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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Vampires down south, Jun 6 2009
Urban fantasy usually takes place in, you know, urban areas. Cities, big towns, and places where vampires and weres creep in dank alleys.
But Charlaine Harris took a slightly different approach in the Sookie Stackhouse series, the first seven books of which are compiled in this box set. While it has many of the genre staples -- fae, werebeasties and vampires -- this series is solidly entrenched in warm Southern charm and mellow mysteries.
In "Dead Until Dark," waitress Sookie Stackhouse can read minds, which is more of a curse than a blessing. But when she meets and befriends vampire Bill Compton, she discovers that she is unable to read vampire minds. Unfortunately she's run afoul of some vile people who want to drain Bill of his blood.
And she has some personal problems as well -- her grandmother has been viciously murdered, and she's quickly getting in over her head in the world of the mainstream undead. And as she tries to find the murderer, Sookie finds that the supernatural world is a lot more complicated -- and close to home -- than she ever dreamed.
"Living Dead in Dallas" is what it sounds like -- Sookie is hired by vampires over a kidnapping, and ends up mired in a disastrous situation involving werewolves, Texan vamps, and a fanatical religious cult that hates the supernatural. "Club Dead" brings Sookie some relationship problems when Bill becomes inattentive... and vanishes. Sookie sets out to find her absentee lover along with Eric and the werewolf Alcide, but the result isn't what she expects.
Post-breakup, Sookie has problems in "Dead to the World" when she's confronted by a devious band of witches in Shreveport, as well as handling her brother's disappearance and a newly amnesiac (and naked!) Eric. And "Dead as a Doornail" embroils Sookie in the inevitable werepolitics -- someone is shooting shifters, and there's a new potential werewolf leader in town. And Sookie may be the next victim.
"Definitely Dead" and "All Together Dead" brings Sookie back to the vampire political arena. First she heads to a pre-Katrina New Orleans when her vampire cousin is murdered, and learns a surprising fact about her family tree. And then she's called to a vampire summit where the Vampire Queen of Louisiana is being accused of murder. Of course, things get rough.
The Sookie Stackhouse series does a great job of avoiding the usual pitfalls of urban fantasy -- it's not all doom'n'gloom, gothic pomposity and angst. Instead, it's soaked in down-home Southern charm, the pleasant little town of Bon Temps, and a generally mellow, relaxed atmosphere all throughout the series.
Of course, it doesn't stop Harris from piling on gruesome murders and nasty psychos here and there, as well as a few subplots that are deftly juggled in each book. Her style is warm, steady and mildly tongue-in-cheek ("We'd dumped a body together, and that cre ates a bond"), and she introduces some unique ideas into the usual hierarchies of weres and vampires (such as Elvis Presley, now a vampire!).
What flaws? Well, Sookie's love life and attractiveness has her occasionally bordering on Anita Blake territory. That, we do not need.
Despite that problem, Sookie is a likable character -- an unpretentious and no-nonsense waitress who doesn't go looking for trouble, but whose telepathic talents often draw it to her. And there's plenty of other likable characters: the charming Viking vampire Eric, Sookie's flaky werepanther brother Jason, her down-to-earth werecollie boss Sam, and many others.
The only characters who don't click are the boring and slightly creepy Bill, and the weretiger Quinn (a machismo-dripping nonentity). Bill at least serves a purpose, but I honestly don't know why Quinn is there.
"Sookie Stackhouse Books 1-7" is a solid collection of Charlaine Harris's warm, Southern-scented urban fantasies. It has some rough spots, but it's a good lighthearted read.
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by Charlaine Harris
by Charlaine Harris
by Charlaine Harris
DVD ~ Anna Paquin
by Charlaine Harris
