The Morganville Vampires
The Morganville Vampires is a series of young adult urban fantasy/vampire novels written by Rachel Caine. The novels feature Claire Danvers, a student at Texas Prairie University, and her housemates in the vampire-controlled city of Morganville, Texas.[1] While the mayor of Morganville is human, unbeknownst to most of the population the town is actually run in cooperation with a group of vampires.[2] Morganville is also home to an unusually large number of second-hand thrift stores.[3]
Several of the novels have made the New York Times bestseller list.[4] In September 2009, Caine announced that she had signed a contract with Signet to write books 10, 11, and 12 in the series. In September 2011 three more books were contracted for the series bringing the total to 15. In January 2010, she revealed that beginning with book 9, Ghost Town, novels in this series will first be released in hardback.[2]
Series
Novels
- Glass Houses (October 2006, Signet Books, ISBN 0-451-21994-5)[5]
- The Dead Girls' Dance (April 2007, Signet Books, ISBN 0-451-22089-7)
- Midnight Alley (October 2007, Signet Books, ISBN 0-451-22238-5)
- Feast of Fools (June 2008, Signet Books, ISBN 0-451-22463-9)
- Lord of Misrule (January 2009, Signet Books, ISBN 0-451-22572-4)
- Carpe Corpus (June 2009, Signet Books, ISBN 0-451-22719-0)[4]
- Fade Out (November 2009, Signet Books, ISBN 0-451-22866-9)
- Kiss of Death (April 27, 2010, Signet Books, ISBN 0-451-22973-8)
- Ghost Town (October 26, 2010, NAL Hardcover, ISBN 0-451-23161-9)
- Bite Club (May 3, 2011, NAL Hardcover, ISBN 0-451-23318-2)
- Last Breath (November 1, 2011, NAL Hardcover, ISBN 0-451-23487-1)
- Black Dawn (scheduled May 1, 2012)
Short Stories
Characters
- Claire Danvers, the main protagonist of the books, is a student at Texas Prairie University. At 16 years old, she is one of the youngest characters in the series, but is exceptionally intelligent for her age, causing many people (especially vampires) take a special interest in her. However, her brains are also a cause for many people to dislike and/or misunderstand her. She is the assistant of Myrnin and was assigned to the job by Amelie, the Founder of Morganville and the oldest vampire in the world (other than Mr. Bishop). Claire becomes close friends with Myrnin because of their similar intellectual interests; although their relationship has been strained at points by Myrnin's impulsive, uncontrolled conduct. At one point Bishop takes an unwilling Claire to be his minion, partially as a 'slap' to Amelie. Shane Collins is Claire's boyfriend. Her parents are well meaning but worry about her constantly; they think that she is too young to have a boyfriend and, after moving to Morganville themselves, frequently insist that she move back in with them. Claire is best friends with Eve Rosser (who often calls her 'CB', short for "Claire Bear") and frenemies with Monica Morrell, who despises and torments her initially but has since developed a grudging respect for her. From the beginning in Glass Houses, Claire is somewhat naive but as the series moves forward, she quickly shows herself to be tough and clever (if sometimes reckless), and has incorporated herself to Morganville's vampire-ruled world better than most of the other human population. She is well-known by vampires and humans alike, sometimes respected and sometimes hated by individuals from both sides as vampires tend to think she is allowed too much liberty (as humans are unofficially considered second-class), and humans often view her as a traitor and puppet of the vampires. At the end of Last breath, Shane asks her to marry him someday, ending with her promise that she will.Claire is described as very skinny(with Shane referring to her as supermodel sexy skinny) short, a size 6 (UK) (As described by the shop owner in Glass Houses)with brown hair, although towards the end its described as mostly red than brown thanks to her roommate and best friend Eve.
