The Sookie Stackhouse novels are the books on which the HBO series "True Blood" is (these days, incredibly loosely-) based. Spoiler alert: the show and the book have so very little in common anymore. Since about season 2, HBO has definitely taken some liberties. Here's an example: there is no Jessica. Bill never had to make a vampire. As much as I love her character, she isn't actually in the books. Another thing (SPOILER ALERT) is that Lafayette's character has such a small role and in fact he is discovered murdered at the start of the second book. Bummer. They really created Lafayette out of thin air for the show though, so props to HBO for the character development from scratch.
I tell you this so you understand that the books and the show are not completely the same. Also, the books ROCK. I love them so much. I have read 1-8 already, but for blog purposes I am re-reading them up to at least book 11. I will review three at a time so that my blog isn't overrun with posts.
This post contains the summary of books 1-3 of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, that is Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas, and Club Dead respectively. Get excited!
First off, I have to say that I love Charlaine Harris's writing. She is so good at giving the reader complete and rounded characters. The Sookie Stackhouse novels are written in first person, so you have to listen to Sookie's thoughts, much like she does to the people she meets. The thing is, her thoughts don't bore you, and in fact keep you utterly entertained. I read these 3 books in a week. We are introduced to characters that have been completely thought out, with back story, personal dilemmas, and futures. We are given a wide cast, but one that is developed and thoroughly explained to us by our narrator.
Not only does Sookie get a voice, but she gives a voice to the rural South. Having been born and raised in a small East Texas town, Sookie's observations remind me so much of home. From the mannerisms to the believable dialogue, Harris takes us into rural Louisiana and paints a picture so true and so rewarding, that readers beg for more. The small town of Bon Temps, with its mystery and its separateness from normal city-life, intrigues us and leaves us wanting more.
Another way Harris has us on the edge of our seats is of course with the suspense of the plot. Or plots, I should say. The idea of several plot lines weaving throughout the books may make you think it would be a hard read and confusing to the point of dislike, but Harris's roller coaster is a premium rush. The stories never get convoluted, and because Sookie can prioritize and compartmentalize, we aren't left wondering about one part of the story for too long. Some other turn comes, and we are right back to the front row of suspense and fun. The flow of the books is the perfect speed to keep you entertained while making you just as mad as Sookie, or making you laugh at one of her quirks. They are hard to put down, and I recommend them to anyone who likes vampires or dark fantasy.
One interesting thing about Harris's writing is how she introduced Bill compared to how she introduced the other men in Sookie's life. When Sookie meets Bill she is of course interested because she can't read his mind, but is isn't described as particularly good looking. Not only that, but in his first real dialogues with Sookie, tries to intimidate her and/or explain how deadly, dangerous, evil, and unlike humans vampires are. When Sookie meets Eric he is on a type of throne surrounded by worshipers (He's on a dais at Fangtasia surrounded by Fangbangers). He is described as tall and muscular. In his first interactions with Sookie, he flirts with her and makes passes (actually, that's kind of constant). Sure he may treat Sookie like a servant at times, but the readers can overlook that because she starts working for him, and he is a high ranking vampire official.
Then there is Alcide. One thing Sookie mentions often is how his body temperature is higher (and much higher than Bill's) than normal, and that is mentioned as an attractive thing. Not only that, but Sookie imagines herself living her fantasy life with Alcide: mornings with big breakfasts, meeting for lunch, etc. All these are daytime activities that Bill can't ever participate in in Sookie's life.
The big question is, was this contrast created by Harris intentional? I have mixed feelings about the answer. Either it's a major flaw in our male protagonist or it's a way to create an under-dog effect for Bill at the end of the novels. None of those choices are particularly pleasing.
But ponder that while you read the synopses of the first 3 Sookie Stackhouse novels.
In book 1 we meet Sookie Stackhouse, telepathic waitress living with her grandmother in the rural Louisiana town of Bon Temps. Before you give up right there, keep in mind that Anne Rice wrote her famous vampire novels around New Orleans. See? It's kind of a Mecca for vampires. Anyway, because Sookie can read minds, she isn't too popular with the guys around town. That is until she meets dark and brooding vampire Bill Compton when he gets a table in her section of Merlotte's Bar and Grill. Vampires "came out of the coffin" two years ago when the Japanese created a synthetic blood drink that replaces the human blood needed for vampiric survival. Because they no longer have to feed on humans, they revealed their existence to society and were given basic human rights and made citizens. Bill is the first vampire Sookie has ever seen, and to her his brain is absolute heaven: she can't hear a single thought in his head! When Sookie uses her mind reading to save Bill's life from vampire "drainers" (people who steal the blood of vampires to sell on the black market because of it's euphoric, healing, and all-around bettering effects) she and Bill begin a relationship that turns into dating. Soon bodies start piling up and it's looking like the victims were into Fangbanging, hanging around vampire haunts wanting to be bitten. It turns out Sookie's brother Jason, the man-about-town of Bon Temps, also has a "connection" to the two victims. To prove that Jason hadn't frequented the places the murdered girls visited, Sookie gets Bill to take her to Fangtasia, "The Premier Vampire Bar of Shreveport." There we meet Eric Northman, tall, blonde, Viking, and very undead. Eric owns Fangtasia and is Sheriff of Area Five, which means that in vampire hierarchy, Bill has to listen to Eric. Since Sookie, in vampire terms, belongs to Bill, she also has to do what Eric asks. That means using her telepathic powers to snoop for the Sheriff. Sookie makes a deal with Eric to read minds whenever he asks, but that the humans she "reads," even if they are guilty, aren't harmed. Now Sookie kind of works for a powerful, lethal, and overtly sexual Viking vampire in her spare time from waitressing at the bar owned by a spoiler alert shape-shifter What a life.
