Charlaine Harris’ ‘Dead’ series

Back in 2001, I had the opportunity to read Dead until Dark the first book in the series.   However, it wasn’t a paranormal romance, and I wasn’t interested at the time.  But with the buzz from the True Blood series, I thought I’d give it another try.  I’m glad I did since the mystery/horror elements are much more appealing than the paranormal romance this time around.

Dead Until Dark

The story: a socially isolated waitress (Sookie) at a bar in rural Louisiana encounters a vampire and goes to his rescue when he is attacked in the parking lot of the bar.  This action embroils her in a supernatural murder mystery.

I love Sookie’s wry observations on her own and everyone else’s behavior.  She doesn’t easily accept all the bizarre revelations about the supernatural people but she doesn’t waste time protesting her new reality either.  Her tenuous place in the social structure makes it believable that she’d fall into the ‘outgroup’ of vampires and such.  I hope that Harris enriches all the minor characters – the community members are all quite interesting.

Living Dead in Dallas

The story:  A co-worker at the bar where Sookie works is murdered.  She is hired by vampires to solve the mystery and she learns far too much about supernatural world.

I was slightly disappointed with this one.  It may be that the author is moving from a single novel to a series and so has to lighten the tone a bit.  I also missed Sookie’s hometown politics and interactions.  Dallas was less interesting to me here.  I do like how Sookie is changing due to her adventures: she’s more confident, more daring and a bit more sophisticated.

Club Dead

The story:  Sookie’s having boyfriend trouble and then he goes missing.  She’s got to find him and upbraid him.

I don’t like the urban setting. Moreover, this one got way too painful for me.  I really hated what some of the characters in this book did.  So much so that I contemplated dropping the series.

Dead to World

The story:  Sookie is bitter and alone after her breakup.  It never rains but it pours since her brother disappears and she has an amnesiac vampire dropped into her lap (more or less).

But I did pick up the fourth book and I’m happy for doing it.  Sookie’s back at home which pleases me no end.  Sookie’s becoming more resilient emotionally and mentally, and I think she’s becoming a force to be reckoned with.  Normally I’d find fault that every guy she meets is instantly attracted to her.  But I can buy that her psychic powers are the real lure and they are all supernatural beings.  No humans for Sookie.

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More from G.R.O.S.S. (Get Rid Of Slimy girlS)

Image via Wikipedia

I stopped reading blogs on ‘mainstream’ N.A. comics because each time I did I felt angry and depressed.  But once in a while, I still run into these girls-drool-boys-rule news items.

A new post on Comics Worth Reading is about gender targeted contests and articles.  The L. A. Times article “Girls’ Guide to Comic Con 2009” caught my attention.

Charlie Jane Anders rips it apart, and the final line made me laugh.

Thom Zahler is so incensed that he’s giving away free comics.

Anyhow back to the article.  It was meant, I think, to convey that not only does Comic Con permit females to attend but they might find one or two events enjoyable.

I pointed out on CWR that the second sentence reads, “And it’s not all just about the influx of squealing “Twilight” girls, either.”  Well, and good.  Nothing like alienating fans of a popular author like Meyer.  But the best part is that the article points out that werewolves are hot; vampires are hot; guys in mecha suits are hot; vampires are hot; reptilian aliens are hot.  It’s not that I disagree, far from it.  My question is why the digs at paranormal romance fans and then direct your comments to that audience.

At long last, I’m a fan of Dollhouse.  However, it’s a little off-putting to find an Active/Doll referred to as butt-kicking. Sure she is, just like Pinocchio. It’s also painfully amusing to read that Echo is “airheady” not that she is drugged and that her mind is constantly wiped.

And the only interest any woman could have in Whiteout and Inglourious Basterds is their hot male actors.

Yar.

Vampire Diaries on TV

Image by smittenkittenorig via Flickr

I’m excited!  I just learned that L. J. Smith‘s Vampire Diaries might coming to CW.  Smith’s series has been compared to Stephenie Meyer’s but I think her series are more fun.  They are just as romantic but a little more grounded.

Vampire Diaries is the story told in 4 books of Elena who is pursued by two vampire brothers.

Rachel Thomas quotes Variety on the casting:

Variety reports that former Lost star Ian Somerhalder has snagged the role of Damon. Nina Dobrev (Degrassi: The Next Generation) has been cast to play Elena and Paul Wesley (Everwood) joins the cast as the 200-year-old Stefan. Dawson’s Creek mastermind Kevin Williamson will be the executive producer for the series.

Nina Dobrev to be Elena.

Ian Somerhalder to be Damon

Paul Wesley to be Stefan.

I’ve read several of her series but the Night World series is my favorite, especially Spellbinder (scroll down a bit).

A snazzy fan blog for the TV version of Vampire Diaries .

The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes

Jennifer Crusie discussed the process of developing the cover art of this book which enticed me to read it.  You should really take a look.

The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes written by Anne Stuart, Jennifer Crusie, Eileen Dreyer.  Three sisters, Mare, Lizzie, and Dee,  have magical powers but they’ve turned their back on their magical heritage.  Since their magical powers are fueled through sexual expression, they’ve given up romance too.  But a powerful enemy will force them to call upon their dormant magic. As luck (A.K.A. matchmaking Aunt Xan) would have it, several suitors appear in town at the same time.

My favorite male character was the biker guy, Crash Duncan, who seemed delightfully ordinary.  My least favorite was Elric the wizard guy because he was insufferably smug.  It was also very reminiscent of Charmed which is noticed by the characters.  The movie Corpse Bride becomes part of the story.  The characters made it seem like the most romantic movie which made me finally watch it.

This was fun, if lightweight read.

vampire vs. werewolf

Art by JenZee

The other day, my mother and sister and I got in a conference call. My sister is a book behind me in the Stephenie Meyer series and she is struggling with Bella’s passivity. Not like Tamora Pierce’s heroines, I was strongly informed. I told her to read New Moon for Jacob instead.

We began debating the relative merits of werewolf vs. vampire fantasy boyfriends. Both of us are firmly in the werewolf camp, actually it’s more of a shape shifting camp. My sister brought in Emma Bull’s Phouka from War for the Oaks as an example of shape shifting hotness and we talked about Blood and Chocolate yet again and I pushed Hollow Kingdom once again.

Somewhere in all this, I said something to my mother. There was nothing but silence from her end. She’d fallen asleep. So, we talked about more generally interesting topics.

But it was fun while it lasted. *happy sigh*

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

I read New Moon by Stephenie Meyer over the past weekend. I talked a bit about the first book, Twilight which I really enjoyed.  I was looking forward to the sequel.  What happens in New Moon is that Edward dumps Bella. She doesn’t take it so well.

Edit: I did like Edward and Bella in the first book.  He was the perfect first boyfriend and she was charmingly naive. But Edward, other than being the catalyst, is inconsequential here.  Bella is never that perceptive at best, and her emotions cloud her judgment to an alarming degree in this book.  I have nothing but happy thoughts about Jacob, though.

The rest is my consideration of Bella’s relationships, and I am assuming that you’ve read both books already.