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fandomhigh_ooc2008-02-04 10:39 pm
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Spotlight On Fandoms : Women of the Otherworld
Sorry this is so late. We've both been ill.
A werewolf, a witch, and a half-demon walk into an illegal compound...
We could write forever about this series, we really could.
"Women of the Otherworld" is a supernatural series of books written by Kelley Armstrong. Each book has a main narrator, and so far, there have been four different voices telling their stories through out seven books. The series focuses on women in the world of the supernatural, with many colorful characters supporting them and adding to their stories. While there are strong male characters, the narrators are almost always women.
Elena Michaels (3)
Paige Winterbourne (2)
Eve Levine (1)
Savannah Levine -- No narrations yet, but she is a character in most of the books.
Jaime Vegas (1)
Bitten
Stolen
Dime Store Magic
Industrial Magic
Haunted
Broken
No Humans Allowed
Personal Demon (Not released yet)
None of these women are your basic, run of the mill human characters. In fact, very few people you meet during the series are regular humans. Most of them have something supernatural about them. The most notable human of the series is Talia Vasic, mother of Adam Vasic and wife to Robert Vasic. Talia was a single mother with a troubled son who did whatever it took to find the answer of what was troubling her son. Turns out, her son is half-demon, imagine that.
Kelley Armstrong is married with three kids and she lives in Ontario, Canada. She has not only written eight books in her "Women of the Otherworld" series, she has also written several novellas and short stories, which she has archived on her web site. She has started writing the Nadia Stafford series, as well as a young adult trilogy, The Darkest Powers. She maintains a website and a newsletter so that she can be in better touch with her fans and readers. She has a discussion board on her site and she runs monthly contests. She enjoys getting messages from her readers and does her best to respond back to them -- making sure to let them know that her response time can take a few weeks due to how busy she can get.
Elena Michaels -- In "Bitten" and "Stolen" you meet Elena Michaels. She's the only female werewolf known to exist and she has some issues adapting to and accepting her dual nature. After all, she wasn't born a werewolf. She was bitten. She has cameo appearances in "Dime Store Magic" and "Industrial Magic".
Paige Winterbourne -- You first meet Paige as a minor character in "Stolen" when you find out that there is a Supernatural Council of sorts and that the werewolf pack has never really been interested in taking part in it. Paige is a young witch, only 23, but she has courage and a very wide stubborn streak. Her story continues in in "Dime Store Magic" and "Industrial Magic".
Eve Levine -- You first hear about Eve in "Stolen." The mother of Savannah Levine, Paige's ward, Eve is a dark witch who raised her daughter on her own after leaving the father -- Kristof Nast of the Nast Cabal -- before he could learn of the pregnancy. She died trying to save her daughter.
Savannah Levine -- Precocious and powerful, you first meet the twelve year old witch during the events of "Stolen". Savannah is very powerful and extremely confident in what she can do -- even if she doesn't always have complete control over the situation. She ends up being in all of the books -- either by appearance or by mentioning of her. She's the daughter of the dark witch Eve and the sorcerer Kristof Nast. It had long been believed that witches and sorcerers couldn't have offspring, so her existence was a bit of a surprise to both the Coven and the Cabals.
Jaime Vegas -- You first meet Jaime Vegas in "Industrial Magic." A necromancer in show business, Jaime seems like a fraud. We quickly learn that she's not, though, when the ghost of vampire Natasha keeps trying to contact her. She's also a delegate for the interracial council.
Also, while the series focuses primarily on strong female characters, you can't mention them without mentioning the guys.
Kristof Nast -- Savannah's father and heir apparent to the Nast Cabal. He is first seen in "Dime Store Magic", and then again in "Industrial Magic". Although he meets his demise early on, his presence continues to be felt by Savannah and her family.
Sean Nast -- Twenty-something son of Kristof Nast, which makes him Savannah's older brother. Eldest brother, to be precise. He's the only one of the Nast Cabal who seems genuinely interested in knowing her, as we see in "Industrial Magic" when he reaches out via a conversation with Paige shortly after the Everett Webber trial. Also? He's gay, which is the reason his family would like to pretend he doesn't exist.
Bryce Nast -- Only seen in "Industrial Magic". Younger brother of Sean. Kind of an ass and no real fan of Savannah.
Adam Vasic -- You first meet Adam in "Stolen". He's one of Paige's childhood friends and a delegate to the interracial council. He's also Robert Vasic's stepson, and a half-demon.
Robert Vasic -- First met in "Industrial Magic," Robert is Adam's stepfather and a former delegate to the interracial council. Currently he serves as a resource, providing information to Paige on many occasions.
Clayton Danvers -- Surly, snarly, and all around not very friendly, we first meet Clayton in "Bitten". He is Elena's mate, though at first she has an extreme reluctance to get back into the relationship.
Jeremy Danvers -- Alpha of the werewolf pack, brilliant artist, and in possession of a knack for leadership. You first meet him in "Bitten" when Elena returns home to investigate a string of murders.
Lucas Cortez -- A lawyer and the youngest son of Benicio Cortez, he shows up in "Dime Store Magic" right when Paige needs all of the help she can get. He's a sorcerer which makes all kinds of things go confusing in Paige's head. He becomes a central figure in the lives of both Paige and Savannah.
Benicio Cortez -- Father of Lucas and the head of one of the most powerful Cabals. Benicio is also a sorcerer and spends a lot of time trying to get his younger son's acceptance of him and the Cabal that he is a part of.
