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Anita Blake books

Started by QueenWolf, March 04, 2014, 01:57:59 PM

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QueenWolf

If you had to choose who you wanted for Anita would it be Jean Cloude or Richard and why?
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Shjade

If I had to choose one of those two...Jean Claude. He's a manipulative bastard with questionable (at best) morals, not to mention undead, but at least he's rational. Richard's too prone to freaking out, sometimes over even the little things. When he's good, he's very good, but he's way too unstable. They'd end up hurting each other more than anything else in the end unless one of them made some major life changes, and neither seemed willing to do that. Jean Claude is more flexible, to a degree, so that relationship - while perhaps not "healthy" - at least works.

If it were up to me, though? Neither. Being with Jean Claude has compromised pretty much everything about who Anita was and thought she wanted to be, and Richard - as noted above - brings serious issues to the table as well. She was better off without either of them.
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Callie Del Noire

In Richard's defense.. Anita DID freak out at the sight of his wolf. That was a very.. trying moment for both of them though. It's a complicated thorny issue that is one of the reasons I finally gave up on the books. I think it went from being about Anita being Anita to Anita being this sexual powerhouse. I dunno.. spending almost half of one book in bed and another book being a novella being sold as a novel that I read in like 2 hours flat. (I read fast.. I expect to read a book in a day.. but 2 hours was a shock)


Shjade

I held out hope for the series as far as Cerulean Sins. Obsidian Butterfly was the last one I thought could be considered "good," and was better than Blue Moon before it, but after that...ehhhh. I didn't start reading a series about a stubborn, independent, capable but flawed vampire hunter-slash-reanimator because I was looking for smut-driven soap opera. When the one becomes the other, something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.
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Callie Del Noire

Quote from: Shjade on March 04, 2014, 03:47:07 PM
I held out hope for the series as far as Cerulean Sins. Obsidian Butterfly was the last one I thought could be considered "good," and was better than Blue Moon before it, but after that...ehhhh. I didn't start reading a series about a stubborn, independent, capable but flawed vampire hunter-slash-reanimator because I was looking for smut-driven soap opera. When the one becomes the other, something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.

I held out, against hope, for a few more past that.. but I was looking for the same sort of character and the soap opera/smut came out to the point where it was more sex than adventure.

Iniquitous

Neither of them. I would even be hesitant to say Micah would be best for her.

But, like the others above me, I gave up on the series. I absolutely adored the series when it was Anita being Anita. When it turned into let's fuck everything in sight, gain more powers that make her near unstoppable I lost interest. Erotica is one thing - books with a Mary Sue main character just bore me to tears.
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Shjade

Out of all her potential "suitors," at least in the books I read, Micah actually seemed like the best fit: he was okay with her being who she is without being a pushover about it, knew when to speak up and make her face something important that she was trying to avoid, stayed laid back but not to the point of failing to take important things seriously, and just generally had a pragmatic approach to things.

Granted, I don't think their dynamic would work if she weren't Nimir-ra or whatever at the time - if she'd just stayed plain ol' reanimator Anita - but personality-wise they seem like the best pairing of the available options.
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The Golden Touch

By the most recent book, I'm definitely outside the realm of whom I would choose. Being polyamorous myself, it's nice not to have to make a decision. Of the many men (and woman) attached to her, Nathaniel remains my favorite for his character development.

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Sasquatch421

I do enjoy Nathaniel and am glad that he is coming into his own. I do like Jean Claude more then Richard for mainly the reason's that Shjade stated. Out of all her lovers though? I like(d) Asher the best. Then she made him a whiny, jealous....cough cough... I am interested by Jade though and hope she does more with her. I'd love to get some back story on her.

I have been pleased that Hamilton is kind of going back to the older mystery style stories though. There is still some sex in there, but not near as much as before. I'd love to see Bella Morte come into the stories again. She fascinates me for some reason.

Cryptic

I love Anita Blake, though much like the rest of you.. I honestly got tired of the constant sexcapades it was Ugh! This isn't Anita, and then Skin trade came out, I fell in love all over again. Though as far as the better suitor? Definitely not Richard, they are too much alike and would/and do hate each other. So it's Jean-Claude. I'd like to see more of Rafael though, I found his character so intriguing.
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GothicFires

The first time I read Circus of the Damned, I hated it. I couldn't stand Anita. The other characters I liked but she got on my nerves. Then a friend of mine wanted to do an rp set in that verse. It was all original characters and I loved our game. So I started reading the series. By the time I got to Micah I was reminded why I hated it in the first place. It's just gotten over the top stupid. The main characters aren't progressing over their problems. Exactly how many books do I have to read of Richard pining over Anita like he hasn't gotten the common sense to realize there are other women in the world. It's not like she's all that. And how many men have to agonize over the length of their cock hurting a woman? Laura took a great idea and royally fucked it up.

