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House Immortal (House Immortal -1) by Devon Monk

House Immortal (House Immortal #1) by Devon Monk

House Immortal series — by Devon Monk.

Genres and Sub-Genres[]

Urban Fantasy / SciFi-UF / Alternate History-Futuristic / Dystopian

Series Description or Overview[]

One hundred years ago, eleven powerful ruling Houses consolidated all of the world’s resources and authority into their own grasping hands. Only one power wasn’t placed under the command of a single House: the control over the immortal galvanized.... Matilda Case isn’t like most folk. In fact, she’s unique in the world, the crowning achievement of her father’s experiments, a girl pieced together from bits. Or so she believes, until Abraham Seventh shows up at her door, stitched with life thread just like her and insisting that enemies are coming to kill them all. Tilly is one of thirteen incredible creations known as the galvanized, stitched together beings immortal and unfathomably strong. For a century, each House has fought for control over the galvanized. Now the Houses are also tangled in a deadly struggle for dominion over death—and Tilly and her kind hold the key to unlocking eternity. The secrets that Tilly must fight to protect are hidden within the very seams of her being. And to get the secrets, her enemies are willing to tear her apart piece by piece. ~ Goodreads (Book #1 blurb)

Lead's Species[]

  • Stitched-together person

Primary Supe[]

  • Stitched-together people (Frankenstein-like)

What Sets it Apart[]

  • Features stitched-together people similar to Frankenstein as lead characters. Totally unique in Urban Fantasy. — The main supes are "stitched-together" beings—a new variation on the Frankenstein-type beings. These are rare in Urban Fantasy, and certainly never as lead characters.

Narrative Type and Narrators[]

  • First person narrative told by Matilda Case, protagonist.

Books in Series[]

House Immortal trilogy:

  1. House Immortal (2014) ~ Excerpt
  2. Infinity Bell (2015)
  3. Crucible Zero (2015)

Shorts, Novellas, Anthologies and Guides[]

none yet

Other Series by Author onsite[]

Themes, Motifs, Symbolism[]

Immortality. 

World Building[]

Setting[]

Places:

Supernatural Elements[]

✥ Stitched-together people, mutated animals (ex. crocboar), stitched creatures, octopuses that live in trees, mutations from scientific experiments gone awry. 

Glossary:[]

  • Galvanized: “stitched” people—immortal. They do not age, they feel no pain, and they cannot be killed unless you irreversibly scramble their brains. They’re basically sentient zombies.
  • Shelly: A drug used on the Galvanized (tip of the hat to Frankenstien author)

Groups & Organizations:[]

  • Twelve Houses: each House controls their own section of the world

World[]

✥ This new world has an altered history from our own and takes place in the future. The world is an interesting mixture of technology coupled with complications from a meteor strike, giving it some fascinating quirks. The most noticeable are the Galvanized. Twelve indestructible people who are not considered human and are therefore property owned, traded, and bartered between the eleven ruling Houses. There are no countries, just the Houses and what territory they claim. There is also an unofficial twelfth House that was founded by people who rebelled against the other eleven Houses. It is the weakest of the Houses and struggles to maintain its independence. ~ That's What I'm Talking About

✥ A world two hundred years in the future, where resources are governed by eleven Houses and doled out as considered appropriate by their leaders. Matilda Case wants to continue to live and work below the radar, taking care of her farm populated by animals created (literally) by her father, her only constant company her grandma and her farmhand, Neds (the plural due to the fact that Ned possesses two heads). With her parents dead, killed several years earlier, and her brother, Quinten, missing for three years, life on the farm can be challenging but not more than Matilda can handle, as long as she does not call undue attention to herself. ~ Bitten by Books

✥ The Houses: They are the groups, each led by a powerful dictator of sorts, named by color. House Green is agriculture; House Blue is water; House White is Medical; House Gray is people and so on. They manage their resources and battle each other, politically and actually, to control as much as possible. They all want to control Tilly. House Brown is the House who wants to be off the grid and left alone. ~ Shelfari

The Galvanized[]

✥ Many years ago, an event took place that left 12 people immortal. These people are stitched together by thread, stronger, smarter and faster than normal humans. They are called the galvanized. They are revered, worshipped and treated as higher beings. But only by the common people. In order to save humanity from an all out war, the galvanized agreed to serve the Houses. Each House is of a different color and controls a certain part of the world—White is medical, Black is defense, Green is agriculture and so on. The 12 galvanized were divided between the Houses and the peace was kept. This also allowed House Brown to be formed; the house of misfits and one not acknowledged by all other houses. ~ Fiction Vixen

