Dark Lover question

Trez and iAm are the only two I can think of, but they are not members of the BDB.

Who cares if there all white or any color for that matter. The author wrote her books the way she saw fit. Don't like it don't read them. I love this series and those vamps could be green and I'd still love them.

I agree with the suggestion of reading L.A Banks vamps series she did a fabulous job giving African Americans and Latinos a presence in this genre. It was such a shame to lose this author. There is one African American vamp in the Breed Series he' s mated to Jenna and I believe his name is Brock. Overall I love the bdb and breed series but it would be nice to see more characters who represent my background

Maxine wrote: "All of the characters are very explicitly described as being Caucasian and this bothered me for a number of reasons. Now, I have only read the first and second book of the Black Dagger Brotherhood ..."

If you're looking for a vampires of color try the L.A Banks series. Other books that feature a vampire of color . As for this series I am not sure if there is a vampire character of color. I am only on book three.

To answer the question more directly…

Short answer:
There are two, the twins Trez and iAm, who for all intents and purposes, are black. You’ve got a long way to go, though— they’re pretty peripheral characters until the current book (Book 13).


Longer answer stuff:
If you notice that kind of thing, be warned, Trez and iAm are pretty dang problematic.
Among other things:
1. They’re not vampires like the Brothers; they’re “Shadows,” some kind of… evolutionary offshoot. They’re literally a separate sub-species. We know practically nothing about Shadows, but one thing we’re told twice: they’re into cannibalism. That's… awkward.

2. Narratively, they’re Magical Negroes. For book after book, they serve no purpose but to make their (functionally white) boss’ life run smoothly. We’re told that Shadows are much more powerful than vamps, so it’s not clear why these two— who are royal scions to boot!— are volunteering to serve one so devotedly (and so menially, tbh). Very little characterization for them, and as noted, they get no plotlines until Book 13 (and by then the series is in repeats).

3. They're criminals (prostitution, drugs, and the attendant violence), and unlike with their boss, that’s not explained or made sympathetic in any way. At least they’re respectful pimps…?

It’d be one thing if they had all this going on but were just two of many. But as it stands, 100% of the vamps of color here are cannibal pimp druglords with no personal needs who spend all their time literally materializing out of nowhere to drive their boss places, cover his ass, and clean him up as necessary. :/

And they’re not the only racially problematic feature of this series. Not even close. Don’t get me wrong, JRW’s a talented writer and I’ve enjoyed the series, but I have no interest in lying about the fact that I have to do a lot of mental editing. There’s a lot to look past. It’s a case of, I love it despite.


Couple meta things for the record:
1. The author hotly maintains that Trez and iAm are not black because they’re not human (therefore there is no fail). Except, duhobvious, ALL of the supernatural good guys in the series are passing as human. So yeah. Trez and iAm are passing as black men. To claim otherwise is silly and just… embarrassing, tbh. I mean, Rhage is pale-skinned, blond-haired, blue-eyed, and explicitly described as Slavic-looking. He’s a white guy. C’mon.
Unless race works in some unexplainedly different way in this world— and it's made clear it doesn't— the twins are black. They're not African, nor American, nor even human, but they're black.

2. Some people claim there can’t be any non-white vamps because they don’t interbreed with humans. Problem: this is completely false. ALL of the vampires but for Wrath are part human. That point is made explicitly and repeatedly. And hello, Beth is fully half human. Kind of hard to miss! So… yeah. Again, embarrassing. Ditto for the “well but they’re from Europe” hail mary. They’ve been in the New World— in the most diverse corner of the US— for centuries. Truth is, there’s no good in-universe reason for all the vampires to be white. (Well, except maybe their frequently and casually expressed anti-human racism, that is. No one ever mentions that though, LOL! Thankfully, it fades as the series progresses. Small favors.) And of course none of this addresses why the entire human population of Caldwell is white (but for poor lonely Det. De La Cruz, who is presumably Latino?? I’m desperate, here).
Just saying!

I love the series too, but it is what it is.

___
ETA: oh yeah, there's also Sola, who shows up way into the series (Book 10? 11? Can't remember.) I believe she's Latina. So correction, there are two human POC in the city of Caldwell! Break out the confetti. :/

I’m going to give you a really odd and possibly-controversial answer.

I submit to you that Mary Madonna Luce is black.



Just to be clear, she isn’t. LOL. As if. But whatever— when you read Book 2, pretend she is. The result is amazing , IMO.

