Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series

[Sara Nilsson]

have to agree with Ini, first books. Loved then.. urgh no fucking way. Boring ass sex is the solution to everything, how will she solve this? Wait, she Just discovered a new power she just needs these horse sized dicks in her for a few chapters to use it.

If the sex had been interesting to read it would have been one thing, but honestly reading the washing instructions on a new pair of jeans is sexier than what she manages. I think the last book I read i just kinda read a few pages here and there, it was all the interest I could muster. At this point you have to pay me to read them. Which is a shame, as it had such a wonderful start.

[Iniquitous]

have to agree with Ini, first books. Loved then.. urgh no fucking way. Boring ass sex is the solution to everything, how will she solve this? Wait, she Just discovered a new power she just needs these horse sized dicks in her for a few chapters to use it.

If the sex had been interesting to read it would have been one thing, but honestly reading the washing instructions on a new pair of jeans is sexier than what she manages. I think the last book I read i just kinda read a few pages here and there, it was all the interest I could muster. At this point you have to pay me to read them. Which is a shame, as it had such a wonderful start.

I forgot the E mantra 'sip, swallow, scroll' and about choked on my tea with the washing instructions comment.  You are correct!  It is the same thing over and over - even the 'sexy' talk is almost identical.  She is also so wet, so tight.  She doesn't do any real sexy talk, just screams and claws the men.  Pretty sad that I can describe all the sex scenes and it has been years since I read one.  (they were that repetitive)

[Callie Del Noire]

I miss old  Anita.. the snarky pushy bitch who earned victory by blood and scars.

[Haloriel]

I can appreciate the development of magic/sex magic, as, before this series and a few others, it was considered seriously and IMO annoyingly taboo. Moreover, while there are characters, I don't like I appreciate their presence for conflicting viewpoints. In a world with that much magic, there's going to be types that either can't accept it, or have some other kind of struggle. I find the books drag because of her ability to write the few people of colour she does include - like someone mentioned, Spotted Horse. I've found myself waiting for him to die for a while because of how common that is to write brown people, and especially natives, as throwaways.

The first person choice can make the series seem a tad myopic, but I'm still glad for the first success and continued of it. I also get tired of reading brown/mixed characters, especially women, that need to be scarred up to be effective.

[Skynet]

have to agree with Ini, first books. Loved then.. urgh no fucking way. Boring ass sex is the solution to everything, how will she solve this? Wait, she Just discovered a new power she just needs these horse sized dicks in her for a few chapters to use it.

If the sex had been interesting to read it would have been one thing, but honestly reading the washing instructions on a new pair of jeans is sexier than what she manages. I think the last book I read i just kinda read a few pages here and there, it was all the interest I could muster. At this point you have to pay me to read them. Which is a shame, as it had such a wonderful start.

Unless I'm misremebering, the author made an erotic novel series about a fairy private investigator (Meredith Gentry) to get it all out of her system when the Anita series started getting more explicit, although it seems that one bled into the other.

I miss old  Anita.. the snarky pushy bitch who earned victory by blood and scars.

Also her stuffed penguin collection that showed off her soft side! :3

[Haloriel]

I like the later books despite their category fitting better as thriller erotica, imo. The early books are simply a different category. Also, the writing isn't nearly as strong, nor confident, but that's expected, I'd say. Anita reads like a caricature of a mixed raced woman in the early books, to put a fine point on it. But I also choose not to make judgements on the way a bestselling author decides to write her work as I'm not where I'd like to be in my own writing. Boring doesn't stand out as a valid critique to me, nor does saying something isn't fun because the character isn't being scarred up. Because of the nature of the books, there's a limit psychologically to the number of times a person can be nearly hospitalised.

So she has a few options.

Die, because being just human at some point will simply not be adequate?

Gain the magic no one here appears to want to read about(at least so far), and gloss over it rather than explain?

[LunarSage]

I haven't read these books, but I know Josi adores them.  I even got her a copy of "A Lick of Frost" signed by LKH for her birthday one year. 

There used to be a group game here on E set in the Anita Blake setting.  A long time ago.

