Eric Northman
The Southern Vampire Mysteries
Please be aware that spoilers follow!
Book 1 - Dead Until Dark
The first book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, Dead Until Dark, was published in 2001 and won the Anthony Award that year for Best Paperback Mystery. Sookie is a waitress at Merlotte's, a bar owned by her friend, Sam Merlotte, in the small town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. She lives with her grandmother in an old house built by her Stackhouse ancestors. Her parents died when she was young, and her brother Jason lives in their parents' old house and sleeps with practically every pretty woman he sees. Sookie is lonely because everyone in her town thinks she's crazy - she is telepathic, after all. But her life is relatively normal and dull until Bill Compton walks into Merlotte's.
Dead Until Dark introduces a world where vampires live among humans, surviving on synthetic blood created by the Japanese (True Blood being the most popular brand). The vampires revealed their existence to humans only a few years before the novel takes place. Bill is one such vampire, and as it happens, he lives near Sookie and her grandmother, in the old Compton house. There is also a serial killer in Bon Temps, targeting women who associated with vampires; Sookie's own grandmother is one of the victims.
Bill becomes Sookie's first love, and it is he who takes her to Fangtasia, the tourist bar in Shreveport owned by Eric Northman and his associates, Pam and Long Shadow. Eric also happens to be the Sheriff of this area of Louisiana. Sookie assumes that he is a former Viking, though this is never stated outright. Eric is immediately fascinated with Sookie, and makes the first of many attempts to lure her away from Bill. Knowing about her telepathic ability, he uses her to find a thief in his bar, then stakes the culprit (who happened to be Long Shadow) when he attacks Sookie.
At the end of the book, Sookie finds herself in the hospital, injured after being attacked by the serial killer. She receives flowers from Eric and wonders how he knew she was there, then later sees him floating outside her window before he flies away again.
Book 2 - Living Dead in Dallas
The second book was published in 2002, and finds Sookie being sent to Dallas by Eric, who needs her to help a fellow Sheriff locate a missing vampire. Bill goes with her - as does Eric, separately and under the name "Leif" (another hint that he is a former Viking). Sookie encounters the Fellowship of the Sun, a religious organization that seeks to destroy vampires. They kidnap Sookie, but she manages to escape with the information that they are the ones who kidnapped the missing vampire. When the Fellowship attacks the vampires' "nest," Eric throws himself over Sookie, getting hit by a bullet in the process. He asks Sookie to suck it out of him, which she does, unaware that it would come out on its own if she had left it. This is the first time that Eric gives his blood to Sookie.
Back home in Bon Temps, Sookie searches for the murderer of her friend Lafayette. When she realizes that she'll have to go to an orgy to accomplish this, she asks Eric to go with her - and to pretend to be gay. He agrees, protecting her at the orgy, and helping her outside when the sickening situation overwhelms her. The night is a success, though, because she learns who killed Lafayette.
Book 3 - Club Dead
Club Dead (2003) begins with Bill leaving on a mysterious assignment, though Sookie learns that he went to his maker and former lover, Lorena. A vampire cannot disobey his maker's summons, and Bill is compelled to go to her. But Bill goes missing, and Eric sends Sookie to Jackson, Mississippi, to try to locate him, with the help of a werewolf named Alcide Herveaux. At the vampire and shifter bar in Jackson, Sookie gets staked in the side by a disguised member from the Fellowship of the Sun. She is taken to the home of the vampire King of Mississippi, where a healer removes the stake and takes care of her wounds while Eric tries to comfort her. They learn from Bubba (who is actually Elvis, now a brain-addled vampire) that Bill is indeed at the mansion, and Eric and Sookie concoct a rescue plan. To help Sookie pull it off, Eric gives her some of his blood for extra strength and ability.
Sookie rescues Bill - in the process staking the furious Lorena, who had been torturing him - and drives him to the parking garage of the hotel where she has been staying with Alcide. Unfortunately, Alcide's jealous ex-girlfriend, Debbie Pelt, pushes Sookie into the car trunk with Bill. When Bill wakes, starved and out of his mind, he attacks Sookie and rapes her, though he stops immediately when he comes to and realizes what is happening. Shaken and upset by Bill's betrayal, Sookie asks Eric to take her back home to Bon Temps.
Book 4 - Dead to the World
At the beginning of Dead to the World (2004), Sookie is driving home from work late at night when she sees a half-naked man running down the road towards her house. It is Eric, and he has no memory of who he is or where he comes from. Sookie takes him to her house and cares for him, also calling Fangtasia to let Pam know where he is. The next night, Pam comes over and explains to Sookie that a witch named Hallow cursed Eric. She leaves her master under Sookie's protection. Sookie falls for this softer version of Eric, one detached from vampire politics. They talk to each other a lot, and they eventually have sex. Eric begins to call Sookie "my lover."
Eventually, the vampires attack Hallow and her cohorts. Sookie and Eric return to her house, and Sookie knows that soon the spell will be lifted from Eric. At her house, they are attacked by Debbie Pelt. Eric throws himself in front of the bullet to protect Sookie, and then Sookie kills Debbie. Eric hides the body while Sookie cleans the mess. The next night, Sookie finds Eric awake, and his memory is fully restored - except for the memory of the last few days. Sookie tells him nothing about it.
