To me the only thing the books and the show have in common are the names of the characters and that there are vampires and werewolves. I like the books but like the show so much better.
I think the show keeps a lot of the basic bones in the books - but the show fleshes out the story lines to make things juicier, in addition to adding new plots and twists which are necessary to keep things interesting. Each book represents an entire season in the show, so it is necessary to add things in order to have the required 12 or 13 episodes. But if you read the books, you will see that the show does keep the vital stories alive, whilst making some much bigger, for example, the story with Sam and his family.
There is a lot that has been changed from the books. However if you look at the main plot in each book they are there. A.) the killer in season one. B.) going to dallas to save the missing sheriff and the maenad. However, there are new characters and characters that died int he books, but survived on the show. I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that the books are told in first person perspective. A show that just followed Sookie would get a little boring after a while, also i think they are really trying to build a fan base of the enire cast instead of just Sookie. Also, they are taking liberties with the importance of plots, like the decreased the importance of the trip to Dallas and increased the importace of the Maenad (who was a minor plot in the books). Overall they are doing a good job.
They have only changed a couple of things like: lafayette was ment to die in the 2nd season but they kept him going.They have tryed to keep to the books so its all good :) xx
I have found with the books they are somewhat different from the show to keep it interesting enough to enjoy both. Though some story lines and names will be the same some people that are in the books will not be in the show and vice versa. I say I enjoy both!
