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If movies like Freddy vs. Jason, Kramer vs. Kramer, Alien vs. Predator, Ecks vs. Sever and King Kong vs. Godzilla have taught us nothing else, it's that everything is somehow better in battle format. We here at BOP recognize this fact, but at the same time realize that our breed of super-smart readers sometimes yearns for a touch of the intellectual at the same time. And since Hollywood and television networks have a certain obsession with turning literature of all types into moving image adaptations, we're afforded the perfect opportunity to set up grudge matches galore.

True Blood

Three years after bringing his superb drama, Six Feet Under, to a close at HBO, Alan Ball resurrected himself on the pay cabler with True Blood, a TV show based on Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Mysteries. The book series kicked off in 2001 with Dead Until Dark and continues strong to this day with book nine, Dead and Gone, slated for release in May.

Both the book and TV series, set in a fictional Louisiana town, focus on an unlikely romance between a young woman, Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), and vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) at a time when vampires have "come out of the coffin" and are more or less looking to peacefully enter into mainstream society.

After debuting to a disappointing 1.44 million viewers – considering the extensive marketing campaign HBO undertook in promoting the series – True Blood's audience grew week-to-week, with its season finale airing in front of 2.4 million pairs of eyeballs. (That number grew to over six million viewers once HBO took into account the series' multiple airings in the same week). Not bad for the struggling network, which was in need of some fresh programming after most of its 2007 programming slate, including Tell Me You Love Me and John From Cincinnati, failed to live past its debut season.

Though initial impressions of True Blood were mixed, critics grew to like the new HBO series, which even earned award nominations from the WGA and the Golden Globes. But which is better: the book or TV show?





The Book

Sookie Stackhouse, a parentless 20-something who resides with her grandmother a few miles from work, narrates Dead Until Dark in the first person. Her only sibling, Jason, lives close by. And unlike nearly everyone around her, Sookie likes vampires. She's attracted to them – especially to Bill, whose mind she fortunately cannot read. That's right. Sookie can read what people are thinking. Well, everyone except Bill, which is one of the reasons she enjoys hanging out with him. Because with Bill, Sookie's mind is at peace.

Soon after they get acquainted, a series of seemingly innocent people are murdered. At first the cases appear to have nothing in common, save for the method of death: strangulation. It's then discovered that the victims are people who have ties with the vampire community (be it a relationship, casual sex or some other connection). That's when the string of deaths hits a bit close for Sookie Stackhouse. Does her friendship with Bill put her in the line of fire?

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