Night World

For the film, see Night World (1932 film). For the F. Paul Wilson novel series formerly known as Nightworld, see The Adversary Cycle.

Night World

Secret Vampire Daughters of Darkness Spellbinder Dark Angel The Chosen Soulmate Huntress Black Dawn Witchlight Strange Fate
Author	L. J. Smith
Language	English
Genre	Horror, Fantasy, Romance, Young-adult fiction
Publisher	Simon & Schuster
Published	1996–1998, 2008–present
Media type	Print (Hardcover & Paperback)

Night World is a series of ten young-adult fantasy novels by American author L. J. Smith. The series presents a story in which vampires, witches, werewolves and shape-shifters live among humans without their knowledge. These supernatural races make up a secret society known as the Night World, which enforces two fundamental laws to prevent discovery: 1) Never allow humans to gain knowledge of the Night World's existence and, 2) Never fall in love with one of them.

Each volume of the series follows a different protagonist (always a teenage girl) who must face various challenges involving love, the "Soulmate principle" and the Night World's strict code. In the first six novels, the plot focuses on the protagonist discovering her soulmate and the danger which ensues. In the seventh book of the series, the concept of an impending millennial apocalypse is introduced. Although the theme of the "Soulmate principle" continues to be present, the plot now focuses on the search for four "Wild Powers" who, according to an ancient prophecy, will either save the world or aid in its destruction. The series has been on the New York Times Bestseller List for children's books for 22 weeks as of May 19, 2009.

The concluding book in the series, Strange Fate, has been delayed for a decade and the release date is currently unconfirmed, with various websites stating different release dates.

On October 12, 2011, in a post on her fan forum, L.J. Smith announced that she has completed the writing of Strange Fate and it is has now entered the editing stage.

Publishing history

The first nine books from the 'Night World series were originally published in 1996–1998 by Simon & Schuster. The release of the tenth and last book, Strange Fate, was put on hold when L. J. Smith took a hiatus from writing sometime in 1999. As from 2008, the nine Night World books were reprinted in three omnibus volumes while the release date of Strange Fate is currently unconfirmed.

For the recent reprint, some edits in attempts at modernisation have taken place such as the replacement of the word "walkman" with "iPod" in Daughters of Darkness.^[1] However this seems to have led to some inconsistency, with references to iPods on one page of the novel followed by references to the previously used "walkman" on the next page.^[1]

Book Summaries

Secret Vampire

Poppy is a normal teenage girl, until she is diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. Her best friend James, secretly a vampire and her soulmate, rushes to find a cure only to find out that less than three percent of patients with pancreatic cancer survive this horrific disease. So, James decides to turn Poppy into a vampire. After Poppy is turned, James' cousin Ash complicates things and steals Poppy away and takes her to Las Vegas where they go to a party held by the lord of the Night World so that Ash can turn her in (Poppy is an "illegal" vampire). James manages to save her, and it is revealed that Poppy has every right to know about the Night World because she is a "Lost" witch (a witch that is unaware of her magical heritage) by her father.

Daughters of Darkness

Vampire sisters Rowan, Kestrel, and Jade Redfern escape from their homeland on an island in the Night World to live with their Aunt Opal on Burdock Farm. Things take a turn for the worse when the girls discover their aunt has been killed and their ruthless brother Ash has followed them, to bring them home or kill them. Meanwhile, the sisters and Ash meet the Carters next door, and Ash, who hates humans, discovers that Mary-Lynette Carter, a human, is his soulmate and falls deeply in love with her. Although he is hesitant at first and they don't get along well, he cannot help his feelings and later proclaims his love for her. Jade is dating Mary-Lynnette's brother, Mark, her soulmate. In the end Mary-Lynnette's friend, Jeremy, who turns out to be a werewolf, tries to kill Ash, Kestrel, Jade and Rowan for hunting in his teritorry, and also tries to turn Mary-Lynette into a werewolf. With fire and a silver dagger/knife Mary-Lynnette kills Jeremy and Ash leaves to settle down the problem. The sisters will stay at Budrock Farm while Mary-Lynnette waits for Ash's return after sending him away for his wrong doing.

