Dani O'Malley...

will be featured in three new novels and the first novel will be published in October! The titles will be:

ICED: A Dani O'Malley Novel
October 30, 2012
Book 1

BURNED: A Dani O'Malley Novel
to be announced
Book 2FLAYED: A Dani O'Malley Novel
to be announced
Book 3and there is more to come! Read for yourself:

(From Karen Marie Monings Noticeboard / facebook)

"Because I keep getting this question (will there be a sixth Fever book?), I've realized I've obviously not answered it to your satisfaction:) I'm going to post here and ask that you all help me in spreading the word around.

I'm currently working on a trilogy that features Dani, Christian MacKeltar, Ryodan, and the mysterious 'Dancer,' set primarily in Fever-Dublin. Each installment in the trilogy is a stand-alone mystery, however there are larger plot arcs unfolding in the background.  Where Mac was introspective and her story could feel somewhat esoteric, Dani is down and dirty in the streets. Lots of details, lots of action. There’s a different feel to the two series, totally different vantage points. I’m having a blast writing it.

For those of you who have been worrying—the trilogy is not YA.  If I had to categorize it, I would say it straddles the line between YA and adult uneasily. I don’t pull any punches. It may be controversial in some ways.  But whose teen years weren’t? LOL! Many of the questions I left unanswered in the FEVER series are addressed in this new series.

Exciting news: I’ve agreed to write two more books after that. Once the new trilogy is complete, I’m returning to the core story begun in the FEVER series, and will resume writing about Mac, Barrons, V’lane, Cruce, the Unseelie king, the concubine, the Song of Making.

All in all, there are five more books coming about the Fever World!

Because I know you guys, I know this is going to make some of you as nervous as it makes you excited.  Trust me.  I’m making no compromises with the characters or the story. It’s all unfolding exactly as it should, true to itself-which means, it’s a sometimes rocky road.  Dark times ahead, guys. But I write it all with genuine love for the characters, the world, and you the reader."

What's next...

We do not need all the open questions answered, but it would be nice to read something about some characters of the series, like about Dani and her Dancer? And what about Christian, what becomes of him? And there is Ryo - I would love to see him helplessly falling in love. And of course, I would like a happy end for Kasteo as well! And, and, and.....! Looking forward to the next book!

Have you read...

...Shadowfever? If not, be warned: Spoilers ahead!

I have just finished reading it for the second time. I just love this book and it was well worth waiting for. Most of all, I love the way it gets clearer and clearer - at least for us - that Barrons is suffering with the kind of relationship there having along 3/4 of the book. Their shared intimacy, when Mac was pri-ya, has not left him unaffected. Mac has breached his defenses and has found a way under his skin. His feelings for her run deep and wild and possessive. However, Mac does not realize this till nearly the end. Therefore she does not face her own feelings and love. Fear of the depth of this commitment keeps her from admitting it to herself and to him. She waits with her leap of faith till nearly the end. However, from a detatched point of view as a reader, it became soon quite obvious, that despite everything that's happening, he's having the same problems and would be more than ready to face a commitment that would even surpass his commitment to his men. So, there really were times I just wanted to shake Mac and tell her: can you not see it???!!!! Open your eyes, Rainbow Girl!

Another great teaser...

...which KMM posted on her blog in october. for those who have not read it so far - enjoy!

"
Few have ever seen the Seelie, save the rare mortal stolen away and kept at the Fae court, and, of course, Barrons who once spent a great deal of time there, sleeping with a princess, before killing her and pissing off V’lane for all eternity.


I’ve seen thousands of Unseelie but until now, even I—sidhe-seer extraordinaire—have seen only a single Seelie.

I’d begun to wonder why.

In the dark hours of the night, I’d wondered if maybe he was the only one left, if he was hiding something, if perhaps he wasn’t Seelie at all, despite evidence supporting his claim.

Seeing him as he is now, all my doubts evaporate.

Here are the Seelie.

They’ve finally gotten off their asses and started paying attention to the mess they’ve made of my world. I guess they couldn’t be bothered before now.

Even filled as I am with hatred for all Fae, I can’t deny that V’lane looks like an avenging angel, charging down from heaven to set my world back on its axis and clean this whole mess up. Radiant, golden and mesmerizing, he leads an army of angels.

Tall, gracefully muscled, they stand shoulder to shoulder with him, filling the street. Stunning, velvety-skinned, dusted with gold, they are so chillingly exquisite that I have a hard time looking at them—and I’m immune from having been Pri-ya, a Fae sex-addict. They are otherworldly, divine.

There are dozens of V’lane’s caste, male and female. They possess a terrifying eroticism that makes them deadly to humans. If a scientist managed to get his hands on one to study, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn their skin exudes a pheromone we crave.

The perpetual promise of a smile hovers on irresistible lips, below ancient, alien eyes. Despite all I’ve suffered at their hands, I want to rush forward and fall to my knees before them. I want to slide my palms over their flawless skin, discover if they taste as amazing as they smell. I want to be gathered into a Fae embrace, yield my memories, my mind, my will and be carried off to a Faery Court where I could stay forever young, cocooned by illusion.

Flanking V’lane’s caste—which I assume is the highest ranking by how the other castes seem to protect it—are the stuff of fairytales. There are rainbow-colored, delicate Fae that dart like hummingbirds on gossamer wings; silvery nymphs that dance on dainty feet; and others that I can’t even see, except for blinding trailers of light they leave behind as they move. They’re so brilliant and fiery, they could only be earthbound stars.

I scoff at the delicacy of his army. They’re ethereal, born to wisp about, seduce, and be served.

Mine is earthy, solid. Born to gorge, kill, and rule.

We stalk toward each other, down a snow-filled street.

Where Seelie feet touch the earth, the snow melts with a hiss. Steam rises and flowers push up through cracks, blooming brilliantly, anointing the air with the scents of jasmine and sandalwood. The Seelie end of the street is bathed in golden light.

