Rachel Caine delivers delightful new looks into Morganville in MIDNIGHT BITES!
Since 2006, author Rachel Caine has released 15 books in her hugely successful series, The Morganville Vampires. The series follows teen Claire Danvers and her friends, Eve Rosser, Michael Glass, and Shane Collins through love, mystery, and supernatural danger galore in the town of Morganville, Texas… where about a third of the residents are vampires and the humans raised there who know their secret can never truly leave. While 15 books is quite a lot, the rabid fanbase for this series will always want more Morganville. And they’re getting it!
Midnight Bites is a collection of 16 Morganville short stories told from the perspectives for fans’ favorite characters. All the web exclusives, stories from previous anthologies, and six new shorts come together to offer something for everyone: Different narrators and points-of-view, origin stories and previously unseen character introductions, romance and adventure; each story told in chronological order with introductions explaining their place in the timeline when necessary. Because there’s never too much of a good thing, right?!
We’ve got all of the old favorites in the mix and while we’re used to hearing the tale from Claire, Midnight Bites allows us to love narration from Eve, Shane, Michael, Myrnin, and even some lesser featured characters like Chief Hannah Moses. While it’s easy to enjoy these characters in the actual series, seeing more from their point-of-view took it to a new level. Of course, the shorts also helped fill in some minor gaps between the books. In that sense, we especially loved “Drama Queen’s Last Dance,” which highlighted Gloriana’s entrance into Morganville and told the story of Michael’s proposal to Eve!
Other favorites included the new short “Nothing Like An Angel,” the tale of Myrnin and Jesse’s relationship beginnings hundreds of years before Morganville, Halloween-themed smash-and-stake romp “All Hallows,” and the new world-defying Shane and Myrnin team-up “Pitch-Black Blues.” Equal parts humor, disaster, and romance, these stories definitely sparked something in us!
There are plenty of of the stories are lengthy and thrilling, there are a few among the bunch that Rachel Caine originally created as a character development exercise. While they offer up background, they are extra short and don’t necessarily have the same level of depth or excitement. That’s not to say that we didn’t learn anything new from them.
In a setting as rich and developed as Morganville, there are plenty of stories to tell. Rachel Caine does an excellent job bringing them all to the forefront and introducing them. If you’ve been waiting to return to Morganville, we think you’ll be really happy with Midnight Bites and all it has to offer!
Midnight Bites hits shelves on March 1, 2016. Pre-order it now!
