Dead in the Family – A Tome

DISCLAIMER: I’ve only read DITF through once, and I’m in the middle of a slower paced reread at the moment. The following started out as a review, and ended up being infiltrated with random bits of analysis and god knows what else. I conclude from this that I am too opinionated to write wanky book reviews, and also completely incapable of shutting myself up. So for better or worse, here’s what I’m thinking after my first read.

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The very first thing I need to say about Dead in the Family is that I liked it – alot. It was certainly a change of pace from the last few books, as we were told it would be. It was also a “transitional” book, but in saying that I don’t mean to call it series filler. Harris has finally decided to start addressing some long lingering issues that have become distracting. And she has also started to lay – very subtly – some groundwork for the ending of Sookie’s story. I cannot tell you how relieved I am about that.

Dead in the Family is very much a character driven book. Not since Dead to the World has this series seen an instalment focused so heavily on character development, and at this point in the story a closer examination of the characters was certainly due. By her own admission, Harris is much better at drawing characters than she is at keeping track of her numerous plot lines and after the upheaval of the last two books, I really didn’t mind that this one meandered plot wise a little more than usual.

SPOILERS AHEAD AND YOU MIGHT WANT TO GO PEE FIRST.

This one goes straight to the Gracious Plenty Hall of Fame

Way back when, we had Sookie’s “quivering puppies waiting to be petted”.

Then, we had Eric as “deep inside as he could get without an operation”.

And now…NOW…we have this. Sookie’s latest hilarious attempt at worshipping the GP, which I hereby induct into Sookieverse canon as the most cringeworthy line in Book 10.

Are you ready? Here it comes.

“That looks painful. Do you want me to NURSE IT?”

FUCKING WHAT?

Sookie, my love. The Gracious Plenty is not a fucking disease. You don’t nurse it. You GET ON THAT pronto. Stop asking stupid questions.

Three years of hot vampire sex, and you still sound like a virgin on prom night.

Oh, Charlaine.

Ten books down, and your sex scenes are still like bad 70’s porn – I hear the music, I know what’s coming….and I still can’t tear myself away.

But I still love you. Both of you.

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And now I go back to trying to cut my review of DITF down to a length you guys can read without taking a day off work.

Sorry, I needed a distraction.

Dead in the Family #2

A new post for discussion, the original post is now locked for comments as it’s getting too long.

Same rules apply as the previous post, and please read House Rules before commenting.

***COMMENTS IN THIS POST CONTAIN SPOILERS***

Dead in the Family Released!

***COMMENTS IN THIS POST CONTAIN SPOILERS***

It’s been one very long year, my fellow Sookiephiles and Viking lovers. And today is the day! We finally get Dead in the Family in our hot, sweaty little hands.

Though some very kind souls have spoiled me to within an inch of my life in the last few weeks, I haven’t read the full book yet so it will be a day or two before I have anything coherent to say about it.

Actually, it could be a few days before I’m capable of saying anything coherent at all.

In the meantime, this post is for those of us who need somewhere to play while we’re reading. It’s open season in here, feel free to discuss any aspect of the book you like.

Posting rules and big, chunky spoilers after the jump.

COMMENTS ARE CLOSED ON THIS POST. NEW POST HERE

“Dead in the Family” House Rules – Please Read

So we all know that I can’t moderate this blog to save my own life. Comments frequently end up wildly off topic as we chase some theory or other down the rabbit hole…which is mostly just how I like it.

But with a steady increase in traffic here and posts even speculating about the new book usually reaching 200+ comments, we are going to have to have some order around here come May 4th. Or chaos will reign.

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If you plan to participate in discussion of the new book, PLEASE READ.

Another Advance Review of Dead in the Family

Paperbackdolls.com has just posted a great review of Dead in the Family, due out on May 4th.

The buzz for this book is really building now, fuelled by lots of positive reviews.

There are a few interesting tidbits in this review – including the revelation that Debbie Pelt’s body shows up in Sookie’s woods (good job at hiding that body, Eric), as well as this intriguing little teaser:

…Her usual vampire issues are soon superceded by a new one in the form of Eric’s maker, Appius Livius Ocella, and his newest child, Alexei Romanov, who arrive at Sookie’s house most unexpectedly. As Eric struggles with his family conflicts, Sookie sees a new side to her Viking—one that will forever change how she perceives him.

I’ve read alot of spoilers and reviews for Dead in the Family – some of which are too spoilery to post – and all of them seem to indicate that Sookie is going to finally get through a whole book without having her arse kicked. And for that I am glad.

Sookie is understandably more cautious and less trusting now, but she is still willing to take some risks to help those she cares about—and fortunately this time she doesn’t suffer greatly as a result.

Read the full review here.

Who’s the Rat?

Time for a poll….simply because my brain is exploding with the possibilities!

According to Eric, we have a rat in the house. Someone tipped Victor off about the Fae war. And that someone gave him enough information that he ended up sitting in Fangtasia the night all hell broke loose, with his posse and his silver chains, just waiting for a phone call.

Who was it?

