Night World
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"The Night World is all around us. A secret society of vampires, werewolves, witches and creatures of 'darkness'. They are beautiful - and deadly - and it's so easy to fall in love..."
The Night World is a series of ten (although the tenth book is yet to be released) YA novels by LJ Smith, revolving around a modern world where many supernatural 'races' have in fact existed alongside humanity for thousands of years. The Night World itself is composed of vampires, shapeshifters, witches, and werewolves, each of whom have their own backstory, society, and relationship with the others.
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[edit] Overview of species:
[edit] Vampires:
Vampires are not a natural part of the evolving world. The first Vampire in existence, Maya, was originally a witch. Whilst seeking immortality she became the first true vampire in existence. She achieved this with powerful magic mixed with drinking the blood of infants. Maya bore a son, Red Fern, who is the first of the lamia vampires. All made vampires and lamia vampires however descend directly from Maya. As Maya is the first vampire in existence she has many abilities her descendents do not, such as shape shifting and the power to project images. These abilities are usually restricted to shape shifters and witches. However, as Maya is part witch herself, she has a power that no other night person can rival.
Vampires possess powers far superior to humans; these include but are not limited to: inhuman strength and speed, telepathy and unnaturally fast reflexes. Made vampires do not age, however, the Lamia can chose to age and stop aging when ever they chose. Night world vampires are also inhumanly beautiful and irresistible to humans.
[edit] Witches:
[edit] Werewolves:
[edit] Shapeshifters:
[edit] Old Souls:
Old Souls are humans (not Night People), who have come back to the world many times, looking slightly different, but having the same basic features (eg: they would have a darker shade of hair, or they might be a little taller). This is the Night World's version of reincarnation.
Old Souls are humans who have had contact with Night People in past lives, either once (in the case of Hugh in Huntress), or many times (like Hannah in Soulmate) in their lives. Usually, an encounter with a Night Person is the trigger for them to remember thier past lives (eg: Hugh in Hintress remembered his past lives when werewolves attacked his family).
Old Souls can come back a few times, or they can be really old ones. Hannah (Soulmate) was first born when humans still lived in caves.
Witches believe in reincarnation also, but there has been no example of a Witch being reborn as an Old Soul.
Maya (in Soulmate) stated that only vampires who die don't get reborn, which suggests that Shapeshifters and Werewolves, could, in fact, return as Old Souls themselves. But like Witches, no examples of this has been seen.
[edit] Summary of the Series
[edit] Secret Vampire:
Poppy's time in the world is coming to an end...or is it? Certainly, being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer--for which the prognosis for survival is very, very grim--isn't a very heartening prospect. But there is another world part of yet apart from her world of ordinary things, a world which her best friend for many years, James Rasmussen, belongs to. He offers her a very dangerous invitation: to join him in the Night World as a made vampire and as the life-long soulmate of a lamia, or "born" vampire, which is what he is. The danger is very real, for by even telling her about the Night World, he's broken one of their greatest laws. By offering to make her a vampire he's broken one minor law in the name of breaking the other of their greatest laws: falling in love with a human. If she accepts his invitation, she will never age and never become ill again. But if she accepts, she may not long survive her turning, not with all the Night World legally able to kill them both. But the alternative is giving up and dying of pancreatic cancer. What's the worse fate, dying in at most three months or possibly being hunted throughout eternity?
As introductions to a new series goes, Secret Vampire is an excellent one to the Night World series of books. While some authors might spend page upon page upon page to establish the rules and parameters of a new world, L.J. Smith spreads the Night World out as lying atop, within, and beside the human world, so there is really little to worry about. Yet it is quite clear that the ordinary human world and the Night World are two definitely different and separate levels of existence. That's one of the interesting things about the premise of this series: that the one world, which might be infinitely more powerful than the other, fears the other so much that it is bound and determined to keep its existence a secret!
This book is a terrific change from the world crafted in the Secret Circle, Vampire Diaries, Forbidden Game, and even the Dark Vision series. For one thing, this time we have the witches and the vampires and the werewolves tied together in one world as opposed to two. For another, while certain things seem to carry over from earlier series, the Night World books present other takes on those same things. Remember the silver cord from the Secret Circle books? It reappears here as the "soulmate principle," and it plays an even larger part--in an understated way--in these books. Also, while the vampires of Fell's Church needed special talismans to go abroad in daylight, the vampires of the Night World are free to come and go as they please...though the sunlight does weaken them and dilutes their powers. Some of these changes might be problematic for those accustomed to traditional vampires, but I found this adaptation of the legend very palatable, possibly even moreso than the talismans in the Vampire Diaries series.
