Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy discussion

Okay so I am reading the Lords of the Underworld By Gena Showalter and Purchased

Dark Beginnings AND The Darkest Fire AND The Darkest Prison AND The Darkest Angel

I am up to date but I am wondering if anyone can clarify where this book falls into the stories. The Darkest Fire is a prequel I know that much but.. what about The Darkest Prison and The Aarkest Angel.. or are they all prequels?

Where do I need to be up to before I read this book?

Does that make sense?

Rebecca,

Per Ms. Showalter's website, the reading order for the series is:

0: The Darkest Fire (This was written as a prequel, not required for the other story-lines)
1: The Darkest Night
2: The Darkest Kiss
3: The Darkest Pleasure
4: The Darkest Prison (Bonus material - Passion and danger collide in this brand-new, eBook exclusive Lords of the Underworld adventure!)
5: The Darkest Whisper
6: Heart of Darkness [SS: The Darkest Angel] (Bonus material - The Darkest Angel is Gena's story in this anthology. This is a Lords of the Underworld Tale.)
7: The Darkest Passion (Released May 25th, 2010)
8: The Darkest Lie (Planned for release July, 2010)

*: Into the Dark (This book contains the Darkest Fire, Darkest Prison and Amazon's Curse eBooks combined into print... and a brand new Lords of the Underworld bonus guide!)


Hope that helps! :)

Is Into the dark the same thing as dark beginnings?

Looks like, according to GR description of that title it's a mash of her LoTU short stories and it contains: Darkest Fire (which is the prequel to the series), Darkest Prison and Darkest Angel.

I have read them all and think that you can read Darkest Fire and Prison (1-2) without having read any others as they don't tie directly in with any of the mains in the series. But, Darkest Angel (3) does tie in with Aeron, one of the main Lords and, while you can certainly read, it may help if you've read others in the series first.

That's just my opinion though. If you are planning on reading the whole series, I wouldn't worry about it and just enjoy the book you have now. Then you can jump into the rest as you get them. :)

thanks steph that was really helpful!!!

:)

I have read up to the darkest whisper and have the darkest passion on preorder I might come back to SHowalters website if I get stuck again. Dont know why i didnt think to do that in the first place!

You're welcome. No worries, happy to help. :)

Oh I love this series and thank you for showing the order! I wrote it down some place and can't find it! I do still have the list of all the warriors and their demons.

Do they need to be read in order to make sense? I found a copy of the Darkest Pleasure the other day and wasn't sure about the context within the series. From descriptions it seems they are self contained stories (one couple per book) - is that right?

Hmm, I don't think so but it does help to read them in order to keep them straight. Then again, they do mention the other Lords, and it might confuse you. If order doesn't matter to you, knock yourself out Shelleyrae!

Does this make sense?

I didn't read them in order initially just because the closest bookstore didn't have them all. While they don't have to be read in order, it makes so much more sense especially with the last book.

YES! That's exactly what I meant to say! I hate it when I read a series out of order cause it will throw my little brain off.

Hmm okay - thanks ladies. I might read this one to see if it works for me first then hunt up the others if I like it enough

I liked the series and thought it was a good take with the demons. I have been waiting for the next in the series and now have to get going to Borders to pick it up!

starting these in Sept! Can't wait. Thks for reading order list

Renee, I don't think you will be disappointed!

I found reading these with the Immortals After Dark (Kresley Cole) series is good aswell. With both author's making reference to each others series in their books.

Rebecca (Bec) wrote: "I found reading these with the Immortals After Dark (Kresley Cole) series is good aswell. With both author's making reference to each others series in their books."

i am so on the same page as you I find myself craving the men in both of these series. I keep going back and forth from the two series. yum yum yum

Please help, i am almost finished with the BDB series, and looking around for a new series. I cannot choose between Lords of the Underworld or Wolves of Mercy Falls.

Marlene wrote: "Please help, i am almost finished with the BDB series, and looking around for a new series. I cannot choose between Lords of the Underworld or Wolves of Mercy Falls."

I'd say Lords of the Underworld - as there are a lot more books in the series. The Lords are great fun, very hot and funny.

Then go for the Wolves of Mercy Falls, there are only 2 books in the series so far and the third isn't due out until next summer - you'll have a very long wait otherwise. I'm trying to put off reading Linger so I don't have such a long wait - but it's really hard because Shiver was awesome.

I'd say Lor..."

TX Charlotte, i'll do just that. Have you read the Mortal Instruments yet? What did you think?

No I haven't read the Mortal Instruments yet - or the Hunger Games, but they are on my TBR.

I'm about halfway through The Darkest Lie. As of right now, not my favorite in the series but still entertaining.

Do you think Paris and Torin will get happy endings? When I read about Paris and Sierra I bawled my eyes out.

Lauren wrote: "Do you think Paris and Torin will get happy endings? When I read about Paris and Sierra I bawled my eyes out."

I just finished reading that earlier this week. I hope Paris gets his HEA. She'll have to be very tolerant at first...

Yeah, no kidding ...

I wonder if Gena's answered any questions about it.

