Fantasy Friday

So as I mentioned on Wednesday, I recently read Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris, which for those of you who don't know is the tenth book in the Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire series. And I managed this because my grocery store did, in fact, put it out for sale in advance of the sell by date. Oh noes!
One of the dangers with a successful series is the reluctance of the author to change anything about the characters since readers fell in love with them as the are. However, this eventually leads to boredom and repetition. Fortunately, this is not a problem that Harris has. Sometimes these changes are quite good, while other times they are very upsetting. Major changes started happening in book six, with all sorts of shit hitting all sorts of fans in book seven. Book eight was a rebuilding novel and then more crap hit even bigger fans in book nine. Book ten was another rebuilding novel. This is not to say it was bad, in truth, I liked it a lot more than book nine. However, it was a bit low on action and the cover synopsis was a tad misleading.
In this book we learn an awful lot about vampire politics, and Were politics (there are more than werewolves in this world, all collectively called Weres, which is confusing when writing a blog since it is spelled the same as the past tense of are), and to an extent, people politics. And there was a fair amount of vampire nookie which is always fun if it involves the fabulous Eric. Sigh.....
Overall, it was a good read, and it made me very curious about where she is taking the series and left me wanting more. Admirable qualities in a series, indeed, admirable qualities in any book. Provided there is more of course.

That's always the danger with a series, especially an open ended series. I mean, it was hard enough waiting for book seven of the Harry Potter series. I spent the whole time with this nagging worry at the back of my mind hoping nothing bad would happen to J.K. Rowling, not only since I don't typically wish ill on people but also because I had to know what happened. HAD to know. At any rate, with an open ended series the potential for disaster is much higher. Something might happen to the author, or the quality of writing will take a turn for the worse at some point and you're left all pouty over it. But I digress.

I give Dead in the Family four out of five stars. I counts towards my 100 book total, and towards the Fantasy challenge. And it has already been loaned to another fan.