Adult and YA Fantasy AuthorsIf you read my AAW: Stephenie Meyer post, you'll know that my reading roots are in adult fantasy. I'm such a big dreamer, I don't think I'll ever stop loving fantasy; there's something so completely wonderful about how the unknown, the incomprehensible, the fantastic can be shaped and moulded by some truely gifted authors and created into some extremely captivating and unique worlds that just grab the imagination.
I'm now also a YA reader, as well as an adult reader, so being able to merge the two - fantasy and YA - is just extremely awesome to this dreamer who has yet to grow up. So today I'm going to write about those adult fantasy authors who dip their toes into the YA river, and the YA fantasy authors who dip their toes into the adult river. It would take me forever for me to tell you how much I love these authors, so I won't. You know I love them, or I wouldn't be talking about them. I think most of these authors are amazing, though there's one who's novels I'm yet to read - I'll explain later. But I am so glad that these authors decided to cross age ranges so I have books to keep me amused whatever mood I'm in.
Rachel Caine - Rachel writes the adult Weather Wardens series and the YA Morganville Vampires series.
The Weather Wardens, which consist of Ill Wind, Heat Stroke, Chill Factor, Windfall, Firestorm, Thin Air, Gale Force, Cape Storm, and forth coming Total Eclipse, are about a Weather Warden named Joanne Baldwin. Find out more about them on Rachel's site.
The Morganville Vampires series, consisting of Glass Houses, Dead Girls Dance, Midnight Alley, Feast of Fools, Lord of Misrule, Carpe Corpus, Fade Out, and forth coming Kiss of Death and Ghost Town, is about Claire and all the things she gets up to when she moves to a strange new town. As said on Rachel's website:
When 16-year-old Claire Danvers arrives in the sleepy Texas town of Morganville for a parentally-enforced year at Texas Prairie University before heading off to MIT, her life takes a turn for the scary. First, the mean girls come after her, but a quick life-saving move to off-campus housing fixes that problem, and introduces her to three new friends: teen rocker Michael Glass, Goth Eve Rosser, and hottie/slacker Shane Collins.
But Morganville's got more secrets to reveal, starting with one very big one:
It's run by vampires.
Rachel Vincent - Rachel writes the adult Shifters series and the YA Soul Screamers series.
The Shifters series, consisting of Stray, Rogue, Pride, Prey, Shift, and forth coming Alpha, is about werecat Faythe Sanders and her role within her Pride. Find out more on Rachel's site.
The Soul Screamers is about Kaylee, a teenage girl who finds out she is a bean sidhe. From Rachel's website, on My Soul to Take:
SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH
KAYLEE CAVANAUGH
She doesn't see dead people, but...
She senses when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally.
Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about the need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who'll be next...
Jeri Smith-Ready - I've not yet read anything by Jeri, but she has a number of books out I really want to read, and I have her debut YA novel in my TBR list. Jeri wrote the adult Aspect of Crow Trilogy, the adult WVMP Radio series, and Shade, the first in her YA series.
The Aspect of Crow Trilogy consists of Eyes of Crow, Voice of Crow, and The Reawakened. The WVMP Radio series consists of Wicked Game, Bad to the Bone, forth coming Bring on the Night, and the tentatively titled Lust for Life. Find out more on Jeri's site.
Shade is due out in the US in May, and in the UK in September, with a sequel, Shift, out next year. Shade is about, as said on Jeri's site:
Love ties them together.
Death can't tear them apart.
Best. Birthday. Ever. At least, it was supposed to be. With Logan's band playing a critical gig and Aura's plans for an intimate after-party, Aura knows it will be the most memorable night of her boyfriend's life. She never thought it would be his last.
Logan's sudden death leaves Aura devastated. He's gone.
Well, sort of.
Like everyone born after the Shift, Aura can see and hear ghosts. This mysterious ability has always been annoying, and Aura had wanted nothing more than to figure out why the Shift happened so she can undo it. But not with Logan’s violet-hued spirit still hanging around. Because dead Logan is almost as real as ever. Almost.
It doesn't help that Aura’s new friend Zachary is so understanding—and so very alive. His support means more to Aura than she cares to admit.
As Aura's relationships with the dead and the living grow ever complicated, so do her feelings for Logan and Zachary. Each holds a piece of Aura's heart…and clues to the secret of the Shift.
Richelle Mead - Richelle writes the adult Georgina Kincaid series, the adult Dark Swan series, and the YA Vampire Academy series.
The Georgina Kincaid series consists of Succubus Blues, Succubus on Top, Succubus Dreams, Succubus Heat, and forthcoming Succubus Shadows. The Dark Swan series consists of Storm Born, Thorn Queen, and forth coming Iron Crowned. Find out more on Richelle's site.
The Vampire Academy series, which consists of Vampire Academy, Frostbite, Shadow Kiss, Blood Promise, and forth coming Spirit Bound, is about, as said on Richelle's site:
Two races of vampires walk our world. The Moroi are alive and wield elemental magical, while the Strigoi are undead and evil--feeding on the innocent to survive. Rose Hathaway--a half-vampire with poor impulse control--is training to be a bodyguard for a Moroi princess. Learning to decapitate and stake is hard enough, but Rose's real danger may lie in an illicit romance with one of her instructors...
