Suggested Vampire Series Beyond Twilight
Moving beyond the Vampire book series Twilight, after the four books and the one movie and the many websites, can pose a problem. As an instructor of Vampire literature, many people ask me, those who loved Twilight at least, what they should read now that they have finished the series. The list that follows is for those for whom it was the first book they’ve ever willingly read all the way though. Here are my suggestions.
- The House of Night
series by PC Cast & Kristin Cast is a great start at moving into non-Twilight vampire worlds. It follows the adventures of Zoey Redbird, a young Native American girl who enters the Tulsa, Oklahoma House of Night (a high-school which teaches those called to be vampires how to be vampires) after her “Mark,” a series of Tattoos appears on her forehead. In this literary world, Vampires are a distinct subset of humans, set apart and arguably equal. She has the typical coming of age issues (including too many boyfriends); all while being called by the Goddess Nyx to be the next High Priestess of the vampires. At this point, there are five in the series, with another due out October 09. They are- Marked
- Betrayed
Chosen - Untamed
Hunted - The Morganville Vampire series by Rachel Caine. This series also focuses on a young female protagonist, with the action occurring in Morganville, a college town, in which vampires and humans coexist. But it isn’t a happy coexistence for the humans. They are in bondage to the vampires. Over the course of the novels, Claire Danvers will be the catalyst for the development of an underground revolt against the tyranny of their vampire owners. There are currently five novels in this series.
- The Vampire Diaries by L. J. Smith: This is going to become a television series Sept 10, 2009 on CW, so get a jump on the novels so you, too, can pick at the TV show. These are romances in which the heroine, Elena Gilbert, just happens to fall in love with a young (in appearance) vampire. Like all romances, there must be impediments to true love working, or there wouldn’t be a story. In this the prime once is Stefan Salvatore (love interest’s) older brother Damon. The series begins with The Awakening in which Elena and Stefan meet and fall in love, and features a murder of which Stefan is suspected, and which she suspects Damon of perpetrating. The series continues from there, with the major turning oint in the third book when Elena is turned into a vampire. In order the books are:
- The Awakening
- The Struggle
- The Fury
- Dark Reunion
- The Return: Nightfall
Two more are planned: The Return: Shadow Souls and The Return: Midnight
The Southern Vampire series by Charlainne Harris is an excellent introduction to the world of adult vampire books. (Yes, the almost pornographic HBO series True Blood is based on these, but the books are much tamer, and you could always skip the sex scenes without losing any plot.) These are a delight to read, and the vocabulary isn’t too intense (if Twilight was your first read, these won’t be beyond your comprehension. They feature the twenty-five year old Sooky Stackhouse, a telepath, and her misadventures after she meets up with the Vampires and discovers the rest of the Supernatural is real as well. She develops a symbiotic relationship with Bill and Eric, her two vampire lovers. Delightfully, there are currently nine novels in this series: Dead Until DarkLiving Dead in DallasClub Dead Dead to the World Dead as a DoornailDefinitely Dead All Together Dead From Dead to Worse Dead and Gone .>Bite Me by Parker Blue is a book I think is hilarious, but almost everyone in my class hated. They hated it for the same reasons I loved it: the language is young (lexically and stylistically sounds like a teenager), it has text talk, the teens and their relationships and interactions feel young. Too them it felt as though the author was talking down to them, while to me the author was sounding like them – an art for an author no longer a member of that age group. If Twilight wasn’t your first complete novel, there are of course many more choices to choose amongst, but these are all really fun series to read. These are all the sort of books that work really well on vacation, with writing as intoxicating as a Tequila Sunrise, they go down smoothly.
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