Today, author Carrie Vaughn announced the end of her Kitty Norville Series. I’ve actually known about this for a few weeks: over at All Things Urban Fantasy, they featured the latest cover in the series in their Cover Art Coverage series, and my first reaction was, “Oooh, I love the cover!” and then my second reaction was, “Wait, Carrie said that was going to be the title of the last book in the series. Oh shit!”
This was before Low Midnight came out, and I didn’t want to prematurely spoil anything by freaking out online, so I private messaged Carrie on Facebook and she confirmed that yes, it was the last book in the series but that she was going to hold off on the announcement until Low Midnight was released and had a chance to shine. So I held off talking about the series until her announcement, which ended up being today.
Urban fantasy is a genre that’s had quite the boom since I started reading SF/F in 2002. Lots of series have come and go, some never got their start, but the genre is always seeking to improve itself, and it’s a genre I very much enjoy, though if I’m not careful, I can read too much and give myself a metaphorical tummy-ache.
Carrie Vaughn’s Kitty and the Midnight Hour was the very first urban fantasy book I read. And I do mean very first. And for a while, it was my favorite UF series out there, but because the genre is so addictive and so fast paced, and always seeking to better itself, other series have taken the mantle of favorite (I don’t want to name them, for fear I will jinx their awesomeness by naming them). That being said, I’ve followed Kitty Norville since her novel debut, I pick up every book and devour it the moment it’s released. So while it’s no longer my favoritest UF series, it is the longest-running UF series that I’ve stayed on top of, and I’ll be reading the last installment with relish. I love getting the endings to things, I love seeing how stories wrap up. Carrie’s announcement is exciting because she’s done with the series as is, but she’s not done with the world, which means I’ll likely get my wish for more Cormac novels, but I’ll get stories about other characters too.
Some readers are upset when series end. I usually get excited, and in this case, it’s no different, if only because I want to see what else Carrie Vaughn writes, because I want to see her stretch her muscles beyond the urban fantasy world of Kitty Norville. I read somewhere that she’s got a YA space opera she’s working on, and that excites me to no freaking end.
The book, Kitty Saves the World, won’t be out until August this year, so who knows how the series will end. But I’ll be there. I’ve been there through the ups and downs, and I can’t wait to see how it all wraps up.
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Currently Writing: Codename: Magic Twins
Last night’s word count: 392 words
Total word count: 8,622 words
I didn’t churn out a lot last night. My evil-genius idea means that I have to be careful with the narrative before I commit to whatever I’m going to do, and I Skyped with one of my daily readers tonight and talked about the premise and the evil-genius idea and realized, pretty quickly, there are a lot of holes I need to fill in this idea. The main this is to figure out the magic system, get the guidelines and follow the rules, the rest will follow. So we’ll see.
Currently Reading: Jeff VanderMeer’s Acceptance
No time to read today, unless I manage a page or two before bed. Sadness.
Next up: Tuesday looks to be a normal day. Got a few shows to catch up on thanks to tonight’s National Championship, and I’ve got errands to run. Yay, errands?
Calico Writes 
I think I read a few of the Kitty Norville books, but I wasn’t crazy about them. I have been glad when some series that I like ended because I think series can get out of control if the author didn’t have a plan and keeps writing them because just they’re good sellers. I loved the Sookie Stackhouse novels but Charlaine Harris definitely phoned a few of them in. On the other hand, I don’t know if I could go on if George R.R. Martin decided not to finish the Song of Ice and Fire series. I think nerds would kidnap him and force him to keep writing, a la Stephen King’s Misery.
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I think the Kitty series is best started when one doesn’t have a whole lot of UF under your belt. Pretty much every reader without fail who has already read a good bit of UF doesn’t really take to the Vaughn’s series, for whatever reason. I’d like to re-read one day when it’s over, but I worry it won’t hold up in light of some of the newer favorites.
And yes, there will be a lot of MISERY if Martin doesn’t finish his series. That said, he’s also not publishing a book a year, so expectations just get higher and higher.
I had to stop reading the Sookie Stackhouse books. In part because I marathoned the books available (through book 7, maybe?) and was tired of the series, but also because I could start really picking them apart, seeing the weaknesses easily.
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