Richelle Mead Q & A

So I went to listen to Richelle Mead's Q&A at the Knox Civic Centre (her first reading in Australia) as apart of her worldwide promotion for 'Blood Promise'.

Here's the scoop;

- Rose has 2 more books told from her perspective in the 'Vampire Academy' series. But Richelle has been contracted for 6 more books set in the VA universe, but told from the perspective of a new character. The new character is someone we have met before - but Richelle obviously can't reveal who the narrator of the spin-off series will be, because that would give away who lives and dies in the next 2 books.

- The 'Dark Swan' series was contracted for 2 more books, but Richelle tentatively said there is potential for more Eugenie books.

- While the 'Georgina Kincaid' series is Richelle's personal favorite (mostly because Georgina's sense of humor is very close to Richelle's own) it sounded as though that series will be wrapped up in the next 2 books ('Succubus Shadows' released April 2010).

- Richelle said a big inspiration for her novels came from reading the 'Dragonlance' series by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis.

- I asked Richelle about any new series/books in the works, and she said something about a new potential adult project.

- There are no plans for a Vampire Academy movie. No studios have bought the rights to her books, and while Richelle knows about the many youtube trailers for a fictional VA movie, she can't bear to watch them. She said she reacts oddly to seeing people's representations of her books - even fanmade pictures and videos.

Diana Gabaldon graphic novel 'THE EXILE'

Diana posted this on the 11th, and I just had to share my excitement.

This is her Outlander graphic novel, and it will hopefully be available sometime in 2011.

Artist is Hoang Nguyen. This looks crazy beautiful!

http://voyagesoftheartemis.blogspot.com/2009/09/exile-graphic-novel-is-done.html

TV show 'The Vampire Diaries'

Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) has had a rough year. She survived the car accident that killer her parents. Her younger brother has been self-medicating to combat his grief. Elena broke up with her boyfriend, Matt (Zach Roerig) and she is sick of being her High School’s golden girl. She returns to school with a smile on her face and no intention of being pitied by her classmates.

But Elena’s school year starts out a little rocky. Her best friend Bonnie (Katerina Graham) is convinced she is psychic. Her other (former) friend Caroline (Candica Accola) is convinced that she and Elena are competing for school supremacy. Matt is staring daggers in the hallway, but still pining for her. And then the new boy arrives. Tall, dark and decked out in designer Italian, Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley) has caught everyone’s eye… including Elena’s.

Meanwhile, there’s been a slew of animal attacks in the area – people have been turning up mauled, with peculiar bite marks on their necks.

Only Stefan knows the truth behind these attacks… because he is a vampire, and recognizes his brother’s handy work. Just as Stefan settles into his old hometown and starts cozying up to Elena, Stefan’s elder brother, Damon (Ian Somerhalder) turns up to cause trouble. Damon reads a lot more into Stefan’s interest in Elena, suspecting that his brother’s attraction stems from her appearance to a certain woman from the brother’s past…

This is the new drama from teen network the CW, based on the book series by L.J. Smith. The books were released in 1991, and their adaptation to the small screen is clearly the CW trying to capitalize on Stephenie Meyer’s ‘Twilight’ success. Vampires are not a new concept to the young adult genre, but ‘Vampire Diaries’ was clearly chosen because it bears the closest resemblance to ‘Twilight’.

The main male protagonist is a self-hating vampire who is ‘vegetarian’, trying to curb his predatory ways. There is also a chance for viewers to split into two camps when it comes to the love interests. There was Team Edward/Jacob, now there’s Team Stefan/Damon – it all depends on whether you like your men deep and broody or straight up bad-boy.
‘Vampire Diaries’ has also borrowed the narration technique used at the beginning of ‘Twilight’ – Elena reads from her diary, Stefan from his (deeply introspective, I’m sure).

