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lkh_lashoutsTo be honest, I have never really liked the Anita Blake books. They seemed to smack to much of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicals. Unfortunately though, I was forced into reading them by a die hard fan who, to this day, will not hear anything said against them.
Saying that though, the first couple of books were readable. Nothing outstanding, but nothing diabolical. I started losing the little faith I had in them as soon as Anita got caught up between Richard and Jean-Claude (Leastat, anybody).
After reading the eigth book, (Blue Moon, I think it was called) I gave up. The main character was nothing but a slut.
I followed this thread and read the first three chapters of the next book. I cried. I had never before seen such rampant abuse of the English language. The grammer, the spelling... I shudder at the very thought of it. I pleaded for rope, rat poison and razor blades.
I thought it would be nice to have a little comparison between Miss Hamilton and a few other established authors.
::Characters::
I don't know about you, but when reading, I find that having only one main caracter can become something of a bore. Even if the character is perfectly crafted, only having one opinion to go by makes me start to hate the character. That is what is happening with Anite. She has gone from a likeable if slightly annoying young woman trying to get on in life, to a mutton-dressed-as-lamb fee-free prostitute with a man for every day of the week. Not nice. She seems to have the best of everything. All these supernatural powers and none of the drawbacks. Boring. There's nothing for her to get her teeth into (other than Richard) and nothing to keep a reader interested. Theres only so many people in the world who could sit and reed the Anita Blake Porn Diary's time after time.
Another thing. Why, oh why, does everyone love Anita. She's short, not much to look at, and bad tempered (as described (loosely) by the author) so what is it about her that makes every male or female character want to jump into bed with her the minute they meet. (Malachi and Anita. Lust at first site. Six months on and still going strong)
Lets compare LKH and Poppy z Brite. Both have characters older than the mindset of the average teen, both use vampires. The difference is, LKH's characters always seem to come across as sex on legs, perfect in every way, completely etheral and beautiful. Cherubic, almost. Poppy's vampires, although beautiful, are more the regular kind. Those who can fit into everyday human life. They can be grimy, evil son's of bitches. They appear and then disappear for a while, only to come back and have their asses kicked for their evil doing. LKH's vampires are always in the right, always repent and are always forgiven.
Another thing, I have heard the rumour that Ronnie was an avatar for all the people who aren't crazy about what Anita is turning into. If this is true, its rather mean spirited to assassinate her character in such a way that she fails to be a strong female character anymore. "Penis-envy", I think, was the term given.
Is this lady giving any thought at all to her fans, or is she on a mission to write about every sexual position known to man outside of the erotica section and for her own gratification?
::Plot::
Fair enough, there was a tangible plot line in the first books of the series. "Young-woman-is-fighting-on-the-side-of-god-to-rid-the-world-of-evil." Its overdone, but its a classic. Nowerdays, the plot seems to consist of "How-many-men-can-Anita-snog-caress-getintobed-with-in-the-first-chapter". As a Kama Sutra, the series would be standing alone in excellence. Now though, its becomming cheap and nasty: unlike the works of, say... Robin Hobb or Diane Wynn-Jones where the plot line is strong, and there may even be sub-plots to add to the intrigue and keep the reader wanting more. There is romance, maybe a bit of heavy petting. A chaste kiss. It's nice to see. Young love... maybe it runs it's course, maybe it is nipped in the bud. It's better than Anita's tactics of rolling in the hay with them on the first date and having power over them. Power through sex... oh so cliché
::Sub Characters::
All beautiful. The men are either manly or feminine. Where are the weedy ones? No world, no matter how many vampires or lycanthropes inhabit it, is made up of purely beautiful people. Even the evil doers are gorgeous lusty guys and gals. The werewolf woman, for instance, who is always popping up in Anita's mind, wanting to be there for the all consuming orgasm you know Richard is going to give Anita (Book eight, I thikn... when Anita finally succumbs to Richard and won't let him go and brush his teeth (ew).
Just a bit of my two pennies worth. There is a hell of a lot more I would like to rant about, but not being a fan of the books, I don't want to go overboard.
Make a comment, add to the list, or bowl me overboard. I don't mind which.
I will say one thing for LKH though, she has given me, through (what I consider to be) complete literary trash, the confidence to carry on with my own novel, and the hope that it will be published in the near future.
Saying that though, the first couple of books were readable. Nothing outstanding, but nothing diabolical. I started losing the little faith I had in them as soon as Anita got caught up between Richard and Jean-Claude (Leastat, anybody).
After reading the eigth book, (Blue Moon, I think it was called) I gave up. The main character was nothing but a slut.
