Darren Shan

Irish children's author, who wrote his first novel at 17...

Darren Shan biography and information

Born in London in 1972, Darren Shan (real name Darren O'Shaughnessy) has lived in Ireland since the age of six. He completed his first novel, Mute Pursuit, at just 17. Over the years that followed he juggled his writing with college and work, averaging a book a year, before leaving his job to write full time.

Shan's vampire saga ran to 12 novels, made up of 4 trilogies (The Vampire Blood Trilogy, The Vampire Rites Trilogy, The Vampire War Trilogyand The Vampire Destiny Trilogy), and spawned the spin-off series, The Saga of Larten Crepsley. This was then followed by his 10-part demon series The Demonata.

By 2006, his books were available in every continent - on sale in 30 countries in over 20 languages. His novels had featured in children's bestseller lists in the US, the UK, Ireland and Europe.

2008 saw the publication of Shan's first adult novel. Procession of the Dead was the first in The City Trilogy, a cycle of gritty urban modern-noir fantasy tales.

Shan's latest series, Zom-B, follows the adventures of zombie, B, as he tries to make sense of the world after waking up in a military facility after a zombie attack.