Bitten: Elena Michaels lives in Toronto, making a life as a journalist and living with Philip Madden. She loves her life, or so she tells herself. She's angry and determined to make a life for herself, to not need the Pack anymore, to forget about them. But when Pack Alpha Jeremy Danvers calls and summons her home, she has little choice but to go back to a life she's tried so hard to deny. After all, returning home means facing Clayton Danvers, her lover and the man who turned her into a werewolf eleven years prior.
Disgruntled and uncooperative, Elena nevertheless begins investigating the reports of wild dog attacks. She and the Pack know that these are not just any wild dogs, though it provides a good cover story. No, these attacks are by something far more dangerous -- a mutt, and one who doesn't seem to have any desire whatsoever to be careful. The most dangerous kind of mutt. And so Elena and the Pack begin their investigation, tracking the mutt's scent to his apartment. A search of the apartment reveals nothing.
When the mutt dumps a dead body close to Stonehaven -- the Pack residence -- it becomes more personal. They hunt the mutt again, finding him at a rave. He introduces himself to Elena as Scott Brandon. Brandon is young and cocky and instantly wants Elena as his own. (Ah, the perils of being the only female werewolf.) She rebuffs him and and he transforms, right there in the club. He attacks a man. Elena realizes that she knows the name -- Brandon's a killer who's escaped from jail. Clayton and Elena try to catch Brandon in the club, and then outside after he flees. He is killed by a cop, though not before killing Logan, another Pack member and one of Elena's best friends.
They check out the hotel where the mutt is staying and find a scrapbook of articles on the killings. They're also almost caught by the return of Thomas LeBlanc -- the mutt that Brandon was working with -- but get away in time. They return to Stonehaven and Jeremy sends them on a hunt to relieve their stress while they regroup mentally. While on the hunt, Elena picks up the scent of Zachary Cain, another mutt. Clay, Elena, and Nick follow the scent and find Cain. Cain gets away and they realize that the mutts are actually going after Jeremy, that this was a diversion. They end up back at the hotel and search both the rooms and the parking lot, finding Jeremy in an alley behind the building.
Elena returns to Toronto, with Clay in tow. Shortly thereafter, Philip is attacked, Clay is taken, and Elena Changes and takes off to rescue him. She is stopped and taken back to Stonehaven by Jeremy, who arranges a rescue. The rescue is carried out, Thomas LeBlanc is killed, and Clay is brought home.
Stolen: Elena goes to Pittsburg to investigate a lead via report.com that claims to be able to prove the existence of werewolves. She meets Paige Winterbourne and is instantly wary, as Paige says she has information on both werewolves in general and Elena in particular. Elena was lured to Pittsburg in order to help deal with the problem of Tyrone Winsloe. Elena, however, doesn't know what to make of any of it.
That night, Elena is followed by a stalker and confronts a half-demon, while Ruth Winterbourne -- Paige's mother -- does a spell to get rid of him. This forces Elena to call Jeremy and tell him.The next morning they attend the interracial council's meeting. They're invited to return to the meeting after dinner and Jeremy declines, because his interest is in the Pack above all else -- though he'll join forces with the council if he has to. It's clear, though, that he's not interested in permanence.
Clay arrives that night and they're attacked by men who work for Winsloe. This makes them suspicious because the only ones who knew where they were are the council. The next day they arrive at the meeting with one of the men's heads in a bag -- and decline membership in the council.
On the way back, Elena's kidnapped and taken to a compound run by Winsloe, who is hunting down and killing the missing people for his own sick games -- kind of like a supernatural fox hunt. She meets Leah and Sondra Bauer and is befriended bit them, and she helps Dr. Carmichael in the infirmary in an attempt to make nice. She learns that Ruth's been kidnapped and that Ruth is interested in another captive, Savannah Levine. There've been reports of poltergeist activity in the base, reports that are connected to Savannah and put the blame for Ruth's death on Savannah's hands. This devastates Savannah and makes her start wondering if maybe people are right, if maybe she is evil like people say her mother was.
Bauer develops an obsession with becoming a werewolf, citing the need for adventure and change in her life, and goes to the extent of injecting herself with Elena's saliva. (Ew, man. Ew.) She begins turning into a werewolf and is taken to the infirmary. Elena dictates her care, simple as it is. Shortly thereafter, Bauer kills Carmichael during the transformation and requires sedation. They throw her into the cell next to Elena's. And while we're on the subject of obsessions, there's Winslow's obsession with Elena. He wants her to wear skimpy clothes and to participate in his hunts. She tries to refuse, but it does her no good on either count. Winsloe just gets pissed and shows her evidence -- photos -- that makes her think Clay is dead. He then tells her she's next.
A system malfunction gives Elena, Bauer, Leah, and Savannah a chance to escape, but Bauer loses control and gets killed by guards while Leah and Savannah get left behind when an elevator door closes. Elena gets back to Maine and tells the others her story. Paige, Elena, Adam, and Clay make a trip back to the compound. The vehicles are disabled and the personnel killed before they make the rescue. It's revealed that Leah's behind the poltergeist activity. She tries to take Savannah but is kept from doing so and promptly escapes. Clay and Elena track Winsloe down and kill him.
Also of note is that during the rescue, the full level of Adam's pyrokinetic powers are revealed.
