I found my joy again in reading the Sookie Stackhouse novels in Dead Reckoning. As with many longer series the early books had a lot of new stuff to fascinate, then came a dip in originality and in quality. It was just more of the same. It is still more of the same but the story is more character driven which I enjoy.

Sookie and her boyfriend Eric is exploring ‘going steady’ which is a new experience for the both of them. It generates many small situations that amused me.

The fallout from the shifters revelation continues in this novel. Early on there is a firebombing of Merlotte’s, the bar where Sookie works. She catches a glimpse of the perpetrator before taking cover. She soon realizes that there is more to her investigation than shifter-haters.

They also have to deal with the king’s henchman Victor. He is out to get Eric and all the people around him, Sookie included. It is endearing the way Pam and Eric tries to keep Sookie out of it to ‘protect’ her. Like that ever is going to work. This is where Sookies personal journey comes into play. She has to face some hard facts about herself and her relationship before it is over and Eric is … let us say consistent.

Pam is the character I most enjoyed. She becomes more her own here.

Did I mention Bubba is back?

I liked and enjoyed this lightweight entertainment that is Southern Vampires. It is very character driven so be warned if you don’t go for that kind of thing. The plot is the weakest part, it is partly inconsistent with earlier books. I mostly enjoyed being with the characters for a while though.

There are quite a few unresolved threads for future books at the end. I hope Charlaine Harris continues on this trend but we need more plot in the next volume. I recommend Dead Reckoning to fans of True Blood and Southern Vampires if you like character driven stories.

Book Information

Dead Reckoning (True Blood 12) by Charlaine Harris (Gollancz 2011) – Amazon US | UK

With her knack for being in trouble’s way, Sookie witnesses the firebombing of Merlotte’s, the bar where she works. Since Sam Merlotte is now known to be two-natured, suspicion falls immediately on the anti-shifters in the area. Sookie suspects otherwise, but her attention is divided when she realizes that her lover Eric Northman and his “child” Pam are plotting to kill the vampire who is now their master. Gradually, Sookie is drawn into the plot-which is much more complicated than she knows…

Title: Dead in the Family
Series: Southern Vampire Mysteries 10 | Sookie Stackhouse | True Blood
Author: Charlaine Harris
Jacket illustration: Lisa Desimini
Genre:  Supernatural fantasy
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: ACE of Berkley Publishing Group a division of Penguin Group 2010 | Gollancz of Orion
Order from: ACE | Gollancz | Amazon US | UK | B&N | sfbok

After enduring torture and the loss of loved ones during the brief but deadly Faery War, Sookie Stackhouse is hurt and she’s angry. Just about the only bright spot in her life is the love she thinks she feels for vampire Eric Northman. But he’s under scrutiny by the new Vampire King because of their relationship. And as the political implications of the Shifters coming out are beginning to be felt, Sookie’s connection to the Shreveport pack draws her into the debate. Worst of all, though the door to Faery has been closed, there are still some Fae on the human side-and one of them is angry at Sookie. Very, very angry…

Information

The book is dedicated to their son Patrick.

The jacket art depicts a blond woman in a green dress hovering opposite a hovering blond man wearing a black mantle with two thorny roses intertwined in the background. Those Roses have some glitter in it. The man in me feels that glitter is a bit too much.

Anyway, the protagonist and point of view is as usual Sookie Stackhouse, waitress extraordinary, not that she has much time to waitress.

The Author

I have only read Charlaine Harris’ Sookie series so far but I am starting to glance at her other works and a sample here and there is on my to-read list. Charlaine lives in a small town in Southern Arkansas with her family.

World building

As usual in all Sookie Stackhouse books the world building sneaks up on you without being noticed until you realize that you are not in Kansas anymore. I especially enjoy the Were’s ways and Eric and his maker and their backstory.

Plot

Sookie is trying to patch her life together after being tortured to inches of her life in the Fairy War. Bill saved her life but suffer greatly from silver poisoning. She feels bad for that and wants to help him, but their relation is a bit awkward now when she is ‘married’ to Eric Northman.

