Post by Nyx, Goddess of Night on Feb 16, 2011 13:52:47 GMT -6
House of Night is a series of vampire-based fantasy novels by American author P. C. Cast and her daughter Kristin Cast. It follows the adventures of Zoey Redbird, a sixteen-year-old girl who has just become a fledgling Vampyre and is required to attend the House of Night boarding school in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Vampyres and fledglings are not dissolved by sunlight, as in many vampire novels, but it is painful to them, so classes at the House of Night are held at night. Fledglings are marked by a sapphire blue crescent-shaped outline on their foreheads; when they become full-fledged Vampyres, this mark becomes solid and they receive more 'tattoos' which extend over their cheeks (these usually represent some personality aspect; for instance, Zoey's equestrian teacher, Lenobia, has tattoos that look like horses.) Zoey is the only fledgling to receive a filled-in mark and tattoos; as she defeats evil her tattoos extend over her shoulders, down to her lower back, around her waist, down her arms and palms, and across her chest. Older fledglings and adult Vampyres need to drink small quantities of human blood, but House of Night Vampyres do not attack humans to get it; the taking of blood is pleasurable for both human and Vampyre, and may lead to a strong bond, called "Imprinting" between the two.
Some of the issues that Zoey and her friends face are not covered in Vampyre Sociology 101. They are issues faced by real-life human teenagers. Zoey keeps some secrets from her friends and gets in trouble with them, forcing her to consider the nature of friendship. Kristin Cast said that these moral dilemmas were included because "those are issues teenagers deal with." She continued, "We're not afraid to discuss things that are actually happening." As it happens, this kind of exploration of human nature and identity, its meaning, essence and boundaries, form a subtext to most contemporary vampire novels "The point we wanted to make," said author P.C. Cast, "is acceptance and tolerance and also that teenagers can make mistakes and recover from them." While these issues might not be discussed in the Vampyre Sociology class, they form a backdrop to the novel.
Outside in the human world, the "People of Faith" is a fictional Protestant religion that is highly intolerant of anything else but their own beliefs. (In an interview, P.C. Cast said that she modeled the People of Faith on the worst fanatics of all religions, not just Protestantism.) Catholicism also plays an important role in the later novels, with the fledglings joining forces with Catholic nuns against Kalona.
The religious ambiance gives House of Night a strong moral perspective which may apply to the real world as well. "Help me know the right thing to do," Zoey prays to Nyx, "and then give me the courage to do it." Nyx gives Vampyres and humans free will. "We all have bad things inside us,"says Zoey, and we all choose either to give in to those bad things or to fight them." In other words, people who have bad, even monstrous desires are not monsters; people who give in to those urges are. This theme of free choice takes special prominence in Tempted, where Zoey discovers that, although she is the reincarnation of a woman created to love Kalona, she has the power to choose whether she will follow her previous incarnation's path or reject it. One of the characters dies because Zoey makes the wrong choice. Also, in Burned, a Manichaen view of the Universe is presented, in which Good battles Evil: forces of Light combat forces of Darkness and characters must choose which side to be on.
In a blizzard similar to that described in Hunted, 14 inches of snow fell on Tulsa. This photo was taken about 100 yards from the route Zoey used to flee the House of Night.
The Benedictine convent to which Zoey and her friends flee. is real; it is called St. Joseph Monastery And the devastating ice storm through which they flee was based on a real ice storm that hit Tulsa in December 2007. The climactic scene in Tempted takes place far from Tulsa, on San Clemente Island near Venice, which in real life is the site of a luxury hotel.
Much of Burned takes place on the Inner Hebrides island of Skye, in the palace of Sgiach, the Vampyre queen. According to Scottish tradition, Sgiach (usually spelled Sgathach) was a princess many centuries ago who ran the best warrior training school in Scotland. Princess Sgathach lived in Dunscaith Castle, which is today a ruin. (Seoras Wallace, the doughty Scottish historian who provided P.C. Cast with a background on Scottish mythology, became her boyfriend, and the Burned character of Sgiach's consort is modelled on him.)
The Vampyre World
The fictional world of House of Night differs from our own in one important respect: In a small percentage of teenagers, adolescent hormones trigger a strand of what is otherwise junk DNA, eventually changing them into Vampyres. The change from human to Vampyre takes four years, during which time the adolescents, known as "fledglings," must attend one of the "House of Night" boarding schools. While there, they are required to take the Vampyre Sociology 101 course to learn the dangers they face. If a fledgling is not in constant proximity to adult Vampyres, the fledgling will die; so the fledglings rarely leave the school. About one in ten fledglings die anyway, since their bodies cannot tolerate the Change. For those who survive, there's a big reward: in the words of one of the authors, "Vampyres are like Superman. They’re super-gorgeous. They’re super-talented. They’re super-men."Vampyres and fledglings are not dissolved by sunlight, as in many vampire novels, but it is painful to them, so classes at the House of Night are held at night. Fledglings are marked by a sapphire blue crescent-shaped outline on their foreheads; when they become full-fledged Vampyres, this mark becomes solid and they receive more 'tattoos' which extend over their cheeks (these usually represent some personality aspect; for instance, Zoey's equestrian teacher, Lenobia, has tattoos that look like horses.) Zoey is the only fledgling to receive a filled-in mark and tattoos; as she defeats evil her tattoos extend over her shoulders, down to her lower back, around her waist, down her arms and palms, and across her chest. Older fledglings and adult Vampyres need to drink small quantities of human blood, but House of Night Vampyres do not attack humans to get it; the taking of blood is pleasurable for both human and Vampyre, and may lead to a strong bond, called "Imprinting" between the two.
