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| Author | Simon Guerrier, Mark Michalowski and James Goss |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy, mystery, gothic fiction, vampire fiction, werewolf fiction, supernatural fiction, ghost story |
| Publisher | BBC Books |
| Published | 4 February 2010 |
| No. of books | 3 |
The Being Human novels are a series of three fantasy novels written by Simon Guerrier, Mark Michalowski and James Goss. The novels are based on the British television series Being Human , created by Toby Whithouse. [1]
There are three novels which deal with the characters of the British Being Human series. The first novel is The Road written by Simon Guerrier. The second novel Chasers is written by Mark Michalowski and the final novel Bad Blood is written by James Goss. [2] All three authors have also written novels for the British television series Doctor Who . [3]
Since the story line goes on throughout all three books the books should be read in the right order, starting with the Road, followed by Chasers and finishing with Bad Blood. [4] The Being Human novels follow the story line of the second series of Being Human. They take place between episode 2x02 and episode 2x03. [4] Annie is invisible and has left the pub. Nina has left George and the vampires of Bristol are without a leader, since Herrick has gone. [5] There are a few characters from the second series, which are mentioned, like Lucy Jaggat. [4] The daughter of the novel character Dr. Declan McGough was murdered by a vampire, during the same time that the wife and daughter of the television character Kemp was murdered. Dr. Declan Mc Gough made contact with a religious organization after this which could be Kemp's CenSSA Organisation.
The books were all published on 4 February 2010. [6] Two years later, in 2012, three audio books were released on mp3. The audio books were read by Lenora Crichlow, Russell Tovey and Lucy Gaskell. [7] Lenora Crichlow plays the main character Annie Sawyer in the television series. [8] Russell Tovey portrays the main character George Sands in the television series. [9] Lucy Gaskell is also known to fans of the television series. She plays the recurring character Sam Danson. [10] In April 2013 the audio book The Road was released on audio CD. [11]
The vampire Mitchell, the werewolf George and the ghost Annie are flatmates. Together they try to live a human life, and control their instincts. Mitchell wants to stop drinking blood, George tries to live a life that isn't affected by the werewolf curse and Annie likes to be with someone that can understand her and talk to her. This isn't as easy as it seems, as their supernatural part always finds a way to show itself. So they always need to support each other in living their lives, living with the guilt that some actions are causing and dealing with the "ghosts" from their past.
Annie is being threatened by the men with the sticks and ropes. These are demons who want to force Annie to go to the other side, to purgatory. When Annie hears a noise in the living room, while she is alone at home, she thinks that the men with the sticks and ropes have finally found her. But when she goes to the living room a door appears and the ghost Gemma enters the living room through the door. Since Gemma needs a place to stay Mitchell and George offer her to stay at the house. Annie doesn't like this idea, however Gemma seems to have nowhere to go, so Annie can't say no. Annie feels like her power is sucked away whenever she is around Gemma. Furthermore, Annie sees that Gemma is scared about something. Annie is sure that Gemma is scared of the men with the sticks and ropes who want Annie as well. Annie thinks that the men might go after Gemma and then might take Annie as well. This makes Annie even more scared. She also realizes that Gemma doesn't tell Annie all about herself. Meanwhile, George and Mitchell have problems with the new administrator at the St. Judes Hospital, Dr. Declan McGough. Since Dr. Declan McGough is working at the hospital, the members there are scared to get sacked. Dr. Declan McGough controls how they are working and tells the employees to asperse each other at him if something is wrong. Mitchell wants to find out whether he is a human or another supernatural being.
The lesbian couple Kaz and Gail want to have baby. They ask George to be the father. At first George is shocked, but then he likes the idea. However he needs to find out if the baby will suffer from the same curse as him and will become a werewolf or not. Meanwhile, Mitchell meets the patient Leo Willis at the hospital. Leo tells Mitchell that he has cancer and since Leo is pretty much interested in the 80s, Mitchell and Leo share something in common. They start spending a lot of time together.
Annie's old friend Denise O'Halloran suddenly appears in front of Annie's door. She sees that Annie isn't leaving the house a lot and wants to change that. So Annie and Denise start going out. They even want to organize a big event, a Bingo night. Even though everything is very well planned, Mitchell and George have a feeling that something might go horribly wrong and they also wonder why their boss Dr. Declan McGough appears at the party.
