Positive stuff

[ellenel13.livejournal.com]

I was wondering if there is anything anyone still likes about either of the series. There most be something that keeps people coming back. Are you still reading? If you are, what keeps you coming back besides the hope that the books will return to their former selves? Are there any little aspects about the novel you still like? Do you have any techniques to help you get through the books? (For example, counting the number of times LKH uses spill, tight, or any of her . . . standard phrases).

I guess what I'm asking is, do you derive any sort of fun from reading her books at all anymore?

ETA because of typo and to ask if anyone actually buys her books anymore.

Comments

[kiaxet]

Quite simply, I'm in it for the lulz.

[ellenel13.livejournal.com]

Anything specific?

[spittingfish.livejournal.com]

It's like those bad tv shows that you kind of watch begrudgingly because you care about the characters even though the show itself has gone downhill. Though I don't buy the books anymore that was my reason too for long after I wanted to stop. And now I just talk to other people about them and, sometimes, I'll eventually borrow them from the library.

And like the above commenter, it's all in the lulz.

[dameruth.livejournal.com]

I'm not buying or reading her books anymore, and I'm feeling kinda foolish for holding on as long as I did (Micah was the last book I bought, The Harlequin was the last I read, borrowed off a friend . . .). I'm kinda here just to hang out with the like-minded, I guess.

Also, I emailed around the link to the first chapter of Blood Noir to a bunch of my aspiring writer friends, back when LKH posted it, as encouragement (one person wrote back, "If this is getting published, I feel *much* better about my own future chances.")

[plum-arden.livejournal.com]

I did the same thing with the chapter link. I also put in there "if you start writing like this, I will hurt you."

[booster-blue.livejournal.com]

I find it rather hard to find anything to like..all my affection for the series is in the past. So its more of a nostalgia of plots gone by that has me occasionally peek into any of the newer books.

Its sort of like seeing your favorite celeb go into a downward spiral of drug abuse. You wish fervently that things get better...but the spectacle of failure that they've become is really sort of fascinating on its own and you can't look away. Let's call it Train Wreck Appeal.

[drho.livejournal.com]

I don't enjoy anything about the books. I'm just here to watch the train wreck and enjoy the community's wit.

[kisstheground.livejournal.com]

this.
i read guilty pleasures and about half of the laughing corpse and gave up. plus, i lost the laughing corpse for about 5 months and had a $12 fine at the library. luckily, i got it talked down to a buck-75 in late fees once i found the book. still want to ask lkh for that $1.75, though.

[evewithanapple.livejournal.com]

This. I read the first three, and only enjoyed the second one. I'm just here jotting down notes on what not to do and enjoying the schadenfreude.

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

Ditto, word for word.

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

Train wreck syndrome, lulz and schadenfreude (http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/avenueq/schadenfreude.htm). And for the record, I NEVER liked Hamilton's writing.

[siedhr.livejournal.com]

Same here. And I like the smart and witty people in the comm, all united together by a series of crappy books. It's the literary form of social smoking, except you know, for the cancer and stuff.

[leggomylegolas.livejournal.com]

Me too. Never have enjoyed it, never will.

Also I'm proud to be able to say that I've never directly given her any money. I buy used. And there are always so many copies around...

[othellia.livejournal.com]

And don't forget the occasional flinch whenever she mentions watching something awesome in her blog like Eddie Izzard or Torchwood. *points to your icon* I still don't see how she can intake such awesome stuff and believe that her output is just as good.

[graylor.livejournal.com]

Train wreck effect. For my own sake I made a cheat list for the Merry book where time does strange things. When you've got a harem of seventeen, mostly composed of new guys about whom we know nothing except their hairstyle, you've got some dreadful literary lulz.

[freyalorelei.livejournal.com]

1. Train wreck factor.

2. Completist mentality (gotta catch 'em all, albeit in paperback).

3. Sense of community (more fun to bitch about than to read).

4. No enjoyment whatsoever of Anita, but I can still scrape together some level of interest in the Merry books.

[runwiththestorm.livejournal.com]

All of this, except 2

[briarwood.livejournal.com]

I download the audiobook versions because they're so much funnier that way. The eye tends to skip over the worst (best) on the printed page. Her sex scenes are so excruciatingly bad I really pity the narrators; but somehow they manage to read them straight, every time. Now, that's professionalism :-)

I actually still enjoy the Merry novels; Merry herself I don't like but I live for the minor characters: in most of the novels there are one or two who make up for the general crapness of the rest. Keelin in the first book, Maggie May, Sholto's uncles and the hags - those characters I genuinely enjoy reading.

