Vanished

For those who don’t know, Kat Richardson is a writer who fuses the supernatural world of ghosts, vampires and otherworldly things with the world of Private Investigators in Seattle, USA (that’s what we Brits would call Private Detectives). I first picked up Greywalker (2006) in Waterstones in early 2007, and waited with baited breath for the release of Poltergeist, in August 2007, then going on to eagerly anticipate the release of the next novel the year after that, Underground.

Kat Richardson’s heroine, Harper Blaine, is tough, interesting and compelling. In the first two books, she is struggling to come to terms with her ability as a ‘Greywalker’, an ability which means she can enter and converse with the world of spirits and ghostly monsters, and manipulate ‘the grey’. I would say that to get the full experience and explanation of Harper’s ability (or curse), you need to read the first three books.

Urban Fantasy has become a popular and fast growing genre in the past few years, with the advent of Stephenie Meyer and so on. However, for those who are looking for something more sophisticated and adult, there is of course a huge selection to choose from. In two years, I have worked my way from Kelly Armstrong, Charlaine Harris, Kim Harrison, Carrie Vaughn all the way to Kat Richardson and Patricia Briggs. Some of these series are a little less interesting (and perhaps more predictable) than others, but Kat Richardson weaves a complex yet entertaining plot. She has breathed life into a certain supernatural genre (ghosts and spirits).

The fourth book takes place in London, and despite the author being a US resident, she has shown me a London with a different feel that makes you want to go out and see the city with new eyes. Her visitor status works in her favour since Harper is not a resident of London but is there running errands for a Seattle Vampire. In the process, she meets some interesting characters and visits places even native Londoners don’t get to see (the sewers, for one!). She finds out more about her ability, how it relates to her father, and fills in some of the gaps.

The one thing that bothered me about this book is that the ending did seem a little rushed. In parts, the pacing was either too slow or too fast. Kat Richardson describes the sounds, sights and atmosphere of London perfectly, and definitely transports the reader onto the City streets (sewers and ghost stations…). Through Richardson’s eyes, we go on a supernatural detective adventure on the canals of the Thames, the Underground and graveyards of the City. Don’t expect beautiful Vampires or seductive Werewolves in these books; what you will get is a kick ass heroine and a mind absorbing puzzle of a book.

True Blood Season 1

I was looking forward to watching the first series of Trueblood on FX this summer, since I was staying in a house with a Virgin subscription. Alas, it was not to be; FX have little respect for ratings, it seems, since they ignored the 500,000 plus deaf people in the UK – no subtitles.

Anyway, as a result, despite my ardent love of Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse Vampire Mysteries, I was fully prepared to have to wait until Channel 4 decided to bring it to us mere freeview/terrestial mortals. I didn’t have to wait for long! On Wednesday night, I hog the couch at 10.00pm for an hour of Sookie and Bill. It hasn’t disappointed so far. The most annoying thing for me, to be honest, is the liberties they have taken with some of the relationships and characters; maybe to make the series more controversial and shocking. Tara is not a main character in the books, she is more peripheral, whilst Arlene has less of a role. I tend to try and ignore the whole ‘Jason the womaniser’ parts, not because I am a prude (I’m a Sex and the City gal), but because he is the character I least like, both on screen and in the books. That’s probably the point though. He is slightly denser and more conservative than he is portrayed as in the books, perhaps just because we see what he gets up to. I pity the women. He is a huge contrast to Sookie’s accepting and liberal attitude.

From my point of view, as a Feminist, Sookie has always been an interesting character. She is portrayed, on the surface, as a Southern small town waitress, blonde and perky. Yet she is so much more than this stereotype affords her, just as women are more than the stereotypes they are saddled with. She is surprising to a reader and viewer because she doesn’t ‘fit’ the stereotype – she is in fact an underdog due to her telepathy. In the book, she describes it as a debilitating disability.

This is the interesting contrast with Bill – he is a Vampire, an outsider, Vampires do not yet have the same rights as humans. Sookie’s character challenges perceptions of what it means to be a waitress in a Southern small town in America. She is smart and progressive, unlike some of the other characters around her (namely her brother). Warning, Spoiler: In the first book, for example (which may not be mirrored in the programme), she challenges Andy Bellefleur, the Detective, when he appears to look down on her for being a waitress. She challenges his perceptions of a waitress as dumb and beneath him. She exclaims that her job is just as important as his to wider society, since she serves people.

Most of all, Sookie is pretty much how I imagined her in nature and personality, even though there are some discrepancies between the book and script. As the story unfolds, I’m looking forward to seeing how she develops as a character and how Anna Paquin plays the part. The two leads are brilliant – Bill is a strange contradiction of Southern gentleman and, well, bloodsucking Vampire. Only two episodes in, and it promises to deliver, both on characters and plot.

If you want to see how Bill and Sookie manage to defy the odds and small town gossip, tune in to True Blood on Channel 4 at 10pm every Wednesday.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

I just finished reading this book this afternoon. Having been a fan of Ms Austen and the wit and irony of her books, I thought that there would be no harm in reading this mash up of the supernatural with a classic regency romance.

The reading of this book gave me mixed feelings. On one hand, it seemed very tongue in cheek and not particularly serious, and at times during the book, I had the feeling that Seth Grahame-Smith appeared to be gently mocking Austen’s style of writing. It could be just that Grahame-Smith’s style of writing introduced various ‘ball’ jokes, bad taste sexual connotations and behaviour that didn’t necessarily seem in keeping with the characters we all know and love from the original. At times the change of the plot seemed indulgent and allowed certain characters to get their revenge, comeuppance or introduced completely new character traits. In many ways, it reminded me of fanfiction – the plot is roughly the same but there are certain things that happen which I felt dealt out a good bit of justice which we might have felt was due to certain characters (here I am thinking of Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Mr Wickham).

What of Elizabeth and Mr Darcy? Well, here Elizabeth and her sisters are Zombie slayers, trained in China with all the skill and bloodthirstiness you might expect. This does give a new dimension to Lizzy Bennets character; she is tougher, more concerned with honour and pride. Mr Darcy seems to smoulder off the page far more – considering that he is also a top class Zombie assassin. There are, as I have mentioned, a lot of ‘ball’ jokes. Mostly emanating from Mr Darcy himself.

It seems like this book, no matter how wildly different in tone than the original, is an exercise in imagination. Far from butchering a classic, if treated with humour and light heartedness, it adds a different dimension. We Brits like our humour, and this book delivers it in spades.