Charlaine Harris

"Shakespeare's Counselor" is the final book in the Lily Bard series. I was surprised to find that I took great pleasure in this series. In some ways it is one long novel, charting Lily's journey from isolated, insomniac, night-walker, to a woman with a life that she has built through her strength, her integrity and finally by being courageous enough to allow herself to have something to lose.

The final book thankfully doesn't go down the path of unlikely happy endings. Bad things happen to show more Lily in this book and, at the end of it, she still has significant problems, but the book delivers credible growth for her and the people around her.

One of the ways this growth is achieved is that Lily enters therapy, with the Counselor of the title, to try to end the nightmares that rule her sleep. I was surprised at this. I'm not a fan of therapy. I'm with Willy Russel in changing Pschotherapist into Psycho The Rapist. I've never been convinced that the response to trauma should be a platitude-driven talking-tour of the route back to normalcy. I very much doubt that, after a significant trauma, normal is an option.

I was pleased to see that the therapy in the book worked less because of the skill of the counselor, than because the rape survivors in the group were willing to extend their trust and support to each other. There are some hard-to-take tales in therapy sessions. Sadly, none of them are difficult to believe. I was impressed that, even in therapy, Lily did not change her view that people are not naturally good and safety can only be obtained through vigilance and strength. Her counselor found the view bleak and wondered how Lily could live with it. I see it as a reasonable, fact-based conclusion, that provides a foundation for good choices.

The plot of "Shakespeare's Counselor" is a little complex, requiring some suspension of disbelief as the bad guys are not exactly run of the mill. The action is occasionally violent and brutal. The events in Lily's personal life add grief to an already tough situation and challenge Lily's definition of herself and her future.

By the end of the series, Lily has moved from loner cleaner, to an apprentice private detective with a husband and friends in a community that she now feels part of. Yet this is not a "Hallmark" sugar-sweet transformation. This book, even more than the rest of the series, is raised above the mundane by the authenticity of Lily's rage against what was done to her and the strength of her commitment to live her life to her own standards. It's a fine close to a series that I am sure I will read again.

I listened to the audiobook version of this series, performed by Julia Gibson. She did a wonderful job, not just in being "the voice of Lily Bard" but also in creating and sustaining voices for the other characters. She was the perfect choice for these books. show less

Probably my favorite Sookie book so far. The clothes the author puts Sookie in continue to horrify and delight (she's 26 and un-ironically excited to wear a Christmas sweater with reindeer on it? Her dress has sleeves, but no shoulders? Is it possible this was written in 1992?), but it only makes the whole series more fun at this point. I'm especially glad she's on the outs with Bill in this one because he is BORING.

With every book in this romance-mystery-vampire series, Harris ups the ratio of supernaturals to humans, and yet, it doesn’t feel over the top. And in this book, in which we encounter both “good” and “evil” witches, the author uses her trademark humor tinged with pathos to emphasize the necessity for judging group members as individuals, rather than by resorting to stereotypes.

Dead to the World continues the adventures of Sookie Stackhouse, a 26-year-old hottie waitress/barmaid in show more Bon Temps, Louisiana. She has just broken up with her vampire boyfriend Bill, and she runs into Bill’s powerful boss Eric, who is disoriented and has lost his memory. It turns out that area witches put a hex on him. Moreoever, they want to drain his blood, since a vial of blood from a vampire as old as Eric can fetch up to $500 on the black market. (Drinkers of vampire blood gain strength, attractiveness, and healthiness, but the effects are temporary, so the practice quickly becomes addictive. Vampires victimized by “drainers” run the risk of being weakened and left to die when the sun comes up.) It takes a boatload of vampires, werewolves, witches, and even a fairy - plus Sookie, of course - to put the situation to rights.

Eric, whom we previously knew as “sinister and sexy” is now vulnerable and sexy, and he’s staying with Sookie who is protecting him. But she needs protection herself from her awakened sexuality, now lying dormant since her breakup with Bill.

Meanwhile, Sookie’s brother Jason has gone missing. Is he, too, a victim of the witches? One flips through the book with addicted bated breath! Will Sookie succumb to Eric? Will the hex be broken? Will Bill try to get Sookie back?

Favorite Anecdote: Sookie is being comforted by Alcide Herveaux, a big manly guy who is also a werewolf. Sookie reports:

"Since his shirt wasn’t buttoned, I found my face pressed against his warm chest, and I was glad to be there. The curly black hair did smell faintly of dog, true, but otherwise I was comforted at being hugged and cherished.”

Evaluation: Come on! You know you want to read these books! show less

Nice! Most anthologies I read these days have a few stories I like, a few I really hate, and most pretty good. This one had some nasty stories - mostly where characters chose not to step up and take the right action (I guess I agree with Sookie!) - but even those were richly done and well-written. I'd read two before - I haven't quite read everything Mercedes Lackey and Seanan McGuire have written, but pretty close; the rest were new to me. I really liked the theme and the angles on it that show more various authors took. There was even a comic horror story - Lovecraft style - that actually worked for me, who hates horror. There were a few that are apparently part of a larger series, that I'll be looking for - 'The Case of the Haunted Safeway' is one, the last story 'Bell, Book, and Candlepin' is another. Excellent - I'll be looking for more anthologies by these editors. show less