It looks as though ‘Vampire Diaries’ is going to stick close to the book series it is based on, with a few important and much-needed character changes. In the books, Elena is a thoroughly annoying protagonist. She acts like a spoilt princess, but still manages to attract the attention of every male in a five-mile radius. In the books she is an active participant in the rivalry with Caroline, and hell-bent on remaining top of the pecking order. It’s her popularity competition with her ex-friend that sees Elena go in hot pursuit of Stefan. In the TV show Elena is just trying to cope with her recent tragedy, and her attraction to Stefan is a happy accident, one she isn’t entirely comfortable pursuing. Such minor changes make the character of Elena entirely more bearable than her book persona.

All in all, I was really underwhelmed by ‘Vampire Diaries’. Maybe I’m still sore with the CW for cancelling ‘Veronica Mars’, but I don’t intend to keep watching this latest vampire instalment.
I can appreciate ‘Vampire Diaries’ for what it is – a bid to profit from the current vampire palooza. I am sure ‘Team Edward’ tweens will appreciate ‘Vampire Diaries’ as a means of passing the months in between the latest ‘Twilight’ movie instalments. ‘Vampire Diaries’ is just thoroughly tween-orientated, complete with banal mainstream soundtrack (Katy Perry, The Fray). But you know what? One broody vampire is enough for me – Stefan is clearly a pale (ha!) imitation of Edward Cullen and I can’t really bare the thought of an entire season watching him yo-yo between wanting Elena and staying away from her for her own good. Ian Somerhalder has one scene in the pilot episode, but from that alone I can tell he will be the stand-out of the show (mostly because everyone loves a bad-boy, especially one who is on a path of redemption).
Nina Dobrev is pretty bland as Elena. She smiles a lot and is cute as pie. But there’s no real charisma and I suspect that for the most part, the writing will rely on Stefan and Elena having an intangible ‘connection’ that explains their bond.

At the end of the day it’s just a shame that this mediocre book series was chosen for adaptation based purely on the assumption that it’s similarity to a far more successful series will make it popular. There are so many better options for book to TV adaptations; Rachel Caine’s ‘Morganville Vampires’ or Richelle Mead’s ‘Vampire Academy’ come to mind. Both those series are about as far from ‘Twilight’ as you can get, with a far superior plot and interesting characters. Likewise, Meads ‘Vampire Academy’ and Caine’s ‘Morganville Vampires’ both have more longevity than ‘Vampire Diaries’. ‘Vampire Diaries’ was told in 4 books, and nothing much really happened plot-wise in those books. The story didn’t go beyond Elena’s small town and only 3 vampires were ever introduced. Whereas in Meads and Caine’s books there is extensive mythology, over-arching story and plenty of vampire characters.

‘Vampire Diaries’ is a poor man’s ‘Twilight’, if you are discerning in your vampire tastes, steer clear (or just watch ‘True Blood’, it’s WAY better).

1/5

'Mercy Thompson: Homecoming' GRAPHIC NOVEL by Patricia BRIGGS

‘Homecoming’ is a graphic novel short story set in the Mercy Thompson universe. The story is by Patricia Briggs and David Lawrence with illustrations by Francis Tsai and Amelia Woo, and cover art by Daniel Dos Santos.

‘Homecoming’ is a prelude to the events in Mercy Thompson’s first book, ‘Moon Called’. Bran has just kicked Mercy out of his pack and she’s moved to the Tri-Cities to put her teaching degree to good use. But in the span of 24 hours Mercy is attacked by one werewolf pack and rescued by a second, beaten bloody by a vampire’s human minion and threatened by one of the local vampire queen’s flunkies.

‘Homecoming’ tells the story of how Mercy came to settle in the Tri-Cities. The graphic novel details her first meeting of Stefan, Siebold Adelbertsmiter (Zee) and his son Tad and the Columbia Basin wolf pack’s Alpha, Adam Hauptman.

I perused the reviews of ‘Homecoming’ on Amazon and was thoroughly disappointed to see that it’s been given a 2.5 star rating. Read a few of the reviews and it becomes apparent that ‘Homecoming’s’ unpopularity has nothing to do with the graphic novel itself, but rather reviewer’s stupidity.

