50 in '08: 39
Dec. 24th, 2008 08:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sakon76Title: Club Dead
Author: Charlaine Harris
Length: 292 pages
Okay, it's official: Sookie Stackhouse is a Mary Sue. What's more, she's an Anita Blake-type Mary Sue, minus the erotic writing/tons of sex scenes. Currently she's got two vampires, one shape-shifter, and one werewolf wanting to jump her bones. Oh, plus the fact that every vamp she meets (when it's convenient) wants to drink her blood. Additionally, for all her bitching about "oh, because I'm a telepath I hear everything people are thinking all the time," I notice that only seems a problem when it's convenient.
One of the problems I've just started to identify with this series is that almost all the characters are ink blots. You can make of them what you will since they're very two-dimensional. I was, in fact, EXTREMELY pleased in this volume to discover two ACTUAL characters... the aforementioned werewolf feels real, and Pam (a vampire, though not one of the two who wants to jump Sookie's bones) is actually developing into one. I suppose this is one of the weaknesses of first-person narrative, but I still find it annoying.
Something the author does do well, to give her props, is work in infodumps seamlessly. Though I question the fact that werewolves are only born if two werewolves mate... and there's only one child in each family who becomes a werewolf. Isn't that, by process of math, going to HALVE the werewolf population every. single. generation?! So, not well thought-out, that. I do find some of the plot elements weak (character X is having an affair/has run off with character Y, which is an Important Plot Point but is believed on faith and character X [see above ink blot comment] shows no emotional reaction whatsoever]) and particularly how convenient it is that something major happens so that Our Heroes get into exactly where they need to be at the right time. I also find it too convenient that a secondary character from the last book happens to pop up at the same time and place. What was good, however, was some people's reaction to Bubba near the end of the book, and Sookie's awareness of her own poverty. (Though a part of me pipes up "why did you spend money on fancy party dresses which you ended up needing for the plot of this book and admit you'd never wear IRL instead of getting your driveway re-graveled?") Those felt "real."
Verdict: Recommended only if you're watching the TV series or reading the book series.
Author: Charlaine Harris
Length: 292 pages
Okay, it's official: Sookie Stackhouse is a Mary Sue. What's more, she's an Anita Blake-type Mary Sue, minus the erotic writing/tons of sex scenes. Currently she's got two vampires, one shape-shifter, and one werewolf wanting to jump her bones. Oh, plus the fact that every vamp she meets (when it's convenient) wants to drink her blood. Additionally, for all her bitching about "oh, because I'm a telepath I hear everything people are thinking all the time," I notice that only seems a problem when it's convenient.
One of the problems I've just started to identify with this series is that almost all the characters are ink blots. You can make of them what you will since they're very two-dimensional. I was, in fact, EXTREMELY pleased in this volume to discover two ACTUAL characters... the aforementioned werewolf feels real, and Pam (a vampire, though not one of the two who wants to jump Sookie's bones) is actually developing into one. I suppose this is one of the weaknesses of first-person narrative, but I still find it annoying.
Something the author does do well, to give her props, is work in infodumps seamlessly. Though I question the fact that werewolves are only born if two werewolves mate... and there's only one child in each family who becomes a werewolf. Isn't that, by process of math, going to HALVE the werewolf population every. single. generation?! So, not well thought-out, that. I do find some of the plot elements weak (character X is having an affair/has run off with character Y, which is an Important Plot Point but is believed on faith and character X [see above ink blot comment] shows no emotional reaction whatsoever]) and particularly how convenient it is that something major happens so that Our Heroes get into exactly where they need to be at the right time. I also find it too convenient that a secondary character from the last book happens to pop up at the same time and place. What was good, however, was some people's reaction to Bubba near the end of the book, and Sookie's awareness of her own poverty. (Though a part of me pipes up "why did you spend money on fancy party dresses which you ended up needing for the plot of this book and admit you'd never wear IRL instead of getting your driveway re-graveled?") Those felt "real."
Verdict: Recommended only if you're watching the TV series or reading the book series.
