moment, then opened his mouth as wide as he could and gurgled, “Check my teeth quick!” “Mine first!” I yelped, anxiously probing my teeth
    Highlighted by 7 Kindle customers
  • “If you were a girl … I’d kiss you!” Harkat cheered, rushing over.
    Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers
  • to fish in the Lake of Souls, you must borrow a net that has been used to trawl for the dead.
    Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
Show all 12 quotes from this book

First Sentence edit see section history

Six months earlier.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 10 of 12 in Cirque du Freak: The Saga of Darren Shan. (standard series)

Preceded by Killers of the Dawn, and followed by Lord of the Shadows.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Darren Shan (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: HarperCollins
Country: Canada
Publication Date: 2003
ISBN: 978-0007159192
Page Count: 224

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Killers of the Dawn

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

   
  • 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

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