Many of the Amazon reviewers thought that ‘Homecoming’ was the next novel in Patricia Briggs’ ‘Mercy Thompson’ series, and they bought/pre-ordered the novel thinking it was follow-on from the 4^th Mercy book ‘Bone Crossed’. One indignant reviewer even accuses Dabel brothers of misleading fans by giving no indication on the cover that this is a graphic novel… that’s despite the fact that on the cover are the words “an original graphic novel”.

Another reviewer sniffs that comics “cheapen the series”. Actually, it does nothing of the sort. Adapting books into graphic novels is fast becoming a popular occurrence in the publishing world.

Diana Gabaldon is releasing a graphic novel short story set in the ‘Outlander’ universe, telling a new Jamie and Claire story set in the timeframe of her first book. Kelley Armstrong has an online comic called ‘Becoming’ which is a prologue to the events of her first ‘Women of the Otherworld’ book, ‘Bitten’. Melissa Marr has released a graphic novel set in her YA ‘Wicked Lovely’ universe, with a second graphic novel due for release next year. Laurell K Hamilton has had great success adapting her ‘Anita Blake’ series into comic book format with ‘The First Death’ (2007), ‘Guilty Pleasures’ (2008) and she is currently working on ‘The Laughing Corpse’ for release later this year.

Graphic novels do not cheapen a series – they add a new dimension to the universe the author has created. And when it comes to Urban Fantasy in particular, comics are a logical extension of the book series. They offer another layer to the vivid universe the author has created, and visualize the fantastical characters that were previously relegated to the printed word.

I think the comic adaptation of Patricia Briggs’s ‘Mercy Thompson’ series made perfect sense, especially because her cover artist, Daniel Dos Santos, has done such a wonderful job of providing a visual framework for readers. Anyone who is familiar with the Mercy books will know that Daniel Dos Santos is a cover-art genius – and he has given Mercy a very distinct look.

Unfortunately Dos Santos only did the cover-art for ‘Homecoming’, Francis Tsai and Amelia Woo are responsible for the beautiful illustrations within. Daniel Dos Santos’s work is magnificent, but probably too detailed for the comic book format. Regardless, Tsai and Woo do a fantastic job of visualizing Zee, Stefan and especially Adam.

‘Homecoming’ is a beautiful novel, with wonderful illustrations and an essential story to read if you are a die-hard Mercy fan like me.

I loved ‘Homecoming’, but then again I am not prejudiced against comics like some Mercy fans seem to be. I loved the story, especially Stefan and Mercy’s meeting (and a certain picture of shirtless Adam – not since Trent from ‘Daria’ have I found an illustration so sexy). If you are a Mercy fan, check out ‘Homecoming’, it is a damn good GRAPHIC NOVEL.

5/5

'The Turning' (Blood Ties #1) by Jennifer ARMINTROUT

Dr. Carrie Ames’s life is turned upside down when a John Doe corpse attacks her in the hospital morgue. Eight months later and she can’t deny the facts… she is nosferatu. A vampire.

Carrie tracks down an Occult bookstore owner and fellow vampire, Nathan, who is willing to guide her through the adjustments. But just as she starts to come to grips with her new undead life, John Doe (aka, her ‘sire’) decides they are soul mates and he wants her for himself. On top of that, Nathan is pushing Carrie to join the ‘Voluntary Vampire Extinction Movement’ – a group of vamps who are trying to keep their numbers stagnate by not creating new vampires and who have a firm ‘us’ and ‘them’ attitude… as Nathan explains, she can either join the Movement, or the Movement will exterminate her.

I really enjoyed this book, despite the fact that it’s nothing new. Granted, the vampire genre is a little bit done to death (ha!) at this point and there’s really nothing here that sets Armintrout apart from the rest.

