Richelle Mead's Work! (Board Member goes pro)

[meg_evonne]

On the 30th I visited local Borders and their computer was saying Succabus Dreams was 'not yet published'. I checked the trade paperback section between sci fi and romance and found them.  So I'm reading now 

[MatthewD44]

I was about to say I know that it is out...

[meg_evonne]

Like Succabus Dreams.  Someone was griping about the suspense peak, didn't bother me.  I see these as a fresh outlook on paranormal whatever--I'm interested in the characters and she has a lot of good ones to enjoy, that means you end up with a lot of lose ends to tie up.  Didn't bother me in the least. :-)

[BookLover♥]

Finished Succubus Dreams last night.  I thought it was well written, interesting plot, etc.  But I have to admit, I do not like where it ended up.

(click to show/hide)

Did not like at all how it ended with Seth.  Ok, part of that is the hopeless romantic in me.  But it's also because I think that having him cheat on Georgina was totally out of character.  To me, it does not synch with his approach to sex as part of a relationship (vs. sex on the first date; and yes, I realize she wasn't a stranger).  I also don't like how it played out for their conversation... seriously, would he pick her up for Christmas with his family and tell her then??  It made me really dislike his character.  Really, really.

I also didn't like the Joel/Yasmine/Vincent situation.  Again, I know that everything can't have a happy ending, but it seemed to be too much.

All in all, I put the book down feeling angry and depressed - although that speaks to how well it was written  , it's not what I wanted/expected.  I will definitely read the next in the series, because I like it overall and want to see what happens, but I'm not sure I'll be as anxious for Heat as I was for Blues.

[MatthewD44]

I was kinda like you were after I read it BL but at the same time, I can see where the guy was coming from after he did that.. I am really wondering what is going to be happening in the next one for sure... I did here that Richelle did finish the Heat and it is on its way to the editor...

[Matrix Refugee (formerly Morraeon)]

Reading Succubus Dreams as of now, and picking up Shadow Kissed tomorrow. I've been dilligently trying to spread the word about Vampire Academy, in the hopes that one day it gets the same rave reviews as a certain badly written vampire teen series. Every bookstore I go into, I routinely move copies of Vampire Academy and Frostbite in front of *those* books, and I've been reccommending it high and low.

[BookLover♥]

I was kinda like you were after I read it BL but at the same time, I can see where the guy was coming from after he did that.. I am really wondering what is going to be happening in the next one for sure... I did here that Richelle did finish the Heat and it is on its way to the editor...

I can definitely see where he was coming from, and there were enough issues leading up to it.  (spoilered because it gives away the character)

(click to show/hide)

And I don't begrudge him for wanting to move on for a variety of reasons (even though the romantic in me wishes it would work out).

My disconnect with it is that Seth is continually represented as a respectable guy with a pretty pure soul; from my perspective, he lost major, major ground in both of those.  He was an ass, not only because he cheated -- and not just by making out or something, but by having sex, which according to his character is very serious -- but also because he pretty much went straight from telling her how much he loved her and would do anything to be with her to having sex with someone else (and deciding that he didn't want to be with her), and because he let her find out through Maddie, and even seemed like he expected to get through Christmas day without telling her.  He acted like a total jerk.

Again, I realize that even nice people do mean and stupid things sometimes, especially when confused or frustrated.  But it really ruined his character for me.

I noticed that Heat is set to come out next summer, versus next fall, so at least we don't have quite so long to wait to see how the story unfolds.

[meg_evonne]

I guess I have a different take on the Seth angle. 

(click to show/hide)

Yes, it came as a wow--but it was set up, it's just sad sometimes when characters head away from places that you've assumed they were.  To be perfectly honest, Seth was boring the 'crap' out of me and I'm glad to see her heading forward.  JB mentioned that he needed to slap down the side characters occasionally.  I think Seth has been slapped down, in the kindest possible way.  I mean look what JB did to Michael, ouch!  That is a slap down!

It wasn't going to be a happy ending as far as I could tell anyway.  Requited love is nice for awhile, but not for a life time and there was the mortal angle to deal with, which Richelle handled well, IMO.   