Spellbinder / Enchantress

Thea and Blaise Harman are witch cousins and are like sisters. There's only one slight difference: Thea uses White magic and Blaise uses Black magic. Blaise uses her charm and magic to make boys do anything for her, including cutting themselves with razors and burning down schools. When they start over at a new school and Thea heals Eric Ross from a snake bite, Thea and Eric realize they are soulmates. Blaise is jealous that Eric has chosen Thea, and worried that Thea is breaking Night World law to be with Eric. In a desperate attempt to protect Eric from Blaise, Thea accidentally releases an angry spirit, that kills one of Blaise's admirers. Thea and Eric try their best to capture the angry spirit by luring it. But Thea is wanted by the Circle because she is not allowed to use that kind of magic, and so is Blaise and Thea's friend Dani. Thea manages to tell them that Eric is in trouble because the spirit was with him. She puts the spirit back where it came from. The Circle tells her that she cannot love a human so she chose to drink the Cup of Lethe, a drink that erases a part of your memory, erasing Thea's and Eric's knowing of Night World. However, Blaise had switched the drink with iced tea long before, therefore neither forget that the Night World exists.

Dark Angel

After a near-death experience in a forest, Gillian Lennox is brought back to life by a being who calls himself "Angel". He comes back with her and helps her change her life, whispering advice and making her the most popular girl at school and uniting her with her long-time crush. Everything is perfect until Angel starts making strange requests and people start getting hurt, and Gillian learns about her heritage. She is a descendant of one of the lost Harman babies. She learns that Angel is a spirit with unfinished business. She learns that Angel's real name is Gary Fargeon, her cousin who is a descendant of another lost Harman baby. His unfinished business is that he accidentally killed a girl when she disturbed a spell he was casting. She helps him cross over, leaving Gillian with her long-time crush and soulmate David Blackburn.

The Chosen

After witnessing the murder of her mother and friend by a ruthless vampire, Rashel Jordan becomes a vampire hunter known as The Cat, dedicating her life to killing all vampires one by one until she finds the one that killed her mother. One night she meets her soulmate, John Quinn, a cold-hearted and dangerous vampire. She finds herself abandoned by other vampire hunters, but feels the need to save teenage girls who're being kidnapped by vampires, including Quinn for a blood feast. She infiltrates a vampire enclave and rescues the girls and plans to kill any vampires she can. Quinn suddenly helps Rashel after a futile attempt at turning her into a vampire. They discover that Hunter Redfern is behind the blood feast, and Rashel remembers him as the ruthless vampire that killed her mother but she finds out that Timmy was turned into a vampire at the age of four and raised by Hunter. Rashel's friend Nyala, a vengeful, unbalanced vampire hunter, sets the house on fire and Quinn saves Rashel, Timmy and Nyala. They get away from the island. Rashel's anger and bitterness for all vampires dissolves, and she and Quinn decide to join Circle Daybreak.

Soulmate

Hannah Snow has been having nightmares and keeps finding notes written in her own handwriting, warning her that she is in danger and will die before her seventeenth birthday. Worried about her sanity, she begins hypnosis with a psychologist, Paul Winfield, going back through time and reliving her past lives, connecting to each of them and discovering that her soulmate is Thierry Descoudres, a vampire and a Lord of the Night World. And now Thierry and his enemy Maya have found Hannah, and Hannah's life is at stake. Hannah first thought that Thierry was the one that killed her but it was Maya in an illusion, disguising herself as Thierry. Hannah goes to the his house and meets the other members of Circle Daybreak, a group of humans, vampires, wolves, witches and shapeshifters, all hoping for peace between Night World and the human race. But she is captured by Maya, and she attempts to turn Hannah into a vampire so when she kills Hannah, her cycle of reincarnating would be over because she has no soul. But instead she kills Maya. Hannah decides to be human and live her life until death while Thierry waits for her return again.

Huntress

Jez Redfern thought she was a full vampire, but soon finds out she is in fact half-human. She runs away from her gang and Uncle Bracken to live with her human relatives. She only goes back when Circle Daybreak asks her to go on a dangerous mission: to fight her worst enemy, best friend, and soulmate, Morgead Blackthorn for the Wild Power. It turns out that the person thought to be the Wild Power is a fake. When she meets her friend Hugh, an Old Soul, Jez's annoying cousin Claire follows her and overhears everything. They are soon after attacked by two werewolves and a vampire. When she and Claire fall off on the train tracks, Jez sees blue fire, power of a Wild Power, and thinks Claire is the one. When she, Claire, Hugh, and Morgead are captured by Lily Redfern, who is in search of the Wild Power, Jez figures out the meaning of the prophecy. She is one of the Wild Powers and her blood must be spilled to release the blue fire. Morgead convinces her not to let go and give up when she is staked by Lily and does not die. Jez and Morgead then join Circle Daybreak.

