Sookie Stackhouse

I haven’t read anything by Charlaine Harris yet (other than short stories in anthologies that is). Some of the urban fantasy authors I read are Kelley Armstrong, Jim Butcher, Mike Carey, Laurell K. Hamilton, Kim Harrison, Mercedes Lackey (her’s is older and doesn’t come out often), Lilith Saintcrow, Carrie Vaughn. I also have a couple books by Karen Chance, but I don’t really plan on getting anymore of hers. It was okay, but I lost my interest after the third one.

You’ll want to look for Mike Carey’s Felix Castor series. It’s about a freelance exorcist in London. First book is called “The Devil You Know”. I haven’t seen any of his other books out in the US yet. Since he lives in England the books come out there first, then are eventually publiched here.

Lilith Saitcrow has several series out. I’ve read two of her series so far. The series featuring Dante Valentine (it’s a woman) is about a necromancer who makes a deal with the Devil and what comes afterwards. The Jill Kismet series is about a Hunter of things that “go bump in the night.” I’m also interested in her “Steelflower” series, just haven’t picked it up yet.

I haven’t read anything by Emma Hull. I’ll add that one to the list of potential things to pick up. You know the newest Carrie Vaughn (Kittie goes to Hell) came out this past week right? I had a hard time leaving it in the bookstore, but as I already had three other books in my hand I figured I better be good.

I love both Sookie (Harris) and Kitty (Vaughn). Yes, they are a bit romancy, but not too much (otherwise, I wouldn’t read them). I also picked up the Harper Connelly series by Harris – mystery with a supernatural twist.

I tried a few Jim Butchers, but I just didn’t get hooked.

I love the Sookie books! I’ve been reading them for years. Actually I’ve read everything Charlaine Harris has written. She has a couple of old mystery series that are pretty good – and fairly realistic from the life point of view. The main characters age and get involved with a couple of different men – don’t fall in love with the “once in a lifetime” guy right off. They have issues that they have to work through. I actually just got back from the Romantic Times booklovers convention in Orlando and they were talking a bit about Sookie and True Blood – very interesting. I highly recommend the series. I will say that as “urban fantasy” the discussion at the con was that in urban fantasy there isn’t always a guaranteed happy ending between the hero and heroine while in paranormal romance there is. Hint. Hint.

Harper Conelly is also good: she was struck by lightning and can tell what was the cause of death when presented with a corpse. The mystery part is there too!

Thanks! I couldn’t remember the name of the series. She’s definitely grown as a writer since she wrote those but I still really enjoyed them. Although the Lily Bard ones can be hard to read…

I’ve read all but the last two Sookie books, because they were free… and they are *definitely* romance, with a thin veneer of fantasy. As the series went (dragged) on, it became more and more about Sookie’s choice of studly men — should she choose the jerk-vampire Eric, who was so sweet when he had amnesia? or the first-love vampire Bill, who brought her into the world of the supernatural? or the hunky werewolf, in spite of his crazy ex-girlfriend issues? Or the exotic were-tiger, who, uh, will probably be cancelled out in some way in the next book I didn’t read, since it has a tiger on the cover.

Personally, like I said, I only read ’em because they were free; I couldn’t identify with blonde, blue-eyed, leggy, small-town-Southern Sookie at all, not least because she didn’t appear to have a brain in her head; and the continual wardrobe descriptions got to be awfully boring to me as a non-shopoholic. Not to mention I hated most of her male options, especially Bill, whose Crazy Possessive Stalker had me screaming at her to ditch him before they even became an item in the first place, never mind after {spoiler}.