Short Story - "Dracula Night"
Eric appears in the short story "Dracula Night," which is included in the collection Many Bloody Returns (2007) and the Sookie short story anthology A Touch of Dead (2009). Sookie visits Fangtasia on Dracula's birthday and learns that Dracula himself is expected to visit... and Eric hardly knows what to do with himself!
Book 5 - Dead as a Doornail
In Dead as a Doornail (2005), someone is attacking the were and shifter population in Bon Temps, and Sookie is determined to find the killer. One of the shifters injured is her boss, Sam, and the shifters' main suspect is her brother Jason, who has become a shifter himself.
Sookie has other problems to death with. She is being questioned by some investigators looking for Debbie Pelt. Eric continues to try to find out what happened between him and Sookie when he stayed at her house. Eventually, he does her a favor and forces her to tell him in return. Finally, she is in danger because Long Shadow's maker, Hot Rain, sent a vampire to kill her as revenge against Eric. Fortunately, the attack happens at Merlotte's, and Sookie and her customers are able to kill the attacker. Eric arrives soon after to make sure that Sookie is unharmed and to explain the situation.
Book 6 - Definitely Dead
Definitely Dead (2006) finds Sookie going to New Orleans to learn more about her cousin Hadley's murder. She learns that her cousin was a favorite of Sophie-Anne, Queen of Louisiana. At her cousin's apartment, she meets the landlady, a gifted witch named Amelia Broadway. She is also visited by her new boyfriend, the weretiger Quinn. Sookie and Quinn are kidnapped by associates by Debbie Pelt's family. They escape and make their way to their attackers' intended destination, a deserted shack in the swamp, where Debbie's family is waiting. Because he has given Sookie blood, Eric is able to find her, and he helps them restrain and question the family. Sookie tells them the truth about what happened to Debbie, and they make a promise not to disturb her again.
Meanwhile, Sophie-Anne is set to marry the King of Arkansas, and Sookie attends a ball in their honor. The King and his allies attack Sophie-Anne and the Louisiana vampires, but they are on the losing side. Sophie-Anne is now in a position to take over Arkansas.
Book 7 - All Together Dead
All Together Dead (2007) takes place after Hurricane Katrina has ravaged New Orleans. Louisiana is weakened, and Sophie-Anne also faces false charges that she murdered the King of Arkansas. The Queen requests that Sookie accompany the Louisiana contingent to a vampire summit in Rhodes. The summit takes place in a vampire hotel shaped like a pyramid.
Realizing how valuable Sookie is, the Queen's associate, Andre, demands that Sookie exchange blood with him so that they'll have a connection that allows him to keep track of her. Fortunately, Eric enters and protects Sookie by persuading Andre to let him exchange blood with her instead. Because of this, Eric and Sookie are now blood-bonded, and she can feel his presence and emotions more strongly than ever before. At the Queen's trial, Sookie uses her gift and manages to convince the judge that Sophie-Anne is innocent.
When bombs begin to go off in the hotel during the day, Sookie runs to Eric and Pam's room and manages to rouse Eric from his sleep. He covers his face and grabs Pam's coffin, and Sookie holds on to him as they break out of the window and Eric glides them gently to the ground. Medics run around, trying to save the hotel occupants with the aid of Sookie and another telepath named Barry. Sophie-Anne is gravely injured, and Eric, Bill, and Pam badly burnt. Quinn manages to kill Andre, ensuring that the vampire will never be able to harrass Sookie again.
Book 8 - From Dead to Worse
In From Dead to Worse (2008), the King of Nevada, Felipe de Castro, is trying to take over the critically weakened Louisiana, sending in vampires from Las Vegas to kill the state's Queen and less-important area Sheriffs. At Sookie's house, the King's messenger finds Bill and Eric, and asks them for their allegiance. The King wants to spare Eric, whom he sees as valuable. After Sookie saves the life of Eric and the new King, de Castro offers Sookie the formal protection of the vampires, a great honor for them to offer a human.
Eric, while at Sookie's house, finally remembers everything that happened between them. He starts to call Sookie "my lover" again, and when he tells her about de Castro's protection, he calls her "dear one." His restored memory, along with the blood-bond, make him all the more determined to come to "an understanding" with Sookie.
Book 9 - Dead and Gone
Dead and Gone (2009) finds Sookie in the middle of a fairy war while a somewhat subdued Eric is working with the new regime of Felipe de Castro. To keep Sookie safe and out of de Castro's power, Eric marries her in a sneaky way involving the ceremonial knife and the blood exchange in Rhodes. Eric and Sookie have sex, and Eric invites Sookie to live with him. Sookie is kidnapped and tortured by fairies, then finally saved by Bill, who gets poisoned. For a reason not yet given, Eric could not save her himself. As Niall leaves, he tells Sookie that "the vampire" loves her. Though Sookie wonders which vampire he means, it's clear from context (and the fact that Niall doesn't know Bill) that Niall means Eric.
Book 10 - Dead in the Family
Coming soon.