Ok everyone, are you ready?  Today is the day, we’re discussing Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning over at SmexyBooks.  We’ve got Mac facts, swoon worthy Barrons quotes, discussion questions and much more. Stop by and share your Bloodfever knowledge or perhaps learn a few things you might have missed.  See you there!

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Join Mandi, Tori and Me for the Fever Series Read-Along. We are rereading the Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning in preparation for the release of Shadowfever.

Darkfever discussion HERE.  Bloodfever  discussion HERE.  Next discussion is Faefever here at Fiction Vixen on December 20.

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Welcome to the Darkfever Discussion

The first part of this post is where we include the important facts/clues that we learned in Darkfever. A lot of this book is introducing us to the Fae world, getting to know the three main players – Mac, Jericho Barrons, and V’Lane, and giving us get a taste of how evil some of the Fae can truly be. As we go further along in the books, a lot more questions and theories will be addressed.

We are pretending we have only read Darkfever. Yes, some of the issues below have already been answered in a subsequent book, but we are keeping those answers held back until that particular discussion for those that are reading this series for the first time.

Note: Direct quotes from the book are in italics.

Fae Facts:

• “Fae: a.k.a. the Tuatha Dé Danaan. Divided into two courts: the Seelie or Light Court, and the Unseelie or Dark Court. Both courts have different castes of Fae, with the four royal houses occupying the highest caste of each. The Seelie Queen and her chosen consort rule the Light Court. The Unseelie King and his current concubine govern the Dark.”

• Aoibheal, the Seelie Queen of the Light is no longer in charge and no one knows where she is.

• V’Lane is one of the Seelie princes, and the Queen (at some point) asks V’lane to use Mac to help find the Sinsar Dubh.

• “After an eternity of confinement, some of the lower-caste Unseelie have begun escaping their prison. Despite our efforts to isolate the weakness in the fabric of our realms, we have not been able to determine how they are breaking free.”

• The Fae have eight relics: Four Light – Stone, the Spear, the Sword, and the Cauldron. (Barrons and Mac have only the spear)
• Four dark – Mirror, Box, Amulet and the Book (Sinar Dubh).

• Unseelie are hunting for the Sinar Dubh as well, under someone named The Lord Master (Confirmed as Darroc from her Highlander books)

• Barrons already has one of four stones, Mac steals another from Malluce. It makes a noise, when all four get together they will sing a “Song of Making” – This will reveal text of sinsar dubh. In “an accomplished druid’s hands” one of the stones can reveal part of the text.

• Spear is one of two weapons known to kill Fae – any Fae, no matter the caste – except the shades. Mac has no defense against shades except the light.

Mac Facts:

• Mac is a sidhe-seer (she can see through fae glamor  and she can sense the sinar dubh) She is a Null (can freeze fae for a short period of time) and she can sense OOPs (Objects of power)

• Old lady refers to her as an O’Conner, Mac questions her biological parents

• Seelie/Unseelie are unable to detect their own objects of power  – Mac can detect them, making her very useful to everyone

• V’lane offers Mac the Cuff of Cruce – permits shield from Unseelie – Mac won’t take it because she knows it comes with a price

• At end of the book, Mac detects Sinsar Dubh traveling in a car.

Barrons Facts (aka: What is Barrons?):

• Barrons makes Mac get the spear (Seelie item) he won’t touch it. Can he touch it? We don’t know yet.

• Twice Barrons jumps down from a very high place without getting hurt. Won’t answer to Mac when she confronts him about it.

• “The truth is, your world is going to hell in a hand basket, Barrons had said. Recalling his words, I caught something in them I’d missed before. He’d said “your” world. Not “our” world. Mine. Was it not his world also?

• Mac sees him walk at night among the Shades, and they ignore him. They eat everyone else.

Miscellaneous Facts:

• Lord Master is not Fae. He is bringing Unseelie in through a gate.

• Quote from the Gray Man: “The Lord Master is back, you stupid bitch, and he’s going to do the same thing to you he did to the last pretty little sidhe-seer. You’ll wish you’d died at my hands. You’ll beg for death the same way she did.”

• “I told you she would come, Mallucé,” said the Lord Master. “We will use her to finish what her sister began.” (<–What exactly did her sister begin?)

• Fiona, Barrons’ assistant in the bookstore is privy to Fae information.

Barrons Quotes That Make Us Do a Dirty Swoon:

• “He wasn’t handsome. That was too calm a word. He was intensely masculine. He was sexual. He attracted” (Mandi falls down dead)<—Sophia kicks Mandi to the curb to snuggle up with Barrons.

