More vampire tales

I started reading Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Mysteries last Friday and I’m almost half-way through book two. (Dead Until Dark, pictured left, is the first book in the series; Living Dead in Dallas is book two).

Also known as The Sookie Stackhouse Novels - the books are the basis of one of my favorite TV shows, True Blood. The Sookie series is award-winning and has graced the New York Times Bestseller list. Thus far, I have no problems strongly recommending the books - very entertaining. Dare I say, "Fangtastic!"

While there are some rather large differences between the books and the show, there are no real plot holes. Alan Ball certainly added in some characters and plot twists in order to make True Blood a must-see show - which he very successfully managed!

In comparison to the Twilight series I recently finished, I would say the major differences are as follows:

• The context/plot of Harris’ books are far more adult in nature;

• Harris’ books are much shorter (approximately 300 pgs each) but there are more books in the Sookie series than the Twilight series;

• Harris’ vampires follow more of the traditional rules as put forth by historical references;

• In my opinion, the actors who play Bill and Sookie are far more true to the characters in the books than those of Bella and Edward in the Twilight series films.

I suppose I should reiterate here that the "commentary" version of Twilight saved the film for me. Without it, I'd give it a grade of D at best.

I have one warning for True Blood viewers: if you want the show to completely surprise you, don't start reading the Sookie books anytime soon. As I said, I'm only half-way through the second book and I'm already passed HBO's True Blood story line.