Vote in the poll and don’t forget to leave your conspiracy theory in the comments.

Dead in the Family full chapter 1 in DAG Paperback!

Before I start this post, I’m going to do something I have never done before on this blog.

MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The paperback version of Dead and Gone was released in the US yesterday – and it includes the FULL first chapter of Dead in the Family.

You can read it at the Unread Reader.

Hold onto your hats because this is HUGE.

* Eric’s whereabouts during Sookie’s torture explained

* Eric FINALLY admits he loves Sookie and tells her to her face

* Eric could feel everything Sookie was experiencing through the bond

* Eric cries. HE FUCKING CRIES.

Here’s a little teaser: “I hurt with you. I bled with you – not only because we’re bonded, but because of the love I have for you.”

What are you still doing here? Go read it!!!!

Beyond Book 10 – Make of this what you will!

Last night I happened to be trawling around on Charlaine Harris’ site and wandered into an area I haven’t looked at before. And what a worthy excursion it was.

As most of us are already aware from the influx of interviews recently, Charlaine has been on the publicity trail in the UK and Europe promoting Dead in the Family. She’s been a busy lady, making appearances at numerous bookstores and Q and A sessions for her UK fans.

A thread has been set up on her forum for readers who have attended book signings and other promotional activities to discuss them and share possible spoilers.

While these spoilers are not verified, Charlaine has made a few posts on the thread correcting any major errors that were posted. I’m inferring from this that the information below is a reasonably accurate representation of her answers.

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~ The current working title for Book 11 is “Dead Letters”, though Harris mentioned it’s common for titles to change during the writing/editing process. [First impressions: Sookie…Gran…ATTIC! FFS, is she ever going to go up there?!]

~ Faeries will be in Book 10 and 11, and possibly 12. [OH HAI Niall!]

~ Manfred is going to be developed as a character and will appear again possibly in a crossover. [Manfred is a popular character from the Harper Connelly series. Lily Bard and Jack – from Harris’ Shakespeare series – made a cameo in the Sookie books, it would be cool if she did this again.]

~ Barry will be back! The dark horse in the HEA stakes rises from the ashes of Rhodes…hopefully wearing more than his underwear as he was when we saw him last.

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Spoilers gleaned from a different event further into the thread:

~ The Sookie Companion book is due out around February 2011, and will contain a novella focussing on Quinn [yay! I’m doing my happy dance and you all can’t stop me!!] This novella will impact the storyline of the series in the same way as the short story, One Word Answer. For those who haven’t read it, OWA explained the circumstances surrounding Hadley’s death and details from this short were referenced in Definitely Dead. None of the other short stories contained plot relevant information for the main series.

[CH mentioned on her forum a while back that the novella will deal with Quinn’s whereabouts between FDC’s takeover and his reappearance at Sookie’s house in DAG; and she also mentioned something about him being punished…for the tip off I suspect. I smell an effort at character redemption here, especially in view of the comment at the source about “explaining” himself to Sookie.]

~ There will be a half-elf in Book 11. Elves and Fae have history, so this will be interesting no doubt. Elves also move between the fae and human worlds. The plot thickens….

~ The blood bond will not be broken in Dead in the Family. She hasn’t decided if she will break it in Book 11 yet, but it will be broken eventually. She also added that it has caused her much grief. [Understatement of the year! I’ve heard her say previously that she wishes she hadn’t introduced the BB – my take is that she feels some readers are giving it far more weight than she’d ever intended it to have.]

~ Sookie will get plenty of sex when she finds her HEA, and she’ll be very enthusiastic about it.

And in other news, I’m freaking out that I got to make a tag for BOOK 11 for this post.

Sources: here and here

Image by AniP

Dead in the Family Spoilers – Publishers Weekly

Well looky here.

Publishers Weekly – Dead in the Family – Charlaine Harris.

Still reeling from the deaths of her fairy cousin, Claudine, and many others in 2009’s Dead and Gone, Sookie Stackhouse struggles with paranormal politics in her entertaining if slow-moving 10th outing. When Claudine’s triplet, Claude, appears at her doorstep, Sookie reluctantly allows him to move in. The government threatens two-natures with mandatory registration, and tensions run high in the local Were pack. Then Eric’s maker, a Roman named Appius Livius Ocella, arrives without warning, bringing along Alexei Romanov, whom he rescued from the Bolsheviks and turned into a vampire. Though the action often builds too slowly, the exploration of family in its many human and undead variations is intriguing, and Harris delivers her usual mix of eccentric characters and engaging subplots. (May)

Claude is benign, so we can stop stressing about that. Amelia moves out – gay, fae stripper cousin moves in. No idea where this going…but it will most likely end with Sookie getting the crap beat out of her again.

Eric’s “brother” has a name and a background (Alexei Romanov is a historical figure, a la Bubba – I am digging on him as we speak), and we also have some dirt on what Alcide might want from Sookie.

And there’s “subplot” now? Gee I thought this series was just popcorn and fluff.

Six weeks to go and I’m getting ANTSY!

Source: Publishers Weekly