Where my army’s hooves and scaled bellies pass over the stones—a crust of black ice forms. The night embraces us; stealthy shadows, we ooze forward from the blackness.

Only once before have Seelie and Unseelie met like this—and on that day the Seelie Queen died. This is the stuff of legends, never seen by humans, except perhaps in our dreams.

Deformed monsters and hideous demons stare with baleful, hate-filled eyes at their perfect, golden counterparts.

Angels glare with disdain at abominations that should never have been born, who blemish the perfection of the Fae race, tarnish their existence simply by being.

I wonder what Darroc was thinking bringing them together like this.

We stop a dozen paces apart.

Ice and heat slam together in the street.

My breath frosts the air then turns to steam as it passes an invisible demarcation. Eddies swirl on the pavement between us, gathering the indigestible rinds of people the Shades left behind, and tiny tornados begin to form.

Whoever began the fairytales that Fae don’t feel was selling pure bullshit. They feel the entire range of human emotion. They just handle it differently; with patience born of eternity. Schooled by courtly manners, they don masks of impassivity because they have forever to play out their games.

As we study each other through the rapidly growing tornados, I remember V’lane telling me that they destroyed their own world by fighting. It cracked from end to end. Was this why? Will the weather disturbance that’s being generated by the clash of these two mighty Courts continue to grow if they fight, and tear this world apart, too? Not that I’d particularly mind since I intend to re-create it with the Book, but I need the Book before this world is destroyed.

Which means this stormy posturing really needs to stop.

“Enough with the melodrama, V’lane,” I say coolly.

His eyes are those of a stranger. He regards me with the same expression he turns on the monsters at my back. I’m a little irritated to realize he doesn’t look at Darroc. His gaze slides over him as if he’s not even there. He’s the fallen-Fae, traitor to their race, the one responsible for tearing the walls down. I’m just a sidhe-seer trying to survive.

The gold-dusted Greek god standing on V’lane’s right sneers, “That…thing…is the human you said we need to protect? She consorts with abominations!”

The gilt-skinned goddess to his left hisses, “Destroy her now!”

Hundreds of Seelie, walking, dancing and flying, begin to clamor for my death.

Without taking my eyes off them, I snap at Darroc, “I could really use my spear right now.” I assume he still has it, that V’lane hasn’t somehow plucked it from him the same way he takes it from me.

As the tiny, dainty Fae begin proposing methods for my execution, each one slower and more painful than the last, the god and goddess bracketing V’lane hammer him.

“She is human and has chosen the dark ones! Look at her! She wears their colors!”

“You said she worshipped us!”

“And she would obey us in all things!”

“They have touched her! I smell it on her skin!” The god looks revolted….and aroused. Iridescent eyes glitter with gold sparks.

“They have used her!” the goddess snarls. “She is soiled. I will not suffer her at court!”

“Silence!” V’lane thunders. “I lead the True Race for our Queen. I speak for Aoibheal!”

“This is unacceptable!”

“Outrageous!”

“Beyond bearing, V’lane!”

“You will do as I say, Dree’lia! I decide her fate. And only I will carry it out.”

I hiss at Darroc, “You need to make a decision and fast.”

“They always over-react,” Darroc murmurs. “It is one of the many things I despised at court. A session in High Council could go on like this for several human years. Give them time. V’lane will bring them to heel.”

One of the tiny, winged Seelie breaks formation and darts straight for my head. I duck, but it whizzes around me.

I’m startled to hear myself burst out laughing.

Two more of them break rank and begin to zip tight circles around my head.

As they buzz past me, my laughter takes on a hysterical edge. There’s nothing funny about what’s happening—still I hoot and snort. I can’t help it. I’ve never been so amused in my entire life. I hold my sides and double over, chortling, guffawing, choking on sobs of forced gaiety, as they weave closer and closer around me. I’m appalled by the sounds coming out of my mouth. I’m horrified at the uncontrollable nature of it. I hate the Fae and their way of stripping away my will.

“Stop laughing,” Darroc growls.

Hilarity has me on the edge of hysterics and it hurts. I manage to raise my head from my knees just enough to shoot him a dirty look. I’d love to stop laughing. But I can’t.

I want to tell him to make the damned things go away except I can’t breathe, I can’t even close my lips long enough to grit consonants. Whatever these lovely little Seelie-monsters are, their specialty is death-by-laughter. What a hellish way to go. After only a few minutes, my sides ache from heaving, my gut burns, and I’m so breathless I’m light-headed. I wonder how long it takes to die of forced mirth. Hours? Days?

A fourth tiny Fae takes up the game, and I brace myself to dive inward, to find a weapon in my dark, lake-filled cave when suddenly a long tongue, dripping venom, whizzes past my ear and plucks the dainty Seelie straight from the air.

I hear crunching noises behind me.

I snicker helplessly.

“V’lane!” The golden goddess shrieks, “That thing, that awful thing, it ate M’ree!”

I hear another snap, followed by more crunching noises and a second one is gone. I cackle madly.

The remaining two retreat, shaking tiny fists and screaming in a language I don’t understand. Even angry, the sound they make is more beautiful than an aria.

My laughter loses its forced edge.

After a long moment, I’m able to relax, and I stop making crazed sounds of amusement. Peals fade to moans to silence. I release my sides and gulp cool, soothing air.

I stand, suddenly furious, and this emotion is all mine. I’m sick of being vulnerable. If I’d had my spear, those nasty little death-by-laughter fairies would never have dared approach me. I’d have skewered them mid-air and made Fae-ka-bobs out of them.

“Friends,” I hiss at Darroc, “trust each other.”

But he doesn’t. I see it in his face.

“You said you would give it to me so I could defend us.”

He smiles faintly and I know he’s remembering how Mallucé died; slowly, gruesomely, rotting from the inside out. The spear kills all things Fae and because Darroc has been eating so much Unseelie, he’s laced with veins of Fae. One tiny little prick of the tip of my spear would be a death sentence. “As yet, we are not under attack.”

