Last year I watched the first season of the HBO series "True Blood." I liked it. It was sexy and cool and a little scary and had great characters. It didn't take long to find out the show is based on a series of novels by Charlaine Harris (referred to alternately as the "Southern Vampire Mysteries" or the "Sookie Stackhouse novels"), and after the season ended I decided to give the books a shot. Season One of the show followed the plot of the first book (Dead Until Dark) pretty closely, and there's my dilemma: Do I want to be surprised by the show or by the books? I'm leaning toward the show. I'm suprised to be saying this, but the show actually does a better job developing the secondary characters than the books do. When the killer in the first season was revealed I was completely shocked and a bit dismayed by who it was (I won't say who; no spoilers!), while in the book he was just one of a lot of background characters who were just kind of there. I have read books two and three in the series but I think I will hold off on the rest until I watch Season Two (which starts June 14) and see how closely it sticks to the books. I'm really hoping the books and show stories will start to diverge (as the Dexter books and series did) and I will be able to enjoy and be surprised by both in the future.
The Southern Vampire Mysteries series by Charlaine Harris is an enjoyable read: lightweight, romance-y, some violence but not over the top. A good recommendation for someone who's finished the Twilight series.
3 comments:
I've heard about this series from a few different people. I think I will give it a try!
I've enjoyed the HBO series so far. I'm not sure if I'll read the books or not though I've read a short story or two that features Sookie.
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