I've talked about book trailers in the past but even the one I tracked down that was good wasn't quite this good. It's more of a teaser and really only works, I assume, if you've read the series but I'm curious for those who aren't familiar with the "House of Night" series: does this do anything for you?

In an effort to stay ahead of the curve and in light of the fact that the books have been optioned in the hopes of a hit the size of Twilight, I recently picked-up the first novel in the “House of Night” series by authors P.C. Cast and her daughter Kristin Cast. The idea of a Vampyre Finishing School is indeed an interesting sounding premise but it’s far from what you get in the series. Four books of the proposed nine part series have been released and I’m pleased to announce that I’ve bought into the series; hook, line and sinker.

In the Cast’s vampyre world, which seems to run parallel to our own, vampyres aren’t created by being bit. Instead when they reach puberty, some individuals are “marked” with a sign on their forehead and forced to move into a local “House of Night”, a school that essentially prepares the fledglings for a transformation into vampyres. Unfortunately, not everyone who is marked successfully completes “the change” and a few individuals die in the process. In this parallel world, the vampyres have also “come out” and live amongst humans. These vampyres can also travel in the day (though it’s very uncomfortable) and there’s quite the gap in time from when you’re marked to when you make the change giving the young ones a chance to adjust to their soon to be new lives. The story marries the traditional idea of the vampyre with a more spiritual approach. The vampyres in these stories are highly matriarchal with the women having the most power, and they are forever attached to the Goddess Nyx.

A few thoughts on the specific books (very mild spoilers - promise):

“Marked” – The first novel in the series sets up the story nicely introducing the main players including heroine Zoey Redbird, her group of friends, her nemesis Aphrodite and high priestess Neferet. Though I enjoyed the story, I found the characters, especially Zoey, highly unlikable and the style of writing obnoxious. I realize that Mrs. Cast brought her daughter on board to help with the “teen speak” but it’s a bit much and I nearly put down the book on more than one occasion thankfully, the story is compelling enough to keep the reader interested. Even more than the teen speak, I was particularly unimpressed by the continued and repetitive cultural references that came up throughout the novel which will do the book no favours in the ageing process. In the end, it’s a light read that ends on a fairly major cliff-hanger.

“Betrayed” – More of the same. I came to dislike Zoey even more in book two and started to wonder what kind of example this girl is setting for other teens. A couple of boyfriends? Flirting with a teacher? What on earth? I realize that books in a series are almost guaranteed to sum up the previous novel at some point near the beginning for those that jump in part-way through but the recap here felt particularly forced and unnecessary. The story isn't that complicated; have faith that your reader will figure it out. It was at this point in the story that I started to realize that the Cast’s had probably written an insanely long manuscript or pitched a story idea that the publisher asked them to draw out over a nine part series because book two ends in even more of a cliff-hanger than book one.

“Chosen” – This is where the story really starts to pick-up. The writing is a bit less annoying and the cultural references less pronounced not to mention that the characters, a little more developed by this point, have started to take on a life of their own. No longer are we simply tied to Zoey but some of the side characters have begun to grow into integral key players. Admittedly, the only reason I kept reading was because of Loren Blake. Oh dear, I do have a thing for the bad boys.

“Untamed” – So far, this is my favourite book of the series. It took three books to get here but the story is finally starting to develop beyond teen squabbles and relationships gone wrong. The characters are even more flushed out and it’s nice to see characters, particularly females, that are more than appearances. Stevie Rae and Aphrodite are complex and Zoey begins to show sings of maturity in both her actions and responses to the men in her life and to the events unfolding around her. The novel showcases the Cast’s excellent control of the story and the way in which it is unfolding and I must say, the women and their editors know how to keep the readers coming back for more.

I’m hard pressed to highly recommend the books because the series doesn’t start off particularly well but it develops quickly and the novels are addictive. On the one hand, I’m happy to see that teen sexuality isn’t pushed into the background and that sex is something which features prominently in the story (rather than simply pretending it doesn't exist). I wouldn’t be comfortable with a pre-teen reading this but then it’s nothing new that they haven’t seen or heard about on TV. Still, I’d probably hold off on a 13-year-old giving this a read unless you’re prepared to have “the talk”. Aside from the sexuality, there’s also the disclaimer of language and though easy to read, there is a fair bit of swearing in the series though again, nothing they’ve not heard at school.