“Who are you talking to, human?” the goddess demands.

I look at Darroc who shrugs. “I told you the first Seelie that saw me would try to kill me. Hence they do not see me. My princes keep me concealed from their vision.”


Now I understand why V’lane’s gaze slid over him like he wasn’t there. He’s not. “So it looks like I’m the only one standing here? They think I’m running your army!”

“Never fear, sidhe-seer,” V’lane says coldly, “I smell the foulness of what was once Fae and now cannibalizes our race. I know who leads this army. As for his being your friend, the one you so unwisely walk with has no friends. He has always served only his own purposes.”

I tilt my head. “Are you my friend, V’lane?”

“I would be. I have offered you my protection repeatedly.”


The goddess gasps. “You offered our protection and she refused? She chose those… things… over us?”


“Silence, Dree’lia!”

“The Tuatha de Danaan do not offer twice!” she fumes.

“I said ‘silence!’” V’lane snaps.

“Clearly you do not under—”

I gape. Dree’lia has no mouth. There is only smooth skin where her lips used to be. Delicate nostrils flare beneath ancient, hate-filled eyes.

The golden god moves to embrace her. She rests her head in the hollow of his neck and clutches him. “That was unnecessary,” he tells V’lane stiffly.


I’m struck by the absurdity of the moment. Here I stand, between opposing halves of the most powerful race imaginable. They are at war with one another. They despise each other and are vying for the same prize.


And the Seelie—who have enjoyed absolute freedom and power their entire existences—are squabbling among themselves over trivialities, while, the Unseelie—who’ve been imprisoned, starved and tortured for hundreds of thousands of years—patiently hold formation and wait for Darroc’s orders.


And I can’t help but see myself in them. The Seelie are who I was before my sister died. Pink, pretty, frivolous Mac. The Unseelie are who I’ve become, carved by loss and despair. Black, grungy, driven Mac.


The Unseelie are stronger, less breakable. I’m glad I’m like them.

The first page of Shadowfever...

...here it is. The original. Enjoy!

Hope strengthens. Fear kills.
Someone really smart told me that once.

Every time I think I’m getting wiser, more in control of my actions, I go slamming into a situation that makes me excruciatingly aware that all I’ve succeeded in doing is swapping one set of delusions for a more elaborate, attractive set of delusions—that’s me, the Queen of Self-Deception.

I hate myself right now. More than I’d ever have thought possible.

I squat on the cliff’s edge, screaming, cursing the day I was born, wishing my biological mother had drowned me at birth. Life is too hard, too much to handle. Nobody told me there’d be days like these. How could nobody tell me there’d be days like these? How could they let me grow up like that—happy and pink and stupid?

The pain I feel is worse than anything the Sinsar Dubh has ever done to me. At least when the Book is crushing me, I know it’s not my own fault.

This moment?

Mea culpa. Beginning to end, all the way, I own this one, and there will never be any hiding from that fact.

Something to make you happy...

The august teaser is just great.......

“I heard Cruce hated the king, wanted his concubine, and cursed the Silvers to keep the king away from her, that he planned to take the king’s woman, and all the worlds inside the Silvers for himself,” I said.


V’lane shook his head, golden hair shimmering in the sun. “It was not so simple. Things rarely are. To use a human word, Cruce loved the king, first and above all. The creator of the Unseelie is a being of unbearable perfection. If he is indeed Fae, he is from the most ancient, most pure line that ever existed. Some say he is The Father of All. Some say he had outlived hundreds of queens before the time of the queen he slew. Many of the forms he can take are beyond even Fae ability to absorb. He has been described as having enormous black wings that can enfold the entire Unseelie Court.”

I shivered. I’d seen the hint of those wings in the White Mansion. I’d felt the concubine’s awareness of them, had empathically shared her fascination with their feathery touch on her naked skin. “I thought the queen was the most powerful of your race.”

“The queen is heir to the magic of our people. It is a different thing. That magic has never accepted a male of The True Race, although…”

“Although what?”

He gave me a sideways look from beneath his lids. “I tell you too many things.” He sighed. “And enjoy it too much. It has been a long time since I knew another worthy of confidences. There is an ancient myth that should all the contenders for the matriarchal throne be no more, the magic would likely gravitate toward the most dominant male of our race. Some say our rulers are your Janus head, your yin and yang: the king is the strength of our people, the queen is wisdom. Strength draws from brute force, wisdom draws from true power. In harmony, the king and queen lead a united court. Opposed, we war. We have been opposed since the day the king killed the queen.”

“But other queens came along. Couldn’t the king make peace?”

“He did not try. Again, he abandoned his children. Upon finding his concubine dead,
through his act of atonement, he did what he had sworn never to do. By pouring all his dark knowledge into the pages of an ensorcelled tome, he inadvertently created his most powerful “child” yet. Then he vanished. It is rumored among Seelie and Unseelie alike that he has been trying to—as you humans would say about a lame horse—put it down ever since. The Hunter you saw the other night was allegedly the kings’ own for hundreds of thousands of years. It carried him from world to world, hunting his nemesis. The king, like any Fae, loves nothing so much as his own existence. As long as the Book is free, he knows no peace. I suspect if his Hunter is here in your city, the king is, too.”

I gasped. “In Dublin?”

V’lane nodded.

“In human form?”

“Who could say? There is no predicting one such as he.”

and another teaser...

...that just makes me crazy. Enjoy!

“You killed my sister!” The dark lake in my head begins to boil. I hear rustles behind me, leathery wet sounds and I whirl. The freaks that killed my sister are taking advantage of the distraction and trying to leave.


Not a chance in hell. This is what I’ve been living for. This moment. My revenge. First the ones that killed her. Then the one who delivered her to them.

I lunge for them, screaming my sister’s name.

