I know there is a lovely person on my f-list who recommended her Mercy Thompson series and it has taken me so long to finally get to them, and they are so good
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It's funny to see you bring up the decrease in quality with the Sookie books because I've had that conversation with a handful of my friends. We read the books more for the ideas (in a very abstract way) Harris has than for the actual execution and I agree that as the series goes on, the less enamored I am with it...but then the show makes up for it by actually (for the most part) getting it right. It's one of those odd situations where I prefer the adaptation to the original source.
Funny enough, it's this viewpoint that made me a new friend with a complete stranger at Comic Con last year. The woman next to me and I got talking about the books vs the show and we were surrounded by people who wanted the show to be more like the books and weren't thrilled with Ball's changes. Needless to say, the woman and I were both going, "Are you people crazy? The show is way better."
Hmmm, I'm going to have to look up the Mercy Thompson series now.
I had a conversation like that with my friend too, and she just pretty much dropped the series altogether. We were laughing at the love scene with Eric and Sookie, it was so painfully bad whereas on the show it's actually hot. And Eric isn't apainfully bad romance cliche attempt at reforming a bad boy so the heroine can get with the 'bad' guy who is actually a good guy. Eric is still bad on 'True Blood' and I hope they avoid trying to reform him with the amnesia story line and the power of Sookie's love.
Mercy is awesome; she's the underdog, she's hot but not in a lame I have 'lavender eyes and perfect blond hair' or the the unassuming, average chick we the readers are suppose to relate to; she's real and not everyone is in love with her. I can't stress enough how awesome she is; Patricia is a very talented writer.:)
I am really sick of novels written by women where several dudes are in love with one chick; and they all happen to be amazing and never move on with their lives and love someone else.**coughSookiecough.**
Oh man, quote your post word for word (except the bit about Mercy since I haven't read it yet) and that's me rolling my eyes about "True Blood". I can't understand why people like Eric in the books. He's a total cliche (and the fact that his love for Sookie softens him -- bleh) and their relationship irked me. I find him (Bill, Sookie...hell, everyone) far more intriguing in the show. I found that amongst my friends a couple are Bill fans like me...which puts us in a distinct minority
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I like nice guys like Bill and Stefan from Vampire Diaries; I can't stand men like Eric or Damien who are bad boys that we are suppose to love but prey and abuse women. Eric less about the women, more about the killing and complete disregard for human life which is extremely unattractive for me. I will never understand the appeal of the bad boy; he seems like a lot of trouble in romance novels and the heroine usually gets dumbed down in order to love him; and in real life the bad boy is nothing but trouble and isn't even as hot as the fictional bad boys. I will be forever be mystified by women craving attention from men who don't give a shit about them or wanting to reform someone who has no intention of doing so for themselves. Crap, I ranted again, but this subject irks me a lot.
I hope they stay away from Eric and Sookie, it's so flippin' dumb and makes Sookie come off like a bimbo and give us more Eric and Bill interaction please; their relationship intrigues me.
I'm still amazed (and not in a good way) that people liked Harris' first book(s), because I loathed her from book one, and although I keep hearing how different the show is, my sheer revulsion to Sookie and her vamps prevents me to see even a second of it ... I console myself with having a few terrabyte of old old shows I haven't seen either. And books of course *shields eyes*
Yeah, I notice the difference in quality between the show and the books fairly quickly, and once I got to book three I just couldn't stand it anymore. Sookie appeared more dumb and Mary Sue as the series went on; and what a surprise she was really special and had special powers and even Eric, the big bad vampire lover her.**blech.** I think people's fascination with vamps will allow them to read anything and enjoy it,lol.
Yes, that and what you luckily agreed on - that it is (just another) mainstream romance trope. Which I had not expected when it first came out but was sadly familiar with and *BLECH* yes.
Yeah, I think HBO should be thankful they have Anna Paquin playing Sookie and that the creators were not faithful to the books; Sookie is as dumb as a door knob and just plain out badly written.
I actually prefer Vampire Diaries over True Blood some days; and that is another show where the show is better than the books. Elena is a popular, perfect blond cheerleader in the books unlike the show where she is a cute brunette with 2 or three close friends who likes to a keep a low profile. And doesn't think stalking is hot like her blond counterpart in the books.
Wow, lots of good stuff in this post! *___* Iiiinteresting about the TV shows that are better than the books. I've been thinking a lot lately about TV writing, and the serial format, and how it can be more engaging than a novel series (especially once something gets popular and the publisher sticks their hand in and the quality drops).
I haven't read either of these series, but I've been considering it for research purposes. XD Sounds like I'll be starting with Patricia's books. I think I've picked one up before--is Mercy on the cover with a paw print tattoo on her abdomen? And she's a mechanic of sorts? >.>; I could be thinking of something else, lol. XD
Nope, you have the right book.:) I was always intrigued by the covers myself and then I picked up one and was impressed. I am especially impressed by the fact the romance becomes only a factor, and a minor one at that, later on in the series.
I never thought about that, but I wonder if the publisher played a part in the Sookie's series being drawn out past it;s time. It should have ended several books ago, especially since Charlene won't give more attention to her other characters.