[edit] Daughters of Darkness:
If you told Mary-Lynnette Carter that there were really such things as vampires and werewolves and that they were all around her, she'd probably just stare blankly at you before returning to her contemplation of the night sky. But it is just that activity that leads her to the truth of it all: that there are vampires and there are werewolves and they are all around her. Because she's forcibly made aware that there isn't just one vampire nearby but five, and that a person she'd known her entire life was actually the last member of the family that gave Mad Dog Creek its name. Now she's stuck in relationships she can't avoid and some which she'd just as soon terminate as endure. But she's exchanged blood with three vampire sisters, tying herself to them irrevocably. She's become close friends with a wolf determined to make her his own at any cost. And she's identified the one person in the world who she truly belongs with and will never feel complete without...and it's the very soul that angers and irritates her the most! What's an ordinary mortal girl to do?
Daughters of Darkness doesn't wholly rely on the reader's knowledge of Secret Vampire to carry its story out. The plot contained in its pages does mention some events that took place in the first book of the Night World series and even involves a character from it, but other than that there is really no direct relationship to the book. Although L.J. Smith provides greater detail about the Night World in the first book, she reveals the same information in fewer words and phrases. This isn't a criticism of the author, however: I'm sure you can appreciate the necessity of outlining the parameters of a new world in the first book of a new series, right?
In many ways this book plays out like an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. It helps that the author actually incorporated the scene where Darcy tells Elizabeth that he loves her against his will and against his character. Really, though, these are not reincarnations of Miss Elizabeth Bennett or Mr. Darcy, certainly not when one is a vampire who might live forever and the other is a closer avatar of Emma's Emma Woodhouse. There are similarities, however, in that Mary-Lynnette is quite as strong-willed as Elizabeth is, and quite capable of protecting herself from verbal attacks. And Ash Redfern is as proud as Mr. Darcy is. Their fall into unwanted love is similar as well, since Ash has been taught to believe that vampires are better than humans.
[edit] Enchantress:
Thea Harman's running out of relatives to live with because her sister (cousin, actually), Blaise, keeps getting them expelled from different schools. Now she's living in Las Vegas, and she hopes that living with her grandmother will put a stop to Blaise's shenanigans, because her grandmother just happens to be the Crone, greatest and most powerful of the witches of the Night World. And Thea and Blaise are witches themselves and subject to the dictates of the Inner Circle of witches, of which their grandmother is most important. But will it be Blaise that gets them expelled this time or Thea? Because Thea's found out that coming to live in Las Vegas was both the best and the worst thing possible. She's found her soulmate--the one soul in the world who will ever make her feel complete--but her soulmate is a human, and Night World law forbids its members from ever falling in love with ordinary humans or telling a human about the Night World. And if things keep going the way they are, Thea's going to break both laws, and not all the constructive assistance that Blaise can offer her sister will help her if she does! And that's assuming they all survive the rampage of a vengeful spirit!
Spellbinder looks at another aspect of the Night World, specifically the role that witches--who are far closer to humans than any other kingdom of the Night World except the made vampires--play in the secret world that runs parallel but hidden to the mundane mortal world. There is only a minor reference to the previous books in the series at the very end of the book, but it plainly indicates that you don't need to rely on knowledge of Secret Vampire or Daughters of Darkness to understand this book. And really, you don't have time to refer back to the other books anyway because this plot moves along so smoothly and so rapidly that you don't want to put it down and look up other things.
I love the way the author turns the table on Thea by having her--innocent of all wrongdoing previously caused by her cousin--suddenly become the one committing all these Night World and Inner Circle crimes that could result in even graver punishments and circumstances than expulsion. What's really interesting is how everything that happens rises from her desire to do the right thing--like protecting her soulmate from her sister's machinations--but having it backfire on her in unexpected ways that only dig her in deeper into trouble. On the other hand, she learns things about herself that she never dreamed so there's a reasonable exchange. I'm not sure she'd agree that it's a fair trade, but do we ever feel that way? By the way Ash Redfern is FIT!