I slice and rip and tear.

I begin with my spear and end with my bare hands.

I fall on them like the beast-form of Barrons. My sister died in an alley with these monsters working on her and now I know it wasn’t fast. I can see her, white-lipped with pain, knowing she’s going to die, scratching a clue into the pavement. Hoping I’ll come, afraid I’ll come. Believing I could succeed where she failed. God, I miss her! Hatred consumes me. I devolve into vengeance, I embrace it, I become it.


When I finish there are no pieces larger than my fist.


I’m shaking, gasping, covered with bits of flesh and gray matter from smashing their skulls.


I double over and hit the pavement, puking. I puke until I dry-heave then I dry-heave until my ears ring and my eyes are stinging.


I don’t have to look behind me to know the street is empty. My sister’s murderer is gone.


I finally got what I came to Dublin for.


I know who killed my sister.

I curl in a tight ball on the cold pavement and cry.

It's done...

In case you missed it, Karen informed that Shadowfever is done!
It came in at 192,000 words, 728 PAGES! Too many pages to put in one binder. How awesome is that!
The release date doesn't change though - Shadowfever is still scheduled to be released Jan. 18th!
It's exciting to know that the book is done and according to Karen it turned out exactly like she saw it 5 years ago when she began this journey. Cool! I'm sooooo looking forward to it! Can't wait!

A big questionmark??????

I  am one big questionmark after having read the latest teaser! I just hate these teasers! I really do! And couldn't survive till january without them! :0)

Read for yourself:

My ghosts whisper to each other across me but I can’t hear them. There’s only one way I’ll ever be able to hear them again.


I turn my head for Darroc’s kiss.

As his lips close over mine, the duality inside me threatens to tear me in half, and if it succeeds, I will lose my best chance at accomplishing my mission.


I hurt.


I need punishment for my sins.

I bury my hands in his hair, and channel all those feelings into passion, pour it into my touch, kiss him hard, violently. I turn us both around and slam him up against the wall, kissing him like he’s all that ever existed, kissing him with a full measure of humanity. It’s a thing a Fae can never feel, no matter the form they wear—humanity. It’s why they crave us in bed.


He staggers for a moment, pulls back and stares down at me.


My eyes are wild. I feel something inside me that terrifies me, and I just hope I can hang on to the edge of this cliff I’m on. I make a sound of impatience, wet my lips and shove at him.


“More,” I demand.


When he kisses me again, the last part of me that could stand myself dies.

Is Barrons or is he not...

the UK?? Or maybe the son of the UK and his mortal concubine?? I'm back to the beginning. Why? I've just seen the book cover of shadowfever and the cover text.... See for yourself!

"Evil is a completely different creature, Mac.Evil is bad that believes it's good."

MacKayla Lane was just a child when she and her sister, Alina were given up for adoption and banished from Ireland forever.
Twenty years later, Alina is dead and Mac has returned to the country that expelled them to hunt her sister's murderer. But after discovering that she descends from a bloodline both gifted and cursed, Mac is plunged into a secret history: an ancient conflict between humans and immortals that have lived concealed among us for thousands of years.

What follows is a shocking chain of events with devastating consequences, and now Mac struggles to cope with grief, while continuing her mission to acquire and control the Sinsar Dubh--a book of dark, forbidden magic scribed by the mythical Unseelie King that contains the power to create and destroy worlds.

In an epic battle between humans and Fae, the hunter becomes the hunted when the Sinsar Dubh turns on Mac, and begins mowing a deadly path through those she loves.

Who can she turn to? Who can she trust? Who is the woman that haunts her dreams? More importantly, who is Mac and what is the destiny she glimpses in the black and crimson designs of an ancient tarot card?

From the luxury of the Lord Master's penthouse, to the sordid depths of an Unseelie nightclub, from the erotic bed of her lover, to the terrifying bed of the Unseelie King, Mac's journey will force her to face the truth of her exile, and make a choice that will either save the world...or destroy it.

When has she been to the Lord Master's penthouse? House, yes. But penthouse? Erotic bed of her lover - well, we all know who that was! To the Terrifying bed of the Unseelie King???? And still half a year to go until release date! Arghhhh!!!

Shadowfever...third teaser!

Wow, this one really got me thinking!!!!! Especially why everything turns to ice when V'lane is displeased about something????? And that Jasmine and Sandalwood scent thing. Has this scent been mentioned in combination with Barrons? I seem to remember, yes, but am not sure. If this scent is a definite attribute to a Seelie, then, Barrons must be a least part Seelie. But has this scent really been mentioned together with Barrons? I have to check this - or does anybody know it?

"
Flanking V’lane’s caste—which I assume is the highest ranking by how the other castes seem to protect it—are the stuff of fairytales. There are rainbow-colored, delicate Fae that dart like hummingbirds on gossamer wings; silvery nymphs that dance on dainty feet; and others that I can’t even see, except for blinding trailers of light they leave behind as they move. They’re so brilliant and fiery, they could only be earthbound stars.


I scoff at the delicacy of his army. They’re ethereal, born to wisp about, seduce, and be served.


Mine is earthy, solid. Born to gorge, kill, and rule.


We stalk toward each other, down a snow-filled street.


Where Seelie feet touch the earth, the snow melts with a hiss. Steam rises and flowers push up through cracks, blooming brilliantly, anointing the air with the scents of jasmine and sandalwood. The Seelie end of the street is bathed in golden light.


Where my army’s hooves and scaled bellies pass over the stones—a crust of black ice forms. The night embraces us; stealthy shadows, we ooze forward from the blackness.
"

New Release Date..

...for Shadowfever! It's been moved from December 28th to December 7th! GREAT! Only 229 more days to go!!!

Shadowfever: second teaser...

Am so busy with other projects and still, Barrons and the others are all the time very present! Especially when I get some sneak preview into the new book!! I hate to wait for december, I really do!