The shifters stepped out of the closet in the last book and now the government wants them all to register like the Vampires have to, but the Shifters don’t want to. Emotions gets high on both sides and some will do almost anything to get their will done.

Vampire politics are worse than ever, Eric is the local sheriff but after Cartina he has a new boss assigned by the king, and the boss is making trouble for him and Sookie. If that was not enough Eric’s maker shows up …

Sookie also has her family to deal with; Jason seems to have found a girlfriend that can keep him straight this time but then fairy cousin Claude moves in because he feels lonely; which in itself creeps Sookie out a bit.

Then they find a body buried on Sookie’s land …

Characterization

I liked the characterization in this book better than in the last. Sookie comes alive and feel much more ‘realistic’ in this book. The last few have felt a little bit like the same old but here Charlaine has succeeded in rekindling the feelings I felt when I read the first Sookie novels. Sookie is also a great deal darker which makes sense if you have been tortured and almost killed.

Eric is such a great character and he gets to play on his more emotional side here.

My View

I got the feeling back, Dead in the Family is one of the best Sookie Stackhouse novels so far. Maybe there isn’t as much fighting in this one but there is stuff happening all the time. If you like True Blood you should really give this series a go. The TV series deviate from the books at some points but that is not anything Charlaine Harris and her fans think matter so much. It’s a bit sad Elvis isn’t in the TV series but it’s no big issue for me. Now I can’t wait on the next book. At least I have season 3 of True Blood to keep me entertained, it premieres now on Sunday June 13.

I must admit I love True Blood and the summer premiere is still so far off (June 13). thank the folks at HBO we got some entertaining Mini-Sodes to keep us amused. They are very funny.

Mini-Sode 2: Jessica

Mini-Sode 1: Pam and Eric

On order

Title: The Machinery of Light
Author: David J. Williams
Series: Autumn Rain 3
Genre: Science Fiction
Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Spectra books
Order: Amazon US | UK | B&N

I liked the first books in the series, they are gritty and action packed. You can check out my review of book 1: Mirrored Meaven.

September 26, 2110. 10:22 GMT. Following the assassination of the American president, the generals who have seized power initiate World War Three, launching a surprise attack against the Eurasian Coalition’s forces throughout the Earth-Moon system. Across the orbits, tens of thousands of particle beams and lasers blast away at one another. The goal: crush the other side’s weaponry, paving the way for nuclear bombardment of the cities.

As inferno becomes Armageddon, the rogue commando unit Autumn Rain embarks on one last run. Matthew Sinclair, an imprisoned spymaster, plots his escape. And his former protégé Claire Haskell, capable of hacking into both nets and minds, is realizing that all her powers may merely be playing into Sinclair’s plans. For even as Claire evades the soldiers of East and West amid carnage in the lunar tunnels, the surviving members of the Rain converge upon the Moon, one step ahead of the Eurasian fleets but one step behind the mastermind who created Autumn Rain—and his terrible final secret.

Title: The Noise Within
Author: Ian Whates
Genre: Science Fiction
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Solaris
Order: Amazon US | UK | B&N

This looked so interesting. I like singularity related stories.

On the brink of perfecting the long sought-after human/AI interface, Philip Kaufman finds his world thrown into turmoil as a scandal from the past returns to haunt him and dangerous information falls into his hands. Pursued by assassins and attacked in his own home, he flees. Leyton, a government black-ops specialist, is diverted from his usual duties to hunt down the elusive pirate vessel The Noise Within, wondering all the while why this particular freebooter is considered so important. Two lives collide in this stunning space-opera from debut novelist Ian Whates!

Title: Overthrowing Heaven
Author: Mark L. van Name
Series: Jon & Lobo 3
Cover Art: Stephen Hickman
Genre: Science Fiction
Mass Market Paperback: 560 pages
Publisher: Baen (excerpt & blurb)
Order: Amazon US | UK | B&N

Jon & Lobo is light entertainment that keeps me reading.

It began as a favor to a woman trying to get away from an abusive husband.

