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Nikki Glass series

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Dark Descendant (Nikki Glass -1)

Dark Descendant (Nikki Glass #1)

The Nikki Glass series , also called The Descendents series — written by Jenna Black. 

Genres and Sub-Genres[]

Urban Fantasy, Mythology

Series Description or Overview[]

Two rival groups of immortals vie for power. Both groups call themselves Liberi Deorum, which is Latin for "children of the gods" because their ancestors were the gods of various cultures. One group—the Olympians—believe that they are the master race of the Liberi because they accept only Descendants of the Greek gods, whom they believe are far superior to the rest of the theistic panoply. The other Liberi group is much more diverse because it accepts Descendants of the gods of all cultures. Fang-tastic: NIKKI GLASS / DESCENDANTS SERIES

Lead's Species[]

  • Descendent of Artemis

Primary Supe[]

  • Gods

What Sets it Apart[]

  • The main characters are children of Gods. 

Narrative Type and Narrators[]

  • First person narrative told by Nikki Glass, protagonist. 

Books in Series[]

Nikki Glass / The Descendents series: 

  1. Dark Descendant (2011)
  2. Deadly Descendant (2012)
  3. Rogue Descendant (2013)
  4. Divine Descendant (2016)

Shorts, Anthologies and Guides[]

Other Series by Author onsite[]

Morgan Kingsley series

World Building[]

Setting[]

Alternate Washington, D.C.

Places:

Supernatural Elements[]

✥ Para-PI, Greek Mythology, Liberi Deorum ("children of the gods"), Tree of Life, Norse gods, Greek gods, Egyptian gods, , , ,

Glossary:[]

  • Liiberi: Descendents of gods from multiple mythologies

Groups & Organizations:[]

  • Two Types of God Descendents:
  • Olympians: believe they're the superior race being descendants of Greek gods.
  • Liberi: diverse because it accepts Descendants of the gods of all cultures

World[]

The two groups vie for power. Each Liberi is marked with a holographic glyph that represents his or her ancestral god or goddess and can be seen only by another Liberi. Each Liberi also has a unique magical power that corresponds to his or her godly ancestor. The good guys are led by Anderson Kane, a powerful immortal (but not a Liberi) with a mysterious personal history.

The Olympians are led by the evil Konstantin Galanos, whose ancestral god is the fiery Helios. In essence, Anderson's group believes that the Liberi should use their supernatural powers to help make the world a better place, while the Olympians believe that they should spend their time purifying the ranks of the Liberi, which to them means purging all Descendants and Liberi who are not Greek in origin. "It had always been the Olympian policy under Konstantin that when they discovered a family of Descendants, they would kill them all, except for children under the age of five, who would be raised to believe in the Olympian ideal—and would later be used as lethal weapons against other Liberi." (Rogue Descendant, p. 18)

As explained to our heroine: "A long time ago, when the ancient gods were still around, they had children with mortals. Before the gods left Earth, they gave each of their children a seed from the Tree of Life. This seed made them immortal, and the Liberi thought they were gods themselves as a result. The only limitation they had—as far as they knew—was that they couldn't make their own children immortal....What the first Liberi didn't know until too late was that anyone with even a drop of divine blood—in other words, all their children and Descendants—could steal their immortality by killing them." (Dark Descendant, p. 41) In other words, if a mortal Descendant of the gods steals a seed by killing a Liberi, he or she will achieve immorality by becoming a Liberi. So, a Liberi can be permanently killed only by a Descendant, who then becomes a Liberi. If a human or another Liberi kills a Liberi, the death is only temporary, and the dead Liberi will come back to life. This life-death-resurrection cycle happens to several Liberi, including the heroine, during the course of the series.