Dime Store Magic: Dime Store Magic opens with Paige yet again getting complaints about Savannah from the Elders, who don't want attention drawn to the Coven and who also just really disapprove of Savannah's mother, to understate the problem. That same day, Paige gets a custody claim from Leah O'Donnell, the telekinetic half-demon from the compound. Paige meets Leah and her laywer, Gabriel Sandford, and discovers that the custody claim isn't from Leah. It's from Kristof Nast, head of the Nast Cabal -- and Savannah's father. When she gets home, Paige is confronted by the Elders, who are worried about Leah's plans to use Paige's being a witch in the custody case. Paige pleads with the coven for time to take care of things and meets with the local lawyer, where it's decided to request that Nast submit to DNA testing. Sandford, of course, refuses on his client's behalf.
In order to force Paige to submit, Leah and her associates begin an assault that includes such things as a hand of glory on her front porch and visits from social services. At this point, Lucas Cortez shows up and offers his services, which Paige refuses because sorcerers and witches Just Don't Play Well Together. The media sets up camp on Paige's front lawn and on a run into town for dinner, Paige's car is intentionally run into by Grantham Cary Jr., who's pissed off because Paige rebuffed his advances. Paige confronts his wife at the office and then goes home, where she receives a message on her machine asking her to come to the office. When she gets there she discovers that hey, guess what? So's Leah! And she frames Paige for murder.
Paige is taken to the police station, where Lucas shows up claiming to be her lawyer. He gets her released despite her protests.They go to a Coven meeting and get pretty much no help at all. Angry and frustrated, Paige turns to Lucas, who gives her info on the cabals. The next day Paige is tricked into going to Cary's visitation, where the Nast employees pull some nifty tricks involving illusions and the raising of dead bodies. She and Savannah are rescued by Lucas.
There's a Social Services visit, yay! The interview doesn't go well because Savannah's temperamental and pissy. And then she learns she's started her period, which changes things. Lucas worries because the ceremony associated with a young witch's first period can be important to cementing her loyalty to her Cabal. Lucas worries that this will step up things on Leah's part. Paige also gets curious about the differences between witch magic and sorcerer magic and realizes that there were several grades of spells but that at some point the higher level spells were lost or destroyed. A few of them survive in old grimoires guarded zealously by the Coven and which are kept by Margaret Levine, Savannah's aunt. Paige visits Margaret and steals the grimoires. She, Lucas, and Savannah then head for Salem. Paige and Savannah argue because Savannah wants the ceremony her mother wanted to use and not the Coven-approved one. Paige finally agrees and the ceremony sends them in search of certain ingredients -- and necessitates a visit to the cemetery. Afterwards, Paige shares the knowledge with Lucas and they sleep together.
The next day Paige's house is fire-bombed, and she and Savannah are kidnapped by the Nast Cabal. Nast makes his claim to Savannah and she accepts it, provided that she can have the ceremony that she wants and that Paige can stay. Nast agrees to both. They meet two witches who were supposed to be teaching Savannah but who force her to kill a young boy and drink his blood. Savannah's upset, while Nast denies any knowledge. Sandford speculates that the witches might've been expecting Greta's daughter to succeed her and that the ceremony was revenge.
Paige is bound and gagged, preventing her spellcasting. Sanford tells Lucas' family about her and one of his brothers visits. Said brother orders her death. Someone takes her to kill her but she manages to escape and gets back to Nast's house. Things have gone to hell, figuratively speaking, as Savannah's called a demon in her attempts to resurrect her mother. Kristof is killed when he tries to save Savannah. Paige learns of a spell that will permit her to look like Eve temporarily, but the spell depends on what the viewer wants to see. It succeeds, as Savannah desperately wants to see her mother, and they get out of the house.
Industrial Magic: The book opens with the attack on a Cabal employee's daughter. We then go to Paige, who is upset at the fact that she can't get other witches to form a new coven simply because of their disapproval of her relationship with Lucas. Due to this disapproval, she's less than pleased to find Benicio on her doorstep with a case for Lucas to investigate. Lucas and Paige go to Miami to visit Benicio and introduce Paige to the family. They also find out more about the attack, such as the fact that the girl's attack is only one of a series of similar attacks. That night, the son of Benicio's bodyguard is killed and the father, Griffin, asks Lucas and Paige to look into it.
Worried about Savannah and what could possibly happen to her given her parentage, they arrange for her to stay with the werewolf Pack. They then arrange to meet up with Jaime Vegas, a necromancer. Jaime manages to contact Dana, who everybody thinks is simply in a coma, talking to the understandably upset girl and getting what little information she can. In the process, she discovers the girl is dead. Investigation leads them Everett Weber's house. They can't find him, but they do find a list of encrypted files, which Paige then breaks into and discovers a list of Cabal employee children. They find Weber, but a Cabal SWAT team causes a hostage situation before they can get him to come peacefully. Paige is hurt and Weber is taken into custody. The trial results in Weber's execution, but almost immediately another child is killed - the grandson of Thomas Nast.
Jaime, Lucas and Paige go out to the swamp where Weber would be buried to contact him and meet Essus, who gives them information about the guy who hired Weber. When they investigate further, they're plagued by a ghost that Jaime keeps trying to contact. It's difficult, but she finally discovers that the ghost belongs to a vampire woman named Natasha.
Their search leads them to the home of Edward and Natasha, two immortality-quester vampires. Edward is looking for revenge. for his mate's death. The trio sets a trap, but Lucas is shot, and both he and Paige find themselves in the afterlife. Paige meets Savannah's mother, Eve, who guides her. The Fates offer them a choice, and they return to the living, where they find the werewolves have started searching.
A trap at a charity ball backfires, and Jaime is kidnapped. Benicio ignores the plan in order to save his son. Jeremy, Savannah and Paige help save everyone. Benicio executes Edward.