- Michael Glass, Morganville native and owner of the Glass House, is Shane Collins' best friend since childhood and Eve Rosser's boyfriend; he seems to think of Claire as a little sister although in Last Breath he admits to thinking of her as more than a friend before Shane fell in love with her. His grandfather is Sam Glass. When the series begins, Shane and Eve are already living with Michael when Claire joins them as a fourth roommate. After Michael's mysterious disappearance during the day begins to strain his relationship with his housemates, Michael is forced to explain his strange behavior. After being attacked in his house and left for dead by Oliver (who was attempting to turn him into a vampire, but failed), Michael has become a "part of the house"--he is effectively a ghost, vanishing by day and corporeal at night. In this state, Michael can draw power from the house itself, making him extremely powerful inside it (while in a corporeal state); however, he cannot leave the house, which leaves him intensely frustrated with his inability to protect his friends when they are out of his reach. To escape this fate, he convinces Amelie to turn him into a vampire, which puts further pressure on his friendship with Shane. Michael is very responsible, mature, and charming, with a kind, noble, generous nature (to the point that he has been described as a boy scout). For all his loving, patient manner he is very protective of his loved ones and quite aggressive when provoked. He is an amazing musician and in the book Kiss Of Death he is offered a record deal, and a chance to leave Morganville for recording. Michael and Eve, his human girlfriend, reveal in Bite Club that they are engaged. Despite his love for her, Michael is partially uncomfortable with the idea of marrying a human, worrying about his ability to control his vampire urges and fearing that he may hurt Eve accidentally. He also worries that Amelie and the vampire community will forbid the marriage altogether. Michael is described as very good looking by many female characters in the series. He is tall, lean built, has blue sincere eyes and blonde hair.
- Shane Collins is Michael's best friend and Claire's boyfriend as of The Dead Girls' Dance. He is one of the Glass House residents and is a Morganville native. He is hotheaded with a penchant for getting in trouble, often by his own doing. Regardless, he is very protective, a quality which extends especially to Claire, Michael, and Eve. He has a fierce hatred for vampires which causes strife especially between him and Michael, but has slowly started to accept that not all vampires are bad, like Michael. He initially returned to Morganville on a mission from his father to find out ways to kill the vampires. He despises Monica Morrell because she killed his sister Alyssa in a house fire. Soon after the fire, Shane and his parents left Morganville, hoping to escape the reminder of Alyssa's death. Shane's family quickly began to fall apart. His father's alcoholism worsened, causing him to become abusive, and his mother's memory block began to fail, allowing her to remember Morganville and the vampires. It is heavily implied that she was killed by vampires at Amelie's bidding, though the death was made to look like a suicide. Shane and his father believe that the vampires killed her for remembering Morganville, leading them on a vengeful path to destroy the vampires. Shane eventually rejects his father's violent agenda, furthering the rift between them. Claire's parents don't particularly like Shane because they find him too old for her, believing him a bad influence who will hinder her and take advantage of her. Despite his devotion to her, Shane can be territorial about Claire and resents Claire and Myrnin's close relationship as student-teacher, believing that Myrnin has romantic feelings for her. Shane frequently struggles with his anger and has been known to cave to his urges toward fighting and violence, which becomes especially problematic in Bite Club, although since then it appears that he is genuinely trying to change his behavior. He is described as very tall with a lot of muscle. He is very good looking and has brown eyes and hair.
- Eve Rosser is Claire's best friend and Michael's girlfriend. She is a Morganville native, but turned down Protection from her family's vampire Patron/Protector, Brandon, who appears to have been sexually harassing her. She dresses quite extravagantly in all-Goth clothing and makeup. Although she is generally very upbeat, energetic, and independent, she tends to be emotional and occasionally melodramatic. She is smart-mouthed and at times outspoken to the point of recklessness, and has, at some point, offended nearly all of the vampires in town. Eve has a deeply troubled past with her younger brother, Jason, who is a criminal and claims to have murdered many girls, and later threatens to kill Claire. Eve drives a very old black Cadillac; in the book Kiss of Death her Cadillac gets destroyed and she buys a black hearse to replace it. In Fade Out she plays the theater role of Blanche DuBois, one of the two leading ladies in A Streetcar Named Desire. When the series begins Eve works at Common Grounds and is strongly attached to her boss, Oliver; however, this affection quickly turns to hatred and she quits the job when Eve discovers that Oliver is not only a vampire, but killed Michael. Eve spends some time working at the university coffee shop instead, but by Kiss of Death has returned to work at Common Grounds. She and Oliver's relationship remains quite uneasy, but has softened once again from the state of mutual hatred that they harbored for a while; although most of their interactions consist of Eve going out of her way to annoy him and the two pushing each other's buttons, they do still seem to like each other on some level, even reportedly sharing a dance in Bite Club. Eve is ardently in love with Michael, and provides unfaltering support for him when he doubts himself.Eve is described as being a tall and pretty girl. She dresses in a very extravagant manner, as a goth mostly to mock the vampires in Morganville.
