The chapter starts the next morning when Sookie wakes up and makes herself a cuppa coffee. Her Gran gets a call from a friend, Everlee, with some morning gossip. It appears that the Rat's trailer fell victim to an unexpected tornado the night before and they were killed in the wake of it. Moving on, Gran asks Sookie if Bill has accepted the invite to speak at the upcoming DOTGD (Descendants of the Glorious Dead) meeting. Sookie confirms that he has agreed and expects to see Bill the following evening. Gran starts a cleaning spree in expectation of Bill's visit.
On her way into work, Sookie decides to take a look at the Rat's lot. She finds the lot in chaotic disarray, the trailer crushed and the yard a mess with trees torn up from the ground and strewed around the area. Shortly after she arrives, the parish coroner, Mike Spencer and the Sheriff, Bud Dearborn also arrive at the scene. The sheriff mildly questions her about her rocky relationship with the Rats. However, it is clear that Sookie was hardly responsible for this destruction or their untimely deaths. As soon as an opportunity presents, she quickly makes an exit using the excuse that she has to get to work.
At Merlotts, the bar is a-buzz with the gossip of the Rat's demise, to Sookie's dismay (she has a hard time keeping the patron's thoughts out of her head). Maudette's murder has taken a backseat to the Rat's misfortune. Here, we also get a quick look into the persona of Rene, Arlene's boyfriend. Rene generally acts like a typical crazy Cajun, however his Cajun accent is completely a put on. And although he and Sookie are hardly friends (although not enemies, either), he does step in to stand up for her when an unruly patron gives Sookie and unwanted grope. Sookie is amazed at Rene's unexpected behavior and speaks to him briefly. Rene tells her that she sometimes reminds him of his sister, Cindy, who moved to Baton Rouge a couple years before. He also tells her Cindy is well and working in a hospital cafeteria.
The next day, Bill comes over after dark to spend time with Sookie and to formally meet Gran. Gran is delighted with Bill's grace and manners. They all touch base briefly on the freak tornado of 2 nights before (what a pity...) then they discuss Bill's lineage. He hails from Bon Temps, albeit generations before. He explains that he inherited the house and land he is occupying from Jessie Compton, a distant relative, who died the previous year. Bill and Sookie then excuse themselves to take a walk together.
On their walk, Bill admits to Sookie that he was the tornado that decimated the Rats and their land. She is not really surprised as she surmised as much.He then briefly mentions his life prior to becoming a Vampire (or "contracting the virus" as the media puts it). He continues into his early years as a Vampire and explains he would generally feed only on people he knew to be of poor character, never fed on children, and sometimes either paid prostitutes for their blood and company or would glamour unsuspecting people into freely sharing their blood, then into forgetting the incident.
Sookie is intrigued at the idea of glamour and requests Bill to try his glamour on her. They find she is immune. They then move on to other topics of conversation. Sookie relates the hardships of growing up with her ability (which she had always thought of more as a disability). Bill briefly explains to her how Vampires are created (they must be intentionally drained to death then take the blood of a vampire, or on occasion, a person can tun if a Vamp habitually feeds or exchanges blood with them too frequently). Bill then related that he is currently in the mindset to mainstream (living within a human society) and is tired of being a drifter. He also mentions that he is having a hard time getting contractors, as his inherited house is in ill-repair and needs some serious updating, Sookie offers to help out with the contractors (being a small town, every one knows everyone). They spend another couple pages getting to know each other better and share their first smooch. (Bill has a fetish for chicks in long dresses, Sookie talks about her preferred breakfasts, Bill had been married before he became a Vamp, and they both enjoy a bit of TV, which are the main highlights).