Both the Olympians and Anderson's Liberi are always on the lookout for Descendants and unallied Liberi. The Olympians try to coerce Greek Descendants and Liberi into joining them, but they generally kill the non-Greek ones, whom they believe to be weak and worthless. Anderson's group tries to save all Descendants and Liberi, creating fake personal records to hide them from the Olympians. ~ Fang-tastic Fiction: Jenna Black: NIKKI GLASS/DESCENDANTS SERIES

Protagonist[]

✥ Nikki Glass is a private investigator. Orphaned and raised in the Foster care system, Nikki was adopted by the Glass family. After running into members of a strange "cult", Nikki discovers that her birthright is something she never suspected. Nikki is a decendant of the Greek Goddess, Artemis. Because Artemis was the virgin goddess, descendants of Artemis are extremely rare. The "cult" that Nikki was investigating, turns out to be a band of Liberi, descendants of other deities, each with their own unique powers. Things do not go smoothly at first because there are two warring factions of Liberi and while both sides want the rare Artemis descendant to join them, both sides are also extremely paranoid and distrustful. Their initial suspicious aggression causes Nikki to run from both factions. ~ Goodreads | Reader L-D

Private investigator. Descendant of Artemis. She was involved in a car accident that killed Emmitt. She discovers that she is a Liberi, an Immortal descendant of Artemis. She joins Anderson's side to protect her sister. ~ Shelfari

✥ Talk about a smart, resourceful, and resilient character. Nikki Glass was made for the urban fantasy genre. She doesn’t ever shrink or shy away from reality once it’s shown to her. She has a few momentary mental freak-outs, but she never lets that keep her from doing what needs to be done. Her thought processes are very pragmatic and once she’s made up her mind, she doesn’t dither around indecisively; she acts. She’s the kind of character you want to be friends with, no matter how dangerous her life becomes. ~ Goodreads | All Things Urban Fantasy

Sidekick[]

Name: — What: — Sidekick-to: — About: — Book First Seen In:

Characters Chart[]

Fang-tastic Fiction: Jenna Black: NIKKI GLASS / DESCENDANTS SERIES

Characters What About
Nikki Glass private investigator, descendant of Artemis

She uses the gifts she receives as a descendant to help her clients solve their cases; she was adopted;

Descendant of Artemis

Anderson Kane Liberi leader Death God
Konstantin Galanos Olympians leader Descendant of Helios
Stephanie Glass human sister Nikki's adoptive sister
Emmitt Cartwright Nikki's client, A Liberi He dies in a car accident; He used to date Maggie.
Konstantin Liberi Head of the faction of Olympians, who believe themselves superior among the rest of the descendants;
Alexis Colonomos Liberi Descendant of Zeus; works for Konstantin;
Anderson Kane secret immortal Owner of the house and Leader of the Opposition;
Jamaal Liberi really close to Emmitt since they posses the same kind of magic which is hard to control. He hates Nikki and believes she is an Olympian Spy; Descendant from Kali, got problems controlling his death magic. Is part of Anderson's Liberi
Blake Porter Liberi; Eros descendant He can make anyone fall into his sexual desire. He has genuine feelings for Stephanie.
Maggie Burnham Liberi only female of Anderson's group and she is physically stronger than the guys. Descendant of Zeus; used to be Emmitt's lover.
Jack Gillespie Liberi likes to trick people; Descendant of Loki (trickster god); part of Anderson's Liberi
Logan Fields Liberi Part of Anderson's group
Leo Liberi Part of Anderson's group
Emma Poindexter Liberi The long lost wife of Anderson; kidnapped by Konstantine years ago;
Peter mortal attempting to become a Liberi and a servant of the Olympians
Jim Nikki's brother No one knows his actual whereabouts; Nikki's biological baby brother
Mrs. Glass
Justin Kerner Descendant Descendant from egyptian death-god Anubis
Cyrus leader of the Olympians Konstantin’s son and the new leader of the Olympians

To expand the table, in Edit–Visual mode, right-press on a Row of the table (Control-press on a Mac)—choose add Row or Column. Or, in Source Mode: copy-paste rows.

Jenna Black

Jenna Black

Author[]

Jenna Black

Bio: Jenna Black is your typical writer. Which means she's an "experience junkie." She got her BA in physical anthropology and French from Duke University. Once upon a time, she dreamed she would be the next Jane Goodall, camping in the bush making fabulous discoveries about primate behavior. Then, during her senior year at Duke, she did some actual research in the field and made this shocking discovery: primates spend something like 80% of their time doing such exciting things as sleeping and eating. Concluding that this discovery was her life's work in the field of primatology, she then moved on to such varied pastimes as grooming dogs and writing technical documentation. She writes paranormal romance for Tor and urban fantasy for Bantam Dell. ~ Goodreads | Jenna Black