Black Dawn

Maggie stumbles upon an old Night World kingdom when trying to rescue her brother from a witch, where she meets a vampire prince. A Wild power, Delos is her soulmate, but he fights his feelings, saying he can't love her and hates humans. Hunter Redfern arrives to take over the kingdom with Delos' help. Delos, with Maggie's help, realizes Hunter Redfern is his enemy, and goes directly opposite of his plans. Maggie found out that her brother was turned into a shapeshifting falcon by his girlfriend, Sylvia, a witch. Sylvia is killed by Hunter Redfern after she releases the spell binding Delos's powers. Hunter Redfern is presumably killed by Delos' using the blue fire of the Wild Powers. Maggie is happy because she has found her brother and her soulmate. However, no one can rest yet because the witches have seceded from the Night World Council, leading war against vampires and witches. Two Wild Powers are have been found, who are now on the side of Circle Daybreak. Only two more remain.

Witchlight

Raksha Keller and her team race to a mall to save the new Wild Power, Iliana Harman. The new Wild Power is destined to marry Galen Drache a shapeshifter of the first house, so the shapeshifters will side with the witches and not the vampires. But when Keller realizes the wild power's betrothed, Galen Drache, is in fact her soulmate, their love could destroy the world. Also, the Night World shapeshifters have been attacking humans very often, and ends up killing the crone of the witches, Grandma Harman. The Night World has an awaken dragon that can turn into anything that it touches. Iliana's deaf friend, Jaime, is hosting a party and it is the same night of the ceremony that bonds the witches and shapeshifters. Iliana tried to use her powers to save Jaime because a car was going to hit her but she couldn't so she has to pretend that she is the Wild Power and Witch Daughter at the ceremony. She says that she will only help if she can go to the party. The people who are helping her agree and go with to protect her from the dragon. Before they went, they put up guards all around the house and made sure that the dragon didn't go in because they still believe that Iliana is the Wild Power. The night before the party, Keller and Galen stay up looking through scrolls, trying to find information about the dragon because only the shapeshifters can read the writing. They find out that dragons have horns and if you cut them all off, they can no longer shapeshift. At the party, Jaime's brother, Brett, tells Keller that Iliana's little brother ran away, and she is on the phone. Keller goes into Jaime's room and picks up the phone and asks Brett to leave the room. When he did, she found out that there was no one on the other line. She tried to leave the room but the door was locked. She shapeshifted into a panther and jumped out the window and reentered the party through a window and went to find Iliana. She was nowhere to be found so she asked Brett where she was and he told her that they were in the basement. She runs through an underground tunnel and finds her friends and Iliana badly hurt. She attacks the dragon, Jaime, several times and gets three out of the five horns off. Galen gets up and turns into a leopard and gets off another one. Keller saw her witch friend whisper something to Iliana and Iliana stood up. She chanted a spell and made blue fire appear and destroy the dragon while healing everyone else. Instead of Iliana, Keller gets promised to Galen because the witches and shapeshifters can be on the same side if they do a blood cross between Iliana and Keller.

Strange Fate

Book ten follows a sixteen-year-old girl named Sarah Strange, who has mysterious dreams of Night World inhabitants. It is intended to be the conclusion of the entire series, leading up to the apocalypse. This is an epic volume, which stars all the most beloved Night Worlders from the other books. It has been delayed for a while and the release date is currently unconfirmed, with various websites stating different release dates.

The Soulmate Principle

In the series, the soulmate principle is the theory that if two people are connected by a silver cord (which can only be seen by the soulmates) then they are soulmates. The silver cord can also be used to sense what his/her soulmate is feeling. In "Black Dawn," Maggie senses Delos's feeling by focusing on their silver cord. The strength of the soulmate connection differs, in "Secret Vampire," Poppy and James have been friends for years, but only realize they are soulmates when James drinks Poppy's blood. In "Daughters of Darkness," Mary-Lynnette felt an electric jolt when she first shook Ash's hand and so did Ash. In "The Chosen," Rashel's bare hand brushes Quinn's, and they both receive a shivering jolt. Soulmates also have the ability to completely enter his/her soulmate's mind. When this occurs, their minds are forcibly opened to each other and they can explore their memories, thoughts, and feeling freely. In "Huntress," it is revealed that memories can be blocked, but any lapse in concentration or an excessive time in each other's mind will remove the blockages one tries to make. This occurs (usually by accident) in every story when the soulmates find each other and either kiss, touch, or one of them drink the other's blood.

Overview of species

Vampires

Smith's vampires are fairly different from the traditional concept of vampires. They also differ from vampires in the universe she created in The Vampire Diaries. In Night World, there are two types of vampires: the lamia (pronounced lay-me-uh) and the "made vampires".