The plot isn’t even especially great. Fledgling vampire is torn between her humanity and growing bloodlust. And the struggle is made manifest in her interactions with bookstore owner Nathan, who urges her to join a league of vampires who defend the human race, and her maker Cyrus, who revels in her dark side. The story has been told, in one way or another, in a slew of similar Urban Fantasy books.

The character of Carrie is a little underdeveloped, but since there are 4 books in this series I can only assume that over the course of the series we will see her character grow. In ‘The Turning’ Carrie is really at a crossroads. Her parents died two years ago and she has only just completed her medical degree and intern rounds and started working in the E.R. This is despite the fact that she’s still unsure of her career choice – confused between her thrill in playing God and the academic pressure placed on her by her father growing up.

So, unoriginal plot and so-so female protagonist. Why did I like this book so much? Because of the stand-out characters who encapsulate good and evil, light and dark within the novel – Nathan and Cyrus.

Nathan was an unwilling victim of Cyrus’s father, who turned Nathan against his will and then forced him to commit a heinous act in the name of bloodlust. He is the quintessential tortured soul, a self-hating vampire. But his real originality is in the relationship he has with foster-son and blood donor, Ziggy – a runaway Nathan adopted at the age of 9 and has been father to ever since. It also helps that he’s Scottish and that an Alpha persona lurks beneath his tormented exterior.

Cyrus is a fantastically delicious bad-guy… but funnily enough, I occasionally found myself rooting for him in his endeavours to woo Carrie. It’s completely twisted, but despite being a thoroughly creepy villain, I couldn’t help but hope Carrie could tame his sadistic soul. In the second half of the book Carrie is forced to strike a deal with Cyrus that has her agreeing to live with him in his mansion, thus exposing herself to the drugging sire bond that distorts her feelings toward him. Consequently, as a reader you can’t help but feel the effects of Cyrus’s charm the same way Carrie does, to the point where you don’t know if you want him to remain the bad guy or turn it all around and become the unlikely love interest.

‘The Turning’ doesn’t offer anything particularly unique to the Urban Fantasy genre. It’s just a good story, well told, with a surprisingly twisted love triangle thrown in. Because of that wonderfully twisty triangle, I intend to continue with the ‘Blood Ties’ series, and recommend it as a worthwhile read.

3.5/5

'Blood Promise' (Vampire Academy #4) by Richelle MEAD

From the BLURB:

The recent attack on St. Vladimir's Academy devastated the entire Moroi world. Many are dead. And, for the few victims carried off by Strigoi, their fates are even worse. A rare tattoo now adorns Rose's neck, a mark that says she's killed far too many Strigoi to count. But only one victim matters . . . Dimitri Belikov. Rose must now choose one of two very different paths: honoring her life's vow to protect Lissa—her best friend and the last surviving Dragomir princess—or, dropping out of the Academy to strike out on her own and hunt down the man she loves. She'll have to go to the ends of the earth to find Dimitri and keep the promise he begged her to make. But the question is, when the time comes, will he want to be saved? 

Now, with everything at stake—and worlds away from St. Vladimir's and her unguarded, vulnerable, and newly rebellious best friend—can Rose find the strength to destroy Dimitri? Or, will she sacrifice herself for a chance at eternal love?

‘Vampire Academy’ is one of the best YA series I have ever read, and ‘Blood Promise’, the 4^th book in the series, is just further proof that Richelle Mead is deservedly one of the reigning queens of the Urban Fantasy genre.

‘Blood Promise’ had a lot of hype surrounding it – mostly because of the explosive cliffhanger at the end of ‘Shadow Kiss’, which had Rose Hathaway dropping out of school to kill the man she loves. Richelle Mead definitely had a hard task ahead of her to live up to the expectations of that Grand Canyon-sized cliffhanger.

The best way I can think to describe the book is to compare it to one of my all-time favorite TV shows; ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’. Remember that season 3 opening episode, ‘Anne’? Set a few months after Buffy killed Angelus, the love of her life, and fled Sunnydale… we pick up with Buffy waitressing in a diner under the pseudonym ‘Anne’. She’s really just going through the motions, mimicking life, just trying to get through the day nursing her heartache and guilt.