Jon Moore grew up in a prison laboratory. When he escaped with nothing but his body’s nanotech enhancements and more anger than even a long lifetime could wash away, an entire planet died behind him. Memories of the things he’d done still haunted him; because of them, he often ended up helping those in need.

His kindnesses frequently didn’t work out well. This one really didn’t work out well. It hurled Jon and Lobo, the intelligent assault vehicle and Jon’s only friend, down an accelerating, ever more dangerous spiral involving:

• Private armies and government covert ops teams
• A courtesan who always seems a step ahead of him
• Rival superpowers that define Good in terms of their own advantage and Ethics as whatever doesn’t get in the way of their Good
• And a brilliant, amoral scientist to whom human beings are just more experimental animals–and who might be Lobo’s creator.

Jon and Lobo take the reader on a headlong rush through armed enemies and untrustworthy allies and encounter what just might be the worst danger their partnership will face: the truth.

Title: Dead in the Family
Author: Charlaine Harris
Series: Southern Vampire/True Blood 10
Genre: Horror/Supernatural
Hardcover: 320 pages | Paperback: 304
Publisher: Ace Hardcover, May 4, 2010 (US) | Wheeler Publishing Large edition 5 May 2010 (UK) | Gollancz 12 May 2011 (UK)
Order: Ace | Amazon US | UK | B&N

I love the True Blood tv show and it lead me to the books.

After enduring torture and the loss of loved ones during the brief but deadly Faery War, Sookie Stackhouse is hurt and she’s angry. Just about the only bright spot in her life is the love she thinks she feels for vampire Eric Northman. But he’s under scrutiny by the new Vampire King because of their relationship. And as the political implications of the Shifters coming out are beginning to be felt, Sookie’s connection to the Shreveport pack draws her into the debate. Worst of all, though the door to Faery has been closed, there are still some Fae on the human side-and one of them is angry at Sookie. Very, very angry…

Title: The Ambassador’s Mission
Author: Trudi Canavan
Series: The Traitor Spy Trilogy 1
Genre: Fantasy
Hardcover: 528 pages
Publisher: Orbit
Order: Amazon US | UK | B&N

The Black Magician and The Age of Five trilogies were good reads.

Sonea, once the despised commoner in the Magicians’ Guild, is now a Black Magician of Kyralia. Though she is now part of the establishment, she comes to find that the past is not so easily left behind…

Lorkin, Sonea’s rebellious son, has volunteered to join the formidable Lord Dannyl in his new post as Guild Ambassador to Sachaka – a land ruled by cruel, slave-owning black magicians. There is suspicion that some of the Sachakans still harbor dreams of conquest, so when word comes that Lorkin has gone missing, Sonea is desperate to find him. However, Guild law states that if a Black Magician leaves the city he or she will be exiled forever.

As she fears for her missing son, Sonea dedicates herself to helping her old friend Cery. For some time, there has been fear and paranoia on the streets of Imardin. Leading thieves have been dying under irregular circumstances. The need to discover who has been picking off the leading thieves of the city is now a very personal crusade – one that Sonea must aid, for the killer appears to be using magic.

Either a member of the Guild is leading a double life as a hired killer, or there is – once again – a rogue magician on the streets of Imardin . . .

I also ordered some books published before out in new form:

• Conspirator by C. J. Cherryh (Foreigner 10) from Amazon US

Other Books of Interest

Title: Climate of Change
Author: Piers Anthony
Series: Geodyssey
Genre: Science Fiction
Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: Tor Books
Order: Tor | Amazon US | UK | B&N

This sounds epic. I am tempted.

A remarkable epic of passion and courage, savagery and survival, Piers Anthony’s “Geodyssey” is a saga unlike any ever written. It is nothing less than the story of humanity itself, told through the lives of a handful of extraordinary men and women reborn throughout history.

Now, with Climate of Change, Anthony introduces us to a new cast of characters, including Keeper, who knows the ways of nature, Rebel, a headstrong girl as brave as any man, Craft, a cunning inventor, and Crenelle, who uses her seductive charms to defend her people.

