Book Bitching

Vampirephiles, this post is for you!

I’m currently reading Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris , the fifth book in the Sookie Stackhouse series (also called the Southern Vampire series). When I initially read Dead Until Dark , the first book, I only thought it was so-so. Compared to the earlier Anita Blake Vampire Hunter books by Laurell K. Hamilton, they were sub-par. [By the way, I say the earlier Anita Blake books, because after Obsidian Butterfly the series has taken a severe nosedive. Anita used to be such an awesome, strong female character. She was sarcastic and badass. Now.. She’s skanking things up, and recycling the same quips over and over. But I’ll discuss this another time, I’m getting sidetracked. My point is this: I refer to Obsidian Butterfly and before as “vintage Anita Blake”. Just so you know.] Then I heard that the series was getting turned into a TV show, and I grew curious about it. When viral marketing for the show, which was to be called True Blood , showed up, I grew even more curious. After watching the first couple of episodes, I knew I was addicted. Though it was far from a perfect show, it was cheesy and hilarious in a way that really worked for it. Another factor in addicting me to the show was the recaps written by the illustrious Cleolinda Jones , whose parodies I adore. [I even own and frequently pimp her book, Movies in Fifteen Minutes .] After a couple more episodes, I knew I wanted to pick the series back up again.

My first course of action was to re-read Dead Until Dark. As I suspected, I liked it a lot better now that I had some good visuals in my head. Before, I kept picturing Sookie as the chick from the TV show The Closer, and it really wasn’t working for me. Anna Paquin , who plays Sookie on True Blood, provided a much better visual. And Stephen Moyer , who plays the main vampire, Bill, provides a good visual too. A damn good visual. A fine visual. Ahem. I could hear the characters’ voices as I read, and it was just all-around better. And so I picked up the next book, and continued on. And the next book. And the next.

I am thoroughly hooked. They’re pretty light books, but they have great plot and fun characters. [For the record, Eric is totally better than Bill.] They don’t go overboard on the sex, like Anita Blake does. The show differs from the books in some aspects, mainly in giving certain characters bigger roles than they originally had, but these differences are certainly understandable for the change in medium.

In conclusion: I love the books, and intend to read them all! I love the show, and can’t wait for season two!

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