Cover Artist[]

Publishing Information[]

  • Publisher: Pocket Books
  • Author Page:
  1. Dark Descendant: Paperback, 325 pages, April 26-2011 — ISBN-1451606796
  2. Deadly Descendant:
  3. Rogue Descendant:

Book Cover Blurbs[]

✤ BOOK ONE BLURB—Dark Descendant (2011): From the acclaimed author of the Morgan Kingsley, Exorcist books comes the gripping first novel in a new series about a private eye who discovers, to her surprise, that she’s an immortal huntress. Nikki Glass can track down any man. But when her latest client turns out to be a true descendant of Hades, Nikki now discovers she can’t die. . . . Crazy as it sounds, Nikki’s manhunting skills are literally god-given. She’s a living, breathing descendant of Artemis who has stepped right into a trap set by the children of the gods. Nikki’s new “friends” include a descendant of Eros, who uses sex as a weapon; a descendant of Loki, whose tricks are no laughing matter; and a half-mad descendant of Kali who thinks she’s a spy. But most powerful of all are the Olympians, a rival clan of immortals seeking to destroy all Descendants who refuse to bow down to them. In the eternal battle of good god/bad god, Nikki would make a divine weapon. But if they think she’ll surrender without a fight, the gods must be crazy. . . ~ Goodreads | Dark Descendant

✤ BOOK TWO BLURB—Deadly Descendant (2012): Nikki Glass can track down any man. But when her latest client turns out to be a true descendant of Hades, Nikki now discovers she can’t die. . . . Crazy as it sounds, Nikki’s manhunting skills are literally god-given. She’s a living, breathing descendant of Artemis who has stepped right into a trap set by the children of the gods. Nikki’s new “friends” include a descendant of Eros, who uses sex as a weapon; a descendant of Loki, whose tricks are no laughing matter; and a half-mad descendant of Kali who thinks she’s a spy. But most powerful of all are the Olympians, a rival clan of immortals seeking to destroy all Descendants who refuse to bow down to them. In the eternal battle of good god/bad god, Nikki would make a divine weapon. But if they think she’ll surrender without a fight, the gods must be crazy. ~ Deadly Descendant (Nikki Glass 2) ~ Shelfari

✤ BOOK THREE BLURB—Rogue Descendant (2013): The third novel in an action-packed urban fantasy series from the acclaimed author of the Morgan Kingsley, Exorcist books—starring a female private eye who discovers that she’s an immortal huntress. No longer the leader of the Olympians, Konstantin has now gone into hiding. Konstantin is vulnerable, and Anderson believes now is the perfect time to destroy his nemesis. He orders private eye Nikki Glass to use her powers to locate Konstantin, and she balks at the idea until a series of attacks leads her to believe that Konstantin is gunning for her and Anderson instead of remaining safely in hiding. Nikki’s search is complicated by Cyrus—Konstantin’s son and the new leader of the Olympians—who threatens retribution should his father be killed. The complications mount up as Nikki begins to suspect that Konstantin might not be behind the attacks after all. The only person who hates Konstantin more than Anderson does is Anderson’s estranged wife, Emma, who has joined the Olympians. And Nikki knows Emma would be more than happy if Anderson and his people embroil themselves in an all-out war against the Olympians—a war they cannot hope to win. As Nikki tries to figure out who the true enemy is, she deals with her tumultuous relationship with Jamaal, who struggles to control his death magic. But being loved by a descendant of a death goddess is the least of Nikki’s worries. ~ Rogue Descendant (Nikki Glass 3) ~ Shelfari

First Sentences[]

  1. Dark Descendant (2011) — My entire world shattered on a cold, rainy, miserable night in early December.
  2. Deadly Descendant (2012) — There's nothing like breaking things to lift a girl's spirits when she's had a lousy day.
  3. Rogue Descendant (2013) — "It's time, Nikki," Anderson said.

Quotes[]

Trivia[]

Awards[]

Read Alikes (similar elements)[]

Category links at bottom of page

Notes[]

See Also[]

See Category links at bottom of page

External References[]

Books:

Summaries:

The World, Characters, etc:

Other Series: 

Reviews:

Articles:

Interviews: 

Artists:

Author:

Community, Fan Sites: 

Gallery of Book Covers[]

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