Haunted: Eve Levine has spent her afterlife watching over her daughter, Savannah, frustrated by her inability to help her now that she is dead. (This doesn't stop her from repeatedly trying, though.) This obsession is stopped when the Fates cash in on that favor she owes them for saving Paige and Lucas. She gets assigned to track down the Nix, a demi-demon who gives women the will-power to commit murder. The Nix only takes up residence in people who wish to commit murder, though. She gives them the ability to stop wishing and start doing.
Assisted by her lover, Kristof Nast, and the Angel Trsiel, Eve sets out to hunt the Nix. It isn't an easy hunt by any means, though. In fact, it's a dangerous one on more than one occasion. Eve uses Jaime to contact the Nix's previous partners and discovers that the Nix is willing to do whatever it takes to get the chaos she thrives on, which puts Eve's loved ones in danger. Eve refuses to allow this, though, and asks what she has to do in order to stop the Nix. During the confrontation, the Nix takes over Savannah's body which shows Eve how truly powerless she is in the situation, because she refuses to hurt her daughter despite the Nix being inside. She has to follow her last resort and become an ascended Angel, which is the last thing she wants to do because it means giving up her life with Kristof.
After the Nix is killed, though, an agreement is reached since the Fates appreciate Eve's sacrifices and really do want to help her however they can. Eve gets to spend six months a year with Kristof and the other six months a year with the angels. It isn't perfect, but they'll take it.
Broken: The story begins with Elena worrying about her pregnancy. She worries about what being a werewolf will do to the baby, since there's nothing in Pack records about this kind of thing ever happening before. Clay and Jeremy, also concerned, have restricted her movements, which Elena accepts but is also frustrated by. She is, therefore, not entirely unhappy to hear from Xavier Reese who, who comes with a deal: he will hand over information about a rogue mutt the Pack's been seeking in exchange for their help in stealing an artifact from a sorcerer. The artifact in question? The From Hell letter, supposedly written by Jack the Ripper. The deal is agreed to and, after the mutt has been dealt with, Jeremy steals the letter. As they leave, however, Clay squashes a mosquito and accidentally smears Elena's blood on the document. This activates an inter-dimensional portal which releases people who'd gotten trapped in there during the Victorian era. Now zombies, these track Elena, putting her and her unborn offspring at risk.
Attempting to rescue her, the Pack kill these zombies, but to the zombies keep returning. As if that wasn't enough, cholera has infected the Toronto water supply and the city's rats have become diseased and aggressive. Modern individuals disappear through the portal by accident, while murders take place that lead them to fear that they have released Jack the ripper himself. They soon discover, though, that who they fear is Jack the Ripper is just one of the zombies following Jack's methodology and that the person controlling the zombies is a man named Matthew Hull, who came through the portal and pretended to be just another confused person.
They have a confrontation with Hull, who quickly drains his magic trying to deal with them. Hull is killed when Elena tears his throat out.
The book ends with Elena giving birth to the twins -- Logan Nicholas and Katherine Natalya.
No Humans Involved: Focuses on necromancer Jaime Vegas, both her filming a supernatural reality show and her love life with the Pack's Alpha, Jeremy Danvers. Features Eve Levine and Kristof Nast in minor roles. This book couldn't be summarized in more detail because neither of us have read it yet.
Werewolves. Pack. Mutts. Witches. Sorcerers. Vampires. Demons. Necromancers. "Half-breeds". These are the main races of people that exist in Kelley Armstrong's books. However, the ones that are mentioned the most are the Pack, Witches and Sorcerers.
The Werewolf Pack is an organized group and they have certain ways of doing things. They are pretty much the law in werewolf society. The Pack werewolves have assigned duties within the Pack hierarchy and they take their jobs and their continued safe existence seriously. If you're not Pack, you're a mutt. Mutts are usually, but not always, rogue werewolves who do nothing but maim and kill. Mutts don't generally care about rules and they live for the violence. When the Pack finds out about such a werewolf, they set out to track down and take care of it as the situation calls for. This generally means that the Mutt needs to be destroyed. There have been a few exceptions to this rule as the Pack has met a couple of Mutts that do not fit the usual "rogue wolf" mold.
Witches and Sorcerers do not like each other and can identify each other on an almost psychic level. Sorcerers are male, Witches are female and they are usually the worst of enemies -- which is one of the reasons the birth and existence of Savannah Levine is such a surprise that neither the Cabals or the Coven knows how to deal with. Sorcerers usually want to kill Witches -- unless they are willing to pledge loyalty and work for the Cabals. Most Witches will not do this and find themselves at odds almost all of the time with the evil of the Cabals. However, there are Witches who desire power and riches above all else and happily align themselves with the Cabals.
The Cabals are the supernatural world's version of the mob. They have what seems to be unlimited power and resources and the two most powerful of the Cabals are the Cortez Cabal and the Nast Cabal.
The immediate answer to come to mind is because Kelley Armstrong's books are a phenomenal read. They are well-written and she is able to blend both the serious emotions and issues of the atmosphere with the action and reactions of the characters. Her characters -- for the most part -- are strong and well thought out. The world she has created has an air of believability to it that you don't generally seem to find in most other books of Supernatural fiction. Her character voices are believable and while there are sexual encounters and connotations in some parts of her series, the sex is by no means the focal point of any of the stories being told at all.I've been told that the series is what "Anita Blake Vampire Hunter" by Laurell K Hamilton could have been before it turned into soft-core porn. Every time you finish one of the books, you can't help but want to know what's going to happen to these characters next.