Long story short, Sookie is almost murdered by the killer who targeted women who he felt were less than human because of their dealings with vampires. She narrowly avoids death, but she does give pause to dating Bill because she has a good chance of being hurt.
On that note, book 2, Living Dead in Dallas, finds Sookie dating Bill happily, doing some mind reading for Eric, finding a dead body in the bar parking lot and working at Merlotte's. On the way to Fangtasia, Sookie is injured by a maenad, a Greek era forest nymph of sorts who once worshiped the god Bacchus. She sends Sookie with a message for Eric: by striking her on the back with sharp poisoned claws. When Bill and Sookie finally get to the bar, she needs a blood transfusion to survive. Sookie lives, but has scars and a lot of questions. Apparently, maenads feel like they are owed tribute by supernatural bar owners for all their take of the alcohol, violence, and sex they generate. So Eric decides to pay the maenad so that she'll hopefully leave Louisiana. When she is feeling better, Eric loans Sookie out to the Dallas area vampires who are missing one of their members. Bill and Sookie go to investigate and discover the Fellowship of the Sun might be involved. The Fellowship (not even close to Tolkein's) is a group who believes all vampires are evil and should be killed (for the final time). Sookie and one of the Dallas vampires' humans try to infiltrate the Fellowship headquarters, but are taken captive and held in the basement. Turns out the missing vampire is there along with Godfrey, a vampire who wants to commit suicide by "meeting the sun." The Fellowship has turned his wishes into a huge ceremony scheduled to take place at dawn, with the Dallas vamp and Sookie tied to him. Both vamps and Sookie (via close proximity) would burn to death in front of hundreds of witnesses.
When Sookie is beaten and almost raped by one of her captors, Godfrey rescues her and decides to help her escape. Because it's daylight, Godfrey can only do so much, and Sookie can't call Bill. On her way to find the exit, Sookie is helped by a shape-shifter who helps her escape in a fast-fleeing car. The Dallas vampire group rescues their missing member and throw a welcome home party. The party gets blasted on all sides from Fellowship members with assault rifles just seconds after Sookie tries to warn the group. Eric, who made a surprise visit, covers Sookie from the bullets, but is struck himself and makes her suck the bullet out. She ingests some of his blood (which was his plan all along), but tries to find Bill in the aftermath. She discovers that he went after the attackers, without checking on her safety. Sookie is about done with Bill now. When she returns home, Sookie tries to find who murdered Lafayette and left his body in the Merlotte's parking lot by going to an orgy. It's believed that Lafayette went to this orgy and bragged about it or mentioned who some members were and was killed for it. Sookie gets Eric to tag along and act as a kind of body guard. When Sookie has discovered who the murderers are and wants to leave, they are stopped by the maenad looking for more tribute. She is pleased with the orgy and the murderers, though she does punish the criminals by turning them into little more than hamburger meat. The maenad feels that is enough payment and leaves the area, and the murderers are wiped out. Two birds, one stone.
Book 3, Club Dead, opens with Sookie and Bill in kind of a rut. He is constantly working on his computer, being really secretive about it, and not giving Sookie the hot nights she has become accustomed to. When Bill tells Sookie he has to leave town for a couple weeks (a recurring theme) and lies about the destination, she has her suspicions. Then Sookie is almost hurt by a were looking for her in Merlotte's. She is saved by Bubba, the dimwitted vampire body guard she has when Bill leaves on trips. I won't tell you who Bubba really is, it's much more fun to read for yourself. When Eric and his second in command, Pam show up on her doorstep to tell her that Bill has been kidnapped and is being held hostage in Jackson, Mississippi, Sookie is heartbroken and terrified. That is, until they tell her that he went to Jackson to meet up with an old flame, his Maker and ex-lover, and that Bill was planning to leave Sookie in the dust. Oh she was going to be taken care of financially, which only made the anger colder for Sookie. As mad as she is, she doesn't want Bill to die, especially by torture, so she agrees to try to find him. Enter werewolf Alcide Herveaux, owner of a surveying company and a good looking bod. He owes Eric a favor and is going to escort Sookie to the bars in Jackson so she can "listen" to the patrons and see who might have taken Bill and where. She and Alcide hit up Josephine's a supes-only bar that the weres call Club Dead. It isn't like Fangtasia which caters to the Fangbanging variety, but is exclusive to vamps, weres and shifters. No humans allowed unless accompanied by a supe. There Sookie meets the King of Mississippi (another vampire hierarchy thing), Russell Edgington and in protecting a vampire from a stake through the heart gets injured and is taken back to Russell's mansion to recuperate. She takes more of Eric's blood to help heal, and sets out in the daylight to find Bill. Russell had him kidnapped to try to gain the computer program Bill had been developing: a complete database of all the vampires in the world. She discovers him tied up in a renovated stable, and as she is trying to get him awake enough to half carry, they are attacked by Bill's maker/lover. Sookie ends up staking the vampire and gets Bill safely tucked away in her trunk. By nightfall, Bill wakes up enough to try to explain that he had to answer his maker's call and go to Jackson. That doesn't explain the cheating and casting off, so Sookie gets Eric to drive her home. They are attacked by weres, looking for information about one of their missing pack members. This particular pack member's body was found stuffed in Alcide's closet by spoiler alert Bubba who killed him because the were was trying to get in to hurt Sookie. Eric and Sookie evade the weres and make it back to Bon Temps. A few days later, Bill goes to Sookie to try to talk things out, but really, she's just too upset and hurt to hear anything he has to say. In a moment of brilliance, she rescinds Bill's invitation into her house which makes him have to leave and not come back in until he is invited again. Sookie does the same thing to Eric, and tries to have a normal life. That is, until book 4 Dead to the World!
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