See for yourself...

"
Her pace quickens and she races down the corridor, passing soundlessly over obsidian floors, laughing with joy.


I know that sound. I love that sound. It means her lover is near.
He is coming. She feels his approach.
He is so powerful! It's what first drew her to him. She’d never encountered anyone like him.
She was awed that he chose her.
She is awed every day that he continues choosing her.
The stuff of him explodes through from his side in the Court of Shadows, telling her he comes, filling her home (prison) where she lives a fabulous life (a sentence not of her choosing) surrounded by everything she wants (illusions, she misses her world, so far away and all of them long dead) and waits for him with hope (ever growing despair.)


He will carry her to his big, dark bed and do things to her until his black wings open wide, so wide, eclipsing the world, and when he is inside her nothing else will matter but the moment, their dark, intense lust, the endless passion they share.


No matter what else he is—he is hers.


What is between them is without blame.


Love knows no right or wrong.
Love is. Only is.

"

Shadowfever: first teaser...

Here is the first teaser that Karen M. Moning released for Shadowfever! Enjoy it!

"It's funny the things people say when someone dies.


He/she is in a better place.

How the f#ck do you know that?

Life goes on.

That's supposed to comfort me? I'm excrutiatingly aware that life goes on. It hurts every damned second. How lovely to know it's going to continue like this. Thank you for reminding me.

Time heals.

No, it doesn't. At best, time is the great leveler, sweeping us all into coffins. We find ways to distract ourselves from the pain. Time is neither scalpel nor bandage. It is indifferent. Scar tissue is not a good thing. It is merely the wound's other face.


I live with the specter of Alina every day. Now I will live with this ghost, too. Walk between them, one on my right, one on my left. They will talk to me incessantly. I'll never escape, bridged between my greatest failures."

I want more....now....!

New covers for the Fever-Series...

The covers of the fever-books have been redesigned. I think they look fantastic! The first shows the cobbled streets of Dublin, the second the Burren, the third the Cathedral and the fourth the Hall of all Days. Here they are:

Release date SHADOWFEVER

The official new and "definite" release date of SHADOWFEVER is December 28, 2010. The bad side of this news is: almost a year to wait, arghhhhhh! The good side: that should give me enough time to try and sort out who Jericho Barrons is!! :0)

Mac's tatoo...

If you haven't seen it yet and have wondered what the tatoo looks like that JZB hid under Mac's hair, here's the official design

Jericho Barrons is a Highlander...

Right at the end of "The Dark Highlander" Karen Moning adressed readers and shared some infos on her new projects. There she mentioned the Fever Series and there Jericho Barrons is mentioned, although not by name, the first time:

"a powerful, mysterious, darkly sexual Highlander who is trying to help her....or kill her....; and a fascinating mystery, the key to which has been hidden for centuries in an ancient Scottish chapel."

So, Jericho Barrons has his roots definitely in Scottland. He is not a MacKeltar and he is not really known to them. He is NOT Adam Black, because Dageus has seen him in his encounter with Queen Aiobheal and did not say so as he saw Jericho personally when Jericho was at Castle Keltar on Samhain.

Well, where does this lead us???? I JUST LOVE THESE BOOKS!

Jericho Barrons half-mortal?

Incredible 8 weeks or so have passed since my last post. Where has all that time gone??? I got distracted with another series I've been reading, but started to go through the "highlander-series" by Karen Moning. I still intend to find out who Jericho Barrons is!
In "The Dark Highlander" Adam Black is bartering for Dageus MacKeltars life with queen Aiobheal. And there is mentioned, that Adam once fell in love with a mortal woman Morganna. And with her, he sired a half-mortal son. Could it be that Jericho Barrons is this half-mortal son? I remember having read in on of the Fever books V'lane saying that he's starting to understand Adam. Meaning, he's starting to understand the possibility for a Fae to fall in love and with a human woman, too.

Who is Adam Black (Adaman) anyway? Is he Fae royalty. A prince of one of the four houses? Does anybody know?

Jericho Barrons jealous?

"Don't lie to me, Ms. Lane. I smell it on you. And other things. Who was the man?"
His dark, exotic face was cold. His nostrils flared and constricted like an animal scenting prey.
..."I said I didn't have a drink", I repeated...
"You had something. What was it?" he demanded.
"An alcohol-laced kiss," I said tightly...

His hand shot out and closed on my shoulder. He spun me back to him with such vehemence that I might have whirled in dizzying toplike circles....

..."Was he a good kisser, Ms. Lane?" Barrons asked, watching me carefully.
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand at the memory. "It was like being owned."
"Some women like that."
"Not me."
"Perhaps it depends on the man doing the owning."
"I doubt it. I couldn't breathe with him kissing me."
"One day you may kiss a man you can't breathe without, and find breath is of little consequence."
"Right, and one day my prince might come."
"I doubt he'll be a prince, Ms. Lane. Men rarely are."

Is Mac's mother still alive?

Re-reading Bloodfever I stumbled over this tiny sentence:

Mac is speaking with her father as he came to Dublin trying to move her to come back to Ashford:

"She's dead, then?" I asked in a hushed voice.
"They never told us. We assumed. It was easier that way; we liked the finality of it. No worries that one day someone out there might come to their senses and try to take our girls away...."

If she is still alive, where is she? Trapped in Fairy? In the icy fortress? The white house?

And since I'm looking for people supposedly dead, where are all the Princesses of the Seelie Court that have been sent out by Aiobheal to hunt the book? Were they killed? By whom? With what?

Another epiphany or more nonsense?

I was listening to the audio book of Dreamfever today and I suddenly thought, what if Jericho Barrons is the Unseelie King? Could it be? I know people have been speculating about it a lot and up to now, I have always dismissed this thought. But lately I have been stumbling over hint after hint that it could well be. I will quote them later. The only thing that does not fit for me are Ryodan and the other "men". And there is the secret of the beast of course...

