Book Review: Anita Blake Series
This is a really controversial series. Most people seem to like the first books in the series, but once you get past Obsidian Butterfly there are people who are really really really angry with Laurel K. Hamilton for taking the series in the direction she did.
I will say first off that if graphic sex turns you off then you probably need to stop after Bloody Bones or maybe The Killing Dance. Obsidian Butterfly is fairly non-sexual and one of my favorites, but the books after Obsidian Butterfly jump into a whole ‘nother world.
The only book in the series that I absolutely did not like was Micah. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like the character of Micah, but I hated the book. Hated it. I was so afraid that Blood Noir was going to be like Micah (going out of town with one guy), but thank goodness it was not. I liked Blood Noir. Didn’t love it, but I liked it.
Remember how I talked before about how an author gets to let her characters grow and change and evolve when she has so many books to work within? Well, this is the perfect example of that. Anita grows in ways that are, well, mindboggling.
Some say that this is the series that started all of the other urban fantasy series. I’m not so sure about that, though I will agree that it was a huge influence. But there were others before this one. Guilty Pleasures was published in 1993 and there were a number published before then. War for the Oaks and P.N. Elrod’s Vampire Files both come to mind off the top of my head. Oh, and we mustn’t forget Charles de Lint.
But I will agree that this series is probably hugely responsible for many of the authors that came after. Laurel K. Hamilton created a wonderful alternate world where the Vampires and Shapeshifters have come out of the closet and live side by side with humanity. And she brings it all alive. Very alive.
But what I think Laurel K. Hamilton may have done better than almost any other author is to fully explain the duality of the shapeshifters. To understand how their human parts and their beasty parts manage to survive inside of the same psyche.
She does the same thing with the vampires, too. She gets across the idea of bloodlust, of how a vampire feels when they want to feed. The visual of the artery in the neck moving around like a cherry, just wanting to be bitten. Maybe that visual doesn’t work so good here on the blog, but when Mrs. Hamilton writes it, you get it.
This is also one of my top five favorite series.
Don’t read them out of order, though. The books must be read in the proper order or they will make no sense.
Anita Blake series
1. Guilty Pleasures (1993)
2. The Laughing Corpse (1994)
3. Circus of the Damned (1995)
4. The Lunatic Cafe (1996)
5. Bloody Bones (1996)
6. The Killing Dance (1997)
7. Burnt Offerings (1998)
8. Blue Moon (1998)
9. Obsidian Butterfly (2000)
10. Narcissus in Chains (2001)
11. Cerulean Sins (2003)
12. Incubus Dreams (2004)
13. Micah (2006)
14. Danse Macabre (2006)
15. The Harlequin (2007)
16. Blood Noir (2008)
June 5th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
I absolutely love this series! I think Blue Moon may have been my favorite simply because I was such a Richard fan. I agree you MUST read these in order. Her writing has really evolved and I’m not sure about all of the graphic, graphic sex but the series I love. None of my friends read this series or any vampire/shapeshifter series so I never get to talk about it. I’m glad to see that others actually read this series. I wonder how much farther she can take Anita? Do you think one of her animals will ever come out and if so, which one? Of course, I’m losing count on what she has inside her! ha!
June 5th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
I am so happy to find that other people like vampire, werewolf, shapeshifter books. The Anita Blake series is one of my favorites as well, although some of the graphic sex is a little to much for me. However, the graphic sex does fit into the growth of the characters.
Thanks RQ for sharing your favorites with us. I also read Kim Harrison’s books, but some of the authors you have mentioned I haven’t read before. They are now on my list to order from Amazon.
June 5th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Sometimes I feel like I’m out there or something because I’m one of the only people I know who LOVE these kinds of books! I am dying to read Blood Noir (on hold at the library)! Great review - sounds like exactly what I’m expecting!
I also love Kim Harrison, Sherrilyn Kenyon (Dark Hunter Series), Mary Janice Davidson (Undead & .. Series), Christine Feehan (Dark Series), Charlaine Harris (Sookie Series), Keri Arthur (Riley Jensen Series), Lori Handeland (Moon Series), Jim Butcher (Dresden Files Series), and J R Ward (Lover Series).
Thanks for sharing more authors I hadn’t stumbled on yet! I will be sure to check those out. I still have tons of time to read (LID 8/2/06). Although I’ve already planned on doing the same things you’ve done to encourage the same love of reading I have in my children (and to make sure I still have time to read also). :)
June 5th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
I read the first 11 and loved the first six, I have to say I was driven away by all the sex (sounds wierd coming froma guy) but I was reading for the vampire/horror angle and the sex was just boring to read for me. Must say I love the Dresden series and the Kim Harrison stuff.
June 5th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
look at all the other vampire/shapeshifter book readers! I’ve found some authors I didn’t know about and now have to add to my list-thanks! I love Christine Feehan also!
June 5th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
It’s great to see that there are other people out there that read vampire,shapeshifter books. In my family I buy them and pass them on to my sister. I was wondering do yu buy most of your books or get them from the library. I just bought the 1st Twilight book then looked on line at the library and they have it.
June 5th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
I really loved the first books, but the last 3 or 4 I have found just filled with so much repetitive sex and so little plot that they are boring. I thought maybe with the Harlequin she was trying to add some plot back to the series, but I have heard not so great things about Blood Noir. It is the first one of her books that I have not bought.
I really like most of the other series mentioned here, but I have not read Keri Arthur. I’ll have to go check them out.