Kelley Armstrong's Site
Kelley Armstrong's Wiki Page
Women of the Otherworld Info
Bitten
Stolen
Dime Store Magic
Industrial Magic
Haunted
Broken
No Humans Involved
Questions? Comments? Cookies?
Co-Written with the marvelous![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
blackmagic_eve
A werewolf, a witch, and a half-demon walk into an illegal compound...
We could write forever about this series, we really could.
"Women of the Otherworld" is a supernatural series of books written by Kelley Armstrong. Each book has a main narrator, and so far, there have been four different voices telling their stories through out seven books. The series focuses on women in the world of the supernatural, with many colorful characters supporting them and adding to their stories. While there are strong male characters, the narrators are almost always women.
Elena Michaels (3)
Paige Winterbourne (2)
Eve Levine (1)
Savannah Levine -- No narrations yet, but she is a character in most of the books.
Jaime Vegas (1)
Bitten
Stolen
Dime Store Magic
Industrial Magic
Haunted
Broken
No Humans Allowed
Personal Demon (Not released yet)
None of these women are your basic, run of the mill human characters. In fact, very few people you meet during the series are regular humans. Most of them have something supernatural about them. The most notable human of the series is Talia Vasic, mother of Adam Vasic and wife to Robert Vasic. Talia was a single mother with a troubled son who did whatever it took to find the answer of what was troubling her son. Turns out, her son is half-demon, imagine that.
Kelley Armstrong is married with three kids and she lives in Ontario, Canada. She has not only written eight books in her "Women of the Otherworld" series, she has also written several novellas and short stories, which she has archived on her web site. She has started writing the Nadia Stafford series, as well as a young adult trilogy, The Darkest Powers. She maintains a website and a newsletter so that she can be in better touch with her fans and readers. She has a discussion board on her site and she runs monthly contests. She enjoys getting messages from her readers and does her best to respond back to them -- making sure to let them know that her response time can take a few weeks due to how busy she can get.
Elena Michaels -- In "Bitten" and "Stolen" you meet Elena Michaels. She's the only female werewolf known to exist and she has some issues adapting to and accepting her dual nature. After all, she wasn't born a werewolf. She was bitten. She has cameo appearances in "Dime Store Magic" and "Industrial Magic".
Paige Winterbourne -- You first meet Paige as a minor character in "Stolen" when you find out that there is a Supernatural Council of sorts and that the werewolf pack has never really been interested in taking part in it. Paige is a young witch, only 23, but she has courage and a very wide stubborn streak. Her story continues in in "Dime Store Magic" and "Industrial Magic".
Eve Levine -- You first hear about Eve in "Stolen." The mother of Savannah Levine, Paige's ward, Eve is a dark witch who raised her daughter on her own after leaving the father -- Kristof Nast of the Nast Cabal -- before he could learn of the pregnancy. She died trying to save her daughter.
Savannah Levine -- Precocious and powerful, you first meet the twelve year old witch during the events of "Stolen". Savannah is very powerful and extremely confident in what she can do -- even if she doesn't always have complete control over the situation. She ends up being in all of the books -- either by appearance or by mentioning of her. She's the daughter of the dark witch Eve and the sorcerer Kristof Nast. It had long been believed that witches and sorcerers couldn't have offspring, so her existence was a bit of a surprise to both the Coven and the Cabals.
Jaime Vegas -- You first meet Jaime Vegas in "Industrial Magic." A necromancer in show business, Jaime seems like a fraud. We quickly learn that she's not, though, when the ghost of vampire Natasha keeps trying to contact her. She's also a delegate for the interracial council.
Also, while the series focuses primarily on strong female characters, you can't mention them without mentioning the guys.
Kristof Nast -- Savannah's father and heir apparent to the Nast Cabal. He is first seen in "Dime Store Magic", and then again in "Industrial Magic". Although he meets his demise early on, his presence continues to be felt by Savannah and her family.
Sean Nast -- Twenty-something son of Kristof Nast, which makes him Savannah's older brother. Eldest brother, to be precise. He's the only one of the Nast Cabal who seems genuinely interested in knowing her, as we see in "Industrial Magic" when he reaches out via a conversation with Paige shortly after the Everett Webber trial. Also? He's gay, which is the reason his family would like to pretend he doesn't exist.
Bryce Nast -- Only seen in "Industrial Magic". Younger brother of Sean. Kind of an ass and no real fan of Savannah.
Adam Vasic -- You first meet Adam in "Stolen". He's one of Paige's childhood friends and a delegate to the interracial council. He's also Robert Vasic's stepson, and a half-demon.
Robert Vasic -- First met in "Industrial Magic," Robert is Adam's stepfather and a former delegate to the interracial council. Currently he serves as a resource, providing information to Paige on many occasions.
Clayton Danvers -- Surly, snarly, and all around not very friendly, we first meet Clayton in "Bitten". He is Elena's mate, though at first she has an extreme reluctance to get back into the relationship.
Jeremy Danvers -- Alpha of the werewolf pack, brilliant artist, and in possession of a knack for leadership. You first meet him in "Bitten" when Elena returns home to investigate a string of murders.
Lucas Cortez -- A lawyer and the youngest son of Benicio Cortez, he shows up in "Dime Store Magic" right when Paige needs all of the help she can get. He's a sorcerer which makes all kinds of things go confusing in Paige's head. He becomes a central figure in the lives of both Paige and Savannah.
Benicio Cortez -- Father of Lucas and the head of one of the most powerful Cabals. Benicio is also a sorcerer and spends a lot of time trying to get his younger son's acceptance of him and the Cabal that he is a part of.