[edit] Dark Angel:
Have you ever had a near-death experience? Well, Gillian has. She died and her soul was on its way to the afterlife when something intercepted it and led her back to life. But that something followed her, and now its haunting her. It calls itself Angel and he looks like it. He seems to act like one, too, helping her to remake her self-image into someone more assertive and more attractive. He even tells her the truth, that she comes from a family of powerful witches and urges her to make contact with the Night World, where she could become a power in her own right. But would an angel, even her guardian angel, really encourage her to hurt her enemies? Would he urge her to turn against her one true friend? Would he try to kill her one and only soulmate on the chance that he could possess his body and become flesh once more? Well, that is what he does, and it's up to Gillian to correct the mistakes she's made in following his every direction. The question is, how do you stop a spirit--a ghost--who happens to be drop-dead gorgeous and determined to stay with you?
Dark Angel might be considered an offshoot of Spellbinder because it takes Thea's problems with a spirit she called forth and turns it around, with a spirit coming back for reasons of its own and plaguing the witch it helped. More than that, though, it's a story that takes a haunting look at near-death experiences and what effect it has on the survivors. There's no telling what could happen to those who come face-to-face with death or how it would change their lives, even without spirits guiding them down paths they've never trodden. Perhaps Gillian would have remained the way she'd been before her near-death experience, or perhaps she would have changed into a more outgoing person than she'd been before, even without Angel's help. Perhaps she would have gone in a different direction all together. Who can tell?
Although I loved the appearance of Ash Redfern (remember him from Secret Vampire and Daughters of Darkness?) and his fairly distinguishing role in this book--reinforcing the difference between "good" Night World people and "evil" people--as a reference back to previous books, it isn't anything about the Night World that really won my interest. It was seeing the social politicking and cliques that abounded at Gillian's high school and how everyone jockeyed around to be "in" and popular. The different components of social power was entirely different from the magical power available to Gillian, but there was definitely power there for the taking by those who truly wanted it.
[edit] The Chosen:
Where there are vampires, there are bound to be a vampire hunter or two. And there aren't any vampire hunters better than Rashel Jordan, also known as "the Cat." She's killed her share of vampires without hesitation. Why, then, does she freeze when she locks eyes with Quinn, a vampire from the 17th century whose reputation precedes him? He's a dark and deadly vampire with more deaths at his hands--and teeth--than Rashel could keep track of, yet she can't bring herself to stake him. And while she can't stake him, he can kill her...or can he? Because something's happening to Quinn, too, that he never expected. And it's a terrible distraction for them both, because something's happening in the Night World among the made-vampires, something that could bring the wrath of the Night World Council against them all. Can the two of them overcome whatever it is that's bothering them before events come to a boil...or worse, before the two of them are killed for violating the Night World law of falling in love with each other?
Here's a twist! The Chosen sets up two determined enemies in a situation that neither one of them wants to be in! It's way different from any previous vampire-human story in the Night World series, because in those it was simply that humans and vampires were in love with each other. This time, however, it's a vampire and a vampire hunter. Can you imagine what kinds of problems this relationship is likely to create? The possibilities for misunderstandings are terrifying to contemplate!
This story was considerably darker than I expected from the Night World series. Certainly it is different from the previous four novels. In those the stories were mostly light-hearted. Sure, there were occasions of pain and suffering in them, but overall everything was fairly upbeat. This book, though, explores the dark side of what is essentially a dark world to begin with. There are good points to consider, though, such as the relationship that develops between Rashel and Quinn. Then, too, there is the first-bitter-then-happy reunion at the end of the book that makes the beginning of the novel clear. You'll have to read the book yourself to understand what I'm talking about.
[edit] Soulmate:
Hannah doesn't know it, but her life is about to turn into a battle for surival. First, though, she has to deal with the possibility that she's going crazy. After all, why would she write notes to herself that are obvious threats to her life? The truth, however, may make her wish she was truly insane, because maybe then she could cope. Because there is another world that runs along side her own, and two of its most powerful members have ancient bonds to Hannah. Both want her and will stop at nothing to get her, but for very different reasons. The vampire, Thierry Descouedres, because he is her soulmate, wants to love Hannah as he was denied repeatedly through the ages. But the other, Maya, is a vampire far more powerful than Thierry, as she is the one who made Thierry a vampire to begin with. And Maya wants Hannah dead and fully intends to kill her, the same way she killed Hannah's previous incarnations. Will Hannah be able to escape from Maya's grasp, or will she be slain once more before she can unite with her soulmate?
Soulmate shows, more than any of the other Night World books, just how strong the soulmate principle really is, extending from the days of hunter-gatherers all the way to the modern era. Not even Quinn and Cat's bond in The Chosen can compare. But to have someone deliberately (as opposed to inadvertantly) interfering in that bond--even so far as to repeatedly kill--is a new twist to the situtations that have plagued Night World protagonists since Book One.
