I've held off reading this because I saw and loved the HBO series and was afraid that this book wouldn't live up to the "new and improved" version as broadcast. However, the novel was still enjoyable in its original form and was a fast fun read.

The novel was improved in the series and several of the characters were more fully realized than in the original book. Given that the series came years later, involved scores of talented people and devoted almost 12 hours to a single book, it's not surprising that there were improvements. However the spirit began here with the book and the original ideas are worth reading.

Some, like Gran being a supporter of "the descendents of the glorious dead," came across better in the book than in the series. Also, in some ways Sookie seemed a bit "simpler" here than in the series, but I think that's only because we can hear her internal thoughts. Anna Paquin's on-screen character seemed brighter from the get-go.

While the series was MORE on most fronts there was one character I missed, JB. As the author described him “It was one of God's jokes that such a dumb mind had been put in such an eloquent body.” I kind of liked the character of JB in the book. But I can see why he had to go as Jason was given much of his appeal in the TV series. Also it was interesting to see how Tara Thornton was inserted to give Sookie a foil and to even out the color distribution for TV consumption.

I look forward to reading the later installments and seeing how they compare.

I was a bit surprised at how much more the book felt like a detective story than the series did.