• “His gaze flicked to my chest and stayed there a moment. When he returned his attention to the box, I caught my breath and stared blankly at the top of his dark head. Barrons had just given me the most carnal, sexually charged, hungry look I’d ever seen in my life, and I was pretty sure he didn’t even know he’d done it.”

• “Sometimes Ms. Lane one must break with one’s past to embrace one’s future. It’s never an easy thing to do. it is one of the distinguishing characteristics between survivors and victims. Letting go of what was, to survive what is.”

• “His fingers were light as butterflies on my battered cheek and he was speaking softly, but it wasn’t in English. It sounded like one of those dead languages they use in the kind of movies I used to channel-surf through quickly – and now regret not having watched at least one or two because I probably would have been a whole lot better prepared for all of this if I had. I think he kissed me then. It wasn’t like any kiss I’d ever felt before.”

“Take off your panties” V’Lane Recap:

• “It is what I am. I am every erotic dream you’ve ever had and a thousand more you’ve never thought of. I am sex that will turn you inside out and burn you down to ashes.” It smiled. “And if I choose, I can make you whole again.”

• “There is no protection against one such as I, sidhe-seer. We of the royal house affect humans in this manner. There is nothing that can be done to prevent it.” One day I would know that for the lie it was. But not before I’d been burned by the truth in it.

Mac Meter – Her progression from Rainbow Girl to Savage Mac

Mac starts off very – girly. Long blonde hair, painted nails, and wears pink as much as possible. Barrons refers to her as “Rainbow Girl”. By the end of Darkfever, she is “Savage Mac.” – black hair, black clothes, curses, and has experienced things that would be unimaginable to Rainbow Girl. Here, we will track her progression.

By page 130, Mac dyes her blonde hair black, and chops off her hair so the Gray Man won’t recognize her.

Later…

• Barrons wasn’t turning out to be a good influence on me at all. In a single night he’d gotten me to dress like a floozy, burgle like a common thief, and now he had me cussing like a sailor as I seconded his opinion. “Fuck,” I exclaimed.

• I’d lived through yet another Dublin night and that, in and of itself, was swift becoming cause for celebration in my badly warped little world.

• One day I would stop taking off my clothes in V’lane’s presence, but the cost of that resistance would be a piece of my soul.

And to end the book

• Gone was the energetic step that had bounced so prettily on air. Mac 2.0 strode with determination and focus on feet that were rooted firmly to the ground.

Mac Meter (1-Rainbow Girl, 10-Savage Mac) Score: 3

Notes from Spell of the Highlander (final book in KMM’s Highlander series)

Towards the end of the final Highlander book, KMM foreshadows events in her Fever series. There are probably more clues than this, but here are the big ones stated in the final pages of Spell of the Highlander:

• Seven times now she’d (Queen Aoibheal) prevented the extinction of the purest and most potent of the Druid lines. And positioned the five most powerful druids that had ever lived precisely where she wanted them. Where they could ally her.

The Five:

There was Dageus (The Dark Highlander), possessing far more knowledge of the Draghar, the thirteen ancients. The memories she’d left in him were doing things to him that he wasn’t admitting, Not to Drustan, not to his mate.

There was Cian (Spell of the Highlander), possessing far more power than any one Druid should have: the genetic fluke, the unexpected mutation born once in a bloodline. The things Dagues and Cian could do together if they put their minds to it worried even her.

Then there was Drustan (Kiss of the Highlander). Drustan MacKelter was that unique kind of man whose named lived forever in legends of men- a warrior so pure of heart that he was beyond corrupting. A man who would die for his beliefs, not just once but ten thousand times over if necessary.

As for her other two chosen, she would be seeing them soon. (<—WHO?!?)

Also: Adam Black (The Immortal Highlander) tells Gabby the torques he wears are a symbol of the royal houses. Barron’s torque is silver and black. Coincidence?

Discussion Time:

We don’t want to get into the nitty gritty speculating yet, because there are so many more developments in the next three books and we don’t want to spoil it for those that have only read book one. As we go through each book, we will have more theory related questions.

What were your first impressions when you met Mac and Barrons. Were you drawn to them from the start? Did Mac’s innocent/naive vibe appeal to you? Was Barron’s intensity and the cloud of mystery surrounding him aggravating or sexy?

Do you think Barrons didn’t touch the spear on purpose?

Why is Fiona privy to all Fae/Barrons information? We assume she is mortal due to her age, but what is up with her?

Mac finds JR scratched into wall near where Alina died. She thinks it means Junior (what Alina used to call her) . What if she meant JB (Jericho Barrons)? Alina alludes she has been betrayed TWICE.