Bitten: Elena Michaels lives in Toronto, making a life as a journalist and living with Philip Madden. She loves her life, or so she tells herself. She's angry and determined to make a life for herself, to not need the Pack anymore, to forget about them. But when Pack Alpha Jeremy Danvers calls and summons her home, she has little choice but to go back to a life she's tried so hard to deny. After all, returning home means facing Clayton Danvers, her lover and the man who turned her into a werewolf eleven years prior.
Disgruntled and uncooperative, Elena nevertheless begins investigating the reports of wild dog attacks. She and the Pack know that these are not just any wild dogs, though it provides a good cover story. No, these attacks are by something far more dangerous -- a mutt, and one who doesn't seem to have any desire whatsoever to be careful. The most dangerous kind of mutt. And so Elena and the Pack begin their investigation, tracking the mutt's scent to his apartment. A search of the apartment reveals nothing.
When the mutt dumps a dead body close to Stonehaven -- the Pack residence -- it becomes more personal. They hunt the mutt again, finding him at a rave. He introduces himself to Elena as Scott Brandon. Brandon is young and cocky and instantly wants Elena as his own. (Ah, the perils of being the only female werewolf.) She rebuffs him and and he transforms, right there in the club. He attacks a man. Elena realizes that she knows the name -- Brandon's a killer who's escaped from jail. Clayton and Elena try to catch Brandon in the club, and then outside after he flees. He is killed by a cop, though not before killing Logan, another Pack member and one of Elena's best friends.
They check out the hotel where the mutt is staying and find a scrapbook of articles on the killings. They're also almost caught by the return of Thomas LeBlanc -- the mutt that Brandon was working with -- but get away in time. They return to Stonehaven and Jeremy sends them on a hunt to relieve their stress while they regroup mentally. While on the hunt, Elena picks up the scent of Zachary Cain, another mutt. Clay, Elena, and Nick follow the scent and find Cain. Cain gets away and they realize that the mutts are actually going after Jeremy, that this was a diversion. They end up back at the hotel and search both the rooms and the parking lot, finding Jeremy in an alley behind the building.
Elena returns to Toronto, with Clay in tow. Shortly thereafter, Philip is attacked, Clay is taken, and Elena Changes and takes off to rescue him. She is stopped and taken back to Stonehaven by Jeremy, who arranges a rescue. The rescue is carried out, Thomas LeBlanc is killed, and Clay is brought home.
Stolen: Elena goes to Pittsburg to investigate a lead via report.com that claims to be able to prove the existence of werewolves. She meets Paige Winterbourne and is instantly wary, as Paige says she has information on both werewolves in general and Elena in particular. Elena was lured to Pittsburg in order to help deal with the problem of Tyrone Winsloe. Elena, however, doesn't know what to make of any of it.
That night, Elena is followed by a stalker and confronts a half-demon, while Ruth Winterbourne -- Paige's mother -- does a spell to get rid of him. This forces Elena to call Jeremy and tell him.The next morning they attend the interracial council's meeting. They're invited to return to the meeting after dinner and Jeremy declines, because his interest is in the Pack above all else -- though he'll join forces with the council if he has to. It's clear, though, that he's not interested in permanence.
Clay arrives that night and they're attacked by men who work for Winsloe. This makes them suspicious because the only ones who knew where they were are the council. The next day they arrive at the meeting with one of the men's heads in a bag -- and decline membership in the council.
On the way back, Elena's kidnapped and taken to a compound run by Winsloe, who is hunting down and killing the missing people for his own sick games -- kind of like a supernatural fox hunt. She meets Leah and Sondra Bauer and is befriended bit them, and she helps Dr. Carmichael in the infirmary in an attempt to make nice. She learns that Ruth's been kidnapped and that Ruth is interested in another captive, Savannah Levine. There've been reports of poltergeist activity in the base, reports that are connected to Savannah and put the blame for Ruth's death on Savannah's hands. This devastates Savannah and makes her start wondering if maybe people are right, if maybe she is evil like people say her mother was.
Bauer develops an obsession with becoming a werewolf, citing the need for adventure and change in her life, and goes to the extent of injecting herself with Elena's saliva. (Ew, man. Ew.) She begins turning into a werewolf and is taken to the infirmary. Elena dictates her care, simple as it is. Shortly thereafter, Bauer kills Carmichael during the transformation and requires sedation. They throw her into the cell next to Elena's. And while we're on the subject of obsessions, there's Winslow's obsession with Elena. He wants her to wear skimpy clothes and to participate in his hunts. She tries to refuse, but it does her no good on either count. Winsloe just gets pissed and shows her evidence -- photos -- that makes her think Clay is dead. He then tells her she's next.
A system malfunction gives Elena, Bauer, Leah, and Savannah a chance to escape, but Bauer loses control and gets killed by guards while Leah and Savannah get left behind when an elevator door closes. Elena gets back to Maine and tells the others her story. Paige, Elena, Adam, and Clay make a trip back to the compound. The vehicles are disabled and the personnel killed before they make the rescue. It's revealed that Leah's behind the poltergeist activity. She tries to take Savannah but is kept from doing so and promptly escapes. Clay and Elena track Winsloe down and kill him.
Also of note is that during the rescue, the full level of Adam's pyrokinetic powers are revealed.
