A Stroke of Midnight (2005) (edit title/settings)

Characters edit see section history

• Meredith Gentry: Princess of the Unseelie Court and in a race to become pregnant to secure her place on the throne
• Doyle: ( DOLE ) The Queen's Darkness and one of Merry's lovers.
• Frost: Also known as 'Killing Frost'; one of Merry's lovers
• Galen: ( GAY-len ) Merry's childhood love and the lover closest in age to her.
• Rhys: ( REESE ) One of the Queen's Ravens and Merry's lover. Once known as Cromm Crauch
• Nicca: ( NICK-uh ) One of the Queen's Ravens and Merry's lover
• Mistral: ( MISS-tra-el ) The new Captain of the Queen's Ravens
• Andais: ( ON-dee-ay-us ) Queen of the Unseelie Court and Merry's aunt. Queen of Air and Darkness.
• Kitto: ( KIT-toe) Half snake goblin and half sidhe. Goblin that 'belongs' to Merry. One of her lovers
• Adair: ( a-DARE ) One of the Queen's Ravens and part of Merry's guard
• Aisling: One of the Queen's Ravens
• Kieran: Member of the Unseelie Court
• Hawthorne: One of the Queen's Ravens and Merry's guard
• Major Walters: Human in charge of the police force protecting Merry
• Beatrice: Demi-fey and Merry's friend
• Biddy: One of Cel's guard
• Amatheon: ( A-math-eon ) One of the Queen's Ravens and Merry's guard
• Hafwyn: One of the Queen's healers
• Dr. Polaski: Human in charge of Forensic team
• Dormath: Once a reresentative of death.
• Madeline: Publicist in the Unseelie Court
• Gillett: FBI officer in charge of the investigation into Merry's father's death
• Harry Hob: Member of the Unseelie Court
• Queen Niceven: ( NIS-ah-ven ) Queen of the Demi-fey
• Innis: Noble
• Siobhan: ( SHE-oh-vin ) Captain of Cel's guard
• Onilwyn: ( ON-ill-win ) Member of the Queen's Ravens and part of Merry's guard
• Taranis: ( TAR-a-nis ) King of the Seelie Court
• Gwennin: Member of the Unseelie Court
• Maggie: Cook at the Unseelie Court
• Dogmaela: One of Cel's guards
• Peasblossom: A lesser fae
• Nerys: (Ner-IS) Head of one of the Noble Houses at the Unseelie Court
• Crystall: One of Merry's guards
• Barinthus: ( BA-rinth-us ) One of the Queen's Ravens and strong supporter of Merry. Known as 'Kingmaker'
• Sholto: ( SHOLE-toe ) He is the King of the Slaugh and a member of the Queen's Ravens, Half sidhe and half nightflyer.
• Blodewedd: Member of the Unseelie Court
• Cel: ( KEL ) Son to Queen Andais and heir to the throne. Inherited his mother's sadistic and unpredictable nature. Hates Merry.
• Holly: Half Goblin, half Seelie sidhe one of Merry's courters. Twin brother to Ash
• Ash: Half Goblin, half Seelie sidhe one of Merry's courters. Twin brother to Holly

Quotes edit see section history

show spoilers

• “Offer a man a chance to break a thousand years of celibacy, and he'll do a lot for you.”

  Merry

• “Do you want to ride the storm?”

  Mistral

• “The Queen's Ravens are trained in weapons, hand-to-hand combat. battle strategy, even politics. Hysterical women are not on the list.”

  Merry

• “What is this, the hand of flowers?”

  Rhys

• “No name calling truly bites deep unless, in some dark part of us, we believe it. If we are confident enough then it’s just noise, but Kitto wasn’t confident, not in the least.”

• “My father had taught me to be nice first, because you can always be mean later, but once you’ve been mean to someone, they won’t believe the nice anymore. So be nice, be nice, until it’s time to stop being nice, then destroy them.”

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• My father had taught me to be nice first, because you can always be mean later, but once you’ve been mean to someone, they won’t believe the nice anymore. So be nice, be nice, until it’s time to stop being nice, then destroy them.

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• You cannot die of grief, though it feels as if you can. A heart does not actually break, though sometimes your chest aches as if it is breaking. Grief dims with time. It is the way of things. There comes a day when you smile again, and you feel like a traitor. How dare I feel happy. How dare I be glad in a world where my father is no more. And then you cry fresh tears, because you do not miss him as much as you once did, and giving up your grief is another kind of death.