These books really are incredible - entertainment for months guaranteed!!!

Epiphany or nonsense?

I just had an epiphany! Or maybe only a silly idea?
I was just going through the next pages of  Bloodfever and re-read the dialogue between Mac and Barrons outside the graveyard where she is going to look for hidden OOP's. He tells her about the history of the sidhe-seers...

"So this Grand Mistress, she ran things?"
He nodded.
"Is there still one today?"
"One would expect the bloodline that directed the sidhe-seers for millennia to have maintained the lore."
That was on evasive answer I wasn't willing to accept. "What does that mean? Do you or don't you know if there is one, and if so, who is she?"
He shrugged. "If there is one, her identity is tightly guarded."

Mac must be the missing Grand Mistress of the sidhe-seers, resp. the Haven! Barrons knows of Rowena and does not think of her as the Grand Mistress. She is only the "witch" leading them at the moment. Also it would explain, why Rowena hates Mac. Something ugly happened before her mother left Ireland and fled with her babies to the States. I'm sure Rowena knows, that it's Mac that should be leading the sidhe-seers.

Also, Barrons is convinced, and tries to convince his "men"repeatedly, that Mac is the one they've waited for to do something special.  This something is not only to find the Sinsar Dubh. There is more to be done then. Maybe something only the Grand Mistress of the sidhe-seers can do? Contain the book?

And why is Mac's father never mentioned? If her mother was Grand Mistress at that time, and was at that time responsible for the containment of the Sinsar Dubh, what happened? How was it freed? Did her father play a role in it? Her mother must have had a relationship with somebody "special"? And why did Barrons not know, that the book was contained at the abbey? He has been looking for it for ages if not aeons!

More of Jericho Barrons...

"Pernicious? Good grief, is English your second language? Third?" Only someone who'd learned English from a dictionary would use such a word.
"Fifth", he snarled.

"Not more than my life, Barrons. Nothing is worth more than my life."
...
"You might reconsider that one day." His voice was low, fierce, on the verge of guttural.
I gasped. "What?"
...
He gave me a cool smile. "That nothing is worth more than your life, Ms. Lane. Some things are. Don't put too high a premium on it. You may live to regret it."

Jericho Barrons and his garage...

When Mac brakes into his garage:

All the windows were painted black. (So were the windows at 1247, LaRuhe...)

When she first hears the beast from below:

It bayed over and over, each soul-chilling  howl lasting a full minute or more, echoing up from its concrete tomb.

It was darker than a wail of despair, emptier than a funeral  dirge; it was the bleak , tortured baying of a thing beyond salvation, abandoned, lost, condemmed to the agony of hell without beginning or end.

There was a new cry then, this one more terrified than tortured. It rose in gruesome concert with that long , terrible howl.
They both stopped.
There was silence.

Conclusion:
Definitely two beasts in the vault three stories below!

If there are two, could there be more? Like all of Barrons men and himself? Would they all be able to transform themselves back and forth at will? Or are they all cursed?
One of the beasts came to rescue Mac in one of the fairy dimensions and after it's death transformed back into a person (she did not say "human being" and we all know that Barrons and his men are not the average human...).
Could Barrons and his "men" all be beasts?

Is that why he wants the book?

More infos on Jericho Barrons...

I have been very busy lately with the family, but still cannot get Jericho Barrons out of my head. I will list over the next weeks all infos I could find re-reading Bloodfever...

"You've a box in Galway as your address, Mr. Barrons. Is that where you were born?"....
"No."
"Where?"
"Scotland."

...."There's a man over at Chester's says he knows you, Mr. Barrons. Name's Ryodan. Ring a bell?"
"Ms. Lane, go upstairs," Barrons said, instantly, softly.

Shadowfever release date...

...is supposed to be somewhere late summer/early fall 2010! Still loads of time to keep on speculating about Jericho Barrons and Mac and their happy-end!
:-)

Finished going through Darkfever...

I'm through reading Darkfever and have now started to work on Bloodfever.


Final reflections:


One personae seems to be cleverly hidden in the book, but is still mentioned again and again: Cruce. I don't really think that Barrons is Cruce, but I will look hard for any kind of information I can find about him in the next books.


I think the dreamy-eyed boy is going to surprise us! Is it a Gripper?


From my list of persons mentioned in the book, but not having made an "open" appearance, there is one left, that could be Barrons. The Unseelie King. However, I cannot bring the two of them together in my head. No, not really. I think it more likely, that maybe Barrons killed the UK.
The LM knew or had a specific idea as to who Barrons is and went out of his way. So did the Unseelie Prince (book 4) at the abbey when it sifted into the abbey to get Mac. V'lane must know it also. And of course Ryodan. And maybe even Fiona.
And what is the connection between Barrons and the 8 other (not altogether human) men (Ryodan & Co.)?
I'm really looking forward to all the answers!!!!!

Jericho Barrons and his buddies...

Is Barrons the same of a kind as Ryodan and the others (that came to help rescue Mac at the abbey)? What are they exactly, and possibly Barrons? Together they are nine. Is Barrons their leader? What is their connection?

Could it be...

I have been thinking about another passage:

".....Previously, only the Seelie were capable of free passage among the realms. The Unseelie arrived on this planet already trapped in a prison. Those few that enjoyed brief paroles did so only at the Seelie Queen's or her High Council's behest."

What if an Unseelie prince had been invited and had to "work" for the Seelie Queen, i.e. had to do the dirty work for her? Like being forced to working as a mercenary???

Again, what is Jericho Barrons...

When I looked back down, the Unseelie ruler had pushed back his crimson cowl and was looking at Barrons, hard. He didn't seem to like what he saw.


"You see the Fae, too, Barrons, yet you have no problem holding those pages." "Repetition dulls even the keenest senses, Ms. Lane. Are you ready to begin?"

More of Jericho Barrons...

