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By popular demand, here I bring to you the Dark Hunter thread. This is an adult thread, because the series contains adult material. However please remember that we are a PG site and everything in this thread needs to stay within those limits. (translation: be good or I will send you to visit the fates )

The Dark Hunter Series: (from www.sherrilynkenyon.com)

1. Fantasy Lover, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2002)
2. Dragonswan, reprinted singly by Berkley (2005)
3. Night Pleasures, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2002)
4. Night Embrace, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2003)
5. "Phantom Lover", in the anthology Midnight Pleasures (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2003)
6. Dance with the Devil, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2003)
7. Kiss of the Night, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2004)
8. Night Play, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2004)
9. "Winter Born", in the anthology Stroke of Midnight (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2004)
10. Seize the Night, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2005)
11. Sins of the Night, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2005)
12. "Second Chances", in Exclusive Dark-Hunter Collectible Booklet (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2005), free giveaway. Is also included in the Dark-Hunter Companion!
13. Unleash the Night, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2005)
14. Dark Side of the Moon (St. Martin's Press, 2006, reprinted by St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2007)
15. "A Hard Day's Night-Searcher", in the anthology My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding (St. Martin's Griffin, 2006)
16. "Until Death We Do Part", in the anthology Love At First Bite (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2006)
17. Fear the Darkness, free e-book (St. Martin's Press, 2007)
18. The Dream-Hunter (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2007)
19. Devil May Cry (St. Martin's Press, 2007)
20. Upon the Midnight Clear (St. Martin's Paperback, 2007)
21. Dream Chaser (St. Martin's Paperback, 2008)
22. Acheron (St. Martin's Hardcover, 2008)
23. One Silent Night (St. Martin's Paperback, 2008)
24. "Shadow of the Moon" in the anthology Dead After Dark
25. Dream Warrior (St. Martin's Paperback, 2009)

Full Novel Order is:
1. Fantasy Lover - Julian
2. Night Pleasures - Kyrian
3. Night Embrace - Talon
4. Dance with the Devil - Zarek
5. Kiss of the Night - Wulf
6. Night Play - Vane
7. Seize the Night - Valerius
8. Sins of the Night - Alexion
9. Unleash the Night - Wren
10. Dark Side of the Moon - Ravyn
11. Devil May Cry - Sin
12. Acheron – ASH!!!
13. One Silent Night - Stryker

Me first!

I've read through novel #8. I need to get the next book and look into the short stories.

Oh, posting just because I want to! Just kidding... I noticed on the other thread someone asked if the short stories are needed to further the story line along... Can I just read the books or do I need to get the other pieces? I'm on book #5 of p/c now and will start DH next. Thanks!!

I'm on Zarek's book now and I'm so feeling that Z from BDB vibe but it is different. So far the humor is great and I'm loving it!

I read the short story between book 3 and 4 before I started the series. No, you do not need the short stories, at least I felt it was a stand alone. I'm not sure about the rest though.

ETA: By the way, I found SK on myspace and she is my friend. She posted a very nice note to my page - definitely go add her as it is a really good way to extra snippets and info on this world.

Hi people!
As promised, here are the short stories that I have read in an e-version (curtsies to Nena). I made sure to phrase it in a no-spoiler way. If it was a novel, be it Dark Hunter, Dream Hunter, Katagarian (spelling off?), Arcadian or whatever, I didn't include it on the summary.

Dark Hunter Short Story Summaries

Dark Hunter 2 – The Beginning
Starring: Ash
Synopsis: The tale of how the Dark Hunters came to be.

Dark Hunter 3 – Dragonswan
Starring: Sebastian Kattalakis
Synopsis: Dr. Channon Macrae is a specialist in medieval history and in a special Dragon Tapestry. She meets the mysterious Sebastian, who takes her for dinner – and more!

Dark Hunter 6 – Phantom Lover
Starring: V’Aidan
Synopsis: Erin McDaniels has some pretty vivid nightmares. Soon, she realizes her waking life is just as thrilling and dangerous as the scenes in her dream!

Dark Hunter 8 – A Dark Hunter Christmas
Starring: Gallagher
Synopsis: After losing his beloved wife Rosalie, former gangster and Dark Hunter Gallagher has a deep ache, especially on Christmas Eve. Meeting a few people in New Orleans eases the pain.

Dark Hunter 14 – Second Chances
Starring: Ash and Styxx
Synopsis: A betrayer realizes the error of his ways, but how easy is it to forgive and forget?

Dark Hunter 18 – Until Death Do Us Part
Starring: Vellkan
Synopsis: Esperetta has first hand experience of two of the most famous stories of all time – Romeo & Juliet and Dracula. Can she resolve the events of her existence and survive the visit to her ancient homeland?

Dark Hunter 19 – Fear the Darkness
Starring: Nick (with a sneak peek at Arik)
Synopsis: Nick returns home and everything’s changed. Can things be fixed, or will more changes steer Nick elsewhere?