✥ The twelve other “stitched” people in Matilda’s world are known as the galvanized. They are immortal. They do not age, they feel no pain, and they cannot be killed unless you irreversibly scramble their brains. — They’re basically sentient zombies. — They’re owned and employed by the eleven houses that control various essential resources (and the WORLD) . . . and to the general population they are . . . celebrities. ✧ It's brave new world of mutated creatures and people, all controlled by Houses grasping for power and immortality. From two-headed farmhands to tiny, fruit-loving octopuses that live in trees . . . a parade of human oddities and the results of scientific experiments gone horribly awry. ~ Rabid Reads

✥ It is obvious that the Galvanized are feared as much as they are loved. They are in a unique and precarious position made worse by the events at the end of House Immortal. ~ That's What I'm Talking About

The Houses[]

✥ They are the groups, each led by a powerful dictator of sorts, named by color. House Green is agriculture; House Blue is water; House White is Medical; House Gray is people and so on. They manage their resources and battle each other, politically and actually, to control as much as possible. They all want to control Tilly. House Brown is the House who wants to be off the grid and left alone. ~ Yummy Men and Kick Ass Chicks

✥ There is nothing the Houses won’t do to be the one to control Matilda. Despite their power, the galvanized have no rights, so Matilda can be claimed without any say in the matter. - Vampire Book Club

Protagonist[]

Matilda Case is a Frankenstein-esque creation of her father’s, a scientist of great renown (or notoriety depending on who you ask), but unlike the monster in Shelley’s Frankenstein, Matilda is . . . at least partially . . . truly her father’s daughter. You see, when Matilda was a child, she became very sick and almost died, but her brother somehow managed to transfer her consciousness into the body of a “stiched” person. ~ Rabid Reads

✥ Matilda (Tilly) Case has led a hidden life because of what has happened to her and her family. At the start, her parents have been dead ten years and her brother has been gone for three years. It is starting to feel like her brother, Quinton, is missing not just gone. And her grandmother seems to be missing a few bricks. Tilly is strong and smart. She cares so much for her friends and her brother. Her life has been so isolated, hidden, and now the world is coming to her. She can’t hide any longer and has to make choices which affect not only her life but her friends and family’s lives. Abraham Seventh comes for Matilda. He is one of the 12 immortals in the story, called the galvanized. Tilly is the unknown galvanized, a new kind of immortal. ~ Yummy Men and Kick Ass Chicks

✥ Matilda (Tilly) is an enchanting woman. She is her own person and will do anything to protect her family’s farm and especially her grandmother, even if it means sacrificing herself by joining House Gray. Although she can be brash, she is also loyal and steadfast. Sadly, she is not quite cut out for the political machinations that seem to be the standard operating procedures of the Houses. ~ Review: House Immortal by Devon Monk | That's What I'm Talking About...

✥ Matilda has two reasons for wishing to escape notice from the Houses: in her basement, she runs an information hub for House Brown, the only “independent” collection of people who operate and survive off of the grid, and Matilda herself lives because when she was a child and dying from an illness, her brother transferred her consciousness/soul into a “stitched” body. Though her existence remains secret, this characteristic of Matilda’s places her in the ranks of the galvanized, twelve others who three hundred years earlier survived when the rest of the world’s people died, and are now claimed by Houses, revered by humanity. ~ Bitten by Books

Sidekick[]

  • Name: / What: / Sidekick-to: / About: / Book First Seen:

Characters[]

Characters What About
Matilda (Tilly) Case Galvanized creation of her father’s
Quinton brother has been gone for three years
Grandmother grandmother has dementia which may be partly faked;
Abraham Seventh galvanized stitched with life thread just like her; comes for Matilda; at first he seems a typical alpha male, but there is much more hiding behind his intimidating facade.
Neds two-headed farmhand One of Tilly's only companion on the farm; has two heads—each with his own distinct personality, both are named Ned.
Slater Orange megalomaniac plan to rule the world forever; secret of Matilda’s origins makes her the key to his plan;

To expand the table, in Edit–Visual mode, right-press on a Row of the table or Column (Control-press on a Mac)—choose add Row or Column.

Devon-Monk-author-pic-1-240x300

Devon Monk — Author

Author[]

Devon Monk

  • WebsiteDevon Monk
  • Genres: Urban Fantasy, Steampunk, SciFi & Fantasy shorts

Bio: Devon lives in Oregon with one husband and two sons. Her series include the Allie Beckstrom urban fantasy novels, The Age of Steam steampunk series the Broken Magic urban fantasy spin-off books, and the House Immortal future-fantasy trilogy. She also has a collection of short stories titled: A Cup of Normal. When not writing, she is knitting silly things, or drinking too much coffee. ~ Devon Monk, Deadline Dames.