The relationships, both with friends and boyfriends are complicated and not perfect love-stories which I liked though I’m still a little distraught by the whole Blake/Zoey aspect of things. It’s a relationship that seemed particularly forced and then quickly ended and though I have some moral issues with it, I must also admit that I found Loren completely engrossing; I would have liked this to be developed a little more.

Overall, though not brilliant, the “House of Night” series is highly addictive teen-lit with just enough racy bits to keep adults as enthralled as teens. Must reads? Not really but definitely worth a look for so called “beach reading”. I’m anticipating the other books in the series; “Hunted” is scheduled for release on March 10, 2009.

For loads more information and extras on the books, check out the official website and online community for the series.

Early, very early (maybe too early) this morning, I read a great article written by Kim Voynarover at Cinematical regarding the "Breaking Dawn" backlash that I mentioned yesterday.

I considered simply posting this on Twitter but I thought it might be of interest to others who may be curious about the developing situation and who don't follow me or read Cinematical regularly. It's an interesting read, one that I agree with nearly 100% and Kim brings up and expands on a few of my thougths. Definitely worth checking out.

Sunday afternoon I devoted 2 solid hours of my day to "reading time", something I haven't done in a few months. With a stack of DVD's sitting on the coffee table, I curled up instead with a blanket and the last 300 pages of Stephenie Meyer's "Breaking Dawn".

I wasn't going to write anything extensive about the book, mostly because it was brain candy, but after reading something about the backlash for the book, I thought it may be worthwile to add my two cents. One of the reasons the "Twilight" series has been so popular has been the fact that it features an epic romance. It has nothing on Diana Gabaldon's Jamie Fraser and Claire Randall romance (now that's epic romance right there) but there's a certain innocence in Bella and Edward's relationship and the "can't have that" threads that run through the first three books are what really kept me interested. I always assumed it was just good storytelling - an impossible love - but I was not surprised to find out later, much later infact, that Meyer is very religious and thinking back to the novels, it was clear that she was purposefully keeping things relatively clean.

The other selling point was the female protagonist though to be honest, Bella stood out to me as someone girls would latch on to. She was awkward and sensitive and managed to get the perfect guy which could have some appeal to girls but other than that, she seemed a bit too meek for me - if I want to read about strong young women I'll turn to Tamora Pierce, so it didn't surprise me much when in "Breaking Dawn", Bella comes across much the same way as she did in the previous books: needy. Surprisingly, Meyer also infuses her with a streak of intelligence and power. Not a bad thing: we all have secret powers if we only know how to tap into them.

What I didn't expect was that people would latch onto the pregnancy part of the story so darn much. So yes, there is a clear anti-abortion message here but is that necessarily a bad thing? Could one not argue that it's pro-choice since Bella chose to continue carrying the baby? Worse still, do we really want to ruin a perfectly good and innocent story by looking into it this deeply? Depending on which side of the fence you're on, you could argue the series from both sides of the fence - there's plenty of fodder for both, but is that really necessary? I don't think it is.

Because I don't agree with the backlash, doesn't mean I absolutely loved the book. Yes, it kept me enthralled for a few hours and I loved re-entering the Cullen's lives but to be honest, the story took a turn I wasn't expecting and didn't much like. I preferred the danger of Bella and Edward's relationship. Take out the danger and I pretty much didn't care anymore. The entire thing became about the pregnancy and the resulting baby and to be honest, I didn't much care. I would have rather followed Alice and Jasper on their search but I'll take what I can get.

I still haven't managed to get through "The Host", it simply didn't suck me in like "Twilight" did and to be honest, I have a sad little feeling that Meyer will be unable to write anything worthwile outside of Twilight Series. I can see a few more not-so-well received books being pumped out before she decides to return to the Cullen's. Until then, I'm sure I'll find something else of interest - "Uglies" has come highly recommended and "Zombie Blondes" sounds interesting. I also have 2 bookshelves crammed with material...