I think Blood Noir finally got me to a critical mass of outrage; I won't read or listen to anything further in the Anita series. I thought I'd hit that point at Danse Macabre but then she finally brought Edward back and I had hopes...but no. The series, like LKH herself, is utterly irredemable at this point.

[i-open-doors.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid to read Blood Noir myself. Jason was one of my favorites in the early books, and the flogs I've read make me cringe to think of what she's done with him.

I simply will not add to her book sales. I've never really liked the Merry books, but I will hunt through the used bookstores and pick up the Anita books I don't have.

I'm one of those who really hopes (but doesn't expect) for a return to the old books. I miss all those minor characters who've disappeared. Whatever happened to Elizabeth, or hell any of the wereleopards besides the ones Anita is fucking? Can't control Richard? Bring Charlotte back. If his mom can't talk some sense into him, no one can!

[coscov.livejournal.com]

This. I will not read Blood Noir simply because of Jason. I was hoping for a return to the old books, too, but Anita is just too far gone now...

[deadroman.livejournal.com]

I liked LKH's books in the beginning because they had a nice take on vampires and I'm a total vampire fanatic. Anita was always a bit too bitchy for my tastes, but I liked the humour and the blunt but exciting action scenes. The horror and the scenes in cemeteries, caves, abandoned houses, vampire night clubs, etc. were great, too. I liked the mood of the books.

I managed to read up to Burnt Offerings, but I didn't enjoy that book anymore. And I was unable to continue because the stories were boring, too much talking and too many useless descriptions of clothes, etc. Anita was now a huge bitchy Mary Sue, and the usually strong plot devolved into a puddle of mush. Basically, I couldn't concentrate on the story anymore, I kept grinding my teeth or laughing like a hyena at the irritating flaws and weird ass events.
Now the books are plotless paranormal porn.

[slayra.livejournal.com]

Well.. never thought much of her books to begin with (there are much more talented authors in the urban fantasy and paranormal romance scene), so I was never a fan "per se". I'd have simply stop reading them books, if Laurell hadn't been such a sore looser and impolite online. So, since she is rude and annoying I decided to read them all and her blogs too and snark, snark, snark!
I dislike people who are way too full of themselves, especially if they are simply small time writers (as opposed to doctors or firemen or even *gasp* really big and famous writers like oh, Oscar Wilde; or Jane Austen; or Dante; or even JK Rowling. Laurell is just pretencious. She thinks she is world famous, but ask most people in Europe about Laurell K Hamilton and they'll answer "Laurell who? Never heard of her").

[naeko.livejournal.com]

Firstly, it's odd to me that so many of the comments so far have been bragging about always hating Hamilton's writing, since the purpose of this community was originally to talk about liking the older books, but not the (at the time) newer books. I'm in the minority with my comments, apparently, but I used to *love the Anita Blake series.

I found Bloody Bones when I was 16, waiting in the airport to go to Mexico. I hadn't brought anything for the plane, and I grabbed it last minute before we had to board. I LOVED IT. The second we got back from Mexico I went out and bought all the books up to BB and read them all immediately. Burnt Offerings came out and I liked it, but hated Asher and the whole, "Oh, Anita, no one's ever looked at me like youuuuuuu" bullshit. Then Blue Moon came out and I went, "er, what?" at the Freja rape scene. Then OB came out and I considered hurting someone because of the BS Hamilton put my beloved Edward through.

Then. NiC. I'll admit, I thought I loved it on the first read. I was happy to have a new ABVH book out, I was doing well in my life for the first time in probably a decade and it had a character in it with my name. Then, about a week or two later, I read it again.

What. The hell? I couldn't believe I'd liked it on the first read-through. When CS came out, I read it, swore a lot and returned it to the store, explaining to the person behind the desk that I was NOT paying Hamilton for this utter tripe. She told me I was not, by far, the first person to return the book and make the same complaints. I felt a bit vindicated.

