Guilty Pleasures discussion

I'm forcing myself to go through this Anita Blake series, because I was given 15 of the books for free. Unfortunately, this series is beyond the pale and has the exact same problem as Twilight and many of the other "paranormal romance"-eqsue books I've read have (including the author's Meredith Gentry series):

They all read like personal fantasies, written for the author, themselves, and perhaps originally no one else was meant to read them, so it didn't have to make sense.

By that, I mean that it feels as if the author plunked herself down into a chair and imagined the type of woman she would be -- the type of woman she'd WANT to be -- if there were absolutely no limitations and no constraints. If the normal world of physics didn't exist and you could be absolutely anything you wanted with any traits you wanted, in any situation you wanted, what would be the sum of your personality? Think about it, and then cram everything you're not, and all the fixes to all your insecurities and personal doubts into one person. Add a dash of aggression and a pinch of searing, unstoppable sexuality, and that's Anita Blake.

In essence, what you've ended up with is a main character that's so over-blown and ridiculous you have to roll your eyes. And....plots that don't make sense, to get that first message home.

Anita Blake is arrogant and bitchy for no reason. She's not JUST ballsy and brash, but over-blown, stupid-arrogant and bitchy, with a chip on her shoulder. Her pussy is magic, because everyone salivates over it; fuck, she spends most of her time trying to decide between the two men she actually (*gasp*) considers worthy of her attentions. Still, she's got the best of the best powers, and everyone falls all over themselves to compliment her once they've been suitable impressed by her (which never fails to happen) and put her in charge of things (the first person/woman/human EVAR to be X, Y or Z, in most cases), because she's just that damned good. She's everything to everyone. She does things no one can do, handles shit no one should be able to handle, and does it all without breaking a sweat.

And she's honestly kind of bored with most of it, to boot, which adds insult to injury.

It's unrealistic and it's dumb. There is no growth to this character at all, no vulnerability. No learning. She doesn't start at point A and evolved into point B (or C, or D, or E), she just stays at a constant too-good-to-be-true level and rides it out through the whole series. To be honest, it's annoying.

Rather, it started out annoying, and then after the second or third book I was no longer able to suspend my disbelief enough to actually ENJOY any of the plot or the characters, but damn it - I'm going to see this shit through to its (very ridiculous) end.

And the sex. I've seen people complain about how the series is basically porn, but that doesn't bother me. What bothers me is that Anita is written to be so savagely sexy that her pheromones entice every man she comes in contact with. She simply has to have orgies and a ton of sex and when she's not, she's fending off all those would-be lovers that are clamoring for a shot into her panties. She's just that intoxicatingly sexy, after all, that she's literally turning more than two or three people down in every god damned book.

Please. Get real, already.

Now, secondary to the unbelievably and unrealistically shaped main character, misogyny starts in book one, slowly, and builds; the author makes it clear that Ms. Blake is the epitome of the perfect woman, but only because she possesses traits more true to a man than a woman. Hamilton goes out of her way to point this out, over and over again; about how she's upfront like a man, she shakes hands like a man, she knows how to use a gun like a man, she knows how to handle herself and save the day....like a man.

Yawn.

Every other woman in the book is dismissed as weak and empty-headed, as well. Either Anita is the one women look to in a crisis, or they hate her and want to kill her, or they're weak-willed and can't stomach shit, so Anita has to bolster them for their own good and fix their issues - no woman is as good as man-qualitied Anita.

I don't know if that's a product of the fact the author has a secret fantasy of being better than every woman in her own life, or she just secretly hates women, or what, but I find it sort of disgusting.

While I've just finished book 10 and I DO plan on finishing out the series (I've got the other books and I want to add them to my bid for 100 books for the year) I had to rant. This has been such an over-the-top, unbelievable, ridiculous, almost comical ride.

When I first read the books (about 7/8) years ago I really liked this series but got fed up by Incubus Dreams as to the sheer amount of sex that Anita has so I stopped.

This year I am planning on re-reading all of the books that I own - I was concerned that my memory of them (which is an awful lot like what you have put above) would be accurate. Then I re-read the Merry Gentry books first and my opinion has lowered....

I do have to disagree on one point though - to me Anita does evolve (though not particularly 'well') over the course of the books and she does have vulnerabilites - though of course her 'magic' (view spoiler)[or the Triumvirates or some mystical sex power (hide spoiler)] always helps her overcome them. She is very Mary Sueish in nature.

Mary Sueish is a perfect term for it. Yep.

I read the first couple books and then I had the same opinion as you. She just became so over the top that I gave up the books.

Desiree wrote: "Mary Sueish is a perfect term for it. Yep."

I remember hearing that first applied to Bella from Twilight and now I am like... if Bella is one then what the blazes does that make Anita??

When you say you have the first 15 does that include Micah or not? If so we have the same ones and I'd be interested to see if your opinion is maintained.

Yes, it does include Micah. I've got that one.

