Review

Rating: 7

I admit it: I read some books that many would consider “trashy”. They are fantasy novels with some occasionally very vivid erotic scenes. I am surprised myself that I like these vampire and werewolf stories, but I do, so there.

“Long Time Listener…” is a three-in-one collection containing three books from the Kitty Norville series. It is far less graphic in terms of the “naughty bits” than the Anita Blake (author: Laurell K. Hamilton) series, but if you are looking for something appropriate for your teenage friend, this probably isn’t it.

Kitty is a radio DJ who has a little problem. She is also a werewolf. Yeah, a werewolf named “Kitty”- the name, short for Katherine, came before the whole transformation/howl at the moon thing. The world Kitty inhabits is pretty much exactly like our modern day civilization, down to the reality shows on TV and the McDonalds on the corner. Except for a few details: werewolves, vampires, and other similar supernatural critters are real even if normal human society hasn’t quite realized it yet.

Kitty’s radio show somewhat unintentionally becomes a supernatural chat radio show one night, and suddenly becomes very popular. The story arc in the three books covers the initial growth in popularity of her program as a “kooky talk show”, the eventual revelation to the world at large that this whole werewolf/vampire thing is real, and winds up with the eventual fallout from her soaring popularity and somewhat “complex” personal problems. During the run of the series we see Kitty go from the lowest, most submissive member of her pack, up to challenging the Alpha pair, going “solo”, then eventually realizing that she is forming her own pack.

Kitty’s story isn’t as jam-packed with action and sex as the Anita Blake series…but it is a refreshing change. I like the slower pacing, and it seems to me that Carrie Vaughn’s stories do a better job of presenting the day to day challenges a lycanthrope or vampire might have to deal with in the modern world. Kitty is a likable character, and (despite the whole werewolf thing) is far from super-human or monstrous.

The odd thing to me is that the worlds of Anita Blake and Kitty Norville are so similar. I could imagine them both being characters living in the same reality. I guess they are both dealing with the same source material: the werewolf and vampire myths have deep roots that can’t be easily ignored. But the whole wolf pack versus vampire family structure, the relations between vampires and werewolves, the premise that Vampires hang out in stylish clubs and carefully sup upon ardent admirers while the werewolves all seem prone to hang out in disreputable bars… I could almost imagine the two authors sharing notes. Something tells me, though, that neither Carrie Vaughn nor Laurell Hamilton would admit to the cribbing.

That said…Kitty is a fundamentally different character from Anita Blake. The world she lives in may be similar to Anita’s, but the people she meets, the situations she deals with, and how she deals with them are completely unique. Kitty is more thoughtful, less dominant, more needy than Anita. Interestingly, Kitty also seems less prone to breakdown: Anita is more manic and prone to extreme highs and lows. I like both characters (although I’ve had about a dozen books to get attached to Anita), and I’m happy both authors created them.

If you enjoy reading fantasies about supernatural creatures and don’t mind a bit of the old nudge-nudge, wink-wink, say no more, Kitty’s story might appeal to you. I enjoyed it. I’m not quite as much of a Kitty fan as I am an Anita Blake fan…yet. But she is definitely growing on me.