I came here, initially, because the discussions of, "This is not character develtopment" were being met with constant, "U DON'T NO!!!!!" from the people in AB_fan who were still, well, fans. Pith started Lashouts as a place for those of us who were disillusioned with Hamilton's work to come and discuss and weep for what we used to adore, and so I came here.

I haven't read anything by her directly since CS, and I don't really intend to. I can't even enjoy the older books, now, because they feel tainted.

[manekikoneko.livejournal.com]

You remind me of what I've found myself telling a lot of people about Twilight (because I used to work in a bookstore, and I had to be nice): If I were sixteen, I'd probably love it. I really did enjoy the first few Anita books (the characters and the world-building intrigued me), which seems bizarre to me now, and I do remember thinking even then, "These would be so much better if she could write properly." I patiently expected them to get better, and I gave up when it was obvious they weren't going to.

Since then I've read a lot of books, a lot of much better books, and when I look back at the early Anitas, I cringe because they seem that much worse in light of what I now understand about writing. Today, I could never start the series. I think my enjoyment then (in the late 90s) had a lot to do with my relative immaturity as a reader.

[slayra.livejournal.com]

Firstly, it's odd to me that so many of the comments so far have been bragging about always hating Hamilton's writing, since the purpose of this community was originally to talk about liking the older books, but not the (at the time) newer books.

I thought the purpose of this comm was to make fun of Laurell's inflated ego... I know that is why I joined, mostly.
I can't really say I am a die-hard fan as when I discovered the books a) I had already read other works of urban fantasy; b) there were already 14 books (up until Danse Macabre... which I never finished). I read them all in a few weeks and... well, they didn't strike as much, really. Of course I thought they were decent until book 6 or 7.

[mystickiwi.livejournal.com]

When I read Narcissus in Chains, the one following it (I THINK it was Cerulean Sins, I'm too busy getting ready for class to check) hadn't come out. Now, like most of the people here I was like "ehhhhhh WTF with the Blue Moon rape scene, and could definitely see a downhill slide. Despite what some people say about Obsidian Butterfly, I really enjoyed it AND I thought that it meant that the more graphic sex and stuff would just be a sometimes thing. I should mention that her use of sex at the books WAS a big concern for me because I was reading them in high school, and my mom was VERY upset with the covers and what she assumed was between them. Any mention of sex freaked me out not because it made me uncomfortable, but because I didn't want Mom opening up to that scene and deciding to censor my reading (this should have been massive foreshadowing of issues to come, but that's not really related to Anita).
So I read Narcissus in Chains and am disappointed. Where's my plot! Instead of pre-ordering Cerulean Sins on Amazon I waited, read the reviews, and had my worst fears confirmed. I haven't read a book since Narcissus in Chains, but I used to be pretty good about checking Amazon and reading the reviews for the new ones, hoping that "all sex, no plot" was just a sometimes device.
I still enjoy the early books though, Lunatic Cafe and Bloody Bones are two of my favorite books, and so is Obsidian Butterfly. Despite the issues that everyone points out (and I agree with) I still find them fun and engaging reads. They were humorous, I enjoyed Anita's dilemma with JC and Richard, I enjoyed her reasons for waiting to have sex, I loved the things she did for her job, and even how human LKH made her seem with all her penguins and stuff. I feel like the introduction of the Weres- as a stronger focus (as in, when she started getting involved in their issues) was when things started going downhill, and I got sick of the phrase "like puppies in a basket" but I would probably still be reading if the quality had only declined, instead of switched gears entirely.

I never got past book two in the Merry Gentry series because of the sex and for the reasons above with my mother.

[mystickiwi.livejournal.com]

Oh and as for why I joined the community, I too thought the reason was for those of us who once liked the books to come together and mourn their fall, although with the new found knowledge of gems like her blog and the "dear negative readers" letter, I can see why others would come here.

[starcrossedlady.livejournal.com]

I honestly liked the books up to Obsidian Butterfly. Up to that point, Anita was struggling with being a human (although shades of being a darkity-dark snowflake was peering out with the whole necromancer thing) in a world with paranormal beings. What it meant to be "normal" and all that...

then she was filled with stars... and started in on being so wonderful and special and everyone must have her, especially men with mile-long hair. As a total aside, I have to wonder if LKH has dealt with a lover with that much hair/has had hair down to her ankles. It's seriously a job in of itself to keep it nice and not catch on anything or wrap aound anyone and can honestly be a PITA. Yes, I know, I know, it's fiction. But it's details that rip me out from my suspension of disbelief and make me want to throw the book across the wall.