Who are the other two powerful druids the Queen is referring to above?

Did we miss anything? Any other thoughts before we head off to Bloodfever (the book we like to call – the book with the cave scene)

Remember, in fairness to those that have not yet read the rest of the series, we are going to try to limit our discussion to events that took place in Darkfever only.

A very special thank you to Mandi for taking our unruly spreadsheet full of notes, quotes and thoughts and forming it into a coherent, thoughtful post.

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Tomorrow I’ll be hosting the first discussion for the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning.  Stop by and chat with Tori, Mandi and me about Darkfever.  We’ll be talking about important facts we learned, Mac’s progression from ‘Rainbow Mac’ to ‘Savage Mac’, sharing some yummy Barron’s quotes and much more!!  

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With the release of much anticipated release of the fifth and final book in Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series just around the corner (On Sale Jan. 18, 2011), Smexy Books and Fiction Vixen have decide to team up and have a Fever series Read-Along.  Mandi, Tori and I are going to reread the entire series and we want YOU to read along with us.  If you’ve read the series, then you know it’s re-read worthy.  If you have not read the series yet, now is the time to get on board the Barron’s train!  Trust me, once you meet him you’ll know why we encourage you to board.  LOL

Every few weeks we will post a discussion and try to outline any clues we’ve picked up on as we read.  Then the floor is yours, let’s discuss!

Here is the schedule:

• Darkfever Discussion – November 18th
• Bloodfever Discussion – December 9th
• Faefever Discussion – December 20th
• Dreamfever Discussion – January 13th

We hope you’ll join us in our read-along as we get ready for the release of Shadowfever.  Stop by SmexyBooks today and say hello.  She’s posted about the Fever Series read-along as well.

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Karen Marie Moning has revealed the new covers for her Fever Series on her blog.  She says it was critical to her that it be a well-matched set and that each book clearly say book 1-2-3-4. 

At first I wasn’t sure about the new design but looking back at the old designs I’m going to say these are a win.  I like that the set matches (makes my OCD smile) and that each cover more clearly represents it’s story.  I especially like the Dreamfever cover with the Hall of Days.  I’m going to assume that Shadowfever cover will fall inline with this current style but word on when that cover will be revealed though.

So what do you think? Old covers or new?

 

 

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According to this post by Karen Marie Moning on her message board the official release date for Shadowfever is December 28, 2010.  *sob*  I was really hoping for the late summer release that was reported earlier, but it’s not to be.  Karen does say that the book is much longer and they’ve got a ton of fabulous stuff planned between now and then.  I’m not really sure what that means, but hopefully we’ll get some good excerpts and teasers coming our way. 

So I’ve got tons of time before I get my grubby hands on Shadowfever, and a few more months until I get my Black Dagger Brotherhood fix. Tell me, what do I NEED to be reading in the here and now?  What have you read recently that just blew you away?  Because really, I need yet another rock my world series. 

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My name is FV.  I’m a geek and I love my iPhone.  I’m also a Karen Marie Moning fan.  Imagine my reaction when I found out I could combine my geeky “loviness” of my iPhone with my slightly unhealthy obsession with Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series.  That’s right folks, there’s an app for that. 

Random House has created free iPhone apps for 3 of it’s best selling authors: Steve Berry, Sophie Kinsella and lucky for me, Karen Marie Moning.

I’m guessing that if these apps are successful, there will will likely be more author specific apps to come not only from Random House but other publishers as well, hopefully with more features etc.  There could already be some out there but I haven’t found any for my favorite authors yet.

Here’s what you get in Karen Marie Monings app:

Here’s the home page.  Click on the icons to the right to navigate or the icons on the bottom.

Here’s the news page.  It’s a feed from Karen’s blog.  You can leave comments from here as well.

Here’s the fun wall, you can post pictures, comments etc.

And here is what you get when you click the “more” icon.  The User Accounts feature allows you to link your app to your Facebook and Twitter accounts.

I didn’t take a screen shot of the of the Books page, but it basically displays all of Karen Marie Moning’s book covers.

–Edited to add: I totally lied!  If you click on the book cover, you get the book description, praise, excerpt, and a “buy the book” link.  You can also Twitter and Facebook from there but you can’t edit what you tweet or post.

As you can see there is nothing over the top dazzling there but it’s still fun to have up to date KMM info if you’re a fan-kid like me.  I like to be the first to grab those Fever series teasers and newsy bits and what better way than on my iPhone?

So my fellow app lovers, what are your favorite apps?  Anything I shouldn’t be living without book related or otherwise?  Do share!

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