In the Night World books, "Lamia is the term in this series for those who are born as vampires."^[2] They age, eat and grow as humans do, but also have the ability to stop the aging process at any point they please; however, once a lamia that has stopped aging decides to begin aging again, the aging process will be accelerated so that their physical appearance will match their true age in a short amount of time. Also, the Lamia are able to have children, unlike the "made vampires".

Made vampires are humans that have been made into vampires by exchanging blood with lamia or with another made vampire. Since older people cannot survive the physical transition, all made vampires look about age nineteen or younger. Also, unlike lamia vampires, made vampires do not age, eat and cannot reproduce. If a made vampire does not receive enough blood from the vampire and dies, they will awaken as a ghoul, where their only aim in life is to kill and eat.

Both lamia and made vampires have superhuman strength, speed, and agility and can have telepathic powers. Sunlight does not destroy vampires, but weakens them. Unlike vampires in other fiction, cannot transform into bats (with the exception of the original vampire, Maya). Like in most vampire lore, they need human blood to survive. Smith's explanation is that vampire cells are unable to carry oxygen and therefore, vampires must acquire human blood cells for them to breathe (thus making blood consumption more to do with respiration than nutrition.) They are immortal but can be killed and are vulnerable to wood and fire.

The first vampire in existence, Maya, was originally a witch. In her quest for power and immortality, she became the first vampire by the use of powerful magic, which involved drinking the blood of infants. Maya bore a son, Red Fern, who became the ancestor of all lamia vampires. The first made vampire was a boy from Maya's tribe named Thierry, who was transformed against his will and stars in Soulmate. All made and lamia vampires however descend from Maya. As Maya is the first vampire in existence, she has many abilities her descendants do not (since their vampire blood is diluted), such as shapeshifting. She also retains her ability to perform magic. Despite the fact that the first vampire was a woman, vampires (particularly the lamia) are a very patriarchal society. There are also vampires from the Redfern family who have a greater concentration of witch blood, from a "kinship ceremony" enacted by Hunter Redfern and Maeve Harman.

The symbol for lamia vampires is not mentioned in the book. Lamia characters such as Ash Redfern are known to carry the image of a black iris which is the symbol for the Black Iris Club, a lamia club which is open to all denizens of the Night World. The symbol for made vampires is the black rose, as stated in Daughters of Darkness, the second story of the Night World series, as well as Soulmate, the sixth story.

Vampires ruled in the 3rd Age.

The main vampires in the series: Lamia -

Ash Redfern - One of the leading characters in the second book of the series, Ash is described as having ash-blonde hair with ever-changing eyes (his eyes change colour depending on his mood). He is a very arrogant and lazy bad boy who prefers to play with humans and is very selfish; though all of that changes when he meets Mary-Lynnette Carter, his soulmate whom he loves enough to change his entire life. Ash leaves at the end of the book to make up for his past mistakes, planning to return to Mary-Lynnette afterwards.

James Rassmussen - The second lead character in the first book, James has grey eyes and brown hair and is described as looking like James Dean by his soulmate. He is considered a bad boy in his school but acts like that to hide his true nature. When he is near his best friend, and later soulmate, Poppy North, we are shown that he is a gentle boy who doesn't care about humans other than Poppy. He is a cousin of Ash from his mother's side.

Jezebel 'Jez' Redfern - Jez is the protagonist of the seventh book Huntress. Believing she is a full vampire, she is a leader of a Night World group that hunts humans at the beginning of the book but later realises that she is half-human as her mother was a human while her father was a vampire. She has long, curly, flaming red hair and silvery-blue eyes. She is described as being stubborn and hotheaded by her soulmate Morgead Blackthorn, the second leader of her group. She is a cousin of James and Ash. Jez is the first Wild Power.

Morgead Blackthorn - Morgead is Jez's soulmate and is seventeen years old. He is conceited, hotheaded, stubborn, and power-hungry. Morgead is the second leader of the group. His mother left when he was young and he tries to hide the loneliness this made him feel. He has gem-green eyes and dark hair. He hates humans though later joins Circle Daybreak when he realises that in fact his best friend and soulmate is half-human, as well as a wild power.

Rowan, Kestrel and Jade Redfern - Rowan, Kestel and Jade are the sisters of Ash and the blood sisters of Mary-Lynnette and Mark Carter. They ran away from a small island to Briar Creek in order to live as normal people rather than be controlled. In the process they meet Mary-Lynnette Carter, who in fact turns out to be Ash's soulmate, and her brother, Mark, who turns out to be Jade's soulmate. Rowan is the oldest of the family and is gentle, and caring with chestnut-coloured hair and sweet brown eyes. Kestrel is the opposite with her long, golden hair and golden eyes. She is described by Mary-Lynnette as a real Night World member as she enjoys hunting and acts careless. Jade is the youngest sister and has long, silvery-blonde hair which she uses to hide her face; an act that people take as shyness but is really an act she uses to hide her inner feelings. She has green eyes and is bubbly.

