Post by Charlynn on Mar 30, 2013 18:59:44 GMT -5
Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
In this eleventh book of the Sookie Stackhouse series, the novel's heroine finds herself embroiled in yet another vampire take-over plot while attempting to decipher and understand her fae heritage. Toss in her concern for her shifter friend/boss Sam's new relationship, her worry for her telepathic second cousin, her wide-assortment of supernatural friends (witches, werewolves, and demons), her preparations for a human friend's baby shower, and the result is a book with enough plot points to make the dead's head spin... and so not in a cool poltergeist kind of way.
While it has been building for several books in this series, Dead Reckoning cemented the fact that Harris simply has too many plates in the air where Sookie is concerned. With so many supernatural entities and storylines, no single aspect can be thoroughly explored, yet, at the same time, everything still feels redundant. This is especially true when it comes to Harris' nasty habit of summarizing past events (and sometimes more than once). Given that this series is so light on the depth and so shallow with its vampire (and other supernatural) origin mythology, there really is no need to constantly reference previous books. If someone is reading Dead Reckoning, it's because they read all ten other Sookie Stackhouse novels, not because they decided to jump in at the tail end of the series. To make matters worse, Harris often gives her heroine a flip and snarky attitude when recalling these former happenings, and the humor just falls flat.
The Sookie Stackhouse series was never the most serious of vampire collections, but it certainly had its appeal. It was a light supernatural read with plenty of charm (mainly in the form of Bon Temps quirky, human characters) and sex. Unfortunately, Dead Reckoning was sorely lacking in both. In fact, it was rather anti-climatic (and pun intended, because the one time Sookie did have sex, it was awkward to read and not entertaining). By the end of the novel, Sookie has answered many of her questions. The problem comes from the fact that, in order to do so, readers had to endure so much tediousness in between. Plus, Sookie might have been curious, but that doesn't mean readers were as well. After such an offering, it's a relief to know that this series is ending soon. Hopefully, between books twelve and thirteen, Harris will find a way to redeem herself and her most famous character.
One out of Five Stars
In this eleventh book of the Sookie Stackhouse series, the novel's heroine finds herself embroiled in yet another vampire take-over plot while attempting to decipher and understand her fae heritage. Toss in her concern for her shifter friend/boss Sam's new relationship, her worry for her telepathic second cousin, her wide-assortment of supernatural friends (witches, werewolves, and demons), her preparations for a human friend's baby shower, and the result is a book with enough plot points to make the dead's head spin... and so not in a cool poltergeist kind of way.
While it has been building for several books in this series, Dead Reckoning cemented the fact that Harris simply has too many plates in the air where Sookie is concerned. With so many supernatural entities and storylines, no single aspect can be thoroughly explored, yet, at the same time, everything still feels redundant. This is especially true when it comes to Harris' nasty habit of summarizing past events (and sometimes more than once). Given that this series is so light on the depth and so shallow with its vampire (and other supernatural) origin mythology, there really is no need to constantly reference previous books. If someone is reading Dead Reckoning, it's because they read all ten other Sookie Stackhouse novels, not because they decided to jump in at the tail end of the series. To make matters worse, Harris often gives her heroine a flip and snarky attitude when recalling these former happenings, and the humor just falls flat.
The Sookie Stackhouse series was never the most serious of vampire collections, but it certainly had its appeal. It was a light supernatural read with plenty of charm (mainly in the form of Bon Temps quirky, human characters) and sex. Unfortunately, Dead Reckoning was sorely lacking in both. In fact, it was rather anti-climatic (and pun intended, because the one time Sookie did have sex, it was awkward to read and not entertaining). By the end of the novel, Sookie has answered many of her questions. The problem comes from the fact that, in order to do so, readers had to endure so much tediousness in between. Plus, Sookie might have been curious, but that doesn't mean readers were as well. After such an offering, it's a relief to know that this series is ending soon. Hopefully, between books twelve and thirteen, Harris will find a way to redeem herself and her most famous character.
One out of Five Stars