I think my last bought book was Cerulean Sins. I finished that in an hour, partly because I just started skipping the sex scenes desperately looking for plot (Narcissus disappointed me, but I was willing to give her one last shot). After that... I am really hoping against overwhelming odds that this is some master scheme of LKH, that she's having Anita go so far into the realm of the "monsters" to have an epiphany of some sort, maybe realize she's being used, or SOMETHING. But I really am saddened that instead of improving in the writing, LKH is... churning out for the profit margin. and that right there can kill your creativity.

I had liked the setup for the Merry Gentry books... at least the setup for the orgy-mindset had some explanation in it, and there are wonderful minor characters in that world. I may check out the latest from the library rather then give LKH more money.

[amamelina.livejournal.com]

When I first found the Anita Blake books, I loved them. I was a rapid fangirl. No, really, I was. I was the kind of fangirl who used to dream of being Anita. I was thrilled when I realized that I was about as busty, could have the same curly hair (though black was not my color), and even gave some of my friends titles of other characters to fit them in. I had my Edward, Richard (before he went nuts), my JC and my Ronnie. My best gal pal also read the books and, as my Ronnie, we'd call each other after reading them and swoon and sigh over the fate of our favorite male characters and how cool Anita was.

I was still deliriously happy with the books through OB. Then I read NIC and didn't really notice much of a change, but my love was starting to die out. I read CS and thought the story was picking back up. I fell in love with the idea of the MOAD and Bella as the bad guys and wanted to see how Anita would handle herself with them.

What made me stop reading was a combination of ID and Micah. I got them both at the same time and couldn't figure out what had happened. I was shocked to see so muc sex in the book, and no plot. I put them down and held off even looking at any of her books for a while. Then, I went back and started rereading with a more critical eye. I noticed things that in my drooling fangirl days, I had glossed over or forgiven.

I was surprised to notice that the pattern of Anita's recent behavior in the early books, something I had forgiven early on because I wanted to be Anita so badly. I loved the early books, still do, because despite the obvious Mary Sue-ness, they had plot. I still get chills reading Bloody Bones, and sigh when Asher first shows up in Burnt Offerings. I still read OB under the covers at night and love the blood and gore in the book. I still cheer for Richard and swoon at his early mentions.

I stopped reading because I felt that the sex overtook the plot. I was angered when Richard became such a hateful prick in NiC and continued to be that way through the rest of the series. Ok, an even more hateful prick then he was becoming since Killing Dance. I hated the character of Micah and saw no reason for him to stay. I started to hate how Anita was collecting men, how sex was the answer for everything. I hated how Ronnie was treated and shoved to the side.

I would love it if she wrote a book with maybe one or two sex scenes, lots of blood and gore, and a monster for her fight that isn't in love with her. As bloody as OB was, the main villian wanting her for his wife was a turn off.

In short, I want more skinned zombies tearing apart the baby ward. I feel let down by LKH. And then, I saw her blog. I was not only let down by her writing, but on her attitude towards her critics. I went from being a rabid fangirl who would have given a body part to be Anita for an hour, to someone who felt like she had been hit several times with a tire iron. I lost respect for LKH. Even if she changes her books back to the early format, I might never read them again.

I come here to enjoy the community and the humor of the other participants.

[coscov.livejournal.com]

You said it better than I could. :)

[morriganscrow.livejournal.com]

Indeed. Saved me having to type! :)

[amamelina.livejournal.com]

Glad I could be of some service. :-)

[queenettefallon.livejournal.com]

*sigh* I actually hung on until Incubus Dreams, but ID turned me off in just about every way, and I'm not just talking the sex. I can live with badly written sex (and enjoyed laughing with others about it), but the continuity errors as well as WTF? character behavior just done me in. Strangely enough I'm not usually the type to be overly bothered by spelling and grammar errors, but in ID even those were so numerous that even I couldn't overlook them. Ironically enough had the story/plot of ID been better I would have probably been willing to overlook the majority of them, though some of the repeated errors would have still annoyed to a certain degree.