Delos Redfern - Delos is the unknown prince of the Dark Kingdom and is the great-great-grandson of Hunter Redfern. He is very strong and is the second Wild Power. Delos hates humans and mixing with others and even though people think of him as a selfish boy, he truly feels vulnerable on the inside. He has yellow eyes and dark red hair and is the soulmate of a human girl called Maggie Neely, the protagonist of the eighth book Black Dawn.

Made vampires -

John Quinn 'Quinn' - Quinn is a cold hearted man who is the Heir of the Redfern and has a dark secret which makes him be the mysterious cold-blooded vampire he is. This is until he meets his soulmate Rashel Jordan who is the most feared vampire hunter in the record of the Night World and is known as 'The Cat'. This brings back all of Quinn's past secrets and causes him to betray his leader Hunter and his daughter Lily.

Poppy North - Poppy is the protagonist of the first book Secret Vampire. She is James's childhood best friend and later his soulmate. Poppy is stubborn and quite hyper all the time but is also curious and has a dream of marrying James when they grow up as she secretly loves him. She also wants to travel around the world and has a taste for music like James. She has coppery-curly hair with green eyes and is the twin sister of Phillip North. She and her brother are found to be witches on their father's side.

Thierry Descoudres - Thierry is the Lord of the Night World as he is the second ever vampire and everyone obeys him. He has been waiting for his soulmate to be reincarnated for thousands of years as she was killed by accident by Thierry in her first lifetime, and by the first vampire, Maya, in every lifetime after that before her seventeenth birthday. He has mid-long blonde hair which is put back into a ponytail and dark eyes. He is leader of Circle Daybreak and planning to get hold of all the Wild Power in order to win the final, upcoming battle between Circle Daybreak and the Night World.

Witches

Witches, as depicted in the Night World series, are a matriarchal society bearing a strong resemblance to the neopagan religion of Wicca and to the Goddess movement. They trace their descent to an ancient tribe ruled by Hecate Witch-Queen, and later by her daughter Hellewise Hearth-Woman. All witches are considered to be 'daughters of Hellewise', although the Harman family are direct genetic descendants traced through the female line. Hellewise's sister, Maya, became the first vampire; thus all vampires are descended through Maya from Hecate Witch-Queen.^[3]

Witch society is composed of 'Circles' to whom all witches belong. Those who take to heart Hellewise's bidding to 'harm none' (which is in fact the Wiccan Rede) belong to Circle Twilight, while Circle Midnight is made up of witches who practice darker magic. The Inner Circle is a coven of the nine most magically talented witches, who are 'the witch geniuses, the prodigies and the sages, the far-seers, the teachers, the policy-makers'^[4] as quoted by Thea Harman in Spellbinder. The most important of these are the triad of the Maiden, Mother and Crone, positions which during the events of the books are held respectively by Aradia, The Maiden, Cybele, The Mother, and Grandma Harman, The Crone. All witches are answerable to the Inner Circle before the Night World council, although an association probably exists between them, but this isn't specified.

A third renegade Circle also exists, known as Circle Daybreak, first mentioned in Spellbinder, which promotes the teaching of magic to humans and peace between the races. This circle used to exist alongside the other two but was banned due to the persecution of witches during the Burning Times. Circle Daybreak is kept secret from the rest of the Night World, although a few suspect its renewed existence. During the events leading up to the apocalypse, the witches opt to leave the Night World and join Circle Daybreak, as they want to help save the world, whereas the Night World council and most of the vampires want to take over and enslave the other races.^[5]

Witches practice magic with the aid of herbs, gemstones, effigies and incantations, all of which may be used in a spell; they worship the Goddess in her many manifestations, celebrate Samhain, and probably other festivals on the Wheel of the Year.^[6] However their magic is innate and does not always require external aids, although these can accentuate their power.^[5] Human psychics in the series are "lost witches" who are unaware of their true descent.^[7]

Identifying symbols for Night World witches are the black dahlia and the crescent moon with three stars.^[6] The symbol for "lost witches" is a black violet. Iron is mentioned in Daughters of Darkness as their poison.

Witches ruled in the 2nd Age.