Through their eyes, we see how some of the most crucial moments in human history have been driven by natural forces, from the great ice ages of prehistory to the droughts and plagues that have destroyed history’s proudest civilizations. And we witness a harsh but hopeful future in which humanity at last transcends the devastating effects of climate change.

Title: Deceiver
Author: C. J. Cherryh
Series: Foreigner 11
Genre: Science Fiction
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: DAW
Order: DAW | Amazon US | UK | B&N

I am following this series but I buy the paperbacks, because I started with paperbacks back when it started. Must keep the shelves neat :)

The civil war among the alien Atevi has ended. Tabini-aiji, powerful ruler of the Western Association, along with Cajeiri, his son and heir, has returned to the Bujavid, his seat of power. But factions that remain loyal to the opposition are still present, and the danger these rebels pose is far from over.

These are the best books i have read for the very first time in 2009. There was quit a few authors I discovered 2009, and many of them are already favorites. To mention some of them John Scalzi of course he is my favorite of the year, Jaine Fenn is another strong new author, Elisabeth Bear is much better than the covers of her books, Laura E. Reeve with her strong Greek influence and Tony Bellantyne with his robot series is novel to say the least. I don’t doubt for a second I have missed some of this years greatest new authors and books. I would love to read them if you tell me about them.

1. Old Man’s War Series by John Scalzi (Old Man’s War, The Ghost Brigade The Last Colony, Zoe’s Tale)
2. The Graveyard Book by Niel Gaiman
3. Storm from the Shadows by David Weber (Saganami 2)
4. The Anderoid’s Dream by John Scalzi
5. Mote in God’s Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
6. By Heresies Distressed by David Weber (Safehold 3)
7. Torch of Freedom by Eric Flint & David Weber (Wages of Sin 2)
8. Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross 
9. The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin(Eukmen 5) 
10. The Magicans’ Guild by Trudi Canavan (The Black Magician 1)
11. The Sidhe Series by Jaine Fenn (Principles of Angels, Consorts of Heaven)
12. Mothership by John Brosnan(Mothership 1)
13. Undaunted by Mike Shepherd (Kris Longknife 7)
14. The Coyote Series by Allen Steel
15. 1632 by Eric Flint (Ring of fire 1)
16. Empire Series by Richard Allen Stotts (Midshipman, Heir to the Throne, Majesty, Acheon, Citizen of the Empire) – All are Free Online Books
17. Relentless by Jack Campell (The Lost Fleet 5)
18. Southern Vampires Series (1-9) by Charlene Harris the inspirationt to True Blood the TV Series 
19. Seeds of Earth by Michael Cobley (Humanity’s Fire 1)
20.  The Jenny Casey Series by Elizabet Bear (Hammered, Scaredown, Worldwired) 

The Best Re-Read Books of 2009

1. Remnant Polulation by Elizabeth Moon - This is the best First Contact book I ever read. It might be the best book.
2. Honor Harrington Series (1-11) by David Weber
3. Kris Longknife Series (1-7) by Mike Shepherd

Interesting and Notable Books not on the list 2009

• The Wess’har Wars Series by Karen Travis
• The Merchant Princes Series by Charles Stross
• Contact With Chaos by Michael Z. Williamsson
• The Lost Xuyan Bride by Aliette de Bodard
• Twisted Metal by Tony Ballantyne
• Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds
• Jennifer Government by Max Barry
• Major Ariane Kedros Series by Laura E Reeve

I don’t remember exactly when I read this book, it was more than a week ago though and after the 8th.

The Great Were Revelation goes well at first, then weres turn up dead in Bon Temps, another mystery for Sookie Stackhouse, bar maid, telepath and irresistible to vampires.

Here we get to know more about Sookie and her ancestry and history.

There is also a tiny Fairy War.

Hurricane Katrina and the explosion at the vampire Summit has Louisiana’s supernatural community hard pressed. Sookie is safe but dazed and her were-tiger boyfriend is among the missing.

Sookie meets her great-grandfather Niall Brigant, a Fairy.

