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Book List: It’s Teen Read Week! Revisiting Amelia Atwater-Rhodes’ Original Den of Shadows Quartet

The Den of Shadows Quartet: In the Forests of the Night (#1), Demon in My View (#2), Shattered Mirror (#3), Midnight Predator (#4) by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Ember, 2009

ISBN-13: 978-0385738941

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

 

In the days before Twilight and Harry Potter, and the explosion of paranormal creatures and vampires in YA fiction, fictional vampires were still mostly terrifying, although once Buffy came along, there was also a little romance. Thirteen-year-old Amelia Atwater-Rhodes entered this remarkably different publishing market with something new: even Amazon’s review suggests that teen readers of adult authors like Anne Rice might want to check this out. While L.J. Smith and Annette Curtis Klause had also written YA vampire novels, there’s nothing quite like being a teen reading a good book written by someone your own age, and the Den of Shadows books are very different from either The Vampire Diaries or The Silver Kiss. 

Atwater-Rhodes’ first book, In the Forests of the Night, was followed by three others: Demon in my View, Shattered Mirror, and Midnight Predator,  published in 2002. Monster Librarian reviewed these four books, which were extremely popular at the time, and were all written while she was still in her teens. After these four books, she changed to writing about shapeshifters (the Kiesha’ra series), and, honestly, I lost track of her books. She returned to writing books in the Den of Shadows world in 2008, completing four more: Persistence of Memory, Token of Darkness, All Just Glass, Poison Tree, and Promises to Keep, published in 2013.  She is still writing, has since moved on to write an additional fantasy trilogy (the Maeve’ra series), and has a contract to write for the adult market.

While I haven’t kept up on Atwater-Rhodes’ writing since her first Den of Shadows quartet, it’s pretty cool that she’s kept writing and her books have kept selling! So, for teenage writers everywhere, take heart. It is possible to achieve that dream.

 

Editor’s note: Reviews date from 2005.

 


In the Forests of the Night by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Laurel Leaf, 2000

ISBN: 0440228166

Available: New and Used

 

In the Forests of the Night is the first in a series of books by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. She introduces us to Risika, a 300 year old vampire who finds herself in the territory of a rival vampire, Aubrey, who is responsible for killing her family. The book is divided up between the past, when Risika was first turned into a vampire 300 years ago; and the present day, where she must fight Aubrey. When I first started to review young adult horror, author Amelia Atwater-Rhodes’s name came up as a must-read author for teens. Much has been made of the fact that she was 14 when In the Forests of the Night was published. I can see why her books appeal to teen readers, especially reluctant readers. The action moves quickly and the writing style is easy to follow. Adult readers may also enjoy Amelia Atwater-Rhodes’ books. They are quick and addictive little reads, leaving you ready for more. In The Forests of the Night is a core title for young adult collections. Sequels include Demon in My View, Shattered Mirror, and Midnight Predator.

Contains: vampire violence, bloodletting.

 

Demon In My View by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Delacorte Press, 2000

ISBN: 038532720X

Available: New and Used.

 

Demon in My View is set in a world developed by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes where vampires exist, prey upon humans, and are hunted by witches. In this installment we are introduced to Jessica, a teen who is a social outcast, who has written a popular book about vampires and witches under a pen name. After the book is published two new students appear at her school: Caryn, who seems to go out of her way to befriend Jessica, and Alex, a teen who resembles the villainous vampire in her book. Demon In My View is a well-written book that will appeal to those who like the Buffy the Vampire Slayer books. It could have just as easily ended up in the paranormal romance category, but the vampires in this series are more predatory creature. I would recommend this book for those looking for additional vampire fiction. A core book in young adult vampire horror.

Contains: Violent fight sequence, blood sucking.

 

Shattered Mirror by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Laurel Leaf, 2003

ISBN: 0440229405

Available: New and Used.

 

Shattered Mirror  is the third book in Atwater-Rhodes’ world of vampires and witches. This time around the story is about teen vampire hunter Sarah Vida, who starts off believing all vampires should be destroyed. However, when two vampires, Nissa and Christopher, arrive at her school, she finds herself befriending them. She discovers that vampires are more than the simple killing machines her in which her mother has raised her to believe. An underlying story involves Sarah’s hunt for one of the most notorious vampires around, Nikolas. Another solid entry for the readers of vampire fiction. Atwater-Rhodes is a gifted story teller and doesn’t disappoint with this book. Another core book for the vampire collection.

Contains: Violence and blood sucking and letting,

Midnight Predator by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Delacorte Books, May, 2002

ISBN: 0385327943.

Available: New and Used

 

The fourth installment in Atwater-Rhodes’ series introduces two vampire hunters from a group called Crimson. Turquoise Drakaour and her rival, Raven, are hired to assassinate Jeshikah, a vampiress who has created a place called Midnight, where human beings are enslaved and broken for the use of vampires. Once a young girl captured by the vampires, Turquoise must deal with her tormented past and face her old vampire master in order to complete her mission.

Although this book follows the general formula that Atwater-Rhodes has used in her other books, its descriptions of abusive behavior toward the main character give it a darker tone. This difference makes it hard to reconcile the story with the universe she has created, so it is more difficult to escape into the world of the book. Fans of Atwater-Rhodes will probably enjoy this title, but it is not recommended as an introduction to her books. Other books in the series include  In the Forests of the Night, Demon in My View and Shattered Mirror.