My question is do you folks think Anita has started to get into "Mary Sue/Marty Stu" (as much as it's an edgy term) territory?  I know she's the main character and all, but from what I understand, everyone seems to fall for her almost immediately.

[nuktaetal]

She absolutely has become a mary Sue. She becomes everything and everyone falls for her. If that ain't one I don't know what is!

[Haloriel]

Oh, she's definitely a Mary Sue. There's no question there. L O L. I support the authors' right to make her one, but she's one 1000%

Edit: Forgot to say that I also like the series, and still read the books. That said, if she were my protagonist, I'd have settled her relationship deal a long time ago. Not every new character in the setting needs to be available to the protagonist to be sexual with or near. Also, proper poly doesn't mean being promiscuous. Those are different things. If there's one thing I can't stand in media, its that repetitive theme. A person can be both, but they don't need to be and many people that are poly have a limit on the number of partners they'll accept and why!

[NerdyWolf27]

I fear I will only echo what the first few people have said about the series already. I really enjoyed the first few books and the initial triumvirate connections was interesting, but then the plot became very sex based. Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to sex in the series, but it gives the whole thing a different feel. The first few books didn't have this and only occasionally touched on sexual aspects of the world here or there. It was more about solving the mystery and taking down the villain. I liked that.

[Callie Del Noire]

I think it was the Narcissis book that shifted things into Mary Sue territory..it was the last hardback of the series that I got. Sex isn’t the issue..I’d bought Merry Gentry books and would be happy to do so..

I ,at the time, I bought the book..think I said something like ‘she spent half the book in bed or such.

[FigTree]

I love Nathaniel as a character, so I definitely continued to properly enjoy well after the "things are A Lot About Sex" line in the sand since there was still so much development to do with him and Micah. It doesn't bother me that the books tend to be more about the relationships than the plot proper, I like reading about all the interpersonal stuff, but it does bug me that everyone is constantly rehashing the same problems with no change or nuance. Like, the ending of Sucker Punch was infuriating, but so were the six or seven times the characters had the exact same conversation with just slight changes of cast in the room. (Let's be honest, I'll continue reading them forever, I just want them to be written either more concisely or with more character development.)

[Haloriel]

Same, FigTree. Most people who don't like the direction appear to be those who don't like that the author changed her focus. Which she's allowed to do. She was just a lucky one who didn't kill her book series with it. Hamilton had enough old fans to maintain, and new ones who noted the shift. I've honestly thought she intended to write thriller supernatural erotica all along and couldn't get a publisher to go along with it because of various biases. Vastly more freedom in terms of publishing now compared to 1997, but there's still a long way to go in that regard. Nathaniel is one of my favs also. The thing about repeating conversations and so on is very realistic, that said. Sometimes recovery from trauma doesn't stick. Sometimes it isn't concise the way we'd prefer a fictional character to be. So I also keep those things in mind.

I have one glaring complaint about Sucker Punch besides: it's obvious the author never spent more than a few weeks in Michigan or did enough research. There are definitely small towns, but they have a different feel than places in the west of the country, the south of the country, and the north. They are not all the same, even when talking bigotry and other types of negativity.

Nathaniel is fantastic, and Micah is just awesome. I do wish the author would learn to see how clothing doesn't make gender a bit better though. I'll never stop appreciating the Hamilton books because she opened the door for a lot of authors to follow her.

[Azuresun]

I can appreciate the development of magic/sex magic, as, before this series and a few others, it was considered seriously and IMO annoyingly taboo.

It reminds me of what happened to quite a few sci-fi authors in the 60's and 70's. Yes, there are very interesting stories to be told about the sexual cultures of a speculative society, and sex is certainly a strong driving force in human relationships and society.....but if they don't exercise any restraint and go full dirty old man, then it just ends up swallowing everything else about the story.

Also

[Josietta]

Yes yes yes yes! I love Anita Blake. I haven't read anything since Sucker but I have them all. Lunar gets them for me as gifts everytime one comes out because he knows I'm a book collector and I adore the Anita Blake and Merry Gentry Series.   

I love Nathaniel and Micah. I also had a soft spot for Jason. He was sweet but complicated.  I think there was another one that was far too brief IMHO, Domino or something was his name?  I can't remember that far back (i'll have to reread to be sure.)