Well, that’s kind of the somber tone permeating ‘Blood Promise’. Rose has found her way to Russia and is fighting Strigoi (vampires) while also searching for her red-eyed lover. She frequently lapses into bleak moods as she traipses through Dimitri’s homeland and muses over their love affair as well as all the things now lost to them.

Also dragging on Rose’s mind is Lissa. In setting out on a mission to free her lover’s soul from vampirism and eternal damnation Rose has left behind her bondmate and best friend. While on her Russian exploration Rose checks in on Lissa through their spirit-bond, which allows her to slip into Lissa’s mind and see through her eyes (without her knowing it). During these ‘Being John Malkovich’ moments, Rose sees that Lissa and the flirtatious Adrian Ivashkov are moving on with the help of party-girl Avery Lazar who is the daughter of St. Vladimir’s new headmaster. Avery seems to be taking Rose’s place as Lissa’s new bestie and Adrian’s new crush.

I have to say, the parallel storyline of Rose’s search for Dimitri and Lissa’s high-school dramas felt a little odd at times. I have never really warmed to Lissa as a character, which isn’t surprising because from the first book Rose and Lissa’s friendship has been strained by secrets, resentments and pent-up frustrations. And since the books are currently being told from Rose’s perspective, as a reader we side with her and understand her struggles with the dhampir/Moroi master/slave society.

But in ‘Blood Promise’ Rose is setting out on such a heartbreaking, weighty task. She is going to kill the only man she has ever loved. Meanwhile, the plot occasionally veers off into teen-melodrama with Lissa’s story and it detracts and distracts from Rose’s more compelling and serious mission.

Regardless, Richelle Mead has written yet another edge-of-your-seat drama that seamlessly blends fantasy and romance for the YA audience.

I read this book in a few hours because I could not tear myself away from the story. Richelle Mead writes fantastic action scenes that read like screenplays for the vivid direction.

In this book Mead has also introduced some fabulous new characters – from Dimitri’s Siberian family to the mysterious Abe/Zmey who is following Rose around Russia. I really hope these become recurring characters, because some great and intriguing back-story was given that has me eager to meet these characters in future books. Mead also does a fantastic job of expanding on the character of Adrian. In previous books he has been little more than a drunken flirt on Rose's periphery. In this book we see a different side to him, and he suddenly becomes a very legitimate love interest for our girl Rose.

** SPOILER AHEAD **

My one complaint has to do with the ending. Yes, it does end on another cliffhanger, that doesn’t bother me. What was frustrating was the fact that nothing was properly resolved in ‘Blood Promise’. By the end, nothing has changed. The story is in exactly the same place as it started out, and the lack of resolution and progression is keenly felt.

Regardless, I did enjoy ‘Blood Promise’, and I fully intend to troll the Vampire Academy chat boards to further dissect and speculate on the events in ‘Blood Promise’

4/5

'Hunting Ground' Alpha & Omega by Patricia BRIGGS

‘Hunting Ground’ is the second book in Patricia Briggs’s spin-off Mercy ‘Alpa & Omega’ series. The series is centred on Charles Cornick, and his wife/mate Anna Latham. Charles is the son of the Marrok, Bran, who rules all of the American wolves. Charles was born a werewolf to a Native American witch who died during his childbirth – as a result Charles is a somewhat mystical werewolf, able to transform from wolf to human and retain articles of clothing, be somewhat immune to magic and occasionally see fae people.

Anna was originally apart of the Chicago pack after one of its members savagely attacked and turned her. She is an Omega wolf, a very rare ‘zen’ wolf that insights calm and happiness to the wolves in its pack. For three years Anna was abused, sexually, physically and mentally by the Alpha’s in her Chicago pack, until Charles rode in and rescued her.

