Several years ago, I read Alex the Night World series by LJ Smith.  He liked them well enough, so I decided to record a man’s perspective on them for posterity.  This interview is several years old, but it’s still good.  :)

One warning — this interview has major spoilers for the series up to and including Huntress.  If you haven’t read them and want to, don’t read this interview.

“These books are coursing with estrogen,” said Alex.

My husband and I got into a habit — the habit of me reading to him. It began when I started rereading Gail Carson Levine’s Ella Enchanted and then fell into the Night World books when Alex said “Honey, why don’t you read to me on the trip back to school? What about those books you love by whatsherface? Those Night World books.” And so it began. I started with Daughters of Darkness because it was my favorite, then backed up and went through them in order. He was hooked.And I thought to myself, I said, “Self, this is a wonderful opportunity to find out what an intelligent college-educated man with good taste thinks of a mostly female-dominated reading selection.” So while we wait for Strange Fate to come out, let’s find out what a guy thinks about LJ Smith’s Night World series.

Q: Which Night World character is your favorite and why?

A: I would have to say that my favorite character is Rashel the Cat. She doesn’t suffer from the “I’m a girl, I can’t do anything” syndrome, nor is she caught by that whole “I’ve made a pact with someone so I can’t be violent” thing. She was made a victim, and unlike so many others, she did something about it. She is a master at burying her feelings, which, while not exactly a great thing for a person to do, gives her character depth that I can relate to. If it weren’t for the soulmate principle, she would have taken out Quinn (a close second for favorite character, and in my opinion the coolest vampire), and that is saying something.

Q: Which book is your favorite and why?

A: The Chosen. See above. Stuff happens, and Rashel beats people up. I guess I’m too much a guy to pass up what seems to be the most action-packed of the series (at least as far as I have read). I really like how quickly it moves, even though that meant the end came faster. The best aspect, however, was that the characters were really memorable. This book has great action, plot, characters, and mood: the total package.

Q: What is your take on James and Poppy?

A: When I think of James, I can’t help but picture him as a Greaser from S. E. Hinton’s The Outsiders. I like James. He’s very straightforward. And if he is a Greaser, Poppy is definitely a Soc. Even though Poppy is overly social, I have to give her respect for being the only main character to actually go through with making the change. They are an obvious match, her wanting to live life on the wild side (and more importantly, just continue living) and his caring for her for as long as they have known one another.

Q: Mary-Lynnette and Ash?

A: I like Mary-Lynnette. She is distinguished by the fact that she is just a normal, nerdy girl with no reason to be brave, but she is anyway. She isn’t part of the superhuman Night World, nor is she trained in martial arts. She’s just plain, and I like that, because she really rises to the occasion. Ash is laidback, easygoing, is constantly compared to a big cat, and yet has a core of steel: I can’t help but love him. I also appreciated the fact that Mary-Lynnette and Ash weren’t an evident pair, but learned to like one another slowly.

Q: Thea and Eric? And Blaise?

A: One of the coolest aspects of Spellbinder is the bond between Thea and Blaise, and their unique relationship. Thea is your typical do-gooder, so I naturally warmed to her quickly. On the whole, Eric is kind of a flat character. He’s happy, nice, athletic, and an animal lover: a great guy for Thea, but in the end they make kind of a boring couple.

At first, I thought that Blaise was a typical villian. She made a really good villian, and until after finishing the book, I hated Blaise. On retrospect, however, I find Blaise to be the deepest character, and while I wouldn’t want to spend time with her or be her friend (or next victim), she turned out to be my favorite character in this book. Despite my first impression, she’s not totally evil; she’s just from a different world.

Q: Rashel and Quinn?

A: See above for Rashel. Quinn is a great character. His is a name that strikes fear in even the most confident and powerful of the Night World, yet he is not overconfident or a braggart; instead, we find someone who is a loner, introspective and thoughtful. He is not the “bad-boy” type. He doesn’t need to be. I think that he and Rashel make a great match. After all, only the best for Rashel.

Q: Hannah and Thierry? And Maya?

A: No matter what else, you have to pity Hannah. I mean, she is the ultimate victim, being lied to, toyed with, and killed repeatedly by Maya. Honestly, I was a bit surprised that she was able to kill Maya at the end — I didn’t think she had it in her. But I suppose that statistically she was due to kill Maya anyway, even if by accident. You can’t help but like Hannah, though. She’s just too kind, caring, and compassionate not to. Thierry makes the perfect soulmate for her, and after thousands of years of dedication, he has proven that. He is the model of integrity, keeping his promise for as long as he’s lived — and that’s a very, very long time. If Thierry would let himself kill stuff, he would be my favorite of the vampires.

Maya is the ultimate evil. She is THE vampire, and boy did she ever hold on to that fact. Pure evil is not a whimsical madman trying to dominate the world, like so many movies would have us believe; no, pure evil is Maya: living only to ruin others, to selfishly place herself above someone she once cared about, to devote thousands of years to ruining Hannah’s and Thierry’s relationship. She is one of the best villains I have encountered in any story, not only in the Night World books.

Q: Jez and Morgead?

A: I like Jez for the most part, but to me she seems a little too headstrong, a little too obstinate. She’s definitely hardcore (i.e. jumping off of a building), and her being a wild power is cool, but I still maintain that Rashel could take her in a fair fight ;) Jez is the fiery-type of redhead that I am so very glad my wife is not, but I still like her character. I hope to see more of her later. I think I would like Morgead a lot more if it weren’t for his picture on the cover of the book, which I wish I hadn’t seen. His head looks like a potato, and I can’t not see it when I read or hear his name. Plus, he is an embittered despiser of humanity that I didn’t like a whole lot until Jez converted him.

Q: Would you like to give a shout out to any other NW characters?

A: I’d like to give a quick shout-out to Poppy’s brother, quite possibly the most annoying support character in the history of literature. Also, to the sisters in Daughters of Darkness: you were the real main characters. Forget Mary-What’s-Her-Face. You girls rock!