This book does a great deal towards explaining the origins of the witches and the lamia (born vampires), including the schism that arose between the descendants of Hellewise Hearth-Woman and Maya, the mother of the Redfern clan of lamia. I could wish that the author had spent more time on the schism--and I do--but to have done so would have detracted from the main story, which I definitely didn't want. All the same, it's nice to finally know the background to the story Thea told in Spellbinder.
[edit] Huntress:
For sixteen years Jez Redfern grew up as a vampire, stalking humans and drinking their blood. Then long-suppressed memories arose, and she discovered the truth about herself: she was only half vampire, and the other half of her was human. Unable to cope, she leaves behind the vampire gang she once led and moves in with her mother's human relatives. But the Night World isn't about to leave her entirely alone. She seeks out Circle Daybreak, the renegade witch's circle, and becomes a vampire hunter. Then she's sent to collect one of the four Wild Powers that ancient prophecies predict could save the human world from plunging into blood and darkness. But to do so, she must first confront forces she never thought to face again. Like her former second-in-command in her gang, Morgead Blackthorn. But there's something different between them now, something that looks suspiciously like a silver cord that ties their souls together. But Morgead hates humans, so what can he possibly feel for her, who is a human?
Huntress is an excellent work, with a problem at its center that is more convincing than even Gillian's (in Dark Angel) situation as a lost witch or Rashel's (in The Chosen) as a vampire hunter in love with a vampire. Here we have a person who by rights shouldn't even exist who, if she drank blood regularly, would have all the attributes of one of the lamia, yet who can't quite be poisoned to death by a wooden stake in her chest...though it might bring her very close to death. And of course, everything she learned while her vampire side was dominant--how to fight, how to react to threats, etc.--makes her an excellent vampire hunter as well, right?
This book starts us off on a new thread that links this book with following texts. It's an interesting idea and terribly appropriate given that the end of the millennium is drawing near. And the way the author introduces the first of the Wild Powers is very convincing and the confusion that surrounds it is entirely plausible. I just wish that more had been done with the connection to the Redferns than just simply tossing their names around. This would really have been a good chance to discuss more about the Redfern line.
[edit] Black Dawn:
One night Maggie Neely's brother, Miles, didn't return home from a hiking trip, but his girlfriend did...and lies about what really happened. Maggie hunts the girl down, but her impromptu investigation--she's still in her pajama top and mismatched socks--traps her in a dark and diabolical slave trade that no human suspected existed. But the origin of this scheme is the Night World, where the vampires, witches, and shape-shifters lurk in the darkness of a society underlying the human one that Maggie knows. Not that she cares. All she cares about is finding her brother, who she's certain is still alive. But then things take a strange and confusing twist: first she falls in with a blind girl who happens to be the Maiden of the Witches. Then she finds her soulmate in a seventeen-year-old youth who just happens to be a vampire. Then she discovers that her soulmate is also the prince of a hidden kingdom in the Night World, and the great-grandson of one of the most ruthless and malicious vampires in the World. And that vampire has plans for this little kingdom and the power his great-grandson possesses. Can Maggie save herself and her soulmate, Delos Redfern, and the rest of the human slaves in the Dark Kingdom before it's too late for the Day World, the world of humans? And what about her brother?
Black Dawn is the second of the Night World books focusing around the four Wild Powers first introduced in Huntress. Once again we have a human and a vampire whose souls are inextricably bound together. What's more, we once again have a member of the many-branched Redfern clan feeling its effects: James Rasmussen met Poppy, Ash and Jade Redfern met Mary-Lynnette and Mark Carter, Quinn (even though he's adopted--sort of) met Cat, and Jez Redfern met Morgead Blackthorn. Gee, you have to wonder what's happening to the Redfern clan, don't you? And when you consider that they're also bound to the Harman clan of witches (who themselves have felt the effects of the soulmate principle), you have to wonder when it will all stop. But don't count on finding out any time soon.
Here we have an interesting conundrum. In a society of people who are practically immortal, what grown adult (who might be at least two hundred) would willingly take orders from a seventeen-year-old prince? And it seems like that's part of the reason for all the problems that pop up in Black Dawn. I mean, things would have been entirely too easy if Delos could actually command his people to do things in a morally just way. But this way he has hardships of his own to overcome. But I'm curious: Delos is Hunter Redfern's great-grandson, so what happend to Chervil Redfern and Tormentil Redfern, the kings that came before Delos? Especially since death by natural causes isn't an option to consider?