I discovered this by accident because I first read it in Spanish, and in that version, her skin color is somewhat ambiguous at first. Her appearance is mostly just: dark hair, grey eyes, thin/delicate. But her characterization, her internal monologue, her whole attitude… I dunno, I pictured her black. It just made sense to me. Matter of fact, it only made sense to me that she would be black. So by the time I got to her obligatorily pink nipples (not really a surprise) it was too late, my mental image was already set. I prefer it my way, AND I AM NOT SORRY!!

Back when I was really into it, I did a casting:

Maxine wrote: "All of the characters are very explicitly described as being Caucasian and this bothered me for a number of reasons. Now, I have only read the first and second book of the Black Dagger Brotherhood ..."

As the brothers and the rest of the breed come from northern europe it makes sense that they are caucasian. And it was said in the first book that they cant turn a person into a vampire, the only possible way would be for one to become a half breed like Beth plus they would have to servive they change when they hit 25 and have a vamp to help them.

When I read a book I dont care what colour they are as long as I enjoy they book.

L.A. Banks Huntress series, is multiracial and a great read. Began "Minions" and was so fascinated by the storyline and the dynamics of the characters that I went back and purchased the other 12 books. Stayed up late many nights reading those books, but it was well worth it!

Trez and iAm are called "The Moors". Manny is Italian, Assail I thought was Arab? I thought the Band of Brothers were POC. I was kind of imagining everybody as diverse with POC - like I thought Z and Phury were black. Disappointingly they are most likely all white.

Maxine wrote: "All of the characters are very explicitly described as being Caucasian and this bothered me for a number of reasons. Now, I have only read the first and second book of the Black Dagger Brotherhood ..."

My thought is that they are not human. Why would they be subjected to human races without interbreeding?

This is an interesting question. Is "olive" skin considered "white"? I don't know why, but I didn't think of Bella, Rhevenge, Xhex, Selena, Assail and Sola as "white" for some reason. They obviously are but for whatever reason, I don't imagine them that way in my mind.

But Trez and IAM are not of color they just have a dark skin complexion. in the books it clearly states that they are mistaken for African American. But being that you have to be born of vampire decent the there is no way their could be any vampire of color I have read every book and I'm in love with this series by the way I am of color very dark thank you very much but I love this series and I read all types of book can't wait for the next installment

I do believe there are different races

Yea I think Princess Nhya hit the nail on the head. When reading paranormal romance at times you will often come across more Caucasian writers that write what they are most familiar with. And rare times that will actually include characters of diverse backgrounds. I'll at least say where Ward is concerned though, she at least didn't put in any weird clauses about it, like LKH did in one of her books. As I believe she had a character say or think that as per the rules of the world she was in, there aren't any black vampires cause vampirism doesn't take well or work right in black people or something to that affect.

And another recommendation for books with characters with different backgrounds, would be the Dark-hunters. There are Greek, Roman, Moors, etc. that are "vamps".

Here are some other choices for more diverse characters and authors-https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

And even a group for you to check out-https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

Hopefully those help.

If you're interested in a vamp series with AA's check out the huntress series by L.A. Banks

Yum... Trez and iAm... Yum...

Maxine wrote: "All of the characters are very explicitly described as being Caucasian and this bothered me for a number of reasons. Now, I have only read the first and second book of the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series, but it seems to be a trend that the history of vampires described so far is very Eurocentric. The two female love interests in the first and second books are also Caucasian. I looked into this book series and I don't see this changing for any of the characters.

What are your thoughts on this? Besides confirming or correcting my suspicions, I also just want to know how anyone else feels about this. Thoughts? ..."

Well, this doesn't bother me. I guess on a larger scale when u think about it, there has to be Vamps that come from all ethnic backgrounds considering how populated the world is, but the trend I think, is that most authors who write these types of books, write characters with whom they are comfortable with writing about. I think it has nothing to do with race per se, it's just that they write what they know & that's it. But this series does have two characters of color. Trez & iAm. If you continue the series, u will meet them soon. Plus, their book will be out this March. Book 13, The Shadows. I'm sure there are more authors out there who write this genre with different races included, but there just aren't many who do. Another author who does is Lara Adrian, The Midnight Breeds series. It's very similar to the BDB though. But still a unique series in its own right. But either way, IMO, the BDB is an awesome series. No matter what color or ethnic background the characters are or come from.

Hope this helps :)

Maxine wrote: "All of the characters are very explicitly described as being Caucasian and this bothered me for a number of reasons. Now, I have only read the first and second book of the Black Dagger Brotherhood ..."

Does it matter? Make the characters of these book whatever you want them to be. It's your imagination.