Top Five Paranormal Countdown - #1

July 13, 2013
   Just a quick note:
      Thanks for dropping by my blog. If you're a regular, I hope you're not too disappointed to find I haven't posted anything new. I've foregone blogging for a few weeks while I prepare part one of the next Red Wolf novel for my editing team.
    Chill. In the long run my time spent writing away from this blog will be for the greater good (mine, anyway - I hope yours, too). I'll be back towards the end of the month with more pithy posts. Meanwhile, happy reading!
   -John

 Hi, folks. For the past five weeks I’ve been counting down my top five paranormal fantasy book series. It's been so much fun sharing the best of the best that I almost hate to see it come to an end. 

Here’s where we stand, so far…

#5 The Twilight Saga, by Stephenie Meyer

#4 The Mercy Thompson series, by Patricia Briggs

#3 The Vampire Academy series, by Richelle Mead

#2 The Sookie Stackhouse novels, by Charlaine Harris

And now it’s finally time for numero uno. Oh, boy. Ooooooh, boy.

Sin is her specialty… and business is booming.

That’s the tag line on the cover of Succubus Revealed, the final book in the Succubus novels, an adult series by Richelle Mead. Mead, better known for her Young Adult novels (you saw I had her YA Vampire Academy series at #3), can also provide some sizzle for a more mature audience. I mean, the chick can flat out write!

 

The series follows succubus, Georgina Kincaid, who sold her soul nearly two millennia ago to wipe the memories of those she had hurt so they would no longer suffer for her mistakes. All the novels take place in the present, and each stands on its own as a fine tale. But the background story that runs through the whole series is one of the most touchingly romantic concepts I’ve ever run across. My heart raced, soared, got torn apart, and ultimately melted as I devoured each book.

     So, let me break it down for you....

What I liked…

Georgina Kincaid…

… is the greatest female heroine in English literature. Okay, I can see men of letters everywhere spewing their lattes and sputtering indignantly (as if any of them read my blog). To them I say, read the damn books. She’s funny, flawed, has the purist soul of any of the damned, and, of course, sexy as hell.

The supporting characters…

… in particular, the oddball crew of non-humans she hangs out with. Mead may have just come up with the truest version of Hell, the ultimate multi-dimensional corporate bureaucracy. Sure, Georgina's boss is a powerful, badass demon who holds power over her soul, but the true penance she must suffer stems from the quotas she’s saddled with and the red tape she must wade through on a day-to-day basis. She is unquestionably working for The Man.

The sexual tension…

… is merciless. The steamy chemistry between Georgina, the succubus, and Seth, the mortal, is ever-present. Yet to consummate their relationship is to steal Seth’s soul, and to truly succumb to her passion means certain death for the man she loves. Could there be any more tension than that?

The sex…

Hey, she’s a succubus. A girl’s got to feed, right? I took a lot of cold showers on my journey through this series.

The romance…

Did you think The Notebook was sweet? Did you shed a tear? Hell, that was nothing.

The series ends…

Bittersweet as it was to read that last chapter, the story was over, and the series had run its course. Richelle Mead proved once again, just as she did with Vampire Academy, that she knows when to call it quits.

What I didn’t like…

Music, and Fashion, and Shopping, oh my…

I’m grasping at straws here, I know, just so I can say there’s something I didn’t like about the series. Richelle Mead has to have grown up in the 80’s, because she insists the music of that decade was the best, an opinion she sneaks into her writings now and again. I disagree. With a few notable exceptions, the 80’s were a musical wasteland sandwiched between two very exceptional vibrant and verdant decades, the 70’s and 90’s.

And then there’s the fashion and, my personal hell, shopping. Mead will describe in great detail the outfits Georgina picks out for herself and everyone else, and what they’re wearing. She’s good at it, I’ll admit. I’m flawed in that area, I’ll admit. I can do without it… I’ll admit.

The series ends…

Sigh. I know I just said I liked that it ended. The story’s over. It was great while it lasted. But I miss my favorite succubus. I always will.

What I stole…

The love story…

Spoiler alert! I didn’t realize what I was doing until I was well into the third novel in my Red Wolf series, so the theft was unconscious. But love that transcends the grave is a theme that surfaces in the initial Red Wolf trilogy and will be explored even more thoroughly in the upcoming Half Human trilogy, which will finish out the Red Wolf Saga.

My drink of choice…

When I started researching specialty coffee drinks while developing the character of Danielle, a barista at a local Starbucks, Georgina’s favorite popped out at me off the menu, and I had to try it. Richelle Mead got that one right, too. White chocolate mochas have fueled the writing of nearly three novels for me since then. There’s nothing better. Unfortunately, I don’t have Georgina’s succubus metabolism (nor Clifford Crane’s werewolf metabolism) to burn off the calories.

 

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So there you have it, the best paranormal fantasy series. What is your all-time favorite? I’d love to hear your comments. Maybe you can introduce me to one of my next top five. Just scroll down past the blatant promotions for my own series and click on "Comments."

Next time… the Cure for Writer’s Block.

  Hey, you might not want to scroll by these too fast, after all. The Red Wolf novels currently enjoy an average reader rating on Amazon of 4.45 out of 5 stars!

The Draculata Nest -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Click on the link to order:
ebook for Kindle                                            in Paperback     
ebook for Nook                                              in Charlotte                    
ebook for Kobo                                              Smashwords

The Dragon of Doughton Park ----------------------------------------------------------

Click on the link to order:
ebook for Kindle                                                                   in Paperback
ebook for Nook                                                                     in Charlotte
ebook for Kobo                                                                     Smashwords