There is mysterious deaths among the local Were community. Sookie gets involved as Friend Of The Pack. They discover an even bigger plot. The conflict decimate the weres and leaves Alcide Herveaux as the new Pack Leader.

The power vacuum in the vampire society bring in opportunist from Vegas that try to take over Louisiana from the injured Queen Sophie-Anne Leclerq, and Sookie ends up in the middle of it, determined to help her friends. Through a very thorough “ambush” Felipe de Castro, King of Nevada, becomes the new King of Louisiana and Arkansas. Eric Northman survive as the only sheriff to do so by being more bad-ass than the invaders. King Filipe accepts his fealty.

Sookie doesn’t have it easy, feeling betrayed by Bill and getting used to the new relationship with the sexyQuinn and instead of exploring and enjoying it, she has to attend an all-important central US Vampire Summit as the telepathic spy of Queen Sophie-Anne Leclerq.

Sophie-Anne will be tried during the event for murdering her husband, the King of Arkansas. The summit is tense and the queen is wakened by hurricane damage to New Orleans. And there are some vamps who would like to exploit her weakness to settle scores. Sookie knows the queen is innocent.

The finale is explosive.

Episode 12 already, its too short, dam it! True Blood season 2 ends in a finale as awesome as the rest of the season has been. I cant wait.

The peoples rationalisation after the fact, was so good. Did you notice he called Andy Bubba? Think he will take Elvis role from the books?

I didn’t know Sam was looking for his real parents, but obviously he does, and he gets their names and an address from the foster parents that abandoned him.

Bill is kidnapped in the end, after proposing to Sookie and she is about to say yes. In my mind it doesn’t feel like the Club Dead kidnapping, reason wise. Here Eric is the most likely culprit, but in the book it was Bills research on vampires that did it. My guess is still that Bills maker got him. If it was Eric the whole story line with Club Dead becomes awkward. They might play up the storyline with the werepanthers though, like they did with Maryanne.

True Blood season 3 will more than likely have one or more twists in it that you won’t find in the books. Wonder what they’ll do? Jessicas ‘dating’ spree will obviously be an issue. Sam finding his parents will be another, maybe that will weave into the werepanther story? With Eric’s popularity so high I suspect he will be more of a companion for Sookie than Alcide the werewolf was in Club Dead.

What do you think?

Edit. I see an affair between Eric and Lafayette …

Sookie has a date with Quinn, the weretiger from the last book. When they are attacked by two werewolfs who Quinn makes short works of. Sookie are not sure they where trying to kill him or her?

But ´Sookie soon has more pressing problems. Her Cousin Hadley, a vampire has been murdered and Sookie has inherited her apartment. So Sookie has to go off to pre-hurricane New Orleans to solve the murder mystery. You doesn’t say no when a demon tells you to go.

It is tricky business, New Orleans being the home of the dead, there is a witch that lives downstairs and Hadley’s lover was Sophie-Ann Leclerq, the Queen of Louisiana, an omnisexual vampire, whose political marriage to the King of Arkansas occurred the night before Hadley’s demise.

I especially like Amelia Broadway a cool young witch and Hadleys landlady. She and sookie are soon up to their necks in magical troubles starting with the newly made vampire in closet.

Eric and Bill comes and visit Sookie. Bill reveal that he came to Bon Temps on the orders of the Queen after Hadly told her of Sookies telepathicpowers, to get her services for the Queen, seducing her if necessary.  Sookie is heartbroken and furious so she sends Bill away.

The end is action packed with some were-related kidnappings, Quinn and Sookie together and a great Ball at the Castle …

Someone is killing non humans. A sniper is loose in Bon Themps killing mainly shape shifters.

Alcide the werewolf tries to use Sookie at the Packmaster Contest, that doesn’t sit well with her. Quinn a magnificent weretiger moderates the event.

Jason is having trouble with the werephanters, they believe he is the shooter. Calvin Norris is the leader of the inbreed werepanther village he fancies Sookie.

Sam Merlotte gets shot and have to ask Eric for a replacement bartender.

Half of Sookies house burns down and she is saved by her Fairy godmother Claudine.

Another troubled time for our Sookie. She really do have trouble with men.