- Sam Glass is Michael Glass' vampire grandfather. He helps Claire out a lot. He also loves the founder, Amelie. He wants to try and make things better for everyone. He hates Bishop, because Bishop is cruel to Amelie. Sam is one of the kindest vampires, and often prefers human company, in one case he saves Claire Danvers from getting raped in The Dead Girls' Dance. He has red hair and freckles with the same blue eyes as his grandson Michael.
- Amelie, a vampire, is the founder of Morganville. Her vampire and blood line father is Bishop even though she hates him. She is also Claire's Patron. She is also the lover of Michael Glass's grandfather Sam Glass. She is described to be very short and lean woman with silvery blond hair and has an icy personality. Claire nicknames her "ice queen". As with all vampires, she looks very young but is almost over 1500 years of age. She becomes depressed after Sam's death. She is considered to be the high queen of Morganville. Amelie has shown throughout the series a connection to Claire; she seems to see her as a daughter. She is willing to do things Claire's way and shows she feels a growing sense of affection for Claire, though she seldom shows it.
- Oliver, is a vampire elder and Amelie's second in command, though they have their differences, they get along. He is very proud, arrogant and cold and is described appropriately as the 'Don of the local Morganville mafia'. However it is revealed later on in the series that he has strong feelings for Amelie. In Ghost Town Oliver challenges Amelie. He then takes the place as head of Morganville. Later Amelie forgets and takes it back. Further into the series,they become equals. His character is based on Oliver Cromwell.. He runs one of the local coffee shops, Common Grounds, which is a place where vampires and humans can meet equally and safely. He pretends to be a hippie. He appears to hate everyone, but through out the series is shown to care some about Claire and Eve, though appears not to be able to care less about Shane.
- Myrnin, a vampire, is an ancient alchemist searching for a cure to the vampire disease and Claire's teacher, Amelie, told Claire that she had to become his apprentice. Myrnin loves bunny slippers with fangs as well as flip-flops, silk vests, pirate boots, and old Victorian ensembles. But he doesn't love anything more than messing with Oliver by teasing him. Myrnin has killed all of his previous assistants in his thirst for blood except for Claire. Myrnin is still very in love with his old (and deceased) assistant and lover, Ada. When he killed Ada he saved her brain and hooked it up to a machine that runs the whole town of Morganville as a favor to her, Amelie, and himself. After Ada's machine breaks and she dies for good, he hooks up his brain to the machine that runs Morganville, which causes the whole town to forget the past three years and believe that it is 3 years prior. Myrnin wanted to put Claire's brain in the machine but let it go when he took advantage of the fact Frank Collins died, and is using his brain instead. In Last Breath his actions confirm Shane's theory that Myrnin is indeed in love with Claire or at least cares for her.
- Monica Morrell is a beautiful, yet cruel, sociopathic college student who is Claire's initial antagonist in the series. Her father (and then later her brother, Richard) is the human mayor of the secretly vampire-controlled city. She hates Claire because Claire made her look stupid in front of some cool guys. A few years ago she was mad at Shane and burned down his house which killed his sister, or at least that's what everyone believes while she profusely denies doing so. Nearly whenever Monica has an encounter with Claire, she's mean to her.
- Mr. Bishop is Amelie's biological father. He is portrayed to be ancient and is often described as "old school evil." Bishop seems to be the guy with a world-domination mentality and has the adamant idea that all humans are beneath him, therefore handy slaves/walking blood bags. He enters the series at the end of Midnight Alley with his sidekicks Francois and Ysandre. He wants revenge on Amelie and Myrnin for trying to kill him hundreds of years ago. He also wants to rule over Morganville and all of its inhabitants - vampire and human. He returns in Bite Club and still wants to rule all of Morganville as its sole vampire ruler.