Dime Store Magic: Dime Store Magic opens with Paige yet again getting complaints about Savannah from the Elders, who don't want attention drawn to the Coven and who also just really disapprove of Savannah's mother, to understate the problem. That same day, Paige gets a custody claim from Leah O'Donnell, the telekinetic half-demon from the compound. Paige meets Leah and her laywer, Gabriel Sandford, and discovers that the custody claim isn't from Leah. It's from Kristof Nast, head of the Nast Cabal -- and Savannah's father. When she gets home, Paige is confronted by the Elders, who are worried about Leah's plans to use Paige's being a witch in the custody case. Paige pleads with the coven for time to take care of things and meets with the local lawyer, where it's decided to request that Nast submit to DNA testing. Sandford, of course, refuses on his client's behalf.
In order to force Paige to submit, Leah and her associates begin an assault that includes such things as a hand of glory on her front porch and visits from social services. At this point, Lucas Cortez shows up and offers his services, which Paige refuses because sorcerers and witches Just Don't Play Well Together. The media sets up camp on Paige's front lawn and on a run into town for dinner, Paige's car is intentionally run into by Grantham Cary Jr., who's pissed off because Paige rebuffed his advances. Paige confronts his wife at the office and then goes home, where she receives a message on her machine asking her to come to the office. When she gets there she discovers that hey, guess what? So's Leah! And she frames Paige for murder.
Paige is taken to the police station, where Lucas shows up claiming to be her lawyer. He gets her released despite her protests.They go to a Coven meeting and get pretty much no help at all. Angry and frustrated, Paige turns to Lucas, who gives her info on the cabals. The next day Paige is tricked into going to Cary's visitation, where the Nast employees pull some nifty tricks involving illusions and the raising of dead bodies. She and Savannah are rescued by Lucas.
There's a Social Services visit, yay! The interview doesn't go well because Savannah's temperamental and pissy. And then she learns she's started her period, which changes things. Lucas worries because the ceremony associated with a young witch's first period can be important to cementing her loyalty to her Cabal. Lucas worries that this will step up things on Leah's part. Paige also gets curious about the differences between witch magic and sorcerer magic and realizes that there were several grades of spells but that at some point the higher level spells were lost or destroyed. A few of them survive in old grimoires guarded zealously by the Coven and which are kept by Margaret Levine, Savannah's aunt. Paige visits Margaret and steals the grimoires. She, Lucas, and Savannah then head for Salem. Paige and Savannah argue because Savannah wants the ceremony her mother wanted to use and not the Coven-approved one. Paige finally agrees and the ceremony sends them in search of certain ingredients -- and necessitates a visit to the cemetery. Afterwards, Paige shares the knowledge with Lucas and they sleep together.
The next day Paige's house is fire-bombed, and she and Savannah are kidnapped by the Nast Cabal. Nast makes his claim to Savannah and she accepts it, provided that she can have the ceremony that she wants and that Paige can stay. Nast agrees to both. They meet two witches who were supposed to be teaching Savannah but who force her to kill a young boy and drink his blood. Savannah's upset, while Nast denies any knowledge. Sandford speculates that the witches might've been expecting Greta's daughter to succeed her and that the ceremony was revenge.
Paige is bound and gagged, preventing her spellcasting. Sanford tells Lucas' family about her and one of his brothers visits. Said brother orders her death. Someone takes her to kill her but she manages to escape and gets back to Nast's house. Things have gone to hell, figuratively speaking, as Savannah's called a demon in her attempts to resurrect her mother. Kristof is killed when he tries to save Savannah. Paige learns of a spell that will permit her to look like Eve temporarily, but the spell depends on what the viewer wants to see. It succeeds, as Savannah desperately wants to see her mother, and they get out of the house.
Industrial Magic: The book opens with the attack on a Cabal employee's daughter. We then go to Paige, who is upset at the fact that she can't get other witches to form a new coven simply because of their disapproval of her relationship with Lucas. Due to this disapproval, she's less than pleased to find Benicio on her doorstep with a case for Lucas to investigate. Lucas and Paige go to Miami to visit Benicio and introduce Paige to the family. They also find out more about the attack, such as the fact that the girl's attack is only one of a series of similar attacks. That night, the son of Benicio's bodyguard is killed and the father, Griffin, asks Lucas and Paige to look into it.
Worried about Savannah and what could possibly happen to her given her parentage, they arrange for her to stay with the werewolf Pack. They then arrange to meet up with Jaime Vegas, a necromancer. Jaime manages to contact Dana, who everybody thinks is simply in a coma, talking to the understandably upset girl and getting what little information she can. In the process, she discovers the girl is dead. Investigation leads them Everett Weber's house. They can't find him, but they do find a list of encrypted files, which Paige then breaks into and discovers a list of Cabal employee children. They find Weber, but a Cabal SWAT team causes a hostage situation before they can get him to come peacefully. Paige is hurt and Weber is taken into custody. The trial results in Weber's execution, but almost immediately another child is killed - the grandson of Thomas Nast.
Jaime, Lucas and Paige go out to the swamp where Weber would be buried to contact him and meet Essus, who gives them information about the guy who hired Weber. When they investigate further, they're plagued by a ghost that Jaime keeps trying to contact. It's difficult, but she finally discovers that the ghost belongs to a vampire woman named Natasha.
Their search leads them to the home of Edward and Natasha, two immortality-quester vampires. Edward is looking for revenge. for his mate's death. The trio sets a trap, but Lucas is shot, and both he and Paige find themselves in the afterlife. Paige meets Savannah's mother, Eve, who guides her. The Fates offer them a choice, and they return to the living, where they find the werewolves have started searching.
A trap at a charity ball backfires, and Jaime is kidnapped. Benicio ignores the plan in order to save his son. Jeremy, Savannah and Paige help save everyone. Benicio executes Edward.