He looked at the spear for several moments, his dark gaze unfathomable. Then he said, "It was for you all along, Ms. Lane. I suggest you remove the shaft and make it portable...."

"I have news for you, Ms. Lane, you could be swimming in a lake of holy water, dressed in a gown of garlic, denying an invitation at the top of your lungs, and it wouldn't stop a vampire who's fed richly and recently enough."


When they visited Mallucé
Eyes narrowed, I looked back and forth between them. Something nagged at me, something I couldn't quite put my finger on. It was a thing that I would stupidly fail to put my finger on until it was too late. Before long, I would understand that nothing had been what it seemed that night, and the reason Barrons had faced-off so coolly with the blood-sucking Master was because he'd gone in with the quiet assurance that, no matter what happened, he would walk out alive...

Barrons laughed, teeth flashing white in his dark face.

When I finished, I saw Barrons' plate was still nearly full and raised a brow. He pushed it toward me. "I ate earlier," he said.

Conclusion: Barrons knows a lot about Vampires and their weaknesses, but he never answered Mac when she asked how to kill a Vampire. Yet here he was very explicit about it. Barrons gave her the spear, because he doesn't need it to kill Fae, he can kill them some other way.

1247, LaRuhe

I looked up at the elegant residence warily. It's veneer of civility and wealth was sharply undermined by what had been done to the many tall mullioned windows.

They'd all been painted black.

Why, I wonder? 1247, LaRuhe is in a Dark Zone!

And Barrons painted all the windows of his garage black. Obviously so that nobody can look inside and see his expensive cars. But could there be another reason as well?

Gold versus silver...

V'lane offers Mac a cuff made of gold. I have to check what kind of jewelry he is wearing, I guess it's made of gold - will check and revert.

Barrons is only wearing silver. He is sometimes wearing a heavy silver cuff and a silver/black torque. And boots with silver.

The Torc/Torque-thing is interesing: The torc was a sign of nobility and high social status. Awarded to warriors for their deeds in battle, as well as a divine attribute, since some depictions of Celtic gods wear one or more torcs.

It is also sometimes a Military decoration given to warriors for their deeds and heroism in battle or for distinguished service.

What about the mythologic meaning of silver?
Prime symbolism of silver deals with the moon and as such it is an attribute of feminine energy.
Some other symbolic meanings of silver:
Purity, Clarity, Awareness, Focus, Single-ness of Purpose, Persistence, Vision and Strength.

Silver is symbolic of such attributes as awareness, clarity, and vision because of its bright/clear appearance.

Silver is a also a symbol for strength because this metal withstands abuse, weathering, and even heat. Nevertheless, it can still be molded into desired forms.

This is symbolic of a subtle strength. The message here is that we ourselves can be flexible enough to be molded into something better – but strong enough to keep our core integrity in tact.

Did you notice that in Dreamfever the Unseelie Princes at the church wore black torques? And Barrons wears a silver and black torque????

Touching Jericho Barrons...

Mac always feels something strange, apart from you know what ;-), when she is touching Barrons. I wonder what that means, and then I stumbled over this little sentence:

Glamour: illusion cast be the Fae to camouflage their true appearance. The more powerful the Fae, the more difficult it is to penetrate its disguise.

Could it be that Barrons is at least part Fae? That she senses his glamour?

Dreamfever Cover...

Just something in between: Did you notice the runes on the cover of Dreamfever? Do you know what they mean? I just found out about it, doing some research on other things...

They spell Barrons middle name ZIGOR. And the runes are OGHAM Runes

Everybody in Darkfever...

True to my theorie, that Barrons, whatever he might be, is a figure already mentioned in the books, I have listed all persons/things that make, if only verbally, an appearance in the first book, Darkfever:

What Barrons could be:

Consort of the Seelie Queen (not likely...)
The Dark King (Unseelie King), what is his name anyway???? He must have one like Aiobheal!

Dreamy-eyed boy (not really...)
Cruce

Druid(s) (no mention of a specific Druid though)

One of the three remaining Seelie Princes apart from V'lane

The fourth Unseelie Prince, supposedly killed aeons ago (three of them make an appearance in the fourth book)

Record Keeper/Scribe of the Seelie

Other persons/"things", which for obvious reasons cannot be Barrons:

Aiobheal (Seelie Queen of Light)

Unseelie hunters, rhino-boys (Unseelie)

MacKayla Lane (human (completely?), sidhe seer)

Alina (human (completely? ), sidhe seer)

Mr. and Mrs. Lane (humans)

Real mother of Alina and MacKayla (I. O'Connor, human?, sidhe seer)

Real father of Alina and MacKayla (Why is he never really mentioned in any of the books?)

Tiny old woman (in the pub; which we now know was Rowena, human?)

Inspector Patrick o'Duffy (human)

The Gray Man (Unseelie)
Fiona (what is her last name anyway?, human now eating Unseelie)

The person Alina was in love with (which we now know is the LM/Darroc, originally Fae now human)

Concubine of the Dark King (?)

McCabe at the Casa Blanc (human)

Mallucé (human, eating Unseelie)

V'lane (Seelie prince)

Roark o'Bannion (human)

In doing this, I was quite surprised to notice that so far, according to my theorie, there are not really many possibilities for Barrons to be! I'm looking forward to doing this with the second book!

Quoting Jericho Barrons...

Back from our holidays, I will let Barrons speak for himself:

"Would you kill to possess it (the sinsar dubh)?"
"Absolutely."

"If you are not with me, Ms. Lane, you are against me. I have no mercy for my enemies."

"I haven't been hunting it this long and gotten this close to let anyone get in my way and fuck things up....."

"I never thought there might be one like you out there. Unaware, untrained. Unbelievable. You have no idea what you are, do you?

"Bruises heal. There are worse things in the night, than I."

"Listen to me and learn, and I will help you."

"I can hardly leave you to die. It wouldn't sit well with my conscience."
"You don't have a conscience, Barrons."
"You know nothing about me, Ms. Lane."

