The Vampire Academy Book Series
Vampire Academy is a young adult paranormal romance series, one that blends drama, romance and thrilling twists together, all concocted by American author Richelle Mead.
The series of books that followed have sold over 8 million copies in 35 different countries, with ravenous fans loving the ever-expanding story and ideas that followed.
If you’re looking to dive into this book series, you may be wondering where to start. Well, we’ve got you covered with this article!
What is Vampire Academy about?
Vampire Academy revolves around two central protagonists, Lissa Dragomir, a Princess who happens to be a mortal vampire with a rare gift for harnessing spirit’s elements. She has to be protected at all times from the monstrous Strigoi, the fiercest and undead vampires.
Alongside her is Rose Hathaway, Lissa’s best friend. Rose is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on getting rid of the last of the Dragomir.
After two years of freedom, Rose and Lissa are caught and dragged back to St. Vladimir’s Academy, a school for vampire royalty and their guardians-to-be, hidden in the deep forests of Montana.
Together, Rose and Lissa are forced to navigate their dangerous world, confront the temptations of forbidden love – most notably involving a man named Dimitri – and never once let their guard down.
When did the books release?
The first Vampire Academy book released in 2007 and since then have been released steadily every year, with the last one releasing back in February 2015. This happened to be the final book in the spin-off series, Bloodlines.
Where can you read Vampire Academy?
Vampire Academy books are available at all good bookshops, as well as some second-hand sellers. Of course, the main place you’re likely to pick this up is on Amazon, where the books are available to be read both on Kindle and as paperback. There’s also a box-set including all books together.
What’s the best way to read the Vampire Academy books?
The best way to read the Vampire Academy books is actually the way it was released. There are six books in the original series, which is followed by a spin-off series called Bloodlines. Within the main series, the 6 books that released are as follows:
- Vampire Academy (August 16th 2007)
- Frostbite (April 10th 2008)
- Shadow Kiss (November 13th 2008)
- Blood Promise (August 25th 2009)
- Spirit Bound (May 18th 2010)
- Last Sacrifice (December 7th 2010)
And in the spin-off series, the six books switches things up and follows Sydney, an alchemist with special blood. She’s one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets – and human lives. The spin-off series follows her journey with the following six books:
- Bloodlines (August 23rd 2011)
- Golden Lily (June 12th 2012)
- The Indigo Spell (February 12th 2013)
- The Fiery Heart (November 19th 2013)
- Silver Shadows (July 29th 2014)
- The Ruby Circle (February 10th 2015)
Is there a film/series adaptation?
The first book was adapted to film back in 2014. The results were, without doubt, disastrous. It was not only a financial and critical failure, but it also halted all possible plans to bring this franchise to our screens for a long while.
A rebooted television series debuted on 15th September 2022 on Peacock and Sky. The series makes a lot of changes to the format and the story, to mixed reactions from fans and critics alike.
Will there be any more books?
Unfortunately, it seems very highly unlikely. The books series of Vampire Academy and its spin-offs look to be entirely wrapped up now. On Richelle Mears’ website, she writes:
The VA series is technically finished, but the spin-off series Bloodlines continues the story in the same world, just told by different characters. Some of our old favorites make appearances! With Bloodlines now finished, I have moved on to other projects. The VA series is definitely something I might come back to in the future, but I have no concrete plans or any information on dates, what characters would be featured, etc.
With that in mind, it’s fair to say the Vampire Academy series is probably completely finished now but if that changes, we will be sure to update this article.
Have you read the Vampire Academy books? Do you think there’s a better reading order? Do let us know in the comments below!