Haunted: Eve Levine has spent her afterlife watching over her daughter, Savannah, frustrated by her inability to help her now that she is dead. (This doesn't stop her from repeatedly trying, though.) This obsession is stopped when the Fates cash in on that favor she owes them for saving Paige and Lucas. She gets assigned to track down the Nix, a demi-demon who gives women the will-power to commit murder. The Nix only takes up residence in people who wish to commit murder, though. She gives them the ability to stop wishing and start doing.
Assisted by her lover, Kristof Nast, and the Angel Trsiel, Eve sets out to hunt the Nix. It isn't an easy hunt by any means, though. In fact, it's a dangerous one on more than one occasion. Eve uses Jaime to contact the Nix's previous partners and discovers that the Nix is willing to do whatever it takes to get the chaos she thrives on, which puts Eve's loved ones in danger. Eve refuses to allow this, though, and asks what she has to do in order to stop the Nix. During the confrontation, the Nix takes over Savannah's body which shows Eve how truly powerless she is in the situation, because she refuses to hurt her daughter despite the Nix being inside. She has to follow her last resort and become an ascended Angel, which is the last thing she wants to do because it means giving up her life with Kristof.
After the Nix is killed, though, an agreement is reached since the Fates appreciate Eve's sacrifices and really do want to help her however they can. Eve gets to spend six months a year with Kristof and the other six months a year with the angels. It isn't perfect, but they'll take it.
Broken: The story begins with Elena worrying about her pregnancy. She worries about what being a werewolf will do to the baby, since there's nothing in Pack records about this kind of thing ever happening before. Clay and Jeremy, also concerned, have restricted her movements, which Elena accepts but is also frustrated by. She is, therefore, not entirely unhappy to hear from Xavier Reese who, who comes with a deal: he will hand over information about a rogue mutt the Pack's been seeking in exchange for their help in stealing an artifact from a sorcerer. The artifact in question? The From Hell letter, supposedly written by Jack the Ripper. The deal is agreed to and, after the mutt has been dealt with, Jeremy steals the letter. As they leave, however, Clay squashes a mosquito and accidentally smears Elena's blood on the document. This activates an inter-dimensional portal which releases people who'd gotten trapped in there during the Victorian era. Now zombies, these track Elena, putting her and her unborn offspring at risk.
Attempting to rescue her, the Pack kill these zombies, but to the zombies keep returning. As if that wasn't enough, cholera has infected the Toronto water supply and the city's rats have become diseased and aggressive. Modern individuals disappear through the portal by accident, while murders take place that lead them to fear that they have released Jack the ripper himself. They soon discover, though, that who they fear is Jack the Ripper is just one of the zombies following Jack's methodology and that the person controlling the zombies is a man named Matthew Hull, who came through the portal and pretended to be just another confused person.
They have a confrontation with Hull, who quickly drains his magic trying to deal with them. Hull is killed when Elena tears his throat out.
The book ends with Elena giving birth to the twins -- Logan Nicholas and Katherine Natalya.
No Humans Involved: Focuses on necromancer Jaime Vegas, both her filming a supernatural reality show and her love life with the Pack's Alpha, Jeremy Danvers. Features Eve Levine and Kristof Nast in minor roles. This book couldn't be summarized in more detail because neither of us have read it yet.
Werewolves. Pack. Mutts. Witches. Sorcerers. Vampires. Demons. Necromancers. "Half-breeds". These are the main races of people that exist in Kelley Armstrong's books. However, the ones that are mentioned the most are the Pack, Witches and Sorcerers.
The Werewolf Pack is an organized group and they have certain ways of doing things. They are pretty much the law in werewolf society. The Pack werewolves have assigned duties within the Pack hierarchy and they take their jobs and their continued safe existence seriously. If you're not Pack, you're a mutt. Mutts are usually, but not always, rogue werewolves who do nothing but maim and kill. Mutts don't generally care about rules and they live for the violence. When the Pack finds out about such a werewolf, they set out to track down and take care of it as the situation calls for. This generally means that the Mutt needs to be destroyed. There have been a few exceptions to this rule as the Pack has met a couple of Mutts that do not fit the usual "rogue wolf" mold.
Witches and Sorcerers do not like each other and can identify each other on an almost psychic level. Sorcerers are male, Witches are female and they are usually the worst of enemies -- which is one of the reasons the birth and existence of Savannah Levine is such a surprise that neither the Cabals or the Coven knows how to deal with. Sorcerers usually want to kill Witches -- unless they are willing to pledge loyalty and work for the Cabals. Most Witches will not do this and find themselves at odds almost all of the time with the evil of the Cabals. However, there are Witches who desire power and riches above all else and happily align themselves with the Cabals.
The Cabals are the supernatural world's version of the mob. They have what seems to be unlimited power and resources and the two most powerful of the Cabals are the Cortez Cabal and the Nast Cabal.
The immediate answer to come to mind is because Kelley Armstrong's books are a phenomenal read. They are well-written and she is able to blend both the serious emotions and issues of the atmosphere with the action and reactions of the characters. Her characters -- for the most part -- are strong and well thought out. The world she has created has an air of believability to it that you don't generally seem to find in most other books of Supernatural fiction. Her character voices are believable and while there are sexual encounters and connotations in some parts of her series, the sex is by no means the focal point of any of the stories being told at all.
Kelley Armstrong's Site
Kelley Armstrong's Wiki Page
Women of the Otherworld Info
Bitten
Stolen
Dime Store Magic
Industrial Magic
Haunted
Broken
No Humans Involved
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