The characters

Here’s a quick look at the key players in The Rephaim series, in their own words.

(I was also asked by The Starry-Eyed Revue back in 2014 how I visualise these characters in a guest post)

Rafa

Age: 139 years
Based: Pretty much anywhere with a bed.
Favourite food: Lamb shanks
Favourite weapon: Katana
Favourite place: Patmos
Best friend: Jude
Favourite way to relax: Use your imagination. I’m also partial to beer.
Earliest memory: Sneaking into the armory and trying to lift Nathaniel’s broadsword. It was taller than me and I knocked a bucket off the bench. Nathaniel caught me dragging the blade around the room. He made me stay in the armory until I could grip it and swing it properly. He thought it was punishment.

Gaby

Age: 19 (or 139, if we’re being pedantic)
Based: Pandanus Beach, Australia
Favourite food: I eat just about anything, but I especially love an authentic Thai green chicken curry.
Favourite weapon: It turns out I have some skill with a katana.
Favourite place: Pandanus Beach. At least my memories there are real.
Best friend: Maggie
Favourite way to relax: Jogging. Hanging out at Rick’s Bar.
Earliest memory: They’re all pretty vague…

Mick Butler

Age: 23
Based: Pan Beach
Favourite food: Steak, eggs and chips at the Imperial
Favourite weapon: Sawn-off shot gun
Favourite place: Campsite on the mountain
Best friend: Joffa
Favourite way to relax: Shootin’ shit.
Earliest memory: Stealing beer from the old man’s esky then copping a hiding for it.

Maggie

Age: 19
Based: Pan Beach
Favourite food: Too close to call:  cured kingfish or pan-fried scallops.
Favourite weapon: Clearly this question is not for me.
Favourite place: Melbourne. Paris (I haven’t been there yet, but I know I’d love it.)
Best friend: Gaby
Favourite way to relax: Knitting and sewing; yoga; jogging; happy hour at Rick’s.
Earliest memory: Being on the beach with my dad, trying to out run the wash of the waves. He was laughing and he put me on his shoulders. I remember thinking he was the strongest man in the world.

Ez

Age: 139
Based: No fixed address (but we’re often in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico)
Favourite food: Fried Jewish artichokes
Favourite weapon: Long knives, katana
Favourite place: The Pantheon in Rome when everyone has gone. Especially if it’s raining
Best friend: Zak
Favourite way to relax: Sharing a meal with friends.
Earliest memory: Finding a perfect white feather on my windowsill. I was four or five. I thought an archangel had come to see us in our sleep. Years later I realised it was probably Nathaniel’s. I kept it until we left the Sanctuary.

Zak

Age: 139
Based: No fixed address
Favourite food: Souvlaki
Favourite weapon: Katana, fists
Favourite place: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Best friend: Ez
Favourite way to relax: Any beach where Ez is in a bikini.
Earliest memory: Watching Brother Alberto’s hound whelp pups in the kitchen. She delivered them in front of the pantry. Very messy, but I made myself watch. He let me name them.

Jason

Age: 139
Based:  An apartment in New York. It’s empty a lot.
Favourite food: Home-cooked ravioli
Favourite weapon: I hate violence.
Favourite place: Tibet.
Best friend: I haven’t been close to anyone long enough to have one.
Favourite way to relax: Listening to acoustic guitar.
Earliest memory: Finding my mother crying at the foot of an angel statue in our village. I thought it was piety. A few years later I fell out of a sycamore tree unscathed and found out the truth.

Simon

Age: 19
Based: Pan Beach, born and bred
Favourite food: Tapas
Favourite weapon: Ignorance
Favourite place: Anywhere there’s no Rephaim, or demons, or snarling hell-beasts.
Best friend: Tommo
Favourite way to relax: Putting the bike through its paces up the mountain.
Earliest memory: Pulling Maggie’s hair in kindergarten. She cried so I let her hit me. We’ve been mates ever since.

Daniel

Age: 139
Based: The Sanctuary
Favourite food: Risotto with shaved parmesan and truffle oil
Favourite weapon: Katana
Favourite place: Bordeaux, France
Best friend: That’s a somewhat juvenile term, but to answer, I have great respect for Uriel.
Favourite way to relax: Reading
Earliest memory: My strongest memory is watching the monks painstakingly copy a page from the Codex Vaticanus. They were working from papyrus that had survived from the fourth century. I wanted to touch it. I didn’t.

Mya

Age: 139
Based: All over
Favourite food: Grilled cheese sandwich from Grahamwich, Chicago
Favourite weapon: .45 automatic. I don’t know why we don’t use firearms. They might not kill a demon but they definitely slow them down.
Favourite place: Havasu Falls in the Grand Canyon
Best friend: Ez
Favourite way to relax: Clubbing.
Earliest memory: Nothing I want to reminisce about.

Jones

Age: 139
Based: Wherever the fight is.
Favourite food: Paella
Favourite weapon: Nun chucks are fun but not always practical, so I usually go with the katana.
Favourite place: Thailand
Best friend: In the old days it was Daisy. Rafa was always good value before Jude disappeared. These days I spend most time with Mya.
Favourite way to relax: Tai chi
Earliest memory: Swinging on a rope from one of the pines outside the Sanctuary. Made me wish I had wings. Shifting is fine, but I’d love to really fly.

Taya

Age: 139
Based: The Sanctuary
Favourite food: Beef vindaloo
Favourite weapon: Katana
Favourite place: Haven’t thought about it. I don’t mind Canada – love watching professional ice hockey
Best friend: Malachi
Favourite way to relax: Training
Earliest memory: Punching a boy in the village for trying to take the bread I was carrying for the brothers.