I followed this thread and read the first three chapters of the next book. I cried. I had never before seen such rampant abuse of the English language. The grammer, the spelling... I shudder at the very thought of it. I pleaded for rope, rat poison and razor blades.
I thought it would be nice to have a little comparison between Miss Hamilton and a few other established authors.
::Characters::
I don't know about you, but when reading, I find that having only one main caracter can become something of a bore. Even if the character is perfectly crafted, only having one opinion to go by makes me start to hate the character. That is what is happening with Anite. She has gone from a likeable if slightly annoying young woman trying to get on in life, to a mutton-dressed-as-lamb fee-free prostitute with a man for every day of the week. Not nice. She seems to have the best of everything. All these supernatural powers and none of the drawbacks. Boring. There's nothing for her to get her teeth into (other than Richard) and nothing to keep a reader interested. Theres only so many people in the world who could sit and reed the Anita Blake Porn Diary's time after time.
Another thing. Why, oh why, does everyone love Anita. She's short, not much to look at, and bad tempered (as described (loosely) by the author) so what is it about her that makes every male or female character want to jump into bed with her the minute they meet. (Malachi and Anita. Lust at first site. Six months on and still going strong)
Lets compare LKH and Poppy z Brite. Both have characters older than the mindset of the average teen, both use vampires. The difference is, LKH's characters always seem to come across as sex on legs, perfect in every way, completely etheral and beautiful. Cherubic, almost. Poppy's vampires, although beautiful, are more the regular kind. Those who can fit into everyday human life. They can be grimy, evil son's of bitches. They appear and then disappear for a while, only to come back and have their asses kicked for their evil doing. LKH's vampires are always in the right, always repent and are always forgiven.
Another thing, I have heard the rumour that Ronnie was an avatar for all the people who aren't crazy about what Anita is turning into. If this is true, its rather mean spirited to assassinate her character in such a way that she fails to be a strong female character anymore. "Penis-envy", I think, was the term given.
Is this lady giving any thought at all to her fans, or is she on a mission to write about every sexual position known to man outside of the erotica section and for her own gratification?
::Plot::
Fair enough, there was a tangible plot line in the first books of the series. "Young-woman-is-fighting-on-the-side-of-god-to-rid-the-world-of-evil." Its overdone, but its a classic. Nowerdays, the plot seems to consist of "How-many-men-can-Anita-snog-caress-getintobed-with-in-the-first-chapter". As a Kama Sutra, the series would be standing alone in excellence. Now though, its becomming cheap and nasty: unlike the works of, say... Robin Hobb or Diane Wynn-Jones where the plot line is strong, and there may even be sub-plots to add to the intrigue and keep the reader wanting more. There is romance, maybe a bit of heavy petting. A chaste kiss. It's nice to see. Young love... maybe it runs it's course, maybe it is nipped in the bud. It's better than Anita's tactics of rolling in the hay with them on the first date and having power over them. Power through sex... oh so cliché
::Sub Characters::
All beautiful. The men are either manly or feminine. Where are the weedy ones? No world, no matter how many vampires or lycanthropes inhabit it, is made up of purely beautiful people. Even the evil doers are gorgeous lusty guys and gals. The werewolf woman, for instance, who is always popping up in Anita's mind, wanting to be there for the all consuming orgasm you know Richard is going to give Anita (Book eight, I thikn... when Anita finally succumbs to Richard and won't let him go and brush his teeth (ew).
Just a bit of my two pennies worth. There is a hell of a lot more I would like to rant about, but not being a fan of the books, I don't want to go overboard.
Make a comment, add to the list, or bowl me overboard. I don't mind which.
I will say one thing for LKH though, she has given me, through (what I consider to be) complete literary trash, the confidence to carry on with my own novel, and the hope that it will be published in the near future.
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no subject
Date: 2005-07-20 12:34 am (UTC)We can all learn valuable lessons from this.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-20 01:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-20 01:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-20 03:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-20 04:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-20 06:22 am (UTC)Or, you know, every hour of the day, like in the most recent book. (Forgot the name, I think my brain has tried to block it from the trauma.)
Why, oh why, does everyone love Anita. She's short, not much to look at, and bad tempered (as described (loosely) by the author) so what is it about her that makes every male or female character want to jump into bed with her the minute they meet.
Have you ever seen a picture of LKH? Hello! Mary Sue. LKH fancies herself to be Anita Blake (or vice versa) so of course everyone wants to fuck her!
no subject
Date: 2005-07-20 01:16 pm (UTC)Mind you, her actions have given me more reason (if such a thing is possible) to harm, maim and destroy any characters I create who become like darling Anita. Even if the characters themselves decide that they want to be like Anita. Cos, you know... fictional characters do that a lot...
Ahem.