[Gnollboy92]

I suspect I'm about as far from the target audience as possible, but I really enjoyed the first few books but started having issues with the series at about book six (which I just finished a second read through). I found myself feeling that there were no real stakes in terms of the horror and physical threat offered by villains as I felt that Anita would simply instakill them in the last act of the book and go back to her toxic relationship to do it all again next book. Richard flat out killed any interest I had in the threesome of the early six books, I found myself thinking "Just shoot him, just shoot him, just shoot him..." But I had just finished watching a review series of 50 shades of grey so my red flag radar was a bit twitchy. Jan-Claude wasn't much better with his whole "You have to let us both woo you or I'll kill the other man" speil. So her choice was a man who would be frankly disgusted with the necessity of her survival or one who viewed her more as a prize to be won. Mostly though it was the lack of stakes that really made me loose interest as it left only the romance to focus on and I found myself bouncing off that.

But the world is fascinating. An urban fantasy story where all the monsters are out in the open is one I've not seen anywhere else, the genre seems to be fond of having it all be hidden. I was especially interested in the animator business and would quite happily read a book dealing with just the daily running of a firm raising zombies for hire. I also found Anita herself to be an interesting character compared to the typical romance protagonist, although there's a bit of NLOG going on I found her to be both amusing and poignant in equal measure. Plus I'm always fond of female characters who are combat capable and actually get allowed to be so without having to be 'damseled' for a male rescuer. I also found the series to be suitably visceral in the gore department. It's rare to find an erotica series that isn't afraid to be as graphic with the violence as it is with the sex (even if I did somehow manage to not notice I was reading a sex scene, which I attribute to the gay/demi factor).

Finally, is it just me or did the author seem to have a thing for long haired men? There were quite a few male characters with shoulder length or longer hair and some only got defined by this alone in book six.

[Josietta]

Yes Laurell K Hamilton has a HUGE fondness of long haired men.  They are portrayed in both her book series, Anita Blake and Merry Gentry as showing such favoritism. I myself found myself liking it as I read the books even if I hadn't really been a fan of it in RL before hand. But in those series, it just seems to fit well. Though Micah doesn't have long hair, that I can recall.

[Haloriel]

I love the long hair bit and how she describes the characters. It takes a lot to take care of different long hair curly types, and that's another random thing that comes up that I adore. I recently read Rafael and really enjoyed the book's final fight. Without spoilers, the wererats are the best imo. I love the wolves too, but the wererats have a clearly defined culture which was finally nice to see in at least some detail.

Claudia is my personal favourite because she's tall, strong, and doesn't let anyone push her around. I keep reading because she keeps writing, and I love the world regardless of flaws, or perhaps, because of them.

Micah's hair is just past his shoulders. <3

[Sethren]

SO I haven't read the books, I tried to read the first one and I think maybe because it was online I must have somehow gotten a bad copy or something because I swear it felt badly written...Maybe I'll try and get the actual book for my kindle...

However, I've role-played in its world/universe for a few years now and I'm not overly impressed by the series that has basically been summed up to - Anita can fuck anything and mate with it and somehow is this impossible panwere that doesn't exist otherwise in the world - basically the world lore/rules does not apply to her.

Don't get me wrong, I love smut, but it began to become repetitive to a lot of people which has deterred me from reading the books.

I do love that there are other werecreatures outside of wolves and each species seems to have unique cultures to them. I've enjoyed rping in the ABverse for the most part. Unfortunately the universe has also brewed horrible cyberbullies.

Seeing this though and the fact I haven't RPed in the world for a good solid three years has me curious if maybe without all the years of biasness, I might enjoy trying the series.

[TheSithChicken]

I read all of them up to Narcissus in Chains and ran a lot of successful games set in the universe on RPOL way back. Like 20k posts in a month kind of games. And I just can't anymore. Micah broke me. The whole scene of their first fuck was straight up rape. Anita had no choice in it. Jean-Claude made her fuck Micah and his 3 paragraph long dick. When nobody treated it as rape I knew I was done with the series. Anita threatening someone for not being willing to sleep with her ruined the character for me. I can't even go back and read the early books now. Which sucks because they were the best supernatural detective books on the market.