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The Sookie Stackhouse Novels by Charlaine Harris have become quiet but serious competition to the fanaticism surrounding the Twilight series, especially following the release of the show True Blood on HBO. The series follows the adventures of Sookie Stackhouse as she deals with the supernatural world into which she finds herself thrust when she starts dating a vampire named Bill Compton.
Each book of the series follows a short but intense period of her life, beginning with a series of murders in the quiet Louisiana town of Bon Temps in the first of the books, Dead Until Dark. Sookie is a waitress at a bar and, through a strange sequence of events, begins to date Bill. Through him, she comes into contact with some other very scary vampires, and their relationship is fraught with tension. This book is the basis for the first season of True Blood; and the second and current season follows Living Dead in Dallas. The subsequent books continue the stories of Sookie and those around her –living and undead.
Harris develops her characters as the story continues. Although Sookie and Bill and some of the other creatures with whom Sookie comes into contact as her life goes on may seem a trifle flat on the first reading, that sensation changes quickly as the stories continue and new depths of even the most minor characters are revealed. The ability of Harris to create a world where vampires exist, fight for their political rights and try to live normal lives, and where normal people can be just as interesting as their supernatural counterparts, is what gives these books their charm.
Some readers, especially younger ones, should steer clear of these novels until they are mature enough to handle their themes; graphic sex and violence feature prominently in the series (as well as in True Blood). For older readers, though, this portion of the writing may provide the glimpse of danger that other recent vampire stories have not had. This is one more edge the Sookie Stackhouse Novels have over the Twilight series for older readers; as actor Stephen Moyer (who plays Bill Compton) said in an interview with Marie Claire, the Twilight vampires are “the Slim-fast, Diet Coke of vampires.” The vampires in the Sookie Stackhouse Novels could certainly never be referred to that way, a trait that makes them more traditionally appealing to fans of the genre.
The Sookie Stackhouse Novels are not great literature. At times, the writing is flawed or grammatically incorrect, even given the use of idiomatic language employed by Harris to make her Southern characters more believable (a writing trait of hers that works very much in her favor; readers will be able to hear the accents she writes as clearly as if they were spoken). However, they don’t pretend to be great –these novels are fun to read, and that’s all they are. The unpretentious nature of the stories, which more than fulfill their potential as easy escapism, is refreshing.
Despite their flaws, these books are absurdly fun to read. The books make an excellent way to get away from everyday life, conveniently placed in short, easily read chunks. While they won’t become classics, the Sookie Stackhouse Novels will surely become favorites, read again and again with great relish.
The True Blood website
The review of Dead Until Dark
The review of Living Dead in Dallas
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