- Frank Collins is Shane's dad. They have a rough history with each other, starting with the deaths of Shane's mother and sister. Shane's Dad abused him frequently and it is witnessed several times throughout the series. Frank sent Shane back to Morganville as part of a large plot to kill all of the vampires in revenge for the death of Shane's mother. Frank is later turned into a vampire by Mr. Bishop. Frank sacrifices himself to save Shane and Claire, and later becomes the 'Brain' controlling Myrnin's Vampire Super Computer. He makes Claire promise not to tell Shane, because then Shane could at least start to move on with his life.
- Ada is one of Myrnin's deceased assistants turned vampire super computer. She loves Myrnin and hates Claire for taking him away from her and goes insane and tries to kill her. She controls all the power in Morganville and the boundary lines.
Synposis
- Glass Houses
- This is the first book in the Morganville Vampires series. Morganville is a small college town filled with quirky characters. But when the sun goes down, the bad comes out. Because in Morganville, there is an evil that lurks in the darkest shadows, one that will spill out into the bright light of day. Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation. The popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks in the school's social scene: somewhere less than zero. And Claire really doesn't have the right connections to the undead who run the town. When Claire heads off campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates, Michael, Eve, and Shane, don't show many signs of life. But they'll have Claire's back when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood.
- Dead Girls' Dance
- The second book in the series continues from the cliffhanger ending of the first book. The book starts with the arrival of Shane's anti-vampire father, who tries to murder Michael and cause havoc in Morganville. His killing spree starts with Brandon, an evil troller. Shane gets blamed for Brandon's murder and is caged as a result. (Caged is the punishment for murderers, where the guilty person is locked in a cage and publicly burned to death.) Soon after that, Claire sees Oliver holding a friendly conversation with Shane's father and starts to get suspicious. While trying to free Shane, Eve gets out an arsenal of vampire-killing equipment and Michael locks her away in her room after mesmerizing her. Eve takes Claire on a search for help the next morning, but Claire gets kidnapped by Monica and her pet Monickettes. They are intercepted by Shane's father, who holds Monica hostage. To get help from Sam the vampire (Michael's grandfather), Claire and Eve go to the Dead Girls' Dance to meet him. While there, Claire meets a boy named Ian, who offers her a drink. Ian turns out to be an amateur rapist. Eve finds Sam just in time and they leave the party unharmed. When they return to the house, they find that Michael has begged Amelie to turn him into a vampire. He is turned and soon after that, they find that Shane has been freed by his father. After a period of fighting, Shane's father leaves town, and Claire strikes a contract with Amelie.
- Midnight Alley
- In the third book of the series, Claire makes an important decision that determines the rest of her life. This leads her to finding out the deepest, darkest secret in Morganville, enough to destroy the city – if it falls into the wrong hands. She must learn all she can to save her best friend, patron, and those she tolerates. With Monica kissing up and Shane in more trouble than ever, Claire must work to protect her friends and herself.
- Feast of Fools
- In the town of Morganville, vampires and humans live in relative peace together. Student Claire Danvers has never been convinced, though — especially with the arrival of Mr. Bishop, an ancient, old-school vampire who cares nothing about harmony. What he wants from the town's living and its dead is unthinkably sinister. It's only at a formal ball, attended by vampires and their human dates, that Claire realizes the elaborately evil trap he's set for Morganville.
- Lord Of Misrule
- In the college town of Morganville, vampires and humans coexist in (relatively) bloodless harmony. Then comes Bishop, the master vampire who threatens to abolish all order, revive the forces of the evil undead, and let chaos rule. But Bishop isn’t the only threat. Violent black cyclone clouds hover, promising a storm of devastating proportions as student Claire Danvers and her friends prepare to be
- Carpe Corpus
- To protect her friends (as much as possible), Claire has been forced to side with Bishop as the battle for Morganville rages on. Somehow, Claire manages to save Shane, reconcile with Michael, and make up with Eve. Claire and Myrnin also may have discovered a cure to the vampire disease. Now they still have the problem of Bishop controlling the city. To save Morganville, someone unexpected has to pay the ultimate price that leaves the entire town in mourning.
