Dead Until Dark

Maggie: Thank you for loaning me the True Blood book! Should we call the series Dead Until Dark (DUD?)

So, here we go again: let's tawk vampires. Let's start with sex. Then let's talk about how Bill compares with Edward.

Ben: I'm glad you liked the book! Don't you love Sookie? I like when she gets sassy in her Southern way.

The insta-sex was a relief after Twilight. When they were doing-it in the graveyard I was like, "I don't think we're in Forks, anymore, Toto!"

Maggie: The sex scenes were well done. I reread the first one and was impressed that it didn't contain any of the phrases and words typically used in sex scenes. And yet it was incredibly sexy. I love that though Bill is a gentleman and from another time, he is less concerned with Sookie's honor and chastity than Edward was with Bella's.

Aside from the general feeling that Bill and Sookie are more adult (which is in part because they are older and in part that it's an adult book), their relationship is similar to Edward and Bella's in a lot of ways. Do you agree? What else do you feel was stolen from DUD for Twilight? The love triangle, the hearing other people's thoughts except the one you are in love with, the other vampires being scarier.

Ben: I liked how well developed the book was. Even from the first few pages the world of the story felt rich with lots of interesting details. Everything with the synthetic blood, the drainers. It was clear the author spent a lot of time thinking about the implications of being a mind-reader and stuff too. It all seemed fully explored... That's one of the things that bothered me about Twilight, how a lot of things were just shy of being creative. Like, for example, vampire baseball. *Shiver*