Check it out:

"There are many reasons for the long wait between Lord books The publisher picks the release dates and the year of slots fills up a long time in advance, so if you don't get in. . . Also, it usually takes a year (or more) for the book to be written, edited, sold into stores, a cover to be designed and all that jazz. I had other series to get out (the sequel to The Nymph King and the sequel to Playing With Fire). And to be honest, I don't think we realized how much everyone would want that next Lord book When we did, we moved the release date from Nov 09 to May 09 (the earliest we could since I hadn't even turned the book in yet and space was limited)
I write the books as they come to me and though I have bits of Paris's story, I find myself waffling back and forth between ideas. Until he stands up and says, "It's my turn," I just can't concentrate on him fully. When I dreamed Sabin's heroine, everything inside me demanded I tell their story. It's become my favorite so far.
I'm not sure which book Ashlyn and Maddox's baby will be born. I'm a seat of the pants writer so I have only the bare bones of an idea when I start a book and the characters take me to wherever they want to go and everything falls into place as I go along. In the 4th book, The Darkest Whisper (which is Sabin's story as you said) she's in her second trimester.
You finally get into Gideon's head in the 4th book.
Q-Did you always have it in the back of your head to write a series about Pandora's Box? Or was it an in-the-moment inspiration for you one day?
A-I had been playing with ideas for a Pandora's box story -- one curious female blamed for all the world's misery? Not in my world LOL -- for a while, but none of them worked until the Lords entered the picture
Q- Will you bring Sienna Back?
A-The big question: Sienna I don't want to give too much away, so I'm going to side-step that question by saying that Paris will have a happy ever after one day, I promise!!!When I was writing Paris's captivity scene, i didn't know that he would find someone he could be connected to for more than one time. I'm such a fly by the seat of my pants writer, I'm as surprised by what happens as readers are. I've learned not to question the process, though, and know that everything will later fall into place. In fact, here's an example. First time Danika came on the scene in Darkest Night and I wrote that she was a painter, I kind of blinked and thought, "Huh. Why not a writer or nurse?" I didn't have the answer until I wrote Darkest Pleasure and then it was such an OMG Of Course! moment So I go with the flow and accept the little tidbits the characters show me.
Q- is Pandora going to play into the series as more than just the keeper of the box?
A-I do believe Pandora will be a big part of the series as time goes on. But that's all I can say
Q- Will William have his own story
A-William is one of my faves. He'll absolutely have a story
Q-Mythology has a wide array of stories , what made you ero in on the story of Pandora's box.
A-I have always been fascinated by the story of Pandora's box. Evil trapped inside. . . unleashed. . . good trying to overcome. . . so many possibilities. It's one of those stories that stayed with me from the moment I first heard it, one in desperate need of a retelling
Q-I see everyone seems to want Paris story. Are you shocked by how much people took to his story?
A-Ah, sweet Paris. I loved him from the first, as he was the most modern of all the Budapest warriors. But I never thought he'd be the one readers wanted most, considering the number of women he's been with -- and will ultimately be with.
Q-In DP you seem to be toying with a budding romance between Torin and Cameo how will that play out in the next two books?
A-You will find out if Torn and Cameo are meant to be together in the 4th book, The Darkest Whisper (May 09)
Q-Self- sacrice seems to play an important role in the books, When writing do you try to think of a way that the Lordsand their woman can sacrifice themselves for love that is relevant to those characters? Also since Sabin is the next book, what type of woman do you have in store for him?( since he seems to be over the falling in love thing.)
A-I don't think about it, which seems odd. Things (ways for the characters to sacrifice that are relevant to their love) present themselves as I write, springing up from the characters and their situations.His heroine. . . she surprised me. Big time. I dreamed her one night. It wasn't yet time for Sabin's story (I had planned to tell Aeron's) but when I "met" her, I had to tell about her relationship with Sabin. I can tell you that she is an immortal, though a kind I have never written about before.
Q-Where did the idea for the butterfly tattoos come from? and why a butterfly?
A-In many of the versions I read of Pandora's box, the evil spirits were portrayed as butterflies as they emerged from the box. That sparked an idea. . . so there is indeed a reason the Lords have them, and it will be revealed in the 4th or 5th book
Q-Also, about Torin...I would love to be his heroine, any idea's on when he is planning to let you write his story?
A-Torin's story is actually beginning to take shape. But that's all
Q- Do you have any ideas on if Maddox and Ashlyn's baby will be immortal or mortal or if it will hold the key to the final pieces of artifacts that are hidden? Or will the baby have stronger powers then any of the men? Lastly, how will you write the story for Torin and Cameo? Will she be the only person to be able to touch him? Will we ever know what Amun can hear that he never speaks but looks knowingly into the persons eyes?
A-I'm happy to say a lot of your story questions will be answered in book four. Everything else. . .I change my mind so much or things change as I'm writing, that I always hesitate to answer.
Q-The only question I have is that it seemed to me that Sabin and his crew seemed more light hearted or humorous than the Budapest crew...was this done on purpose?
A-I did it on purpose because Sabin and his crew had an entirely different set of life experiences. While the others sought peace in Budapest, they stayed in Greece (for a while) to war. Then they traveled, continuing the war. They spent a lot more time with humans and were more integrated into society. So, to me, their personalities and speech patterns had to be more modern."

Hey, anyone who has read all the LOTU out now, does Torin have a story spaced out in the books? Like a kind of background filler? Or do you suspect Torin will get his own Story?

Notice Paris and Sienna are mentioned.

I love this series

Torin will most definitely get his own book, but no, I dont think his story has been part of the books yet.. He's looked up in the house, and we know that Cameo isnt his HEA, so we probably havent met his HEA yet..

I loooovee Torin! Cant wait for his book. Wouldnt surprise me if his was the last one though.. :(