The next day, Sam calls Sookie to request she come in to work (as it was supposed to be her day off). As she had plans with Bill for that evening, she felt a bit put out and came into work in a mood. At work, she mentally eavesdrops on Arlene to find that her friend is worried about an unexpected pregnancy. Although Arlene is generally fairly accepting of Sookie's gift, she gets miffed and gets annoyed with Sookie b/c it's a touchy subject. Sookie gets upset with herself and at the situation with Arlene and goes to take a breather in the bar's storeroom. Sam comes in and asks Sookie what's wrong and if she "overheard" something she oughtn't of. Then he invites her to listen to his thoughts if she wants. She is a bit taken aback by Sam's acceptance and offer and she declines the invitation, for the moment. Sam has given her something to think about however, at the moment she has to get back to work.
Once her shift ends, she heads off to Bills, since she had expected to see him that evening before being called into work. Upon arriving at his place, she meets 3 tawdry and bawdy Vamps (named Diane, Liam and Malcolm) who's personalities she finds to be quite distasteful. They are lurid and open about sexuality in general and have 2 humans among their little entourage. After some banter, Sookie exposes the male human with the Vamps as having AIDS, which is transferrable but does not always kill them (too many drinks of an infected human can cause death, but a limited exposure generally results in weakness for about a month, making them vulnerable to stakings or to drainers. They call Vamp AIDS Sino-AIDS but how the term was derived isn't explained). Jerry, the infected human, is seeking vengeance on Vamps in general b/c his previous human lover left him for a Vamp. Upon being exposed, he attacks Sookie, choking her half out of her senses. He is forcefully removed from her. The 3 vamps then leave, taking Jerry forcefully and the other human (a woman named Janella Lennox, the Vamps pass-around party favor/snack) in tow to punish Jerry for his attempt at infecting them. Sookie regains her composure and takes her leave shortly after them.
End of Chapter 2 (approximately 38 pages)
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Dead Until Dark - Chapter 1 - Spoiler Summary!
Chapter 1:
Two years prior to where the series starts, the Vampire communities of the world have "come out of the coffin" upon the Japanese creation of a synthetic blood, which they can survive upon. The most popular brand of Blood Brew is called True Blood, while other lower quality beverages have different names and are also available yet rarely noted through-out the series. Also, upon the Vampires exposure to the general populace, they claim to be human victims of a virus that leaves them seemingly physically dead yet walking and with a long life span and allergies to sunlight, garlic and silver.
Meet Sookie Stackhouse, small town Louisiana barmaid at the Bon Temps tavern of Merlott's, and local telepath. Because of her ability, many of the locals think she's just nuts. But this quirky, lovable character finds out in the first chapter that her ability does not extend to the Vampire community (which she finds to be a great relief). How does she find this out? Well, a Vampire, Bill Compton specifically, comes into the bar at the opening of the book and she finds she is unable to "read" him.
Enter Mack & Denise Rattray (AKA: The Rats), who pretend to befriend Bill as soon as they identify his nature, only to lure him out into the parking lot in order to drain his blood. (Side note: Vampire Blood is sold on the Black Market b/c of the short term abilities it grants the human consumer. It is known to increase attractiveness, sex drive, give extra strength, heal wounds and in some cases, drive the user completely daffy). Sookie, knowing the reputation of the Rats (from reading their minds she knows they have unsavory backgrounds of thievery and violence), goes into the lot and stops them from draining Bill.
As a means of thanking Sookie for saving him, Bill offers her the vial they collected before she ran them off (using a chain as a weapon from the back of her brother's truck). She refuses the vial and Bill immediately acknowledges that she is different from most of the humans he has interacted with.
The rest of the chapter quickly introduces you Sookies older brother Jason Stackhouse and their Grandmother, whom Sookie lives with.
Jason works with for Renard Parish's construction crew as a lead hand/supervisor. He drives a flashy black pickup truck with pink and blue splashes detailed along the sides and is pretty much a happy man whore. Their Grandmother, Adele Hale Stackhouse, maintains a home that has been in the Stackhouse family for generations. She is a very forward thinking older woman who you would easily identify as one of those "Favorite Grandma" types. She is accepting of Sookie, Vampires and the general unknown or supernatural. She is very into gossiping with her friends on the phone. She also petitions Sookie to invite Bill to speak about the Civil War at a meeting for the Descendants of the Glorious Dead (obviously a historically minded group of locals who enjoy learning about their ancestors who fought in the War).
