Book Thoughts: Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

[moonshayde]

So I just finished reading Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris.



It was okay. It was a light read and Sookie is a likeable character. Actually, I found all the characters pretty good, and unique, and the plot was decent. But I was surprised to find that I was more disappointed with it than I thought I would be. I think she has a great casual voice and I can hear her characters having that charming southern twang. I liked the atmosphere and the characters felt real. I just didn't get as hooked on it as I thought I might, given how many people love the Sookie Stackhouse books.

Maybe it's because I'm not a big vampire fan. Don't know. I thought Bill and the vampires were fascinating characters, but I wasn't sold on the romance between Sookie and Bill. It seemed more like just sex to me. Which gets me going on another topic.

The sex scenes were non-explicit and fairly tame, but I question the need for so many of them. I'm actually not against sex scenes. 99% of the time I think they are unnecessary because they hinder the plot, but I could see a couple of these as plot driven scenes. Others just seemed there for the sake of being there. So for me, the middle of the book dragged. I just wanted to get back to the murder investigation.

Also, I don't understand why female leads have to have like a half a dozen men falling all over them. I don't like it, and I haven't liked it for a long time. I understand there was rationale for it later in the book, after she had changed somewhat after consuming vampire blood, but I picked up on that vibe early on in the book as well. I think I would enjoy a book with a female lead who didn't have a bunch of guys panting over her.

So, aside from those issues, I thought it was an enjoyable book. I would probably read another, though I don't have the rush to immediately go seek one out. I'm actually far more interested in reading more of the Dresden series, as I enjoyed the first book of Butcher's series far more than I enjoyed Harris' first book of her series. Maybe the subsequent books are better.

So whenever I get around to the next one, I'll see if I like it better. I'm definitely in no hurry though, and I'm not enticed to watch True Blood from it.

Comments

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Having never read the books, I'll tell you that the sex scenes in the show are anything but non-explicit.

One of the reasons I was able to keep watching the show is that the first thing Sookie does for Bill is save his life, and the second thing she does is make fun of him for being called "Bill". Which I think is funny. But in the show they really play up that what draws Sookie to Bill so strongly is that she can't hear his thoughts, and that if she ever really wants a relationship with someone who won't drive her insane, it will have to be him (or another vampire).

I'm definitely a vampire (non-Twilight, obviously) girl, though, so I am biased.

[gategrrl.livejournal.com]

I read through the first three of the Stackhouse series, and I think I skimmed through two more (I picked them up at a used Library bookstore!).

I liked the voice, too, but as the series went on, I didn't like the increasingly unhealthy and twisted relationship between Sookie and her vamp-lover, and her other vamp-lover. The relationships are treated as unhealthy and codependent, but that doesn't mean they aren't fetishized at the same time, if you know what I mean.

I have the same complaints about female characters in urban fantasy and its variations. I think it's because of the Romance origins of much of vampire/urban fantasy lore. Not all urban fantasy (at least, the "legitimate" urban fantasy of the type written before this kind took off). Why do they have to have tons of guys falling over them and panting after them? ALL.THE.TIME?

I actually wrote a vent-post on this about urban fantasy a few months ago. I'm also sick and tired of the dom-sub relationships that uf tends to reiterate until it's dead in the water. (maybe that should be the title of the next Stackhouse book...)

I can see this variety of urban fantasy having a large crash in a couple of years. It'll always be *around*, but not in force the way it is now.

I hate to sound sexist, but uf should be labelled as "urban fantasy ROMANCE". I really am not overly fond of Romance weaseling its way into my fantasy books. I hates it.

[spiletta42.livejournal.com]

Also, I don't understand why female leads have to have like a half a dozen men falling all over them

That drives me crazy as well. As a way to prove the female protagonist is special or worthy or whatever, it's made of fail.

Have you read Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold? She knows how to do a female protagonist the right way. Plus, no wedged-in sex scenes.

[ldyanne.livejournal.com]

I have exactly your opinion of the Sookie Stackhouse books (I'm on the third one). I have friends who absolutely adore them and I'm just not seeing it. I just don't get what's so special about her that men are falling all over themselves for her. *shrugs*

I do by far prefer the Dresden books (I'm all caught up.) I really find Dresden an absorbing, ever-changing character with some of the most fascinating extra characters ever!!

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

Yeah I couldn't really get into them. I was surprised because I normally love vampire novels, but Idk I thought they were a pretty light read and gave up on them after the first two books. I didn't really find the author that great, so I was surprised at how popular they are

[claudiapriscus.livejournal.com]

I found the books to be kind of fluffy fun when they first came out. I'm not a fan of vampires, but I was willing to go with it. And at first, the author started to add some potentially interesting elements, so I kept reading. But they never really seemed to go anywhere, and I got a bit tired of the Man of the Week Who is Almost Certainly a Bad Idea.


The last book I read in the series involved Sookie doing something so obviously idiotic that she should know better about I just put the book down and walked away. I mean, either she's too dumb to live, in which case I'm not interested, or she's falling into the category of "female characters who secretly want to be dominated and forced into things against their will" which *really* doesn't interest me. (it's like a zombie of a romance trope! It was dead, but then rose again to terrorize the urban fantasy genre.)

I think the author has gotten a little burned out on the series to boot.

If you want something else to try, I recommend Karen Chance. Her series really surprised me. On the surface, it seems to fit into the same genre, but then it goes and does very interesting things.

[platysseus.livejournal.com]

I usually try to avoid vampire things (unless it's Whedon or Kripke stuff) as I just don't have interest in those creatures. Whedon helped me understand the love for them better, but he didn't influence me.

Also, I don't understand why female leads have to have like a half a dozen men falling all over them
*feels a tad guilty* That seems to be the running minor-theme in all but one of my novels. The reasons for it are different each time. Re: my trilogy, it just happens to be a consequence of being the daughter of the most difficult man to find. Just about everyone in the higher classes is interested in her (& her brother) for one reason or another. But they're not exactly panting; at least 2 of the 4 are plotting. ;)

[lexsara.livejournal.com]

I made it through the first four books ... then I totally stopped. I was intrigued at first, but like you, I quickly found Sookie not a character I liked that much or wanted to follow. Plus, I got tired of all the men (there are plenty) that are in her life. And I'm just not a Bill fan.

True Blood is a much more interesting version of the stories, and one of the rare cases in which I like the TV version better than the books. It's raunchy yes, but the characters are much better and more interesting.

And the Dresden Files ROCK. There's a series I will never get tired of and have read all that are out so far!

[brijeana.livejournal.com]

Oooh I'm excited to hear your thoughts about the book. chatchien and I were talking about how Supernatural and True Blood both combine the supernatural with blue collar characters and working class atmosphere.

I have a friend who loves the books so I've been meaning to check them out. My sister says the show pretty much fails to capture the southern feel.

Between my Anne Rice phase and Buffy I'm kind of over vampires.