Romance is all well and good, but like you I prefer it to be balanced with actual plot and intrigue and maybe a little action. XDDDDD
I think publishers are sometimes to blame in these things... I mean, look at how Laurell K. Hamilton's series changed. Not only did they go off the deep end with orgies and sexual themes, but she introduced a gigantic # of new characters in every book, so many that I really can't keep them all straight. I can only conclude that after signing a huge contract for like 20 more books (or however many it is) that she had to expand her world to the point that it's gotten a bit ridiculous, but that maybe one day things will tie together. (Maybe. -__-; ) I mean even the Twilight books got all switched around and expanded b/c of publisher directive, so it's possible it's not always the author's fault.
True, I know that Laurell's divorce and the publisher's wanting to milk her books' success for all it's worth are definitely contributing factors. Yeah, I was fine with the Twilight books as far as characters and plot goes; except for Bella being frighteningly pathetic at times and the quality of the writing being rather poor but the author lost her mind when she wrote the last book, or like you said, the most plausible explaination is the publisher wanting her to write more than she had planned for. In Stephanie's case it's a bit of both,lol.
I adore Patricia Briggs. Her books are so much fun to read. And re-read. (She's nice in person, too - was a guest at a convention this year that I attended. That's actually why I started reading her books.)
I like Mercy and Ward (from the Dragon books - there's two), I like a lot of her other books. Not so keen on Charles and Anna, or the Raven series, but eh. I can live with it. They're still good, they're just not the OMG MUST READ ALL NOW NOW NOW that the others are.
I think I was first introduced to her fantasy series and loved them. I scoffed at the Mercy books at first because it got mixed up with the paranormal crap and finally came around to the rest of Patricia books when I read Charles and Anna's story, then feel head over heels in love with Mercy.
I hope I get to meet Patricia one day; she seems like a fantastic lady.:)
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Funny enough, it's this viewpoint that made me a new friend with a complete stranger at Comic Con last year. The woman next to me and I got talking about the books vs the show and we were surrounded by people who wanted the show to be more like the books and weren't thrilled with Ball's changes. Needless to say, the woman and I were both going, "Are you people crazy? The show is way better."
Hmmm, I'm going to have to look up the Mercy Thompson series now.
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Mercy is awesome; she's the underdog, she's hot but not in a lame I have 'lavender eyes and perfect blond hair' or the the unassuming, average chick we the readers are suppose to relate to; she's real and not everyone is in love with her. I can't stress enough how awesome she is; Patricia is a very talented writer.:)
I am really sick of novels written by women where several dudes are in love with one chick; and they all happen to be amazing and never move on with their lives and love someone else.**coughSookiecough.**
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I will never understand the appeal of the bad boy; he seems like a lot of trouble in romance novels and the heroine usually gets dumbed down in order to love him; and in real life the bad boy is nothing but trouble and isn't even as hot as the fictional bad boys. I will be forever be mystified by women craving attention from men who don't give a shit about them or wanting to reform someone who has no intention of doing so for themselves.
Crap, I ranted again, but this subject irks me a lot.
I hope they stay away from Eric and Sookie, it's so flippin' dumb and makes Sookie come off like a bimbo and give us more Eric and Bill interaction please; their relationship intrigues me.
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I think people's fascination with vamps will allow them to read anything and enjoy it,lol.
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I actually prefer Vampire Diaries over True Blood some days; and that is another show where the show is better than the books. Elena is a popular, perfect blond cheerleader in the books unlike the show where she is a cute brunette with 2 or three close friends who likes to a keep a low profile. And doesn't think stalking is hot like her blond counterpart in the books.
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I haven't read either of these series, but I've been considering it for research purposes. XD Sounds like I'll be starting with Patricia's books. I think I've picked one up before--is Mercy on the cover with a paw print tattoo on her abdomen? And she's a mechanic of sorts? >.>; I could be thinking of something else, lol. XD
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I never thought about that, but I wonder if the publisher played a part in the Sookie's series being drawn out past it;s time. It should have ended several books ago, especially since Charlene won't give more attention to her other characters.
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I think publishers are sometimes to blame in these things... I mean, look at how Laurell K. Hamilton's series changed. Not only did they go off the deep end with orgies and sexual themes, but she introduced a gigantic # of new characters in every book, so many that I really can't keep them all straight. I can only conclude that after signing a huge contract for like 20 more books (or however many it is) that she had to expand her world to the point that it's gotten a bit ridiculous, but that maybe one day things will tie together. (Maybe. -__-; ) I mean even the Twilight books got all switched around and expanded b/c of publisher directive, so it's possible it's not always the author's fault.
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Yeah, I was fine with the Twilight books as far as characters and plot goes; except for Bella being frighteningly pathetic at times and the quality of the writing being rather poor but the author lost her mind when she wrote the last book, or like you said, the most plausible explaination is the publisher wanting her to write more than she had planned for. In Stephanie's case it's a bit of both,lol.
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I like Mercy and Ward (from the Dragon books - there's two), I like a lot of her other books. Not so keen on Charles and Anna, or the Raven series, but eh. I can live with it. They're still good, they're just not the OMG MUST READ ALL NOW NOW NOW that the others are.
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I hope I get to meet Patricia one day; she seems like a fantastic lady.:)
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