Richelle Mead
By Aimee on
I like to think that I am quite the avid reader. Growing up I would practically lock myself in my room and read until I fell asleep. If I wasn’t reading I was at the library finding more books to read. My favourite genre has always been fantasy and I have found many authors who obviously love the genre too. One such author is Richelle Mead. In her writing career so far she has written over 25 novels with multiple series in young adult and adult fiction. She is most famous for her Vampire Academy series and its spinoff the bloodlines series. I am currently on the second book of the bloodlines series again after getting through all six of the Vampire Academy books. Just a warning if you are reading this there may be some spoilers. I have done my best to keep it all pretty hush hush and don’t believe I have leaked anything that isn’t on a blurb but apologise if I have.
About the Author
Richelle resides in Seattle with her husband and son. She has three degrees: A bachelor of general studies, a master of comparative religion and a master of teaching. She taught social studies and English with a year 8 class until she wrote her first book, Succubus Blues. She then quit her job and took up writing full time. All of her books are heavily influenced with folklore and religions and this creates a good source of characters and conflict. On her website and in the back of books she mentions her love of coffee, watching reality TV shows and shopping for dresses. She’s my kind of creator as she works best in her pyjamas and has a love of the eighties. Which is evident in her Goergina Kincaid series with the love interest and his wacky shirts.
The Books
Goergina Kincaid Series
Or I like to call them her succubus books. This was the first series she published. There are six books in the series which seems to be a theme for her and follow the story of Georgina Kincaid. She is a succubus just trying to earn her keep with other creatures of the underworld. It goes through the ups and downs of trying to live a regular immortal life, including work and love which, being a succubus, is a bit of a disaster. This is one of her adult fictions and has a bit of a risqué theme considering the main character steals the life force of men whilst having sex with them.
Dark Swan Series
The first book in the series, Storm Born came out in 2008 and there are only four in this series although she does want to write another as the ending wasn’t really a true ending. It follows another strong female lead who is a shaman who banishes spirits and fey to the otherworld. She turns into a hot commodity when a prophecy arises of how her first born son will destroy the world, now people either want to sleep with her or kill her. This is another of her adult fictions and gets a bit sexy too with some great humour thrown in.
Vampire Academy Series
This series came out in 2007 and is another book of 6. Richelle tends to be writing at least one adult fiction and one young adult fiction at the same time. This is the first of her young adult fiction series and is the first series of hers that I read. Following a strong willed teenager who is half vampire half human in her endeavour to keep her best friend safe who is also a princess. It makes for a pretty intense series. Not to mention she’s training to become a kick-ass guardian and her instructor is H-O-T, hot! Needless to say that has its own problems.
Bloodline Series
This is a spinoff to the Vampire academy series and uses a few of the well loved side characters from the first series. Sydney is an alchemist whose job it is to hide the vampire world from the human one. She is lumped in ‘babysitting’ the Queens sister until it is safe for her to return to her family’s side. Of course there are other dangers and illicit romances not to mention her extreme dislike of being around unholy creatures in the first place as well as the fact she is on a tight string with her own group. One misstep could lead her into re-education.
Age of X Series
This series is still under construction and only two books have been released so far with another one in the works but no release date yet. This is the only series that isn’t written in first person and follows two characters, Justin and Mae. This is another adult fiction set in a futuristic world that has been mostly destroyed by religious extremists. Mae is a super-soldier with an odd aristocratic upbringing but knows how to kick ass whilst Justin is a religious group investigator. She ends up being his body guard and together they solve the mystery of the ritualistic murders that have been happening that are shrouded in unexplainable phenomena. I do love this series and can’t wait for the next installment.
The Glittering Court Series
This is her new young adult fiction series with two books being released so far. I have only read the first one but am keen to pick up the second. It follows the story of a young countess who wants to escape an arranged marriage. She poses as a servant and joins the glittering court which is a school to help impoverished women turn into respectable young ladies. They are then transported and sold off in the new country of Adoria. During her training she befriends a fiery laundress and a dark skinned and cunning refugee. And like all of her books there are hints of a dangerous secret and a love interest that is scandalous and could ruin lives. The second book focuses on the story of the refugee and I’m intrigued as to what happens as she was an endearing character in the first book.
Soundless
This story is a standalone based on Chinese mythology. The young girl lives in a village on top of a mountain where no one can hear anything. Except for one night she does. The story follows her daring trek down the mountain to find out why their food rations have shrunk and why people in her village have started to lose their sight. I found this one particularly interesting because of the way it described sound and was a pretty quick fascinating read.
That’s all folks…
She also has a few anthologies and graphic novels that are based off of her work. Next year marks the 10 year anniversary for the vampire academy series and she has just released an anniversary edition of Vampire Academy which has a never-before-seen collection of stories. Oh and yea I’m going to get it. For a list of all her books follow this link to her website. I know not everyone is into her style but I find her books fun and easy to read with great mysteries and even greater love stories. She has inspired me to write my own book which I have started working on recently and I hope I can do it justice.