Sookie Stackhouse, Books 1-7

 
4.5 based on 805 reviews.

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Mass Market Paperback Book, 1 pages

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Product Description

Sookie Stackhouse is the main character in The Southern Vampire Mysteries, a series of eight books written by bestselling author Charlaine Harris

Product Details

  • Media: Mass Market Paperback Book, 1 pages
  • Publisher: Ace (November 12, 2008)
  • Format: Box set
  • ISBN-10: 0441017770
  • ISBN-13: 9780441017775
  • Dimensions: 6.22 x 7.01 x 4.25 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2.43 lbs
  • Note: Some of this information came from Amazon.com

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Customer Reviews

  • Rating A truly superb series of novels  Nov 9, 2008 (888 of 915 found this helpful)

    This past year I began a reading project of the major vampire novels and stories, from John Polidori's THE VAMPYRE to Bram Stoker's DRACULA to Richard Matheson's I AM LEGEND to Theodore Sturgeon's SOME OF YOUR BLOOD to more recent works. I had previously read various novels, including the Anita Blake series, which started promisingly but not only never lived up to its initial promise but regressed to embarrassingly awful pornography. In August of this year I decided to read Charlaine Harris's vampire series, which was originally known as The Southern Vampire Mysteries but eventually became better known as the Sookie Stackhouse Novels.

    Now, this is where the story gets odd. Completely independently of my reading project I had heard about and planned on watching Alan Ball's new series TRUE BLOOD. I was a huge fan of SIX FEET UNDER and was anxious to see how he would handle a series dealing with vampires. A few days after I had ordered the first four Sookie Stackhouse novels I learn to my great shock that Ball's new series was based on the very same novels. It is the most serendipitous coincidence in my life as a reader.

    Because so many people have become aware of these books as a result of the TV series, a word about the differences between the two is in order. There are both definite similarities and some sharp differences between the two. The books focus much more on Sookie and less on the lives of the supporting characters, not surprising given that Sookie is the narrator in the novels. Sookie's narrative voice is for me one of the joys of the books and I miss that very personal perspective when I watch the TV series. The books are also far less sexual than the series, though there are several sex scenes (though it never descends to the pure porn found in the Anita Blake books). The series differs sharply from the books when it deals with characters other than Sookie. For instance, Tara in the books is a minor (and white) character. Jason plays a far smaller role. Just about everything touching Tara and Jason cannot be found in the novels. Sam and Tara are not involved. Without giving spoilers, Lafayette cannot be regarded as an important character in the books. On the other hand, Eric is as important as the other three main characters in the books, Sookie, Bill, and Sam. Still, based on all but the last 2 or 3 episodes of Season One of the TV show, Sookie's story there is pretty close to that is the first novel in the sequence.

    The one huge advantage of the novels over the series is that there is just so much more that happens. Season One of the series corresponds to the first novel in the sequence. I expect that the TV show will begin to diverge from the novels in the second season. So I see no reason for anyone who enjoys the show not to plunge in and enjoy a whole string of new adventures in the life of Sookie Stackhouse, barmaid and telepath. What has delighted me is how consistently superb the novels are. I felt the second novel in the series, DEAD AND LIVING IN DALLAS, was a bit less entertaining than the second book, but all the rest in the sequence were increasingly excellent. And they all mesh to tell a unified story. One novel ends and the next picks up the story perhaps as little as two or three weeks later.

    The novels also introduce new and more interesting supernatural characters. The Anita Blake novels did this as well, but I felt that that series was increasingly less successful. Both series introduce weres (were wolves, were tigers, were panthers, and others), witches, vampires from other locales, and fairies. But throughout it all Sookie remains both an innocent and an explorer.

    All in all, this is one of the most enjoyable long series of novels that I know. My only real disappointment is that a date has not yet been announced for the next and ninth novel in the series. Charlaine Harris (who lives in the s

  • Rating Great Escapism...  Nov 25, 2008 (87 of 91 found this helpful)

    First off - if you are interested in the True Blood series on HBO - get these books and get this set. I was STRONGLY recommended to read these books after talking about the show by a friend who read them when they first came out. So I did...purchased one at a time. Boy do I wish I would have bought the set right off and then get the additional books later for I would have saved a bit of money and had a great way to keep all the books together and in great shape. Nevertheless, the books and show ARE different and yet both are worthy of reading/watching if you are into this genre of books. I have enjoyed both for various reasons, but for the books, I truly enjoy the narrative of Sookie through all her trials and tribulations of interacting with "special" characters. This is not a wannabe Anita Blake type of series, but very unique, exciting and often lighthearted...definitely not as dark! Harris has written these books in such a way to really draw one into them, sometimes even identifying with human emotions that is sometimes unexpected. Now I have all the paperbacks, without the boxed set container (sad), and am awaiting the next book in the series.

    Plus I will continue to watch the show, knowing on what it is based and that I should not expect the same thing as I read in the books...yet knowing the same "flavor" will be retained. That makes for good reading and for good TV/movie adaptation.

  • Rating Good plot, but main character gets annoying.  Jan 7, 2009 (87 of 104 found this helpful)

    Book one was fabulous, but the quality declines over the series. I had to stop at book five to read a few other good books because I got too annoyed at Sookie. For one, I get tired of the constant clothing descriptions. I don't care what everyone's wearing! Every once in a while wouldn't be so bad, but practically every time someone walks in the scene their outfit is described. Also, the way Sookie describes stiletto heals (blank-me shoes) is so out of character that it beats you over the head.
    She seems much like a Mary Sue while she's in the supernatural world. All the supernatural men who aren't trying to kill Sookie are trying to get in her pants. I got back into the series but every book after the first led me to further disappointment. I've read the eighth, and will probably read the ninth, but I'm just looking for closure and not expecting as much entertainment as I got from the first.

  • Rating Absolutely, Positively, in LOVE with this series  Jun 9, 2009 (14 of 14 found this helpful)

    OK, so I ordered this set a few weeks back because I was trying to cure myself of the whole Twilight addiction. As I started the first book in the Sookie series I was beyond skeptical, and extremely judgmental. I compared everything to the Twilight series. However, by the time I completed the second book I was obsessively hooked. I proceeded to read the rest of the series, including books 8 and 9, in a matter of one week. I couldn't put them down! I can't believe I actually found a series that I enjoy better then Twilight! Absolutely addicting and stimulating.

  • Rating For those who need a True Blood fix while we're waiting for the 2nd Season!  Dec 17, 2008 (18 of 21 found this helpful)

    Bought this set (cheaper than buying them seperate, that's for sure!) so that I can get my True Blood fix while I'm waiting for the 2nd season on HBO. Obviously the show and the books are different (drastically sometimes), but the books are highly addictive!

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