There are times I really miss my Mind Boggling Fractals program: I don’t have any "blood"-related fractal images (other than one I’ve already used) and I dearly wish I could have created something new. Since that is no longer an option I’m forced to use Bloodrose a second time. I think it’s pretty obvious why I chose that image.-
Maybe you can blame Anne Rice and her breakout novel Interview With The Vampire (followed by several sequels) or maybe it’s just one of those weird cyclical things: whatever the reason the past few years have seen a whole raft of fiction series chronicling human/vampire interactions. You have sweet romances like Twilight by Stephanie Miller (which I reviewed on November 24), The Nymphos of Rocky Flats and it’s sequels by Mario Acevedo (featuring Vampire P.I. Felix Gomez) to the sexed-up romps of Betsy the Vampire Queen by Mary Janice Davidson. Possibly the most successful series in the genre are the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Arkansas author Charlaine Harris.
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As I said in the Twilight review, I’m not a big fan of “vampire fiction” (I AM the wrong age and gender after all) but I do love psis (do any of you remember my love letter to Zena Henderson when I first started my blog?) and I was further intrigued to see the books were set in a region of Northwest Louisiana which is home to my Mother’s people. I got a good deal from the Science Fiction Book Club so I bought the first four books and hoped for the best.
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What I found was a well-written novel with heat and humor populated by interesting (dare I say realistic?) characters and a cool mystery with some sexy elements. In this series vampires have “come out of the coffin” and revealed themselves to the world thanks to the invention of a blood substitute that allows vamps to survive without feeding on humans. In all honesty I was more interested in the world than the relationship between Sookie and “Vampire Bill.” but the first book interested me enough to want to read the rest of the series. I’ve read all the books and, in spite of a few problems, I’ve been interested enough to keep following the series--even to television.
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I always worry when a book I like makes the transition to the screen: will the vision of the creators come anywhere close to mine? Will the actors do justice to their characters? Will they feel the need to change the thing so much that I can’t recognize the source material? I knew some changes would have to be made (the Sookie Stackhouse novels are written in the first person--hard to do on screen for example) but I had hopes for the show.
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Executive Producer Alan Ball brought the show to HBO--a company known for taking risks. The company isn’t afraid to spend money to put a good series on the air and it shows with True Blood. Everything in the series “rings true” from the setting to the character accents to all the additional material available on line. (You don’t have to be a fan of the books to get into the series and most fans of the books seem to enjoy the series for its own merits.) True Blood is loaded with profanity, nudity, graphic sex and violence which will turn off some viewers but others won’t mind.
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Anna Paquin has the right look and accent as Sookie the telepathic waitress: she brings a certain tough vulnerability to her role. Sadly, her telepathic powers seem to fail her at the most inconvenient times (but that happens in any show with telepaths.) Brit Stephen Moyer has the right look for Vampire Bill but his characterization often verges on a bad “Elvis” impersonation (to my mind at least). Sam Trammell (a New Orleans native) does fine as shape-shifter and bar owner Sam Merlotte. Aussie Ryan Kwanten has the thankless job of playing Sookie’s brother Jason. (He’s not the nicest person in the world and he isn’t the brightest bulb on the string and ends up naked or nearly-so in every episode.) Michael Raymond-James is spot-on as Rene. (He obviously spent a lot of time listening to Cajun Dialect For Actors.) Chris Bauer has another thankless role as Detective Andy Bellfleur who can’t solve a crime if the perp is handed to him on a platter. William Sanderson (“I‘m Larry, this is my brother Darryl and my other brother Darryl“) plays Sherriff Bud Dearborn (who gets a more sympathetic depiction on screen than he did in the books.)
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The character that gets the biggest page to screen makeover is Tara Thornton (played by Rutina Wesley), She goes from a white shop owner to a totally ghetto black bartender loaded down with issues. I found this change from book-to-screen the most startling but it works in this context. Her story arc is one of the most interesting through the season (and it ain’t nearly over yet.)
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For me, the biggest disappointment in the show was the casting of Alexander Skarsgård as Viking vampire Eric Northman. He has the height and coloration but lacks the charisma and projects about as much menace as a salmon smorgasbord. Of course, the actor wasn’t given that much to do in the first season: Eric plays a larger part in the second book so I guess I’ll have to wait to see how well he does in the second season (but I’m not holding out a lot of hope. Dutch actor Rutger Hauer could have played the part quite well--but he's gotten too old now.
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I also find I really miss "Bubba" the vampire but I know why the Producers chose not to include him in the series. (Read the books or e-Mail me privately if you want to know why.)
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True Blood is decidedly adult so those with “delicate” sensibilities should probably avoid the show. Still, it’s a good show for those with an eye for quality television with an edge and of course horror and vampire fans will eat it up.
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