That's right, I'm one of those weird ones that didn't entirely hate Narcissus In Chains - my biggest problem with that one had to do with rats vs leopards oddly enough. I was annoyed that Hamilton basically made Anita more special than Rafeal, who up until that point was actually the best leader for his people in the books. But then Hamilton makes Anita special by having her bonding with strangers (and that's what Micah's Pard was to her at that point), and saying that even though all his people loved him Rafeal didn't have that kind of connection with his people. BS is what that was.
(Of course, I thought Micah would be revealed in some later novel to be subtly working against Anita, which probably explains why to this day I still like NiC more than Cerulean Sins.)

However, despite the clusterf*** that was ID I decided to read Danse Macabre (mostly because of the spoilers I'd heard), and oddly enough I didn't think it completely sucked. Mostly I think because I saw a few hints (obviously unintentional, but I didn't realize at the time) in DM that made me think maybe Hamilton realized not everything was well in the Kingdom, and that she might finally start working to fix those things.

But by the same token it was the spoilers for The Harlequin that made me decide that DM was my last Anita. *cough*Edward*cough*, I actually hated what she did to/with his character in Obsidian Butterfly (oddly enough the first Anita book I actually hated - I am an odd duck, cause most people liked it, but what she did with Edward actually ruined the whole novel for me.) so I had very little interest in seeing Podward again. Of course, I had intended to read The Harlequin for two reasons: One, to see how low she could actually go - Two, TH was given to me as a gift.

Alas, at this point I've heard to much about TH to be remotely interested. Maybe one day I'll get bored enough to pull the book out and read it, but to date I haven't been remotely tempted.

The thing is that Hamilton could have probably kept me reading despite the badness of Anita (the character, not the books) if she could have just kept her continuity and characterization straight. Because from the last few books I've read these people have the same names as the original characters, but they aren't even close to behaving like the originals. But now I'm not sure I'd be willing to go back even if Hamilton forced herself to go "old school," because she might could hold it for a book or two, but I just know it wouldn't last.

[dinsedaledarby.livejournal.com]

I stopped reading a few books ago and the last one I read I just skimmed. I would never buy them again. The first novel I ever read by her was Obsidian Butterfly. When I went back and read the first books I really enjoyed them until Obsidian Butterfly and then I couldn't read them anymore. I think I read Narcissus In Chains, Cerulean Sins, Incubus Dreams and then I skimmed Danse Macabre.
Now when I go back to read the earlier books, I can't even read them because I notice so many mistakes and I know where it eventually ends up. I do enjoy reading the snark of the later books in this community because I don't actually read the books and the commentary is lot more bearable than the books.
The book snarking is my favorite thing about this community. I don't know those people can read through all that garbage and still have a brain to review it. :D

[lucky-ninja.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I still read the books. I sure as fuck don't buy them, however. I can read everything up to Incubus Dreams without too much headdesking, but ID and everything else until Blood Noir is ghastly and coma-inducingly boring. BN was a step up from the previous few books, but still sub par.

I really like the world she's created, even though she's ignoring its potential in favor of vapid sex. The ramifications of legalized vampirism, animating corpses, and shifter politics could have been so awesome/thought-provoking/what have you.

Lastly, I still read the books because Laurita is yet to fuck with (literally and figuratively) my favorite character; seeing as this character is relatively minor and doesn't have the girly diminutive manbitch aesthetic she seems to go for, the odds of that happening are relatively slim. Sex between Anita and the said character would be so ridiculously out-of-character for that it would probably make me put down the books for good.

I realize the last point sounded incredibly fangirly of me. D: So be it.

[easol.livejournal.com]

I have five reasons:

1. I derive pleasure from snarkery, both my own and other people's.
2. The books have reached the point where I get a sort of "oh no she didn't!" horrified delight from them.
3. I find that reading bad fiction helps educate you about the pitfalls of general writing, and makes you understand how good fiction works.
4. I enjoy writing reviews of them.
5. I still like a couple of her characters, who show signs of individual personality despite being forcibly twisted by Laumerita.

And no, I do not buy them, but then I rarely buy books. And no I am not one of those obnoxious people who reads and discards books in bookstores or downloads everything -- normally I get my tax dollars' worth of the library instead.