Kim Harrison - Kim Harrison writes the adult The Hollows/Rachel Morgan series and YA Madison Avery series.
The Hollows/Rachel Morgan series consists of Dead Witch Walking, The Good, The Bad, and the Undead, Every Which Way but Dead, A Fistful of Charms, For a Few Demons More, The Outlaw Demon Wails, White Witch, Black Curse, and Black Magic Sanction.
The Madison Avery series consists of Once Dead, Twice Shy, and Early to Death, Early to Rise. Once Dead, Twice Shy is about, as said on Amazon US:
My name is Madison Avery, and I'm here to tell you that there's more out there than you can see, hear, or touch. Because I'm there. Seeing it. Touching it. Living it.
Madison's prom was killer—literally. For some reason she's been targeted by a dark reaper—yeah, that kind of reaper—intent on getting rid of her, body and soul. But before the reaper could finish the job, Madison was able to snag his strange, glowing amulet and get away.
Now she's stuck on Earth—dead but not gone. Somehow the amulet gives her the illusion of a body, allowing her to toe the line between life and death. She still doesn't know why the dark reaper is after her, but she's not about to just sit around and let fate take its course.
With a little ingenuity, some light-bending, and the help of a light reaper (one of the good guys! Maybe . . . ), her cute crush, and oh yeah, her guardian angel, Madison's ready to take control of her own destiny once and for all, before it takes control of her.
Well, if she believed in that stuff.
Melissa Marr - Melissa writes the YA Wicked Lovely series, and Graveminder, her first adult novel, which is still in the revisions stage.
The Wicked Lovely series consists of Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange, Fragile Eternity, and forth coming Radiant Shadows. Wicked Lovely is about, as said on Melissa's website:
Rule #3: Don't stare at invisible faeries.
Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in mortal world. Aislinn fears their cruelty—especially if they learn of her Sight—and wishes she were as blind to their presence as other teens.
Rule #2: Don't speak to invisible faeries.
Now faeries are stalking her. One of them, Keenan, who is equal parts terrifying and alluring, is trying to talk to her, asking questions Aislinn is afraid to answer.
Rule #1: Don't ever attract their attention.
But it's too late. Keenan is the Summer King who has sought his queen for nine centuries. Without her, summer itself will perish. He is determined that Aislinn will become the Summer Queen at any cost—regardless of her plans or desires.
Suddenly none of the rules that have kept Aislinn safe are working anymore, and everything is on the line: her freedom; her best friend, Seth; her life; everything.
If you know of any other fantasy authors who write both adult and YA novels, please let me know!
Hunt by Rachel Vincent - WARNING! I cannot review this book without spoiling the others in the series. Read no further if you're planning on reading this series and don't want it spoilt for you.
With All My Soul by Rachel Vincent (review copy) - 
Before I Wake by Rachel Vincent (review copy) - 
Never to Sleep by Rachel Vincent - 
My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincent - When teenager Kaylee screams, someone dies...So when teen pop star Eden dies onstage and Kaylee doesn't wail, she knows something is dead wrong. She can't cry for someone who has no soul. The last thing Kaylee needs right now is to be skipping school, breaking her dad's ironclad curfew and putting her too-hot-to-be-real boyfriend's loyalty to the test. But starry-eyed teens are trading their souls: a flickering lifetime of fame and fortune in exchange for eternity in the Netherworld - a consequence they can't possibly understand. Kaylee can't let that happen, even if trying to save their souls means putting her own at risk. From Amazon UK.
You have an array of paranormal creatures in this series, with the bean sidhes, hellions, maras, reapers, hypnos and incubi. How do you research these creatures for your books? And how many do you create yourself, if any?
My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent - Being a teenager just got much more complicated. There is something very wrong with Kaylee Cavanaugh: she senses when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally. Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about the need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who'll be next. From Amazon UK
Enthralled: Paranormal Divisions Anthology
If I Die by Rachel Vincent (review copy) - 
My Soul to Steal by Rachel Vincent (review copy) - 
My Soul to Keep by Rachel Vincent (review copy) - 
Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent (review copy) - They say blood is thicker than water. They have no idea. As a blood tracker, Liv is extremely powerful. And in a world where power is a commodity that can get you killed, Liv s learnt to survive by her own rules. Rule number one? Trust no one. But when a friend's daughter goes missing, Liv is bound by a potent magical oath. She can't rest until the child is safe. And that means trusting her dangerous ex, Cam. A sinister prophecy tells that she and Cam will be the death of each other, yet Liv's tired of being a slave to destiny. She's ready to play the forces controlling her world at their own game. No matter what the cost. From Amazon UK
The thing I love about writing YA is that—because teenagers feel everything so intensely (I know I did!)—there are no wasted moments in a YA novel. Every single glance means something. Every touch is monumental. You can do a lot more with a crush and sexual tension in a YA novel than you can do with most fully intimate scenes in an adult novel. It’s very liberating, and very exciting.
Alpha by Rachel Vincent (review copy) - 
My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincent (review copy) - 
