Article on the Anita series

[the-mome-wrath.livejournal.com]

Fantasy Faction has an article about the decay of the Anita series. It does a decent job of outlining the series and where it fell downhill in addition to describing what probably drew most of us here to the series in the first place. But what I found most interesting was some of the questions it raises near the end of the article. Namely:

Perhaps if the novels started off with Anita as this ardeur-victim-and-her-harem who then becomes this free, independent and strong scary Executioner, then we would admire her and want to be her.

What do you think? Would you have read the series if it had taken the reverse path?

Comments

[staringiscaring.livejournal.com]

I might if Hamilton had written the later books as competently as she had the first ones. They were Faulkner, but they were readable and interesting while the last half dozen books have been boring. It would certainly had made Anita much more sympathetic if she had admitted her crimes against others and got help to control her arduer.

[mulder200.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link! It was a great read.

During my years of facebook group forums, other web forums and Wikipedia I have read that Jean-Claude was meant to be killed off in the 3rd book and that the character of Anita is based on Hamilton herself. If the latter is the case, then Hamilton is one mixed up and conflicted, troubled woman and she will probably soon go off the deep end ala Charlie Sheen.

What I don’t understand is how did Anita go from this likeable, if not slightly troubled heroine, to a woman who doubts her own sex appeal and beauty, is vulnerable in ‘love’ (if you can call it that) with those around her, shares her body with others due to a ‘genetic’ addiction (the ardeur) and has turned into the monster that in the first book, she would have put down with a stake to the heart?

LOL at the Charlie Sheen part but she does make a good point. Where did it all go wrong?

[cousinmary.livejournal.com]

Great article. I really agree with the 'if Anita from book 1 met Anita now, she'd kill her' idea. 'Cause, yeah.

Would a reverse path work? I don't think so, as an adeur addicted hoochie-path she's no one I'd root for. Starting her there would just have stopped me reading sooner.

[poor-toms-acold.livejournal.com]

In a way I feel exactly the opposite to the writer of this article, but we've ended up in the same place. I always wanted early Anita to quit whining about not being a monster and just go with it (and go with Jean-Claude too, just sayin'...) - she was so black and white and I've never agreed with that. I always wanted her to become more comfortable with herself, her sexuality, and her powers. I don't think that's happened though - she's started going through the motions, but is still whining. And then there is the ardeueueer, of course. That was the shark moment for me. I don't even want her to be with JC anymore, I want him to wander into the sunset with Asher and leave them all to it.

[ex-naomi-ja.livejournal.com]

I think it would be fascinating to see a reverse-path approach. Not written by LKH, because I don't think she could do it, but in the hands of a good writer, a character who starts out addicted, lost, in denial of the nightmare her life is, and slowly re-awakens and re-claims her life, would be a brilliant read.

[yashakizu.livejournal.com]

I would actually rather read "prequel" books such as how Jean-Claude had to deal with the ardeur and his time with Asher and Juliana.

Someone wrote some great fanfic about this and has it saved online.

As for starting Anita out with the ardeur? I don't know. I probably wouldn't have even picked up the series.

Cool

[mariadeangeles.livejournal.com]

Do you know where the prequel fanfic is? I'd love to read it.

Re: Cool

[yashakizu.livejournal.com]

http://beellegee.tripod.com/purplepassions/id13.html

Enjoy~! She has some fanart as well.

Re: Cool

[yashakizu.livejournal.com]

The particular stories that will interest you are "Lisette's Vampire" and "Object of Desire."

Re: Cool

[mariadeangeles.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[yashakizu.livejournal.com]

I wonder what Dean and Sam (Supernatural) would do to her?"

I need to read this crossover, wherever it is!

[karmyn75.livejournal.com]

Sam would have sex with her and then she'd die like just about any other woman Sam has had sex with.

YES!

[maedren.livejournal.com]

*GIGGLESNORT* OMG OMG

[cheeky-duckie.livejournal.com]

I'd just like to state that this comment caught me by surprise, because I have Supernatural running in another window as I read this.

For a second I totally lost track of what comm I was on.

[/TotallyLamePSA]

Waaaay too long & wordy thinky-type thoughts

[bloodredroses1.livejournal.com]

I just finished reading that post but haven't started on the comments yet because I wanted to comment here & ask this comm something first.  I had to let out a cheer or two as I read this because I always get excited when someone else is able to so adroitly speak about why LKH has frustrated so many of us w/ the downhill spiral that she has put Anita in over the course of the series.  While it's not completely unexpected because the seeds of destruction have basically been there since the beginning, the almost total, for lack of a better term, destruction of 'our' feisty, spunky heroine is demoralizing beyond belief.  And that feeling is so not helped by the many imitators that have cropped up in the explosion of the paranormal romance genera that take semi-decent characters and subjects them to the very worst of the worst of the romance tropes & cliches often w/ added paranormal tropes & cliches and MarySueism on top.  I know it's a case of "follow the leader" but there's no reason for brain-candy to need the judicious application of several GALLONS of brain-bleach after its consumption!
Anywho, I'll stop my rant here for now before it gets any longer and ask y'all the question I'm wondering about --- Does any one think that there is any chance that LKH might read this and if so, what kind of reaction it will cause from her and/or 'Camp Troos'?

[world-dancer.livejournal.com]

"Perhaps if the novels started off with Anita as this ardeur-victim-and-her-harem who then becomes this free, independent and strong scary Executioner, then we would admire her and want to be her. "

I wouldn't have read it. I don't read books about sex slaves, which is how this description hits me. It's just not my thing.

Me neither

[mariadeangeles.livejournal.com]

This is probably only true for all her new fans, who read the books for the sex. I often wondered how so many people can like the newer books but then like somebody on this community has pointed out before, I'll encounter a few very uncreative and somewhat dumb people at work who make my head spin and it hits me that a large part of the population hasn't read better books EVER in their lives so their expectations are relatively low. And that is why bad music is insanely popular and LKH continues to sell.
There is just no plot to the ardeur Anita. What drew me to the series was the executioner mystery solving, not sex. I wouldn't have stopped reading because of the sex but if it was all sex no plot I would have gotten bored immediately. Besides Jean Claude's bad boy appeal also made it thrilling and now he's just a damn puppet! So no Jean Claude appeal, no crime solving = no desire for me to read the books.

[knitterleigh.livejournal.com]

I think if it were handled correctly, and it started with "holy shit, I have got to stop doing this" then maybe I would read the books. At this point she does not seem to see what she does as a problem. That's where I take issue with the books.

[kindofstrange.livejournal.com]

Agreed. The whole 'they were ours to rape' bit alone doesn't create a character I'd really want to read any more of.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

This is really insightful. Depictions of behavior and endorsements of behavior are not the same thing.

[knitterleigh.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I'm a psych major studying addictions and she has all the classic symptoms of a sex addict to the point that I wonder how she would react if one of the men refused her. Probably not well.

[adam-adonai.livejournal.com]

If the series had characters other than Anita as the focus of some of the novels, the scope for a broader range of stories would have been huge. I'd hoped this might begin with "Micah" but this book failed to tell his story fully.

One option would be to publish other writers under licence, as with other F/SF series. Fresh writer, fresh angle.