Archive for upcoming vampire novels
Announcing Dead Ever After – The FINAL Sookie Stackhouse Book!
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The last Sookie story ever!
It is hard to believe we are down to the very final Sookie Stackhouse story. We talked about this before on this site, but at that time it seemed like such a long way off. Now, the much anticipated last chapter in the story of our beloved telepathic bar maid is finally available.
It was released on May 7th and you can bet I have already downloaded Dead Ever After to my Kindle. I rescheduled many of the books I wanted to review and I am reading it as fast as I can (and with a great deal of delight, I will add), so watch this site for all the insights, outrageous commentary and final farewells as we approach the final catwalk for Sookie.
There has been chatter across the net about what Charlaine is going to include and leave out. Like you, I am curious to see what actually is there. I cannot wait to finish it, though it will be sad to know it is the very last Sookie Stackhouse story I will enjoy!
Further Sookie Stackhouse is Coming
Of course, it is not the last we are going to be hearing of Sookie. No siree – there is more forthcoming even if it is not exactly a story of our gal. It won’t be the first time that Charlaine’s decided to do a book about the series characters, she did the two companion books back in 2011 and I don’t know about you but I really enjoyed them. She plans to do another one of these information books after the final chapter is completed. It will be called After Dead and will feature what happened to the characters at the end of the series. You can even pre-order it in either the Kindle After Dead or After Dead in Hardcover right here at our links.
So stay tuned folks. While it may be the last adventure of our gal Sookie, there is always the hope that Charlaine will miss her and bring her back. Until then, we have two more books to enjoy and of course the television show True Blood to keep the adventures of Sookie and friends alive. I will be reviewing both books here just as soon as I can complete them. See you with the latest in Sookie Stackhouse fun and adventures in vampire love and more soon.
Upcoming Vampire Novels: Dark Shadows: Angelique’s Descent by Lara Parker
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Title: Angelique’s Descent
Author: Lara Parker
Release: April 10, 2012
Pages: 432
Genre: Vampire Romance
Actress Lara Parker has been making a name for herself lately by writing about the characters she knew so well when she played Angelique in Dark Shadows back in the 70s. The hit television show has remained a cult classic and she was involved with the development of a spin off comic book series in the last ten years. With the upcoming release of a film version starring Depp, it is no wonder she has decided to write a story that delves into her character Angelique and just what turned her into the dangerous witch we came to know in the show.
I have to admit that out of the slew of upcoming vampire novels for April, this one just looked more interesting. We never really knew what it was that made Angelique who she was, but her background as a voodoo queen is really explored in this remarkably well written tale of eternal damnation and revenge.
We see in the beginning how she was used by her father which sets the whole story up. It is a great way to look at who Angelique could have been, and the history of Martinique is well researched. It would have been so easy for Lara Parker to have just written a cheap romance novel and yet she did the homework and has turned in a surprising well thought-out story that will please both long time Dark Shadow fans and newbies alike.
If you are cruising the upcoming vampire novels for a great read in anticipation of the movie, you can’t go wrong with Parker’s Angelique’s Descent. It is a great setup for the film, and even better if you are a fan of the television show. This is a classic romance and revenge tale that is all the better for Parker’s unique viewpoint of the character.
Coming to Terms with Genre Labels
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I love to read all kinds of books, but primarily those “all kinds of books” do often tend to fall into the genre category, just different genres. Science Fiction was my first love, and still is one of my favorite reads and fantasy has become such a huge section of my shelves that it has pretty taken over one of my rooms (yes- I said rooms) of books.
But genre isn’t much respected outside of the halls of our own little sub-culture, even today with all the hoopla about fantasy and science fiction in films and all. Fangirl Unleashed, one of my favorite writers about genre, did a great bit about genre, especially fantasy and SyFy in one of my favorite blogs, unleashthefanboy.
I agree with so much of what she says – that it has always been in fantasy and science fiction that many women found a calling because it is in those genre fiction areas that women have been the most welcome. Even in a “boys club” like mystery, women writers have flourished and women characters have had the opportunity to be more than just eye candy.
Today’s fantasy, with the focus being now on vampires and their relatives like werewolves and faeries, have still done remarkably well in portraying women as characters of substance. Take our own in-house heroine, Sookie Stackhouse. Now there is a gal that does not wait for “the boys” to take care of her fighting or righting of wrongs. She rolls up her sleeves and demands to take care of it herself. And yet, without losing any of the nurturing female side to her, the side that cradles Erik or Bill when they are hurt or finds a solution to someone’s pain. Sookie is the kind of gal we all want to be.
So even if you have problems selling someone on a book because it has vampires in it, there is still always the fact that most of these books have great female characters in them. Yes, strong men and we all love that in the stories, and even vulnerable men who allow women into their lives. But in the end, for me at least, it is the fact that for all element of escape that so much fantasy can have, what really works for me is the real world values of women who take care of things, and men who appreciate that they do.