If i had to choose someone for her I would choose the Micah and Nathanial combo. That seemed to be the most healthy balance for her.
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LunarSage

What about Victor?

From what I understand, the books quickly became a session in how Anita is so special that she gets every single power of every single supernatural being in the world.  She's beautiful and smart and everyone falls in love with her.  That's classic Mary Sue right there.  Sometimes I wonder if LKH is trying to project herself into the Anita character.

I also heard about the other bounty hunter guy (who's name escapes me), the one who is so good that no vampire, even elders stand a chance against him... and the vampire elders never track his sorry mortal ass down and kill him for killing so many of their kind?  Talk about suspension of disbelief!

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Shjade

Quote from: LunarSage on March 07, 2014, 02:27:46 PM
I also heard about the other bounty hunter guy (who's name escapes me), the one who is so good that no vampire, even elders stand a chance against him... and the vampire elders never track his sorry mortal ass down and kill him for killing so many of their kind?  Talk about suspension of disbelief!
Edward.

Who, as far as I'm concerned, is the best character in the series after Anita goes all Blood Doll Babylon. Not because he's particularly deep or well-written or anything, goodness no, just because he's one of the few characters in the series who stays in character. Where everyone else is breaking off into these wildly wtf caricatures of themselves or just completely fracturing everything about who they were to become something completely different (note, that's not character development; that's character assassination), Edward is still Edward.

I suspect the big bads of vampire kind don't hunt Edward down and tear him apart because, "Death" nickname or not, he's still just a dude. If he ever tried for one of the vamps on Anita's tier of drama they'd slice and dice his ass from across the room before he could fire a second shot. He's not a threat to them, and he's not interesting enough to get their attention, so they don't give a crap.

Alternatively, they might just have a hard time finding him. He does have something like at least 3 aliases that Anita knows about, an entire second life as "Ted" the bounty hunter disconnected from his Edward persona, etc., which might also tie back into his not being interesting enough to be worth the effort of tracking down.

Or, even more likely, he's just not as good as his hype. Anita talks him up like he's a god of war, but whenever we actually see him in action, he tends to get his ass handed to him. I mean yeah, he'll set a bunch of dudes on fire and cut some in half first, but usually somebody (most of the time Anita) ends up saving his ass by the end. He's good, but I don't think he's good enough to merit the elders' notice.
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Callie Del Noire

My take on Edward?

He's something the elder vamps use in their games, when needed, to cull pushy 'lesser' vamps out of their personal areas. You use such tools to cull the vamps who irk you, foil plans of your rivals nd such.

And his experiences with Anita show against younger vamps and other monsters he is good, but against the big beds..they'd eat him.

Sindra

If I had to choose between Richard and Jean Claude, I would go with Jean Claude.  I liked Richard at first but his constant instability got on my nerves quickly.

As others have said, I stopped reading the series as it felt as though the story was only about the sexual escapades she went on.  I don't mind sex in stories at all but I didn't want it to take over this particular series.  And, as others have mentioned, she had everything.  Almost every supernatural male wanted her for both her ever growing power and her body.  It made me wonder how much was fantasy fulfillment on the authors part. 


Shjade

I remember hearing somewhere that in addition to Anita being something of an author-insert fantasy character, Richard was based on/influenced by her husband. His abrupt and rather malicious snap in the series apparently coincided rather closely with Laurell and her husband breaking up. Totally unrelated, obviously.
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Callie Del Noire

I miss 'old Anita' who had guy problems, and was a very powerful animator/Necromancer and walked the razor edge of the rules. Oversexed 'new power every book' Anita? Not so much. I have limited funds till I get a job and I can enjoy other authors who don't fixate on the sex.

Like this weeks preorder finally coming in and I get to read a new Mercy Thompson book.

Unfortunately it looks like 'Old Anota' is dead and buried back after the first six or seven books. So I'll left my money reflect my choices and decline to participate in any further adventures of Ms Blake and read my old paperbacks when I feel nostalgic.

Synecdoche17

This thread is pretty much spot-on with my reactions; the first books were great, and then things went downhill sharply, and the plots became more about who's in bed with whom.  :-(
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I still bought some of the new books when I found them at a library sale...
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Zeth

She should dump them all and go with Sigmund the stuffed penguin. Of course he will probably become alive or something Mary Sueish if that happened anyways, but at least he would be mostly quiet.