Everyone knows there are only so many plotlines in the world. When they are additionally circumscribed by vampires and demons and werewolves and your garden-variety homo sapiens, it takes really special characters – not plots, not settings, and not six-volume background material, mind you – characters to bring the series above par. Author A’s vampires can slurp with their right fangs and regurgitate with their left, which is totally different from Author B’s furry demons who are only fertile when they turn purple during orgasm. But in the end I’ll be remembering the characters thank you very much, not the latest paranormal gimmick.