earthmom wrote:
wendygopsychosis - are the books really better?? I didn't read any after seeing the show because I assume they were just the same thing repeated. But if you recommend them I may dive in and they'll help me get through until Sept when the next season is supposed to start!
Oooooh boy, are they better. For one thing, only the first season is in line with the book. After that, the show takes on it's own plot. The characters are very different (cody and aster are both incredibly damaged "mini-dexters," which I think it much cooler) and the plot is different. The books are far more exicting/graphic, and dexter is way more believable. In the show they give him emotions, a sex drive, etc etc...not things he has in the books. In the books literally everything he displays to the world is faked, and it's very cool to get inside his head in a way a tv show can't do.
If you like the show (or even if you don't!) I heavily recommend the books. They're much more interesting and accurate, as well as exciting.
Though, I noticed in the most recent season, the new director seems to be more of a fan of the books than the previous director. The latest season has dexter acting more like himself (for example, the real sociopathic dexter is incapable of love, so he's far less lovey-dovey with rita). And the latest season focuses more on his killing, and less on minor character drama, which is more book-ish. The books follow dexter, and only dexter, making them (in my opinion), more interesting. I like the series because I like dexter, not because I care about the emotional status of laguerta (who, by the way, is killed off rather early in the book series. I was surprised when I watched the show that they keep her, as I read the books first).
Ok, now I'm rambling. I'm going to stop.
tl;dr: read the books, they're great.