Contains: descriptions of physical and psychological abus

 

Reviewed by Dylan Kowalewski

 

Posted on October 8, 2018 by , Reply

Musings: Earthseed: The Complete Series (Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents) by Octavia E. Butler

Earthseed: The Complete Series (Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents) by Octavia E. Butler

Open Road Media Sci-Fi and Fantasy, 2017

ASIN: B072NZBPFG

Available: Kindle edition

 

Editor’s note: Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents are also available individually in paperback and Kindle edition

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Horror is a very personal thing. What is terrifying and disturbing to one person may not be to another. Our reactions can also depend on the time in our lives in which we read it. For instance, Disappearance at Devil’s Rock left me thoroughly terrified because at the time I read it, my son, who was near the same age as the boy who disappears, was also obsessed with Minecraft. It hit far too close to home.

Having recently finished Octavia Butler’s Earthseed duology, Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, I can tell you it also hits far too close to home. Parable of the Talents begins in a California town in 2024, with climate change and a lack of water causing weather to run out of control, particularly with earthquakes and fires, a federal government dedicated to eliminating regulations that would protect workers and the environment in order to benefit corporations, and an indifferent, corrupt local government that requires ordinary citizens to take survival into their own hands to protect themselves by arming themselves and building walls to keep out lawless murderers, drug addicts, thieves, and arsonists.

It’s behind one of these walls that fifteen-year-old Lauren Olamina, who possesses hyperempathy (a delusion in which she feels other people’s pain when she sees it) begins to develop a religious philosophy that differs dramatically from that of her father’s (he’s a Baptist minister) and a belief that the end of their little community will come sooner than the other members believe. She’s right. The dangers of the world outside the walls escalates, her father has disappeared, and finally her neighborhood is burned and almost everyone in it is murdered. Lauren and two other survivors decide they will stay together and walk north, to find a safer place. The three of them must constantly be on the lookout, because no one can be trusted– almost anyone might rob or kill them for supplies or money, and there is always the possibility that they could be captured and sold to slavers or raped. Despite their caution, though, they end up inviting other travelers to join them on their walk north. Lauren uses the time of their perilous travel to work out and share her new religion, Earthseed. She believes that change is the only thing that is eternal, and that people can either shape change or be shaped by it.

By the end of the first book, many of the characters have developed solid relationships with each other, and under Lauren’s leadership, they choose to stay together to found a community based on her beliefs. It’s an optimistic ending to a book that contains some pretty terrible events– Butler does not pull her punches, and she is matter-of-fact about appalling things like cold-blooded killing, rape, and corpse-robbing– and the future she describes has aspects that seem all too possible. I read this book for a book group, and the violence and destructiveness were so overwhelming and close to home that no one else was able to finish it and actually reach that ending.

Still, if Butler had ended her story there, it would have ended with the possibility of hope. Parable of the Talents manages to pretty definitively stomp out the likelihood of any happy ending. In this book, a new president decides it’s time to “make America great again” (yes, in those exact words) by restoring a white, Christian nation with any means necessary, including sending those who don’t fit that definition to “re-education camps”. I can’t tell you much more about it without giving away the plot, but suffice it to say that it is not for the faint of heart, or stomach. Lauren’s community and chosen family are broken apart, and a great deal of time is spent on the search for their children. There is a frame story where Lauren’s daughter offers her perspective on Lauren’s writings, which make up most of the book, and it is terribly sad on all sides. This book was so difficult for Butler to write that, despite originally planning to make it a longer series, she ended it here.

I’ve never read any of Butler’s other work. She is a powerful writer with a prescient sense of the future here, but I wish it weren’t so bleak. While these aren’t her final books, she wrote them nearer the end of her career than many of the others that she is known for (Parable of the Sower was published in 1993, Parable of the Talents was published in 1998, and she died in 2006). One feeling I came away from this with is that as an African-American who had already lived through decades of oppression and violence, maybe she saw this as a logical progression of where things were headed, even then, as many white people (including myself) couldn’t have imagined the world she created as close to reality until the past few years.

Compelling, occasionally baffling, brutal, and hopeful for a better world, the Earthseed duology is well worth reading, but it’s not light reading. Expect it to stay with you long after you have finished it, if you can finish it at all.

Posted on October 5, 2018 by , 1 comment

Book Review: Are You In The House Alone? by Richard Peck

Are You In The House Alone? by Richard Peck

Puffin, 2000

ISBN: 0141306939

Available: New and Used

 

Editor’s note: Are You In The House Alone? was first published in 1977. I first read it in 1985, and our review of it is one of the earliest we published. While it is dated, given current events, it seems eerily relevant, and even more terrifying.

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    This is probably the first young adult novel to deal frankly with rape and its aftermath. Gail, a high school junior living in a charming New England town, is getting obscene notes and phone calls. She doesn’t want to think about it, her best friend pretends nothing is happening, and when she finally tells a guidance counselor she isn’t taken seriously. Isolated and terrified, she opens the door one night to let her boyfriend in and is surprised by her stalker, who happens to be her best friend’s boyfriend and the son of the wealthiest family in her small town.

    The chief of police tells Gail he will not arrest the boy, and a sympathetic lawyer explains that pressing charges would mean an attack on her personal life. Gail decides not to press charges, and returns to school. Another girl with an identical raincoat is then attacked on her way home and is left in critical condition.

     This story shows that the rapist is not the only monster. Every person who turns a blind eye to Gail’s situation, from her best friend to the chief of police, shows an ugly side that should horrify anyone who has ever needed to tell a terrible secret.  Richard Peck, a brilliant young adult author, is effective at creating Gail’s world and is able to express the horror of her situation without getting graphic.

Contains: sexual situations, violence

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

Posted on October 3, 2018 by , Reply
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