Southern Vampires 13.5: After Dead

Southern Vampires 13.5: After Dead by Charlaine Harris

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


To sell this as a "book," especially at full hardback pricing, is laughable. This is literally a collection of short snippets (sometimes literally as short as a single sentence or as long as maybe a handful of sentences) to describe the "ending" of each character in the book A-Z (by last name where applicable). The majority of these endings either involve the characters death or the death of someone close to them - cheery. As unsatisfying as the actual ending of the series was, it was still a far cry better than this drivel. Don't waste either the time or the money. It's not worth the read or the cost as it takes minimal effort to scan it. You'd be better off just looking up the characters you really care about in a library copy if you're that desperate to know their horrible fates (as the term "happily ever after" is the farthest from the truth here).

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Down These Strange Streets

Down These Strange Streets by George R.R. Martin

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I have had a really hard time digging into this book, as evident by both the rating and the amount of time it took me to read it. Sure, books are taking me longer to finish as more of my time is spent either working or with my daughter than reading, but May to July? Nearly 3 months for one book. Ouch.

Originally picked this up because it had shorts from authors that I normally read. Sadly, they mostly seemed to be filler that you could already more or less guess from the main series and didn't fill any real gap or need. The rest of the stories were dry and failed to draw me in, lending to the extended reading time. Maybe I would have been more interested in them if I knew more of the stories or characters aside from the brief snippets given at the start of each one. Either way, this book was overall a rather large disappointment that I finished more out of sheer determination than a desire to find out what happened next.

The only saving grace that earns the second star is Patricia Brigg's snippet from the Mercy Thompson series. I adore that series and never seem to get enough of it. This was the only part of the book that I didn't take a break during or have to trudge through to finish. Wish I could say that about more of the book.

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Southern Vampires 13: Dead Ever After

Southern Vampires 13: Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


I knew this book would be disappointing. I knew Eric wouldn't man up. I knew Sookie would cave and end up going to Sam, her one good friend and guy she hadn't hooked up with yet in the series that was available. Pam and Karin were about the only interesting characters in the book this time around. Did not make the connection to Claude until the end though. This book was a series of "really?! of course" reactions as one thing after another kept the disasters rolling, all focused on offing Sookie of course. She lucked out big time with the timing for the new wards and Pam taking over as sheriff. Sookie was very close to being vampire free-for-all with Eric out of the picture and the King still wanting her rather obviously.

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An Apple for the Creature

An Apple for the Creature by Charlaine Harris

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Takes me a lot longer to finish a book now that I have a baby to focus on. This especially took time I think because it was a lot of short stories, so I could read a story and take a break (that usually ended up to be a rather long break) before reading the next story. The two main stories that drew me to this book were the following:

Southern Vampires: Playing Possum by Charlaine Harris
Not sure exactly where in the series this is supposed to be as it isn't numbered, but it was an interesting short about Sookie and Hunter. Interesting that Hunter's teacher is also rather unique.

Kate Daniels: Magic Tests by Ilona Andrews
Not as enthralling as a Kate/Curran story, it was still nice to get something from Julie's POV. She comes across as a lot more intelligent and capable than just the troublesome child that we meet from Kate's perspective.

The other short stories are also interesting, but these two were specifically what I wanted the book for. As with most anthology stories, they often seem too short and unfinished. Nice teasers, but often leave you with a taste for more.

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Southern Vampires 12: Deadlocked

Southern Vampires 12: Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This book was rather disappointing. There is no actual development to speak of on the home front. The fairies are gone and Sookie uses her one-time magic trick to save a friend. Other than that everything is still a mess, Sookie and Eric are barely even speaking, and Freyda herself is now in town along with Felipe and a host of other visitors that certainly aren't going to help. Add to the mix Claude's deceit and Tara having her babies... everyone's relationship gets patched up, fixed, or concluded (all except Sam's in a good way even) except for Sookie and Eric. Bit of a let down after how involved they've been up to this point.

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Home Improvement: Undead Edition

Home Improvement: Undead Edition by Charlaine Harris

 My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Some of these stories are very interesting and leave you wishing they were longer. Others are just the right length; There was only one that I really had a hard time wading into. A little spooky and somehow oddly related to home repairs, this is a unique collection of stories that will give you a little bit of everything.

This includes the following stories:

• Blood on the Wall by Heather Graham
• Downside Ghosts 3.5: Rick the Brave by Stacia Kane
• In Brightest Day by Toni L.P. Kelner
• It's All in the Rendering by Simon R. Green
• Mercy Thompson 0.5: Gray by Patricia Briggs
• October Daye 4.5: Through This House by Seanan McGuire
• Southern Vampires 11.1: If I Hade A Hammer by Charlaine Harris
• Spellcrackers.com 0.5: Full-Scale Demolition by Suzanne McLeod
• Squatters' Rights by Rochelle Krich
• The Mansion of Imperatives by James Grady
• The Path by S.J. Rozan
• The Strength Inside by Melissa Marr
• Wizard Home Security by Victor Gischler
• Woolsley's Kitchen Nightmare by E.E. Knight

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The Sookie Stackhouse Companion

The Sookie Stackhouse Companion by Charlaine Harris

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The novella was interesting, as were the snippets of conversation between Eric and Bill that are missed in the books and the recipe section. A lot of the rest of the book is summary and definitions of the Sookieverse and what's happened in the series thus far. While having a compiled reference point is nice, it's sort of a let down when that is the majority of the book rather than any new real content to keep fans going with the series.

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True Blood Vol. 1: All Together Now

True Blood Vol. 1: All Together Now by Alan Ball

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Based on the TV series, this is definitely for mature audiences only and honestly not as good as either the TV or original book series. Primarily a biggest fan of the book series anyways, this didn't exactly hit the mark with me. A good tide over of yet more trouble and background info on the main cast. Not as much as far as additional storyline or originality, let alone flowing well with the other mediums already out. The artwork is inconsistent in quality, but largely done in the same style as many of the adaptation graphic novels currently being released.

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Southern Vampires 11: Dead Reckoning

Southern Vampires 11: Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


While still a good read for the series, this book seemed to lack a lot of fundamental plot as it more bounced from event to event.

Started off liking the Sookie/Eric parts and ended up being highly disappointed in the pair. Really hoping Eric figures a way out of his betrothal in this case. I can understand why Sookie wouldn't want to keep the bond when she already has so much trouble from her telepathy, but in terms of their relationship and the amount of trouble she gets into, I'm unconvinced if it was really that good of an idea. Not to mentioned it seemed a little too easy to break.

Also not pleased with Alicide's little stunt or Sookie looking at Bill again. Those are two players I originally liked and can barely stand now. They've lost too many points through the series to want them around.

Was also disappointed by Amelia in this one. Curious to see what Sookie ends up doing with her big wish. Felt bad for Pam in this one too. Wish she could have had a better ending.

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True Blood

True Blood (2008)

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


Based on the Southern Vampire/Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, the TV series is far more explicit and bloody than what you normally see on TV. HBO took this series to it's max short of making a rated R movie out of it. They could tone it down a lot and still keep the heart of the series. Being a TV series though, of course the characters are different, the story arcs have been altered, and there are even new characters that didn't originally exist in the book series. Funny since some of them have been added in newer books since then.