Something else...

I'm still remaining in the first book. Something is mentioned when they visit Rocky o'Bannion which one just reads over, but must have some meaning. And it's the only time in all four books that something like this happens!

They are in this shrine room with all them relics...

I was surprised to notice that Barrons didn't look much more comfortable than I, and that worried me even more. Nothing disturbed Jericho Barrons, yet I could clearly see tension in the angles of this body and strain in the lines of his face, around the mouth and eyes....He was lean, mean, and hard again, even seemed a little pale beneath that exotic golden skin. Though he stood inches taller than our host and was even more powerfully built, though the usually exuded comparable vitality and presence, at the moment he seemed...diminished, and I got the sudden, weirdest impression that ninety-nine percent of Jericho Barrons was currently focused somewhere else, and being nearly used up, leaving only one percent of him here and now, in this room, paying attention to o'Bannion.

What is this all about, I wonder?

Thinking...

I keep thinking about something:

I am convinced that to find out what or who Barrons is, one has to look behind the obvious that is shown to us.

I keep thinking that what Barrons is, has already been mentioned in the books - we just don't make the link between the figure mentioned and the Barrons shown to us.
.


That leads to concentrate on persons/figures that have been mentioned but never made an appearance (in person) in the books so far!

What about the Unseelie King? I don't really think Barrons is the UK but where is the UK anyway?
And what about the fourth Unseelie prince? Mac said there were four at the church, but everybody is adamant that there could only have been three? Why? Because he's dead?

And what about the dreamy-eyed boy? That is a figure that is disturbing me quite a bit. He makes an appearance but his appearance does not (yet) serve any purpose for the story. We would not be missing anything if Karen Moning had not mentioned him - so far at least! Knowing that Karen does not write anything without purpose, makes me think! I'm sure we will meet him in the last book! And he will also be somebody that has been mentioned but never made an open appearance!

I will do some more thinking on this...

Not in league with the Shades...

.
Why do the Shades let you walk in the Dark Zone?

"We all have our.....gifts, Ms. Lane. You are a Null. I am.....other things. What I am not - is your enemy. Nor am I in league with the Shades. You're just going to have to trust me on that."


Conclusion:
Not being in league with the Shades must mean that he is not in league with the Unseelie either - or are the Shades not Unseelie?

What's in a name...

Jericho
origin arabic: "city of the moon"

Zigor (middle name of Barrons)
origin Basque, means Punisher or punishes

MacKayla
The girl's name MacKayla is a variant of Michaela (hebrew), and the meaning of MacKayla is "who resembles God"

MacKenna
Kenna: Feminine form of Kenneth, irish/gaelic: "fire born, good looking"
MacKenna: origin irish/gaelic: "son of the handsome one"
MacKenna: origin scottish/gaelic: "ascend"

LM/Darroc
Darroch/Darrock: origin irish, meaning "strong, oak-heartened"

V'lane
Lane: origin middle english: "path, roadway"

Dani
Variant of Danna, old english: "god is my judge"

Commitment...

He smiled faintly.

" I don't think you understand, Ms. Lane.

I won't let it kill you.

No matter what."

(Jericho Z. Barrons, Darkfever)

Speculation...

Late last night, whilst reading Dreamfever for the second time, I got convinced that Barrons must be a vampire or part vampire. Why? He's usually never around during daytime, he never drinks or eats, has all the power elements of a vampire (speed, strength, senses). But most of all convinced me the fact, that he never ever answered Mac's question (and she asked at least twice) as to how a vampire can be killed. And there is the fact, that the german translation of the titel of the first book is "Im Bann des Vampirs", meaning roughly translated "under the spell of the vampire"! If that is correct, fancy what a spoiler that title is, fancy knowing right from the beginning what Barrons is???
However, I will stick to the facts and keep on going through the books quoting Barrons himself...

Who/What is Jericho Barrons (2)?

"Not Death" he told me. "The Gray Man."
"The Gray Man?"
"I didn't know he was here," he murmured. "I had no idea, things had gone so far."

"Sometimes, Ms. Lane," he said, "one must break with one's past to embrace one's future. It is never an easy thing to do....

"She couldn't posssibly be a Null, Fio. They're mythical."

Conclusion:
He knows The Gray Man - from where, I wonder? He broke once with the past. He has never encountered a Null before (so he's never encountered her real mother!).

Who or what is Jericho Barrons? (1)

I don't know the answer to this question. But I will quote passages of the books about him, will let the man speak for himself, starting with the first book. Maybe the answer lies hidden there?

"I'm not one of these "them", if that is what you're inferring," he said. "Many seek the Sinsar Dubh, both individuals and factions. I want it as well, but I work alone."

"What's your heritage, anyway?" "Basque and Celt. Pict to be precise, Ms Lane, but I doubt you're familiar with the distinction."

Something I'd said had pierced his thick hide, and it seemed to have been the word "mercenary".

Conclusion:
JZB works alone, is Pict and does not like to be called "mercenary".
Why? Because once he was forced to be one?

HEA for Mac?

Yes! Karen Moning always said that there will be light at the end of the story and she also said in an interview, that there will be an HEA for Mac and for Barrons, although not in the way we think! But, in my opinion, if there is supposed to be a happy end for Mac, then it can only be with them together. They simply belong together. I think Mac is Barrons mate and Barrons is Macs mate. If it is "not in the way we think", then maybe she meens not in this, real world?

What makes me think so? He always has been extremely possesive about her and very jealous whenever she has been with Vlane. When confronting Fiona, he said that she nearly succeeded in destroying his one chance at .... happiness, of course. He must have ment this. It cannot be his one chance at getting the book - he would have other means to reach it. It can also not be his one chance in doing something else, like transforming somebody or himself to something else, because at the moment he said it, he still does not know what exactly Mac is, or what her abilities may be.

What do you think?