I have to confess that I wasn't as fond of Zarek's book. Feel free to PM me to find out why. I just finished reading Sin's book (holy world shaking events!). My favourites are Julian and Valerius. I have to say the first novel was one of the best introductions to a series that I've read (Twilight, of course, is exempt from this comparison). It could have stayed as a one-off, but I'm glad it went on.

***I've edited this post.

"In the Beginning" was originally written as a short story to appease fans who wanted to know Ash's background. The short story was later added to Ash's novel. It is a spoiler, after all. There's also a reason why it isn't mentioned on Kenyon's reading list.

The Dream Hunter books SHOULD be read along with the Dark-Hunter books. If you skip them you will miss out on valuable info. The 2 series are so intertwined that they both must be read.

The Dream-Hunter series isn't a separate series, really. Kenyon's publisher listed them that way to help readers. Yeah, riiiight.

The complete Kenyon approved reading order: (http://www.sherrilynkenyon.com)
**The short stories are in red. One more thing, ignore the numbering system. Just read them in order. The numbers will only confuse you.

1. Fantasy Lover, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2002)
2. Dragonswan, reprinted singly by Berkley (2005)
3. Night Pleasures, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2002)
4. Night Embrace, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2003)
5. "Phantom Lover", in the anthology Midnight Pleasures (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2003)
6. Dance with the Devil, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2003)
7. Kiss of the Night, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2004)
8. Night Play, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2004)
9. "Winter Born", in the anthology Stroke of Midnight (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2004)
10. Seize the Night, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2005)
11. Sins of the Night, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2005)
12. "Second Chances", in Exclusive Dark-Hunter Collectible Booklet (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2005), free giveaway. Is also included in the Dark-Hunter Companion!
13. Unleash the Night, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2005)
14. Dark Side of the Moon (St. Martin's Press, 2006, reprinted by St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2007)
15. "A Hard Day's Night-Searcher", in the anthology My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding (St. Martin's Griffin, 2006)
16. "Until Death We Do Part", in the anthology Love At First Bite (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2006)
17. Fear the Darkness, free e-book (St. Martin's Press, 2007)
18. The Dream-Hunter (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2007)
19. Devil May Cry (St. Martin's Press, 2007)
20. Upon the Midnight Clear (St. Martin's Paperback, 2007)
21. Dream Chaser (St. Martin's Paperback, 2008)
22. Acheron (St. Martin's Hardcover, 2008)
23. One Silent Night (St. Martin's Paperback, 2008)
24. "Shadow of the Moon" in the anthology Dead After Dark
25. Dream Warrior (St. Martin's Paperback, 2009)
26. Bad Moon Rising ??

If you want to be spoiled, there's a short story about Nick on Sherrilyn Kenyon's website.

Okay, so I read story #18 (short story "Until Death do us Part" from anthology) before I read the series. To me, it is a stand alone story as I haven't noticed any spoiler to the world. But I haven't read the others. LadyDi so you would say that the short stories are necessary? Or are only certain ones vital to read in the order of "the overall order" or what? As from GNE it sounds like some of them could be spoilers if not read per publisher's date instead of the "order" numbering. Goodness, I'm SO confused!!!

Goodnight Elizabeth wrote: I just finished reading "In the Beginning" and find that it is spoilerish. It shouldn't be read until after Alexion's book. Until that point things are still pleasantly mysterious. Where's the mystery and wonder if it's all laid out before one begins?? I enjoyed learning about Callabrax, Kyros, and Ias AFTER they were mentioned in Alexion's book. Knowing their stories before reading Alexion's would take the fun out of it.

Weird, I felt the opposite. I haven't met Callabrax, Kyros, and Ias per se prior to that short story, but I'm even more curious than before.

So now, here's my question: Do should I read the Dream Hunter books as indicated in the list? Or do I continue to read them separately?

I can only answer for the book called The Dream Hunter (Arik). I would recommend reading it in the order along with the Dark Hunter books. It had new characters (the dream hunters) but also old familiar ones. (Artemis, Apollymi, Archeron, etc,) You also meet a new Dark Hunter briefly. I felt this book tied in to the Dark Hunter books, and now having read further, I see that some of the info. in that book is important for future Dark Hunter books. I haven't read the other 2 Dream Hunter books, but plan to. My library didn't have them in yet, so I skipped them for now.
I must say though, I find the way S. Kenyon sets her lists and stories up to be confusing...I haven't read the short stories listed, but definitely want to! Are they all ebooks? I read one of them online (Nick's story), but is that where I find all of them?

I know I can always rely on you, ladies, which is why I come here first. Ok, so I'll go ahead and read the books that I have then. I only have to check out Ash's book and that baby is huge! He's 786 pgs! Yowza! I should check out Kenyon's site, but I haven't ventured into that yet.