Comments | hamsterwoman: Reading roundup

hamsterwoman

Reading roundup

Oct 17, 2009 14:51

43. Moving Targets and Other Tales of Valdemar (ed. by Mercedes Lackey) -- what this book is, actually, is published and author-blessed fanfic for Valdemar. Weirdly, A Companion to Wolves left me wanting to (re)read some Valdemar stories, and I came across this book in the library and gave it a shot. It's... not very good, but some of the stories ( Read more... )

a: karen russell, ya, a: ysabeau wilce, a: daniel abraham, mckillip, a: charlaine harris, lackey, a: ted chiang, sookie stackhouse, dresden files, a: christopher moore, a: t.a.pratt, short stories, a: delia sherman, a: patricia mckillip, a: jim butcher, reading, a: norton juster, marla mason, a: holly black

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hamsterwoman October 17 2009, 23:00:05 UTC

I haven't read Twilight, but based on what I know, I do think these are better in a lot of respects:
- Sookie is not a vapid Mary-Sue -- she is not my kind of gal, but she is neither perfect nor a blank
- The worldbuilding is pretty interesting, actually. The vampires are "out" and trying to mainstream, so there are interesting bits about vampire rights and coexistence with the Other and prejudice and such that are part of the background here, which I actually enjoyed a lot, both because you don't see that very often and because it's an interesting theme in its own right.
- The vampires are not sparkly vegetarian types -- they are predators, for whom the synthetic blood whose invention makes it possible for them to go mainstream is only a pale substitute for the real thing. (And, what I read about the later books, leads me to believe that the "vampires =/= good guys" aspect is something that becomes even clearer in later books.)

But there is actually a character who I think is the "Jacob" of these books -- Sam, who is Sookie's boss and friend, and seems like a nice guy, in addition to being a shapechanger.

I hope the relationship between Sookie and Bill is meant to be creepy and unhealthy and imbalanced, and the only reason she's not aware of it is that she doesn't have much experience with these things and she is in shock and such. I could definitely see it go that way, and if it does, I will cheer. I do know (from spoiling myself) that Sookie and Bill are not meant to be a Twu Wuv 4EVA kind of thing as Bella/Edward, which I do find reassuring. And even in this book, she is not sure she is in love with him, and she is aware of (some of) his flaws, which I give her points for.

So, I wouldn't let this particular similarity to Twilight discourage you from giving these a shot -- there's a lot more to these than Twilight, from what I gather.

The "small Southern town" is actually in Louisiana, btw! Every time I read something set in LA, the only reason I know what they mean by "parish" is from reading your LJ! :D

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