Sookies luck turns from bad to worse, Bill the computer geek vampire goes to Peru for research when Eric turns up naked with no memory of who he is. Witches have attacked Bon Temps and one of them have cursed Eric. Sookie is hired to house Eric while a way to fight back is found. A Witch Coven has taken up residence in the next big town. No-memories Eric and Sookie eventually begin a sexual relationship, Eric falls in love, he even offer to leave his life as a Sheriff and come and live with Sookie.

A sub plot is about the disappearance of Jason, Sookies brother. It introduces a nearby inbreed village of conflicted werepanthers.

The climax of the story is the combined shifter and vampire attack on the werewolf and vampire blood boosted coven. The witches are defeated. The lead witch is forced to reverse the curse on Eric before being put down. Eric forgets everything that has transpired during the curse.

At the end of the book, Jason is rescued from his were-panther captors, but not before being bitten.

A real Fairy, Claudine is introduced in this book. Here she saves Sookie when she falls asleep behind the wheel.

This might be the 3rd season of True blood. There is more Shapeshifters in this one.

Vampire Bill is kidnapped in the city of Shreveport while doing secret work for the queen of Louisiana, and Sookie sets out to rescue him with the help of the handsome werewolf Alcide Herveaux. Bill is being held and tortured by his maker, Lorena. With the help of Alcide, Eric the Viking vampire and Bubba Sookie eventually rescues Bill, only to break off their relationship when she understands that Bill has been unfaithful with Lorena (Bill also raped Sookie, which also might have something to do with it).

The original version of True Blood season 2. Love it.

This is a placeholder, I will be back and write more.

Living Dead in Dallas covers season 2 of True Blood but there are major differences:

• Lafayette dies at the beginning (in the car)
• Maryann isn’t as evil and her name is Callisto. Eric pays her tribute and she moves on.
• It isn’t Tara in that car who meets Maryann, it’s Sookie. She send Sookie with a message for Eric.

I will be back with my view on the difference between the book and True Blood the tv series. I recommend that you read it and watch it.

After watching almost 2 seasons of the awesome True BloodTV series I, a compulsory reader, finally came around to the source. Charlaine Harris Southern Vampires Series have the same light, straightforward style the TV series have. It might not be Great Literature but I couldn’t lay them down when I started to read. I finished the 6 first books in less than five days. I understand that the book series was a success even before TV.

You all know the story: It’s about Sookie, a beautiful southern lady girl, who works as a barmaid, who is considered weird, who hears people’s thoughts and who is attracted to the dead silent type.

Dead Until Dark is about how she meets Bill the vampire and falls in love. You know the story from TV. The mystery is as in the TV series, who kills fang bangers?

A difference is that in the book, Bill gets a job with the Queen to protect Sookie and him from Eric. It is also Eric who kills the embezzling vampire bartender in the book, thus totally eradicating the subplot on the TV series where Bill has to take care of a teenage vampire.

One lovable recurring character from the books is missing from TV, Bubba. Elvis is never named in the books, but Bubba is the King. Something went wrong when he was turned though so he is mentally challenged and don’t react well to mentions of his former name or life.

Tara has a minor role in the book and Arlene is Sookies best friend.

You can safely say that the TV series have left the book story in parts. Though I think they are true to the feeling of the books.

Spoiler alert!

True blood should get a price just for the starting minute of season 2. And the intro is so perfect. This is my absolute TV favorite!

The cliffhanger body from season 1 is not Lafayette. Thank God!

There are a lot of toss ups already:

• The Voodoo Priestess with her heart torn out
• Eric’s prisoners in the basement
• Bill has a vampire in training, Jessica as part of his punishment for killing a vampire.
• Sookie’s brother Jason find God or goes to vampire hunter summer camp?
• Who is the mysterious woman that has taken Tara in? And Sam know her from his youth. Serpent naturalist sorceress?
• Sookie’s learn that Bill killed her uncle (the one with impure thoughts about Sookie)

What I have seen so far promise a hot and sexy season.

Welcome back Sookie and Bill!