Towards the middle of Chapter 1, we learn that Maudette Pickens was killed in her apartment the night before. There is some speculation that a Vampire may be the murder, however she is not drained of blood, has older Vampire bites on her inner thigh, and was strangled to death. Maudette was an employee at the Grabbit Kwik gas station/convenience store, and was known to be not exactly hard to get. She had also been seen whoring around with fellow slut Jason Stackhouse on numerous occasions in the past.
Closer to the end of this Chapter, you meet some of the locals of Bon Temps, such as Sam, the owner of Merlott's, Arlene a fellow barmaid, Rene who is Arlene's boyfriend, and Dawn, another barmaid (single and trysting with Jason at times as well).
The Chapter comes to a close when Sookie is accosted outside the bar after her shift by The Rats, who want revenge for her interference with their attempted draining of Bill a few nights before. Although they beat Sookie to a bloody pulp, she is saved by Bill, obviously returning the favor (although she doesn't really see what happened and only hears growls, squeals, screams and general fighting sounds while she's prone and bleeding on the gravel next to her car) . The Rat's attack did such severe damaged that Sookie is broken in many ways (it infers that her spine is most likely broken, along with her arm, some ribs and a fairly nasty head wound). Bill brings her slightly into the woods near the bar's parking lot and gives her some of his blood in order to heal her. She realizes soon after that she's feeling a lot better and they have a brief conversation while he holds her, their first "getting to know you" moment. Bill agrees to meet with the Descendants of the Glorious Dead for Sookie.
End of Chapter 1 (Summary of approximately 35 pages)
Two years prior to where the series starts, the Vampire communities of the world have "come out of the coffin" upon the Japanese creation of a synthetic blood, which they can survive upon. The most popular brand of Blood Brew is called True Blood, while other lower quality beverages have different names and are also available yet rarely noted through-out the series. Also, upon the Vampires exposure to the general populace, they claim to be human victims of a virus that leaves them seemingly physically dead yet walking and with a long life span and allergies to sunlight, garlic and silver.
Meet Sookie Stackhouse, small town Louisiana barmaid at the Bon Temps tavern of Merlott's, and local telepath. Because of her ability, many of the locals think she's just nuts. But this quirky, lovable character finds out in the first chapter that her ability does not extend to the Vampire community (which she finds to be a great relief). How does she find this out? Well, a Vampire, Bill Compton specifically, comes into the bar at the opening of the book and she finds she is unable to "read" him.
Enter Mack & Denise Rattray (AKA: The Rats), who pretend to befriend Bill as soon as they identify his nature, only to lure him out into the parking lot in order to drain his blood. (Side note: Vampire Blood is sold on the Black Market b/c of the short term abilities it grants the human consumer. It is known to increase attractiveness, sex drive, give extra strength, heal wounds and in some cases, drive the user completely daffy). Sookie, knowing the reputation of the Rats (from reading their minds she knows they have unsavory backgrounds of thievery and violence), goes into the lot and stops them from draining Bill.
As a means of thanking Sookie for saving him, Bill offers her the vial they collected before she ran them off (using a chain as a weapon from the back of her brother's truck). She refuses the vial and Bill immediately acknowledges that she is different from most of the humans he has interacted with.
The rest of the chapter quickly introduces you Sookies older brother Jason Stackhouse and their Grandmother, whom Sookie lives with.