I'm much more invested in thinking that a time will come when Georgiana is hopefully 'redeemed' at some point and she and the angel find a strange weird attraction that lingers on the 'oh so wrong' side for some added spice.  :-) Through the series I've felt that there were references that might have held that Seth was more than he seemed, even a vague wonder in my head if he were the original lover she done wrong in grecian times.  Would be fitting to realize she never should have been with him anyway--and this time it worked out the right way?  Does that make sense?

[Starbeam]

I guess I have a different take on the Seth angle. 

(click to show/hide)

Yes, it came as a wow--but it was set up, it's just sad sometimes when characters head away from places that you've assumed they were.  To be perfectly honest, Seth was boring the 'crap' out of me and I'm glad to see her heading forward.  JB mentioned that he needed to slap down the side characters occasionally.  I think Seth has been slapped down, in the kindest possible way.  I mean look what JB did to Michael, ouch!  That is a slap down!

It wasn't going to be a happy ending as far as I could tell anyway.  Requited love is nice for awhile, but not for a life time and there was the mortal angle to deal with, which Richelle handled well, IMO.  

I'm much more invested in thinking that a time will come when Georgiana is hopefully 'redeemed' at some point and she and the angel find a strange weird attraction that lingers on the 'oh so wrong' side for some added spice.  :-) Through the series I've felt that there were references that might have held that Seth was more than he seemed, even a vague wonder in my head if he were the original lover she done wrong in grecian times.  Would be fitting to realize she never should have been with him anyway--and this time it worked out the right way?  Does that make sense?

The way I read it was

(click to show/hide)

that Carter's trying to get Georgina to figure out that there's a loophole in her contract with what's his face, and that it has something to do with love and choosing to go forward because of love.  If I'm remembering right, he keeps telling her that it's Seth's choice to make, not hers, and to trust in love.  So it sounds to me that if she and Seth were to consumate their relationship, and do so because they love each other, it would have a major effect on the contract.  Just don't know what kinda effect.  And Carter seems to be like a guardian angel for Georgina.

[meg_evonne]

And Carter seems to be like a guardian angel for Georgina.[/spoiler]

agree on Carter.  I still think it's more complex than that, but only time and Richelle will tell us  :-)

[Matrix Refugee (formerly Morraeon)]

Finished reading Succubus Dreams: I like where this is going, even though one part in particular broke my heart, but I admire Richelle for not sparing her characters the hard knocks that life often throws at you. It's a sign of being a good writer if you let your heroes get hurt.

I've got a love-hate thing for Dante: he's anNOYing, but he somehow reminds me of an odd cross between Harry Dresden and John Constantine.

Funny story about Shadow Kiss and trying to get a copy: I normally buy my books at the Borders in Burlington, since  I'm on the Borders Rewards program -- nothing beats finding a way to get your book-buying addiction to pay for itself once in a while. So I'd gone there to get it, only to find they'd already sold it out! I think I may be to blame for this, since every time I am in there (or in any bookstore, for that matter), I routinely put copies of the Vampire Academy books in front of the darn Twilight books -- they're usually right next to each other anyway -- in an effort to spread the word on a much better-written teen vampire series. I finally did manage to score a copy at the Barnes & Noble in Downtown Lowell, and am now reading it...

[meg_evonne]

Congrats to Richelle!   I just read my new subscription to Publisher's whatever.. and they reported that Richelle's got books off to Korea!  So the Vampire Academy (which I still have not read) spreads across the world.  Congrats!

[THETA]

Jerome's my favorite character ever.  I'm looking forward to see what all the hullabaloo is about with him in the next novel.

[meg_evonne]

More congrats to Richelle.  This was in my e-mail this morning from Publisher's Marketplace:

"NYT bestselling author Richelle Mead's next two novels in the Eugenie Markham/Dark Swan Urban Fantasy series, to John Scognamiglio at Kensington, by Jim McCarthy at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management."

Good news for Richelle and for Kensington!

[Matrix Refugee (formerly Morraeon)]

Just finished "Storm Born", the first of the Dark Swan series (and I am so gonna be dragging myself at work tomorrow, since I stayed up this late to finish it), and I have to say, *THIS* is how Laurell K. Hamiliton's Merry Gentry series should have been done! It's got all the elements (heir to a faery king who's obliged to produce an heir, magical power-ups), but with 90 percent less pr0n (not to say that the love scenes aren't hot-hot-*HOT*, they just don't take up 90 percent of the book).