‘Hunting Ground’ is set one month after the events in ‘Cry Wolf’. Charles and Anna are newlyweds and Bran has a mission for them. The Marrok is orchestrating a huge PR coup and exposing werewolves to the human world. But before the ‘outing’ can occur, the Marrok needs to soothe the overseas packs that are less than thrilled at the prospect of revealing their hidden identities. A conference has been organized in Seattle where Spanish, German, Italian, Finnish, Australian and French wolf packs will attend to voice their concerns for the Marrok to address. Concerned for his father’s safety, Charles insists that he attend the conference in his stead, especially since the infamous French werewolf Chastel (also known as ‘The Beast’) will be in attendance. Chastel has a hankering for human flesh, and after Bran thwarted his cannibalism a hundred years ago, the French wolf has it out for the Marrok.

I loved this book, which really isn’t surprising since I would happily kiss Patricia Briggs’s feet if I ever met her (it would be awkward, but unavoidable). She is my all time favourite Urban Fantasy author, and ‘Mercy Thompson’ is my favourite Urban Fantasy series.

‘Alpha & Omega’ is a wonderful spin-off to my beloved series. Charles is one of the most complex and compelling leading men, and Patricia Briggs is doing a fantastic job of drip-feeding his character story to us in these books. Charles is his father’s ‘killing arm’; it is his job to dispose of those wolves who have succumbed to the madness of immortality and bloodlust. For this reason, Charles has always distanced himself from everyone but his father and brother – figuring it would be easier to kill acquaintances than friends, for a long time Charles preferred his own company and was content with his solitary life and repellent killer reputation. And then Anna came along. Their mating was a completely happy accident – Charles’s ‘brother wolf’ mated with Anna, and then left Charles’s human side to catch up. And that’s what this book is really about – it is telling the story of what comes after the ‘happily ever after’.

When we left Charles and Anna in ‘Cry Wolf’ they had just performed the mating bond beneath the full moon and partook in a traditional human marriage ceremony. ‘Hunting Ground’ explores their tentative relationship – as Anna tries to come to terms with her brutal past, and Charles attempts to reconcile his assassin persona with his new love for Anna. Their relationship is so new and fragile, Anna and Charles were sort of thrown together by their wolf halves, and ‘Hunting Ground’ shows how their human sides are trying to catch up.

Charles is exploring new facets of his personality – for a long time he has been content with the fact that his role as Bran’s ‘killing arm’ had him ostracized from other wolves. But with Anna he craves touch and companionship, so much so that at times he feels off-balance and needy.

Anna is trying to overcome her poor self-confidence – first, in the fact that she thinks Charles, an educated and wealthy Alpha male has married her, an undereducated fledgling ‘puppy’. Anna is also trying to overcome past torments she experienced at the hands of her brutal Chicago pack – sometimes those old wounds have her hesitating over intimacy with Charles.

This is a really complex novel - it’s exploring both Anna and Charles’s psyches, and their evolving relationship. A lot of back-story is also provided with regards to the werewolf ‘outing’. This is especially interesting because the events of ‘Hunting Ground’ are approximately 2 years behind the ‘Mercy Thompson’ series (in which the werewolves have already successfully revealed themselves to the public). However, the ‘Mercy Thompson’ series skirted around the finer aspects of the werewolf exposure, but because of Charles’s links to the Marrok, the technicalities of ‘coming out’ to the humans are fascinatingly discussed and detailed in ‘Hunting Ground’.

If I have any complaints, it's probably the lack of Bran. He appears, briefly, on two occasions in the novel. I understand that this book is all about Anna and Charles and their evolving mateship, but I love Bran and I missed him (I'm also really looking forward to Briggs detailing Bran & Leah's tumultuous relationship, fingers crossed that is explored in book 3!).

I loved this novel. Anna and Charles are one of my favourite Urban Fantasy couples, and I just love their sweet, tentative relationship. Briggs has tentatively predicted the release date of the 3^rd Alpha & Omega novel as being August 2010. I, for one, can’t wait.

5/5