Some of the issues that Zoey and her friends face are not covered in Vampyre Sociology 101. They are issues faced by real-life human teenagers. Zoey keeps some secrets from her friends and gets in trouble with them, forcing her to consider the nature of friendship. Kristin Cast said that these moral dilemmas were included because "those are issues teenagers deal with." She continued, "We're not afraid to discuss things that are actually happening." As it happens, this kind of exploration of human nature and identity, its meaning, essence and boundaries, form a subtext to most contemporary vampire novels "The point we wanted to make," said author P.C. Cast, "is acceptance and tolerance and also that teenagers can make mistakes and recover from them." While these issues might not be discussed in the Vampyre Sociology class, they form a backdrop to the novel.
Religion in the House of Night
The House of Night series is filled with religion. The House of Night religion is, in the words of P.C. Cast, "heavily pagan and Wiccan based, with a huge influx of Native American myth and legend". Within Vampyre society, the primary Goddess is a benevolent female named Nyx, who, at the beginning of the series, appears to Zoey and tells her that she will be Nyx's agent in the House of Night. Vampyres and fledglings cast a magic circle to communicate with Nyx or to harness the power of the elements: air, fire, water, earth, and spirit. Some demons from Cherokee mythology also play an important part in later volumes, and the Raven Mockers, Kalona and Tsi Sgili are taken from real Cherokee legends.Outside in the human world, the "People of Faith" is a fictional Protestant religion that is highly intolerant of anything else but their own beliefs. (In an interview, P.C. Cast said that she modeled the People of Faith on the worst fanatics of all religions, not just Protestantism.) Catholicism also plays an important role in the later novels, with the fledglings joining forces with Catholic nuns against Kalona.
The religious ambiance gives House of Night a strong moral perspective which may apply to the real world as well. "Help me know the right thing to do," Zoey prays to Nyx, "and then give me the courage to do it." Nyx gives Vampyres and humans free will. "We all have bad things inside us,"says Zoey, and we all choose either to give in to those bad things or to fight them." In other words, people who have bad, even monstrous desires are not monsters; people who give in to those urges are. This theme of free choice takes special prominence in Tempted, where Zoey discovers that, although she is the reincarnation of a woman created to love Kalona, she has the power to choose whether she will follow her previous incarnation's path or reject it. One of the characters dies because Zoey makes the wrong choice. Also, in Burned, a Manichaen view of the Universe is presented, in which Good battles Evil: forces of Light combat forces of Darkness and characters must choose which side to be on.
The Setting
The series is set in Tulsa, in a small and reclusive part of Midtown. The House of Night campus is in the real life campus of Cascia Hall, and the climactic scene of the first book in the series takes place in the extensive gardens of the Philbrook Museum. Zoey sometimes sneaks off-campus to the elegant shops of nearby Utica Square, and several important confrontations take place in Utica Square's Starbucks coffee shop. Some of the novels' most dramatic scenes take place in a catacomb-like network of tunnels under downtown Tulsa built by bootleggers during Prohibition; though a few such tunnels do indeed exist, and can be visited, they are far less extensive than those described by Cast. The abandoned Art Deco train depot where the tunnels begin, however, is real and is slated to become a concert hall The location of Aphrodite's parents' mansion, South 27th Place, is a real street, though the mansion itself is fictional. Though Aphrodite's father, Mr. LaFont, the very rich and old mayor of Tulsa, has a name similar to the former, very rich, mayor of Tulsa Bill LaFortune, his character is very different, and the author has stressed that her fictional mayorIn a blizzard similar to that described in Hunted, 14 inches of snow fell on Tulsa. This photo was taken about 100 yards from the route Zoey used to flee the House of Night.
The Benedictine convent to which Zoey and her friends flee. is real; it is called St. Joseph Monastery And the devastating ice storm through which they flee was based on a real ice storm that hit Tulsa in December 2007. The climactic scene in Tempted takes place far from Tulsa, on San Clemente Island near Venice, which in real life is the site of a luxury hotel.
Much of Burned takes place on the Inner Hebrides island of Skye, in the palace of Sgiach, the Vampyre queen. According to Scottish tradition, Sgiach (usually spelled Sgathach) was a princess many centuries ago who ran the best warrior training school in Scotland. Princess Sgathach lived in Dunscaith Castle, which is today a ruin. (Seoras Wallace, the doughty Scottish historian who provided P.C. Cast with a background on Scottish mythology, became her boyfriend, and the Burned character of Sgiach's consort is modelled on him.)