- Fade Out
- Morganville has stabilized into a kind of peace (although it may only be skin deep), but new players are entering the scene, and the course of true love never does run smoothly, especially when an old girlfriend drops in for a visit. And the phrase “hidden camera” takes on entirely new and significant meaning for our heroes in the Glass House.
- Kiss of Death
- Claire Danvers and her friends have been given an offer they can't refuse – time away from Morganville, with an escort of course. But when they encounter trouble of both the human and vampire varieties they begin to realize life outside Morganville isn't all it's cracked up to be.
- Ghost Town
- The fragile peace between humans and vampires in Morganville is in trouble, and when Claire takes drastic action, she's put under serious pressure to re-establish the barriers that keep the town residents inside, and wipe the memories of those who leave. But working with her half-crazy vampire boss Myrnin means that things don't always turn out as planned...and as the people of Morganville begin acting strangely, Claire and her friends must solve the mystery and try to put things right. But one by one, her allies are turning on her... even the ones she trusts most.
- Bite Club
- After discovering that vampires populate her town, college student Claire Danvers knows that the undead just want to live their lives. But someone else wants them to get ready to rumble. There's a new extreme sport getting picked up on the Internet: bare- knuckle fights pitting captured vampires against each other-or humans. Tracking the remote signal leads Claire—accompanied by her friends and frenemies—to discover that what started as an online brawl will soon threaten everyone in Morganville
- Last Breath
- There is a question Claire has long been asking: why do vampires live so far out in a sunny desert when they're sensitive to sunlight? The reason doesn't have to do with sunlight but water - and an ancient enemy who has finally found a way to invade the vampires' landlocked community. Vampires aren't the top predator on earth. There's something worse that preys on them ...something much worse. Which means if Claire, and Morganville, want to live, they will have to fight on to the last breath. With her boss preoccupied researching the Founder Houses in Morganville, Claire is left to her own devices when she learns that three vampires have vanished without a trace. She soon discovers that the last person seen with one of the missing vampires is someone new to town-a mysterious individual named Magnus. After an uneasy encounter with Morganville's latest resident, Claire is certain Magnus isn't merely human. But is he a vampire-or something else entirely?
Key locations
The Glass House
The protagonists of the novels are the four young adults who live in The Glass House. The house has a mind of its own and often does things for the young heroes. It is also a safe haven for those in need. It is kept safe by "founder's protection". The house is also what saved Michael Glass when Oliver attacked him a few years back. So Michael is now trapped to house for the rest of his life but can never die, because he is already dead.
Texas Prairie University
A third-tier state university, often used as a starter school by students unable to get into challenging institutions of higher education. Most of the students there are apparently unaware of the strange things that happen in Morganville. Monica's abuse of Claire here is what drove Claire to seek out the Glass House in the first place.
Common Grounds
A coffee shop located just off the TPU campus, Common Grounds acts as neutral territory for meetings between the human and vampire population. This was the place Eve Rosser worked until she found out her hippie boss was actually a powerful vampire. This place plays great importance throughout the entire series. It is owned by vampire mafia boss Oliver.
Adaptations
It has been announced on the author's website that the rights to a Morganville Vampire film/tv series or any other multimedia production have been sold to the people behind the popular series Red Dwarf.
References
- ^ Smith, Cynthia Leitich (October 9, 2006). "Author Interview: Rachel Caine on Glass Houses". Cynsations. http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/2006/10/author-interview-rachel-caine-on-glass.html.
- ^ a b Fowler, Jimmy (January 26, 2011). "Making a Killing: A Fort Worth author turns a mythical, bloodsucking Texas town into big-time success". Fort Worth Weekly. http://www.fwweekly.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4512:making-a-killing&catid=30:cover-story&Itemid=375. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
- ^ London, Vicky (September 12, 2006). "Rachel Caine: Glass Houses (The Morganville Vampires, Book One)". Vampire Genre. http://www.vampiregenre.com/2006/09/12/rachel-caine-glass-houses-the-morganville-vampires-book-one/.
- ^ a b Martindale, David (July 9, 2009). "Third name is the charm for woman who was leery of being author". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. http://www.star-telegram.com/living/story/1478567.html.
- ^ Halvorsen, Barry (July 22, 2007). "Recommended books in young adult series". Victoria Advocate.
External links