Malachi

Age: 139
Based: The Sanctuary
Favourite food: Veal parmigiana
Favourite weapon: Poleaxe – but the katana is more practical
Favourite place: Banff, Canada, in ski season
Best friend: Taya
Favourite way to relax: Skiing
Earliest memory: First snow fight. It was against Jude and Rafa in the main piazza. I lost.

Daisy

Age: 139
Based: The Sanctuary
Favourite food: Saltimbocca
Favourite weapon: Twin-bladed sais
Favourite place: The Dead Sea, floating with my face to the sky.
Best friend: Jones, before he followed Mya out the door with the rest of them. Then Gabe, before she disappeared.
Favourite way to relax: Painting. I suck, but it calms me.
Earliest memory: Wandering off in the forest on my own. I climbed a huge pine tree to try and find the Sanctuary and got stuck. It was freezing. Nathaniel found me about an hour later with ice in my hair. He completely freaked out.

Micah

Age: 139
Based: The Sanctuary
Favourite food: Jam donuts
Favourite weapon: Katana
Favourite place: San Francisco
Best friend: Gabe
Favourite way to relax: Playing guitar.
Earliest memory: I found a bowl of melted chocolate in the kitchen and ate about half of it before Brother Alberto caught me. He said my gluttony would be its own punishment. It was: I had shocking stomach pains and then threw up on myself in front of Rafa and Jude. They thought it was hilarious.

Jude

Age: 19
Based: Backpacker hostels
Favourite food: Fresh crab and a cold Corona
Favourite weapon: Channel Islands Flyer shortboard
Favourite place: Bell’s Beach, Australia
Best friend: Probably Gaby, given the amount of time we spend together travelling.
Favourite way to relax: Surfing.
Earliest memory: Racing down a hill in a homemade go-kart with Gaby behind me. She had the helmet. We stacked it at the bottom and both ended up bleeding and sore. We dusted ourselves off, hauled that thing back up the hill and did it all over again.

45 Comments

  1. KitKat says:

    Hey! This is cool. I only have a couple of pages of Haze left and I was wondering if there is any way at all I can read Shimmer sooner?! Wow so addicted to your books:(

    1. paulaweston says:

      Thanks. 🙂 I know a year is a long time to wait between books, but I’m writing them as I go, and these things take time. I really want to get them right. Hopefully the wait will be worth it. 🙂 (If it makes you feel any better, I get just as impatient waiting for books to come out in the series I love too!)

  2. Eddy says:

    I loved Shadows and then afterwards Haze- especially the bits where she goes completely bad-ass with a Katana in front of Rafa and stands up to Mya in front of him!

  3. Emma says:

    Can you please make a profile for Jude? Maybe make it so it wont spoil the plot for those who haven’t read Haze…but I would love to see his profile!!!

    1. paulaweston says:

      Jude was always going to be a tricky one for that reason, but I think I can do it…. Leave it with me! Thanks Emma. 🙂

    2. paulaweston says:

      Okay Emma. I’ve added Jude at the end. See what you think…

  4. Hannah says:

    Hello, one more question… Do you know who the person on the front cover is? Is is Rafa, Jude or Daniel? Is it Nathaniel?

    1. paulaweston says:

      My guess is Rafa – Daniel would never been seen in public without shoes. 🙂 (And the wings are symbolic, rather than literal, so I’ve never thought of him as Nathaniel.) The beauty of any cover is that it’s up for interpretation. Who do you think it is?

      1. Hannah says:

        Hmmm. Since you asked, I would think of it as either Jude or Nathaniel. When I think of Rafa I picture more of a scruffy hotness. And you are right, it totally isn’t Daniel. I see that now.

  5. Tina says:

    Do you think maybe after the last book of the series you can write a short story (sort of like Blood Song) of Gaby’s time in the Sanctuary before she lost her memory? I’m really curious about Gaby and Rafa’s history and the relationship between her, Jude, Daniel, Daisy, Taya, and Malachi.

    1. paulaweston says:

      Hi Tina,
      All I can say (without giving too much away) is…keep reading the series. 🙂 You’ll definitely find out more about all those relationships. I’ll be very curious to know your thoughts at the end of the fourth book.

  6. Zoe says:

    *a few days

    1. paulaweston says:

      Thanks so much Zoe. So glad you enjoyed Shadows. Hope you like Haze too. 🙂 Yep, Daisy is an interesting character and you’ll find out more about her in book 3. Good luck with the bookstore stalking!

  7. Zoe says:

    Oh wow. Thank you! Daisy’s character definitely intrigued me in Shadows – I liked her bravery in standing up to Daniel (or at least trying to) so I’d love to know a little more about her! I seriously can’t wait for Haze – Shadows was easily one of my favourite books last year. I know bookstores sometimes get Aussie books a days before they’re released, so I’ll be stalking the YA section regularly in the lead up to the 22nd!

  8. Zoe says:

    Love it! Can totally hear the characters voices saying all the answers! No Daisy, though?

    1. paulaweston says:

      I was trying to decide whether to include Daisy or not. We don’t see much of her in Haze (but she’s definitely a main player in the rest of the series). You’re right, though. She should be here. Leave it with me. 🙂 (Give me a day to get organised.) Thanks!

  9. Ha, love this, especially favourite foods 🙂

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About Me

I’m the author of the Rephaim series and The Undercurrent.

For my day job, I’m a writer-journalist-professional communicator, where my writing involves a lot less profanity.

I grew up in regional South Australia and now live in the Scenic Rim with my husband and a retired greyhound.

If you’re interested in how I came to land a publishing deal, you can read the short version in this post from August 2011. There’s a longer version (in a guest post) here.

Paula Weston

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