[edit] Witchlight:
The world is not in good shape, not with the different kingdoms of the Night World splintering apart to make their bid for dominance in the chaos predicted to rein at the end of the millennium. But that chaos may be averted if Circle Daybreak, the witches' Circle turned rallying point for the good folk of the Night World and their human allies, can convince the four Wild Powers spoken of in prophecy to stand with humanity against the forces of darkness. To that end, Raksha Keller and her team of troubleshooters have descended upon North Carolina to rescue a potential Wild Power before their Night World enemies have a chance to kill her. But everything goes wrong, from Iliana Harman's complete denial of possessing anything remotely resembling witchcraft to the sudden inclusion into their circle of a young man who just happens to be the prince of the shapeshifters, Galen Drache. And nobody ever said anything about a force put to sleep long millennia before suddenly awakening, something along the lines of a dragon!
Witchlight is the third of the Night World books focusing around the four Wild Powers. As you might expect, another Wild Power is found in this book, but is it really a Wild Power when the girl--who may be a lost witch of the Harman clan--doesn't seem to have any powers whatsoever? And of course, seeing as how the soulmate principle seems to be appearing in each and every one of the Night World novels, there is another match made in...well, destiny, maybe. Another match made in destiny. And, like the others, there are problems to this particular match working out. Or at least, that's the way it all seems. But you get the picture. Fortunately, this time it isn't anyone belonging to the Harman (see Spellbinder, Dark Angel and Soulmate) or Redfern (see Secret Vampire, Daughters of Darkness, The Chosen, again Soulmate, Huntress, and Black Dawn) clans--and while Quinn and Thierry aren't necessarily of either clan, Quinn has a strong tie to the Redferns and Thierry was actually turned by the mother of the Redfern clan who was herself a Hearth-Woman (later, Harman)--but two people from the other kingdom in the Night World, the shapeshifters. It's about time.
Especially good about this book is that the author provides a history of the kingdom of the shapeshifters. We more or less received a history of the witches in Spellbinder and one of the vampires in Soulmate, but nothing had been said about the shapeshifters. As a point of fact, nothing was really mentioned about them--excluding werewolves of course--until Black Dawn and now here. It makes a nice change of pace from the stories about the vampires and the witches. I'm not necessarily certain how far a story could go with only the shapeshifters involved to carry it along, but this one did all right...with some assistance from the witches and vampires that went along for the ride.
[edit] Strange Fate: Yet to be released.
Sarah Strange and her soulmate, the gentle vampire Blade, live in a peaceful New England town. But Sarah's world is shattered when her family is asked to hide an arrogant male witch named Kierlan Harman. Sarah recognizes Kierlan as a soulmate and fights being drawn to him--until he's kidnapped by the Night World and everything she's ever known is lost.
Though the release date for this book has been pushed back every year since 1999, LJ Smith remains dedicated to finishing the series. Still, roadblocks and broken promises at every turn frustrate patient fans.
The forum at lj-smith.com states: "The last known communication from LJ Smith about Strange Fate said it was done and all of the Nightworld series was scheduled to be republished last fall (with minor alterations to account for the millennium having already happened) prior to SF being released, and now that's passed right by and not happened." (2006)
[edit] The Future & Trivia
The battle is coming...
The lines are being drawn. The new Night People are more ruthless and bloodthirsty than ever before, and they're getting ready to destroy the human world, but the light has it's champions too. Four children have been born, four Wild Powers who can stop the darkness from winning...if they and their soulmates can survive.
Towards the end of the series we are told of the final battle that is approaching...the Night World want to enslave the human race at the fall of the millennium. Opposed to this is Circle Daybreak, an organization of Night People and humans alike, who will stand in the path of the Night Worlds plans of destruction.
[edit] The Prophecies
The prophecy predicting where the four wild powers will come from:
One from the land of kings long forgotten; - Delos Redfern (Black Dawn)
One from the hearth which still holds the spark; - Iliana Harman (Witchlight)
One from the Day World where two eyes are watching; - Jezebel Redfern (Huntress)
One from the twilight to be one with the dark. - Kierlan Harman (Strange Fate)
The Prophecy concerning the four Wild Powers:
Four to stand between the light and the shadow,
Four of blue fire, power in their blood.
Born in the year of the blind maiden's vision;
Four less one and darkness triumphs.
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