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• some wounds cut us so deep that they stop us. Stop us from letting go, from growing up, from seeing the truth.

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• No name calling truly bites deep unless, in some dark part of us, we believe it. If we are confident enough then it’s just noise,

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• A flower may be beautiful all on its own, but a person is never truly beautiful unless someone else’s eyes show him that he is beautiful.”

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• Habit is what we have when the inside of our head is screaming, and we’re so scared that it sits like dry metal on our tongues.

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• “I did not stop speaking to my people, they stopped listening to me, and after a time, they could no longer hear my voice. But I never stopped speaking to them. In dreams, or that moment between waking and sleep, there is my voice. In a song, the touch of another’s hand in theirs, I am there. I am Goddess, I am everywhere, and in everything. I cannot leave, nor can you lose me. But you can leave me, and you can turn your back on me.”

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• Ameraudur meant a war leader who was chosen for love, not bloodline. Ameraudur meant that the man who called you this would give his own life before he saw yours fail. It was the word that the Welsh had used for Arthur, yes, that Arthur.

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• “No one can take your honor, but you can give it away.”

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•   A CARESS OF TWILIGHT   SEDUCED BY MOONLIGHT

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Cahokia, IL: Where the entrance to the different Sithen are located. The Sithen technically exists in a place of its own. Like the Black Coach, it has a life of its own and frequently redecorates at its own will.

Organizations edit see section history

• Seelie Court: (Pronounced SEE-lee) Also called "the Bringers of Beauty and Wishes" whose power descends from their King or Queen. The Seelie Court is ruled by King Taranis. It is the court of light.
• Unseelie Court: (Pronounce UN-see-lee) Also known as the lesser court or the dark court ruled by Andais, Queen of Air and Darkness. They take in all those turned away from the Seelie court.
• Demi-Fey: Small, often winged fey ruled by Queen Niceven. It is said that where the demi-fae travel, faerie follows. The demi-fey seem to have many secrets, one of which is that a few are able to grow larger to become human-size. They are masters of glamour and often appear as birds, butterflies, or other winged insects.
• Goblins: Goblins are considered the foot soldiers of the Unseelie Court since they do most of the fighting during war. Described as intimidating horrific creatures (from a human perspective) the Goblins consider moles and extra limbs and eyes marks of beauty. Goblin society is violent and taking blood and flesh during sex is expected among them. Kingship among the Goblins comes not through inheritance but battle challenge. Kurag is the goblin king. They consider anything that comes out of the body more valuable than jewels or weapons. It was also an insult if the men did not leer at your women. It implied that she was ugly and infertile. An alliance can be formed with the goblins if the rights of both blood and flesh are invoked. Sex should always be negotiated before starting when dealing with goblins.
• Nightflyer: A winged creature under the command of Sholto. Few creatures in Faerie were stronger than Sidhe, nightflyers were one of them. Most of their body parts are able to regenerate and contain a nest if tentacles resting in their abdomen.
• Slaugh: (Pronounced SLEW-ah) Nightmarish creatures, the Sluagh are feared even among the Unseelie where inhumanity is common. Among the Sluagh are the nightflyers and nighthags. The Slaugh were the original Unseelie Court. They are the creatures of the Wild Hunt.

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• Fey: (Pronounced FAY) A general term for all inhabitants of faery, the sidhe are the highest ranking and most powerful members of the fae and considered the nobility. There are lesser non-sidhe fey, some of whom have interbred with humans.
• Sidhe: (Pronounced SHE) The royalty of the fae, the Sidhe are divided into the Seelie and Unseelie courts. Usually marked with triple irises and bright glowing skin.
• Glamour: Magic that can change a fey's appearance for the eyes of humans. Only few sidhe can work glamour on other sidhe. This is considered an insult to do so without permission.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by Seduced by Moonlight, and followed by Mistral's Kiss.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Laurell K. Hamilton (Author)

Other Contributors:

1. Judy York (Cover Artist)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PS3558.A443357 S77 2005
• Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Sexually explicit material

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Fantasy › Urban
• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Fantasy › Fairies & Elves
• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Fantasy › Series
• Books › Romance
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Erotica › Adult Fiction
• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Authors, A-Z › ( H ) › Hamilton, Laurell K.

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Laurell K. Hamilton: Author's Website

More Books Like This edit see section history

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history