Jason works with for Renard Parish's construction crew as a lead hand/supervisor. He drives a flashy black pickup truck with pink and blue splashes detailed along the sides and is pretty much a happy man whore. Their Grandmother, Adele Hale Stackhouse, maintains a home that has been in the Stackhouse family for generations. She is a very forward thinking older woman who you would easily identify as one of those "Favorite Grandma" types. She is accepting of Sookie, Vampires and the general unknown or supernatural. She is very into gossiping with her friends on the phone. She also petitions Sookie to invite Bill to speak about the Civil War at a meeting for the Descendants of the Glorious Dead (obviously a historically minded group of locals who enjoy learning about their ancestors who fought in the War).
Towards the middle of Chapter 1, we learn that Maudette Pickens was killed in her apartment the night before. There is some speculation that a Vampire may be the murder, however she is not drained of blood, has older Vampire bites on her inner thigh, and was strangled to death. Maudette was an employee at the Grabbit Kwik gas station/convenience store, and was known to be not exactly hard to get. She had also been seen whoring around with fellow slut Jason Stackhouse on numerous occasions in the past.
Closer to the end of this Chapter, you meet some of the locals of Bon Temps, such as Sam, the owner of Merlott's, Arlene a fellow barmaid, Rene who is Arlene's boyfriend, and Dawn, another barmaid (single and trysting with Jason at times as well).
The Chapter comes to a close when Sookie is accosted outside the bar after her shift by The Rats, who want revenge for her interference with their attempted draining of Bill a few nights before. Although they beat Sookie to a bloody pulp, she is saved by Bill, obviously returning the favor (although she doesn't really see what happened and only hears growls, squeals, screams and general fighting sounds while she's prone and bleeding on the gravel next to her car) . The Rat's attack did such severe damaged that Sookie is broken in many ways (it infers that her spine is most likely broken, along with her arm, some ribs and a fairly nasty head wound). Bill brings her slightly into the woods near the bar's parking lot and gives her some of his blood in order to heal her. She realizes soon after that she's feeling a lot better and they have a brief conversation while he holds her, their first "getting to know you" moment. Bill agrees to meet with the Descendants of the Glorious Dead for Sookie.
End of Chapter 1 (Summary of approximately 35 pages)
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Intro to the Sookie Stackhouse Universe - Dead Until Dark
So, someone you know is reading the Sookie Stackhouse series, b/c they got hooked on the HBO Show True Blood. You want to know, or impress, or just are interested in the alternate story line from the show, the original tales but just don't have time to sit down and read a novel. So, what do you do? You come to my Blog of course!
Over the coming weeks, while I await my copy of the newest book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, I intend on whiling away the time by sharing the stories with chapter by chapter summaries to let every one know the full story. Why, you ask? Because this series is just too awesome to pass by!!!
I am starting my summaries as soon as I finish tonight's blog. Hopefully I'll get the info up and out there to the world this week! But let me give you some of the basics right here and now:
Q#1. What is True Blood? (The TV Show Moniker)
A#1. True Blood is the synthetic substitute for Blood, created by the Japanese, which allowed the Vampires to "come out of the coffin" and make their existence known to the world. It's not the only Japanese Blood Brew in the book, however, it's like the high end brand of Synth-Blood.
Q#2. Is the show along the same story line as the books?
A#2. Yes and no. The show, so far, has been a variation of the book series. Each book has been broken down into a season format to keep the viewers coming back. However, they have merged, removed, and completely changed or altered many characters from the book series. Some of the book characters aren't in the show at all, while other characters have been raised and extended in their life or status for the purposes of Hollywood glitz. The story lines are similar, as I mentioned, but they certainly ar enot the same and like with any good book, you are bound to get more in-depth info from the novels than the show provides.
Q#3. This blog entry is pretty long! How will the books be broken down into blog-form?
A#3. I will be summarizing each chapter in 2-3 paragraphs, providing the most pertinent info relative to the books. WARNING: EXPECT SPOILERS!!!! I would very much recommend reading the series if you're a die hard reader like myself, so please note that this blog is geared to people who want to know now, Now, NOW!