The main Witches in the series:

Thea Harman - Thea is a sweet girl compared to her cousin and is the main protagonist of Spellbinder. She has long, blonde hair and sweet brown eyes. She wants to be a vet when she grows up and even though she doesn't like humans to know about her nature, she still does help them. She has a human soulmate called Eric Ross and is a cross-cousin of the Redferns. She is the persona of Hellewise, one of the two original daughters of Hecate Witch-Queen.

Blaise Harman - Blaise is one of the lead characters in the third book. She is a witch royal who is described as being a girl who bewitches boys for sport and hates humans. She is a cross-cousin of the Redferns and the cousin (almost sister) of the protagonist of the book, Thea. She has long, dark hair and smoky, grey eyes. She is described as the persona of Maya, the original Vampire and original daughter of Hecate.

Gillian Lennox (Harman) - Gillian is a lost witch who is told of her heritage by her dead cousin who comes back as an "Angel". She is a petite girl with short silver-blonde hair and violet eyes. She is a distant cousin of Thea and Blaise as well as the Redferns. She has a human soulmate called David Blackburn with whom she joins Circle Daybreak with.

Iliana Dominick (Harman) - Iliana is the third wildpower. She is also said to be the Witch Child . Even though she was supposed to marry the prince of the shapeshifters, she refused as she knew that he was bonded with Keller, who was more important to her.

Poppy North - Poppy was a lost witch like her twin brother, Phillip North, and dying of pancreatic cancer before her best friend, James, turns her into a vampire. James later learns that she is a witch when she dreams of Ash before they even meet, develops a strong telepathic ability, and screams to James while inside her dream about Ash. When she screamed in her dream, three people heard it: James, Phillip, and her dad. Poppy has curly red hair and emerald green eyes.

Phillip North - Phillip is a lost witch and the twin brother of Poppy North. Phillip opposes Poppy and James' relationship, because of James' reputation, despite knowing James since he was four. When he learns about his real heritage, he chooses to live as a human though he does keep in contact with Poppy and knows about the other Night World creatures. Phillip is tall, smart, athletic, and has blond hair and green eyes.

Sylvia Weald - Sylvia is one of the character in Black Dawn. We are first introduced to her as someone who is dating Maggie Neely's brother whom she changes into a shapeshifter. She sides with Hunter to kill Delos though the maiden of witches, Aradia, stops her. She gets killed by one of Hunter's guardians as she later sides with Delos.

Werewolves

A werewolf is a type of shapeshifter. Because no main characters in any of the novels have been werewolves (Lupe Acevedo in Soulmate was only half-werewolf and she was an minor character; and there was barely anything known about Jeremy Lovett from Daughters of Darkness), less is known about this species than others. In Night World, werewolves (sometimes called 'wolves or just wolves) can transform from human to wolf (and vice versa) at will. In Daughters of Darkness, werewolves are described as wolves that take human form, rather than the reverse. This means that they have animal instincts and urges, even in human form. This is all contrary to modern werewolf lore where a werewolf is basically a normal person but undergoes an involuntary transformation. Though it is not stated explicitly, it appears that, like vampires, werewolves can be born as such and also be made.

Unlike vampires, werewolves must kill every time they feed because they need to consume organs. Thus, Night World law states that werewolves can only kill and eat animals. In the Night World, werewolves are treated as second-class citizens and are the victims of prejudice and racism. As in modern werewolf lore, Night World werewolves are harmed by silver. The symbol for werewolves is a black foxglove. It is unknown when or if they ever ruled, although it is unlikely, as they are described by other members of the night world (such as James) as having low intelligence levels.

Main werewolves in the series:

Jeremy Lovett - Jeremy is seen in the second book Daughter of Darkness as he is best friends with Mary-Lynette Carter, the protagonist of the book. Mary-Lynette thinks of him as a vulnerable boy since he doesn't have anyone to live with. However, this is not entirely true. He is a territorial were-wolf who doesn't obey Night World law and kills his uncle as well as a hiker in the woods. He fell in love with Mary-Lynette and was killed by her when he tried to kill her soulmate Ash Redfern and turn her into a were-wolf.

Lupe Acevado - Lupe is different from any other werewolf described and seen in the series. She is a smart and one of Thierry's best assassins even though she is only 15. She is half-human, half-werewolf and got her dad killed due to breaking the law before Thierry saved her. She once saves Hannah when she is attacked by other werewolves in the sixth book Soulmate. She has silvery-brown hair with yellow eyes.

Shapeshifters

Shapeshifters appear later in the series; no main character is a shapeshifter until the ninth book, Witchlight. Before that, only allusions to shapeshifters are made, usually in the context of a Night Person explaining the Night World to a human and listing the Night World species. In Witchlight, the protagonist, Keller, is a shapeshifter. She has the ability to change into the form of a panther at will.