| Name | The Road | Chasers | Bad Blood | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annie Sawyer | Main | |||
| George Sands | Main | |||
| John Mitchell | Main | |||
| Gemma Romain | Main | |||
| Kaz | Guest | Main | ||
| Gail | Guest | Main | ||
| Dr. Declan McGough | Guest | Main | ||
| Denise O'Halloran | Main | |||
| Number | Title | Author | Year | Publisher | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | The Road | Simon Guerrier | 2010 | ||
2 | Chasers | Mark Michalowski | 2010 | Random House (BBC Books) | |
3 | Bad Blood | James Goss | 2010 | Random House (BBC Books) |
| # | Title | Author | Read by | Length | Published (download/cd) | ISBN (audio download) | ISBN (audio cd) |
| 01 | The Road | Simon Guerrier | Lenora Crichlow | 5 hours 38 minutes | 7 November 2012/16 April 2013 | ISBN 9781471305115 | ISBN 9781620647240 |
| 02 | Chasers | Mark Michalowski | Russell Tovey | 5 hours 18 minutes | 1 November 2012/15 April 2013 | ISBN 9781471305252 | ISBN 9781471305283 |
| 03 | Bad Blood | James Goss | Lucy Gaskell | 6 hours 45 minutes | 1 November 2012/15 May 2013 | ISBN 9781471305290 | ISBN 9781471305306 |
Jayne Nelson (for the SFX Magazine) explains that all three authors have managed to capture the "snarkiness", which, according to Nelson, is a main element of the show. [12] Paul Simpsons explains that all three authors have successfully gotten the voices of the main characters right. According to him the books are a quick and nice reads for fans of the series. [4] The author Joanne Black says that there are a few inconsistencies in the books, but they are an entertaining read. She describes them as sharply plotted and explains that they are keeping the "overal feel of the series". [13] Amie Gibb adds that fans of series like Being Human, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, or Ghost Whisperer will enjoy the novels. [14]
Dave Adamson writes that the first novel The Road turned out very good, tells an interesting story and is a fantastic start for the book series. [15] Frank Collins adds that The Road is an "engrossing mystery written in a brittle prose that conjures up the swirling emotions of loss and revenge eating away at broken human lives that test the enduring spirits" of the three main characters. [16] Jayne Nelson (for the SFX Magazine) appens that Simon Guerrier describes the characters perfectly, even their small personality traits, although she thinks that there is to little action in the plot. [12] Charles Packer calls the book a combination of a murder mystery and haunted house theme with a lot of humor. He explains that all three main characters of the series are true to their television counterparts. He mentions that one doesn't need to see the series, to enjoy the novel. Parker gives the book 8 of 10 points. [17] SciFiChick adds that the road is a "fast-paced read" and a great start of the novel series. [18]
Michael Bush writes about Chasers that the author captures the essence of Being Human and is playing out plots that fit within the context of the series. He also praises the authors gift to capture "the voices of Toby Whithouse's characters and the quirks of the actors who play them." [19] Frank Collins adds that Chasers is warm, often hilariously funny and very moving. [16] Jayne Nelson (for the SFX Magazine) mentions that she enjoyed the humor of the book, but found the ending oddly anticlimactic. [12] Charles Packer also mentions the enjoyable humour of the book. According to Packer the book is entertaining and captures the essence of the Being Human characters. Packer gives the book 7 of 10 points. [17] According to SciFiChick Chasers picks up where the previous novel left off. The story darkens and more questions come up as to what is going on at the hospital. [20]
Lucy Felthouse writes about Bad Blood that the read was a good fun. The writing "lulled" once or twice, but she would still recommend the book, whether someone has seen the show or not. [21] Jayne Nelson (for the SFX Magazine) added that James Goss has great experiential ideas, like naming chapters after bingo calls or "breaking the fourth wall" between the reader and the story. According to Jayne Nelson Bad Blood is a fun read and does juice to the television series which manufactured the novels. [12] The author Joanne Black explains that she especially likes the internal monologues from the characters about age, holidays and death. [22] Charles Packer added that James Goss has a nice and easy writing style. The story is well constructed and there are a lot of humorous moments. James Goss manages to capture the characters of Mitchell and Annie well, but Packer felt "that Goss's take on George’s obsessional neurosis tended to be played for laughs and made his character more two-dimensional than that portrayed in the show". Packer gives the book 6 of 10 points. [23] SciFiChick Chasers explains that there is no plot progression in the first half of the book. But then the stoty gets exciting. In the finale questions about the story and characters are answered and the novel comes to a satisfying conclusion. [24]
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The Pine Deep Trilogy is a series of supernatural horror novels by Jonathan Maberry. The series is set in Pine Deep, a fictional rural Pennsylvania town that becomes plagued by an evil force thought previously killed thirty years ago. In the books the town is considered to be "the most haunted town in America" and has a booming supernatural tourism industry based around the town's history and Halloween. The trilogy is composed of Ghost Road Blues, Dead Man's Song, and Bad Moon Rising.
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Being Human is a supernatural horror comedy-drama television series, based on the BBC series of the same name. It followed the same premise as the original, and starred Sam Huntington, Sam Witwer and Meaghan Rath as a werewolf, a vampire, and a ghost, respectively, who live together as roommates.
Anna Clare "Annie" Sawyer is a fictional character in the comedy-drama television series Being Human, portrayed by Lenora Crichlow. The female lead for the duration of the show's first four series, Crichlow appears as Annie in thirty-one episodes altogether, more than any other character in the series. She also appeared in three Being Human novels.
George Sands is a fictional werewolf in the comedy-drama television series Being Human, portrayed by Russell Tovey. The male lead for the duration of the show's first three series appeared in 24 episodes of the drama, as well as in three Being Human novels.
John Mitchell is a fictional vampire in the comedy-drama TV series Being Human, portrayed by Guy Flanagan in the "Pilot" and afterwards by Aidan Turner. The male lead for the duration of the show's first three series appeared in 23 episodes of the drama, as well as in three Being Human novels.
Nina Pickering is a fictional character in the comedy-drama TV series Being Human, portrayed by Sinéad Keenan. Nina Pickering was a recurring character in the first two series of the show and a main character in the third series of the show. She appeared in 19 episodes of the drama.
Thomas "Tom" McNair is a fictional werewolf in the comedy-drama TV series Being Human, portrayed by Michael Socha. Tom McNair was a recurring character in the third series of the show and became a main character in the two last series of the show. He appeared in 18 episodes of the drama.
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The pilot episode of the BBC fantasy television show Being Human aired on BBC Three on 18 February 2008.
The first episode of the first series of the BBC fantasy television show Being Human was broadcast on 25 January 2009.
Alex Millar is a fictional character in the comedy-drama TV series Being Human, portrayed by Kate Bracken. Alex Millar started as a recurring character in the fourth series of the show and became a lead character in the fifth series of the show.
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