The Sookie Stackhouse novels

[glitterbug]

So, they appear to be different to the True Blood series on HBO. Sookie is a lot less annoying, for a kick off. She also seems a lot feistier in the novels, and quite quick to lose her temper. I'm starting to feel a bit sorry for Bill (I'm on the second book, and Bill already seems a bit out of his depth regarding how modern women want to be treated).

Anyone read the whole series?

[Deleted]

I have read them all and I love them. The 4th or 5th book got a bit too Mary Sue with every supernatural creature in love with Sookie and that was ridiculous, but that seems to have passed and I have been enjoying how the story is progressing. The last one ended in such a way I'm wondering where it will go next.

I really enjoy Sookie as a character in the books. Maybe because they are from her point of view she doesn't seem as annoying as she does in the show, but I remember watching the first few True Blood and thinking, "Sookie wouldn't do that because she's hung up on manners. Sookie wouldn't just take off from work." etc.

My favorite characters are Eric and Pam and Bubba. I am Team Eric in whom she should end up with, with Sam in second. Bill does seem a bit clueless but I'm starting to like him again by book nine. I'm thinking you might not feel too sorry for Bill too much longer if you keep reading.

I watch True Blood but it's better to treat it as its own thing. It picks and chooses from the plots but doesn't make the same logical progressions. Does that make sense? The same situation seems to go two separate ways and that's a lot to do with basically making up the characters of Tara and Lafayette and Jason into a lot more than they are in the books, imo, at least. For example, I just re-read Living Dead in Dallas and they're starting to use that in the show and I'm totally lost because it seems like they've mixed up the reasons they were sent there and put two characters into one.

I probably didn't actually say much, but I've read them as they've come out for the last 5-6 years and I'm trying not to spoiler and I'm sure I've forgotten other things that I've really liked or was really annoyed by, but overall I recommend them.

[MrsCatHead]

I just ordered the box set and also the first season of True Blood from amazon. Arrives tomorrow. Then let the vampire games begin!

[Ripley]

I've just started reading the books (I'm on #6), and TTMR & I have got the first two discs from season 1 from Netflix. I'm almost embarrassed at how much I'm enjoying them.

[londonstill]

I’ve read them all and loved most of them. I totally agree with Ducks about the Mary Sue aspect of most everyone being in love with Sookie.


I thought that book nine was a pretty poor effort.

I really can't wait until the next one. I was spoiled by being able to finish one and grab the next and now I'm at a loss.

[glitterbug]

I don't particularly want to feel sorry for Bill, it's just that Sookie seems to have such a peculiar temper and doesn't give him any brownie points for effort. I'm intrigued to know what happens next, though. I don't see how Sookie's that great that everyone seems taken with her. I could quite happily take Sam off her hands (I think Eric would be a bit too high-maintenance for me!!)
I have gorged on the TV series so I'm trying to make the books last. Can't believe Lafayette got killed off though - what a waste!

[Carolinian]

With the last two novels I get the feeling that Harris's agent sat her down and told her she had too many unresolved plot ideas floating around, and she had to tie some of them up and move on. So she killed characters off, sent them into exile, had old boyfriends pop up and whisk them away, you name it. I was upset by the death of Claudine. It happened offstage! I never did like the introduction of fairy grandpa, so I'm glad that storyline is gone.

[Maddiemoo]

I'm about halfway through the first book and watching the first season at the same time. I like them both but I think the books helped me understand a lot of what was going on, at least in the first few episodes. I'm actually surprised how faithful the show is -- I figured they would just take the characters and the initial premise and then go on their own way from there.

I like book-Sookie better than show-Sookie, but I think that's Anna Paquin's fault more than anything. She plays her kinda...spazzy? Like in the books Sookie's whole smiley facade is used to cover up the fact that she can hear everyone, whereas in the show it seems like, even after all that time, she hasn't been able to cover it up. (Plus, to me, AP's accent seems really off. I'm not from the south so maybe it's really accurate and I can't tell, but it just seems like more of a parody of a southern accent than an actual southern accent.)

[glitterbug]

Okay, so in the first book there's a bit of unresolved tension between Sookie and Sam. It's a bit confusing because she's almost acting like if Sam had made a move on her earlier, nothing would have happened with Bill, but I thought Sookie and Bill were supposed to be this big love and they would stick together in spite of the danger/prejudice etc. I don't get it. So I was even more surprised that she makes out with Sam and describes him as a "sexual fantasy" in the second book - what's that all about? I wish she would make her mind up.

[Deleted]

With Sam, I think she always liked him but never did anything about it because he was her boss and she wanted to keep that line, but if Sam had made a move she would have gone for it and nothing maybe would have happened with Bill because she's a one supe girl. Her and Bill aren't this grand twilighty romance (thank god) because she does see the faults and Bill is clueless, among other things.

I think the main reason she won't make up her mind is so Charlaine can keep all these options open until she decides who Sookie ends up with.