Some history about shapeshifters is given in the novel: Shapeshifters had control of the world long before witches and vampires. Their leaders were known as "Dragons", beings that could change into the form of any animal as long as they have had physical contact to that animal.To kill a dragon you must take off all of its horns.The more horns it has the more powerful it is. (Normally shapeshifters can only change into one pre-determined animal form). The witches rose to power and put the dragons to sleep, except for the youngest one - The dragon princess who was only 4 at the time, the witches left her awake and raised her carefully watching over her. All of the ruling house of shapeshifters are descendant from her. The descendants of the ruling house have the ability to choose what animal they will become, but this choice is permanent.

In the early books of the series, werewolves and shapeshifters are described as separate groups or races of the Night World. For example, in Daughters of Darkness, Night World is described as comprising vampires, "witches and werewolves and shapeshifters, too".^[8] Though never explicitly stated, the later books tend to treat werewolves as a subset of shapeshifters. In Witchlight, when Keller tells the history of shapeshifters, she lists felines, bears, eagles, and wolves as groups or clans within the shapeshifter race.^[9] The description of both werewolves and shapeshifters as second-class citizens also supports the notion that werewolves are a subset, or one family, of shapeshifters. However, in Witchlight there is no real mention of Keller feeding or abiding by the rules for werewolves described in Daughters of Darkness.

Since werewolves are a type of shapeshifter, all 'shifters are hurt by silver

The symbol for shapeshifters is a black lily, type differs, e.g. tigers use tiger lilies.

Main Shapeshifters in the series:

Raksha Keller 'Keller' - Keller is the protagonist of the ninth book Witchlight and leads Circle Daybreak's best team. She is strong and secretive and she never shows her inner feelings to anyone else whatsoever. She is a half shapeshifter and can turn into a panther. She prefers to work hard and repay back Circle Daybreak for what they did for her as she grew up with them since her mother abandoned her. Keller has long, black hair with silvery-grey eyes and is the only shapeshifter that has taken a main role in the series. She is the soulmate of the prince of the shapeshifters, Galen Drache, and the blood sister of Ilianna Dominick-Harman. In the author's website, we learn that she is Rashel Jordan's fraternal twin.

Galen Drache - Galen is the prince of the first House of the Shapeshifters and the soulmate of Raksha Keller. He is gentle, loving and caring like Ilianna who isn't a fighter but does try his best when Keller is about to get killed by the Dragon. He was supposed to marry Ilianna but when Ilianna finds he is Keller's soulmate, she tells them that their love is something no one could ever interfere with. He has golden hair with green-golden eyes and becomes a leopard at the end of the book even though he wanted to be a bird.

Miles Neely - Miles is a made shapeshifter who can turn into a falcon and the older brother of Maggie Neely. He got turned into a shapeshifter by his girlfriend Sylvia Weald. He looks exactly the same as Maggie but with a male structure with brown eyes and auburn hair.

Humans

Humans have a main role as some of the protagonists in the series. They have been ruling the world since after the vampires, which is why members of the Night World must keep its existence a secret. It is one of the main reasons the apocalypse is nearing due to the Night World wanting to regain control of the world and make humans their slaves. However, Circle Daybreak is fighting off the Night World in order to keep things the way they are. Humans in the series can be reincarnated through time the way Hannah Snow in Soulmate and Hugh in Huntress are since Hellewise.

Main Humans in the series:

Mary-Lynnette Carter - Mary-Lynnette is the protagonist of Daughter of Darkness and the blood sister of the Redfern sisters, the soulmate of Ash Redfern and the older sister of Mark Carter. Mary-Lynnette is an astronomy lover spending her time star-watching at night and is more of a night person than a day person. She is curious about everything and thinks of herself as Nancy Drew. Mare (one of her nicknames) is very protective of Mark as well as being responsible for him. She often displays an ironic sense of humour and is very strong and doesn't follow Ash when they realize they are soulmates but tells him to fix his past mistakes then come back. Mary-Lynnette has long brown hair with blue eyes.

Mark Carter - Mark is the younger brother of Mary-Lynette, the soulmate of Jade Redfern and the blood brother of the Redfern sisters. He is very shy and doesn't like to mix with others but when he sees Jade for the first time, he falls in love. With Jade's help, he convinces the other two Redfern sisters not to kill him and Mary-Lynette. He has brown hair with blue eyes.