Contributors[]

Cover Artists[]

~ Source: Cover Reveal – HOUSE IMMORTAL

Other Contributors[]

Publishing Information[]

  • Publisher: Roc, Tantor Audio, 
  • Author Page:
  • Bk-1: Paperback, 336 pages, Pub: Sept 2nd 2014—ISBN 0451467361
  • Bk-2: Paperback, 368 pages, Pub: Mar 3rd 2015—ISBN 045146737X
  • Bk-3: Paperback, 368 pages, Pub: Sept 1st 2015—ISBN 0451467388

Book Cover Blurbs[]

BOOK ONE—House Immortal (2014): One hundred years ago, eleven powerful ruling Houses consolidated all of the world’s resources and authority into their own grasping hands. Only one power wasn’t placed under the command of a single House: the control over the immortal galvanized. Matilda Case isn’t like most folk. In fact, she’s unique in the world, the crowning achievement of her father’s experiments, a girl pieced together from bits. Or so she believes, until Abraham Seventh shows up at her door, stitched with life thread just like her and insisting that enemies are coming to kill them all. Tilly is one of thirteen incredible creations known as the galvanized, stitched together beings immortal and unfathomably strong. For a century, each House has fought for control over the galvanized. Now the Houses are also tangled in a deadly struggle for dominion over death—and Tilly and her kind hold the key to unlocking eternity. The secrets that Tilly must fight to protect are hidden within the very seams of her being. And to get the secrets, her enemies are willing to tear her apart piece by piece. ~ Goodreads | House Immortal (House Immortal, #1) by Devon Monk

BOOK TWO—Infinity Bell (2015): Return to national bestselling author Devon Monk's heartpounding House Immortal series, where eleven powerful Houses control the world and all its resources. But now, the treaty between them has been broken, and no one—not even the immortal galvanized—is safe.... Matilda Case isn’t normal. Normal people aren’t stitched together, inhumanly strong, and ageless, as she and the other galvanized are. Normal people’s bodies don’t hold the secret to immortality—something the powerful Houses will kill to possess. And normal people don’t know that they’re going to die in a few days. Matilda’s fight to protect the people she loves triggered a chaotic war between the Houses and shattered the world’s peace. On the run, she must find a way to stop the repeat of the ancient time experiment that gifted her and the other galvanized with immortality. Because this time, it will destroy her and everything she holds dear. Caught in a cat-and-mouse game of lies, betrayal, and unseen foes, Matilda must fight to save the world from utter destruction. But time itself is her enemy, and every second brings her one step closer to disaster. ~ Goodreads | Infinity Bell (House Immortal, #2) by Devon Monk

BOOK THREE—Infinity Bell (2015): The national bestselling author of Infinity Bell returns to her “fresh and unique”* world where the truce between the ruling Houses has shattered and chaos now reigns. Only one woman has the power to save the world—but she could also destroy it. . . . Matilda Case never thought of herself as a hero. But because she is galvanized—and nearly immortal in her stitched, endlessly healing body—she doesn’t have much of a choice. Even if she doesn’t want to save the world, she’s the only one capable of traveling in time to do so. But her rescue attempt hasn’t gone as planned. She’s stuck in an alternate universe, and her world is in danger of disappearing. Worst of all, an unfathomably powerful man who can also travel through history doesn’t want her to put things to rights. He’s willing to wage bloody war to stop Matilda, unless she surrenders control of time to him. Now, with the minutes ticking, Matilda must make impossible decisions, knowing that one wrong choice will destroy her—and any chance of saving everything she loves. ~ Goodreads | Crucible Zero (House Immortal, #3) by Devon Monk

First Sentences[]

  1. House Immortal (2014) — The way I saw it, a girl needed three things to start a day right: a hot cup of tea, a sturdy pair of boots, and for the feral beast to die the first time she stabbed it in the brain.
  2. Infinity Bell (March 2015) — The sound of the seaplane's engine growling low and loud as it came in for a landing jarred me awake.
  3. Crucible Zero (Sept 2015) — 

Quotes[]

“Only galvanized brains resist every strain of disease on earth; feel no pain; and are inhumanely strong, adaptive, and infinitely repairable. Only galvanized brains show no sign of aging or decline. Only galvanized are immortal—cheaters of time.” ~ Fiction Vixen

Read Alikes (similar elements)[]

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