Thanks for reading and keep coming back! The spoils (or spoilers in this case) are well on the way and I hope you find the Sookie Stackhouse Series as entertaining as I have!
Cheers!
Mala
Over the coming weeks, while I await my copy of the newest book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, I intend on whiling away the time by sharing the stories with chapter by chapter summaries to let every one know the full story. Why, you ask? Because this series is just too awesome to pass by!!!
I am starting my summaries as soon as I finish tonight's blog. Hopefully I'll get the info up and out there to the world this week! But let me give you some of the basics right here and now:
Q#1. What is True Blood? (The TV Show Moniker)
A#1. True Blood is the synthetic substitute for Blood, created by the Japanese, which allowed the Vampires to "come out of the coffin" and make their existence known to the world. It's not the only Japanese Blood Brew in the book, however, it's like the high end brand of Synth-Blood.
Q#2. Is the show along the same story line as the books?
A#2. Yes and no. The show, so far, has been a variation of the book series. Each book has been broken down into a season format to keep the viewers coming back. However, they have merged, removed, and completely changed or altered many characters from the book series. Some of the book characters aren't in the show at all, while other characters have been raised and extended in their life or status for the purposes of Hollywood glitz. The story lines are similar, as I mentioned, but they certainly ar enot the same and like with any good book, you are bound to get more in-depth info from the novels than the show provides.
Q#3. This blog entry is pretty long! How will the books be broken down into blog-form?
A#3. I will be summarizing each chapter in 2-3 paragraphs, providing the most pertinent info relative to the books. WARNING: EXPECT SPOILERS!!!! I would very much recommend reading the series if you're a die hard reader like myself, so please note that this blog is geared to people who want to know now, Now, NOW!
Thanks for reading and keep coming back! The spoils (or spoilers in this case) are well on the way and I hope you find the Sookie Stackhouse Series as entertaining as I have!
Cheers!
Mala
Monday, January 17, 2011
HeyThereHelloHiya!
Hi There;
My name is Mala and I'm an avid reader. However, my husband rarely reads further than the Sports Section of the local paper.
Since the series "True Blood" came out, I've, of course, delved into the books with fiendish delight! My husband, also a fan of the show, was a bit curious about the differences between the books and the series. So, we plotted!!!
This blog should be dedicated to the spouses of those loyal readers out there! You're other half might be reading the book, but that's just too time consuming and you're probably a very busy person, which is why you don't often sit down to read novels and such.
So, this Blog Spot is for you! Over the coming weeks, I will take time to summarize each chapter of the True Blood Novel Universe for those who want to know but just can't spare the time! Each chapter will be broken down into paragraphs summarizing the highlights and the need to know info. I am also going to start working on a character tree, to help my Blogger Friends see the relation of the characters.
So, keep checking back to see my progress as I create the ultimate Cliff Notes to the Sookie Stackhouse Universe! And if you have any questions, requests or any anything at all, please feel free to drop me a line!
Thanks for following! :)
My name is Mala and I'm an avid reader. However, my husband rarely reads further than the Sports Section of the local paper.
Since the series "True Blood" came out, I've, of course, delved into the books with fiendish delight! My husband, also a fan of the show, was a bit curious about the differences between the books and the series. So, we plotted!!!
This blog should be dedicated to the spouses of those loyal readers out there! You're other half might be reading the book, but that's just too time consuming and you're probably a very busy person, which is why you don't often sit down to read novels and such.
So, this Blog Spot is for you! Over the coming weeks, I will take time to summarize each chapter of the True Blood Novel Universe for those who want to know but just can't spare the time! Each chapter will be broken down into paragraphs summarizing the highlights and the need to know info. I am also going to start working on a character tree, to help my Blogger Friends see the relation of the characters.
So, keep checking back to see my progress as I create the ultimate Cliff Notes to the Sookie Stackhouse Universe! And if you have any questions, requests or any anything at all, please feel free to drop me a line!
Thanks for following! :)
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