Eric Ross - Eric is one of the lead characters in Spellbinder and is a gentle boy who everyone runs after. He is very shy and timid, yet despite this he is one of the most popular boys in his school with his sandy-colored hair and grey flecked-green eyes. He becomes Blaise's next target when they come to town though he isn't bewitched by her and he falls in love with Thea. His and Thea's love risks expulsion from the Night World as she breaks a very strong law that could end not only their lives but everyone else's.

David Blackburn - David is one of the lead characters in Dark Angel. He is the most popular boy in his school and the boy Gillian Lennox had a secret crush on since when she first saw him when she was twelve. David has brown hair with brown eyes and tan skin and he himself reveals he loves Gillian when they go to a party as he heard of the affair between his longtime girlfriend Tanya and another boy.

Rashel Jordan - Rashel, also known as 'The Cat' by vampires, is the most feared vampire hunter in the record of Night World and uses the phrase 'This Kitten Has Claws' in memory of her mother who used to call her kitten and makes a mark on her victim's forehead resembiling a cat's claws. She is the protagonist of The Chosen. Her best friend was kidnapped and changed into a vampire when he was only four and her mother was killed by Hunter when she was five. This is the main reason she becomes a vampire hunter and it leads her to meet her cold-hearted soulmate Quinn, who she wants to kill. She later becomes a vampire hunter who only hunts 'bad vampires' and she and Quinn are known as the best fighters when they join Circle Daybreak. In the authors website, it is revealed that she is in fact half-shapeshifter and is the twin sister of Raksha Keller. Rashel has long black hair which is tied back and piercing green eyes.

Hannah Snow - Hannah is the protagonist of Soulmate and an old soul who has been reincarnated since the Stone Age when she first saw her soulmate Thierry, who was known as Theorn at that time while she was known as Hana of the Three Rivers. Hannah gets killed by the first vampire Maya Redfern due to her loving Thierry. She has a birth mark on her right cheek which is from the first and last time Thierry killed her accidentally with long blonde hair and grey eyes. She is a sweet girl and is known as the Lady of Circle Daybreak. In one of the short stories in the author's website, it is been said that she has gone off to fight in the apocalypse.

Hugh Davis - Hugh is one of the characters in Huntress. He is a rarely-found wakened Old Soul, which means he remembers all of his past lives. According to Jez, he becomes smarter and more clearheaded with each life, and also more gentle. Hugh is a Daybreaker, and was the one to trust Jez enough to let her join Circle Daybreak. He is also the one to talk her into going to get the Wild Power from Morgead. Even though he isn't a fighter, he proves that he is somewhat capable when he fends off a werewolf by himself. Hugh is described as having longish light hair and gray eyes and is muscled but compact. It is hinted at that he likes Jez as more than a good friend.

Maggie Neely - Maggie is the protagonist of the 8th book Black Dawn and is human who is a deliverer and is mentioned in one of the Witches' prophecy. Maggie is described as being careless and loves playing soccer. She is strong girl who is admired by the witches and the only one who is able to handle Delos Redfern, her ancient-like soulmate who isn't with the new technology. Maggie has shoulder-length auburn hair with brown eyes. She is seventeen and is a Circle Daybreak member.

External links

• L.J. Smith's Official Website.
• Night World Information Collective This site contains information about the books, characters, and concepts of the Night World series.
• Night World Official Website
• Review of all Night World published books
• Fanlisting for the Night World series.

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} L.J.Smith (Reprint) Daughters of Darkness
2. ^ Deborah Wilson Overstreet, Not your mother's vampire: vampires in young adult fiction (2006), 57.
3. ^ Spellbinder
4. ^ Spellbinderp.189
5. ^ ^{a b} Black Dawn
6. ^ ^{a b} Enchantress
7. ^ Witchlight
8. ^ Daughters of Darkness, p.125
9. ^ Witchlight, p.140

References

• An interview with L.J. Smith. Bookalicious.
• Smith, L.J. Trying to catch up. Ye Olde Blog by L.J.
• Smith, L.J. Latest news. L.J. Smith's Amazon Blog.
• Smith, L.J. (1996). Daughters of Darkness. New York: Archway. ISBN 0-671-55136-5.
• Smith, L.J. (1996). Enchantress. Hodder Children's Books. ISBN 0-340-69001-1.
• Smith, L.J. (1996). The Chosen. Hodder Children's Books. ISBN 0-340-69003-8.
• Smith, L.J. (1997). Black Dawn. Hodder Children's Books. ISBN 0-340-70954-5.
• Smith, L.J. (1998). Witchlight. New York: Archway. ISBN 0-671-01477-3.