NIC was the beginning to the down fall of our once beloved Anita Blake Vampire Hunter.
First big thing was Anita acting like a lycanthrope. Of course she maybe acting that way. She just married the marks with Richard (getting a charge in power) and the same can be said with Jean-Claude (hint the ardeur). But everyone was all worried that next full moon she would be furry. Oh hello people ... she is Jean-Claude's HUMAN SERVANT not ANIMAL SERVANT. She can not get the virus to become a lycanthrope. The many nice things about being a HUMAN SERVANT.
She wakes up naked in bed with two strange men. You would have thought Anita would have gone for her gun but that didn't happen. Anita not have threatening anyone is a shocker. Not only did she let them live but went right ahead and had sex with one of them. A WTF moment. Anita and casual sex does not happen.
The book pretty much went on with more sex because of the ardeur.The final scene was so rushed and slapped together it appeared as an addendum, not the final slam-bang ending. And she wound up all the issues that had run through the entire over-long book in the epilogue! Was Anita really going to be "furry" at the full moon? What about Richard? Was she going to be kicked out of the werewolf pack (and, by the way, is EVERYone in St. Louis a were-something? It must be quite an event every full moon) Can JC accept Anita being a total slut? All these things were dragged endlessly through the book and were dealt with in 2 pages. Reeeaaallly bad. I guess you can say there was a mystery to the book. It was called find the plot.
Anita Does St. Louis or my other favorite Slut in Chains should have been the title.
Anita used to be a really cool character. A female character, that was strong and brave. She had a fierce personal code that applied to her professional life, and her sex life (what a wonderful novelty in most novels). And she had a vulnerability that was touching. She loses that a bit more with each book, and now its gone forever with this book. And giving her all this magical power just means she no longer has need to actually use her brain. The "ardeur" garbage should be incredibly offended...especially to women. Anita had morals when it came to sex....not anymore, lets give her this curse that makes it impossible to resist sex. What next? A curse that makes it impossible to keep her clothes on? Why hasn't Anita taken responsibility for her sexlife when you can just remove her freedom of choice, and put in plenty of meaningless and badly written sex scenes?
Now for the other characters The terrific Jean-Claude is now Anita's faithful little pet; merely one of her many lovers, he dutifully shows up to explain stuff and help out a little when needed, and then scampers back to his coffin at daybreak with a pat on his head. What a waste! Richard is slashed and burned as a character. Richard, who showed signs in Blue Moon of finally coming to grips with his bad furry self, is once again the self-loathing bleeding-heart trapped in a predator's body... another waste!
And speaking of cardboard characters, Micah shows up on the scene. He is Anita's "Nimir-Raj" (I think thats wereleopard for "he who kisses Anita's backside"). According to the writer in an interview, he was brought in to "simplify Anita's lovelife". So, I guess instead of working through issues with the characters already introduced and developed, its easier to take the cheap and easy way out and write in a character that should have "the perfect mate in every way for Anita" stamped on his forehead. Disappointing, very disappointing.
Than there is the Downward Spiral comment LKH said to fans. Which I will leave that for later.
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timeasmymeasure
Slut in Chains
Date: 2006-10-16 07:25 pm (UTC)First big thing was Anita acting like a lycanthrope. Of course she maybe acting that way. She just married the marks with Richard (getting a charge in power) and the same can be said with Jean-Claude (hint the ardeur). But everyone was all worried that next full moon she would be furry. Oh hello people ... she is Jean-Claude's HUMAN SERVANT not ANIMAL SERVANT. She can not get the virus to become a lycanthrope. The many nice things about being a HUMAN SERVANT.
She wakes up naked in bed with two strange men. You would have thought Anita would have gone for her gun but that didn't happen. Anita not have threatening anyone is a shocker. Not only did she let them live but went right ahead and had sex with one of them. A WTF moment. Anita and casual sex does not happen.
The book pretty much went on with more sex because of the ardeur.The final scene was so rushed and slapped together it appeared as an addendum, not the final slam-bang ending. And she wound up all the issues that had run through the entire over-long book in the epilogue! Was Anita really going to be "furry" at the full moon? What about Richard? Was she going to be kicked out of the werewolf pack (and, by the way, is EVERYone in St. Louis a were-something? It must be quite an event every full moon) Can JC accept Anita being a total slut? All these things were dragged endlessly through the book and were dealt with in 2 pages. Reeeaaallly bad. I guess you can say there was a mystery to the book. It was called find the plot.
Anita Does St. Louis or my other favorite Slut in Chains should have been the title.
Anita used to be a really cool character. A female character, that was strong and brave. She had a fierce personal code that applied to her professional life, and her sex life (what a wonderful novelty in most novels). And she had a vulnerability that was touching. She loses that a bit more with each book, and now its gone forever with this book. And giving her all this magical power just means she no longer has need to actually use her brain. The "ardeur" garbage should be incredibly offended...especially to women. Anita had morals when it came to sex....not anymore, lets give her this curse that makes it impossible to resist sex. What next? A curse that makes it impossible to keep her clothes on? Why hasn't Anita taken responsibility for her sexlife when you can just remove her freedom of choice, and put in plenty of meaningless and badly written sex scenes?
Now for the other characters The terrific Jean-Claude is now Anita's faithful little pet; merely one of her many lovers, he dutifully shows up to explain stuff and help out a little when needed, and then scampers back to his coffin at daybreak with a pat on his head. What a waste! Richard is slashed and burned as a character. Richard, who showed signs in Blue Moon of finally coming to grips with his bad furry self, is once again the self-loathing bleeding-heart trapped in a predator's body... another waste!
And speaking of cardboard characters, Micah shows up on the scene. He is Anita's "Nimir-Raj" (I think thats wereleopard for "he who kisses Anita's backside"). According to the writer in an interview, he was brought in to "simplify Anita's lovelife". So, I guess instead of working through issues with the characters already introduced and developed, its easier to take the cheap and easy way out and write in a character that should have "the perfect mate in every way for Anita" stamped on his forehead. Disappointing, very disappointing.
Than there is the Downward Spiral comment LKH said to fans. Which I will leave that for later.