Desiree I was struck by your description "If the normal world of physics didn't exist and you could be absolutely anything you wanted with any traits you wanted, in any situation you wanted, what would be the sum of your personality? Think about it, and then cram everything you're not, and all the fixes to all your insecurities and personal doubts into one person Add a dash of aggression and a pinch of searing, unstoppable sexuality"
What you wrote is a concise description of the American comic book industry of the last century. What's changed in this century is that comics have expanded their scope a little bit to keep an audience while other media have borrowed their old template to grab a new generation.
Comics have become pretty expensive these days and it's probably more cost efficient to buy a month's worth of reading as novels. But the literacy level is the same. The series structure is the same. The recurring villains and requisite fight scenes are the same. Add sex and you have an unbeatable franchise.
I'm not criticizing anyone who enjoys these books, but when I read the first it was so far from what I thought of as a "novel" that I laughed. (And asked "Can I do this?")
I've read a good selection of Paranormals but I've only finished the first two Anita Blakes. I will say I thought the quality of the prose improved greatly after the first. I'm still waiting to see the overload of sex that has scared off some of the series' early adopters.
There may be some of the author in the heroine, but I think the broad strokes come more from the genre formula than from her personal psychology. What the success of the genre itself says about our national psychology is another question.

I too gave up Anita Blake but I made it through to Blood Noir. I really did like her books up until Incubus Dreams hit then I struggled through a few before saying I'm Done! It might as well have been erotica. My brother initially got me into the series and he told me Skin Trade was nothing like the prior few books, that she went back to actual story. So I picked it back up at Skin Trade and was pleasantly surprised. I do like Laurell Hamilton, but I think she just went off track and yes I do agree Anita is over powered.

I agree that from about book 10 or 11 the books went downhill, but since she's now coming back to more plot then sex, it's getting better. Yes Anita is overpowered but at least she's overpowered and has been fighting major powers and not overpowered and fighting normal humans like some do. I hope that her next few books stay on the right path.

I'll take it you're no fan of pulp writing. :)

I enjoyed the early Anita Blake novels, I think she's a marvellously stupid character - going from gung-ho fighter to catholic virgin in the blink of an eye; at least in the early books.
What annoyed me, before she went overboard with "teh sex" was how the books got increasingly longer but contained ever less story - Hamilton became terribly wordy.

Hmm, whereabouts does the plot come more forward and the sex take a backseat? If it isn't many books after Blood Noir I might start buying them again...

I can't disagree with any of the comments made here, but I still enjoy them. I read for escapism more than anything else. I read to enter worlds, characters, and situations that I would never find or even want in real life. Anita Blake is a comic book character. She "evolves" in the manner that they do, starting strong, "leveling up" and moaning about this and that along the way. I enjoy the reverse harem themes in both of her books, all these beautiful men, begging to be used by one not-so-average heroine. These are absolutley personal fantasies that go way overboard. There is nothing realistic about anything in them. But that's what I like about them. On the other hand, I also agree that the author has gotten excessively wordy with "less story," as critiqued above. I think that's even more true in the Merry Gentry series. A whole book goes by, and nothing has happened to the overall advancement of the plot. That does irritate. But I tend to read these far apart. I get my books used, so it takes years sometimes to find the next book in the series. For those "determined to finish" despite what they dislike about the books, I both agree and disagree with their stand. At least you can say you gave it an honest try. But then, why invest so much time in something you don't enjoy? Ah well. Happy reading either way.

@Michelle: So, you might call the books, for you.....Guilty Pleasures?

Ha! Hahahahah. *gigglesnort* Sorry, had to.

stupid book ...

Carina wrote: "Hmm, whereabouts does the plot come more forward and the sex take a backseat? If it isn't many books after Blood Noir I might start buying them again..."

Skin Trade is the one that goes back to story. Which is the one right after Blood Noir!

Desiree wrote: "@Michelle: So, you might call the books, for you.....Guilty Pleasures?

Ha! Hahahahah. *gigglesnort* Sorry, had to."

:D

I found the first couple of books to be alright but then it got really old and boring and just all around horrible fiction. I stopped reading her books.

Tabitha wrote: "Carina wrote: "Hmm, whereabouts does the plot come more forward and the sex take a backseat? If it isn't many books after Blood Noir I might start buying them again..."

Skin Trade is the one that ..."

Ahh. That sounds promising then!

I like the series a lot. But I have the same complaints you do. I feel like the series really jumped the shark after "Cerulean Sins" (although I did like "Micah"... mostly because I like him as a character). Pulp style isn't the problem, it just gets really difficult to keep belief suspended when it gets really silly and over the top. That's actually the way I describe it now, silly. The Sookie Stackhouse books are at that point too.

Michelle wrote: "I can't disagree with any of the comments made here, but I still enjoy them. I read for escapism more than anything else. I read to enter worlds, characters, and situations that I would never fin..."

Michelle, you stated my beliefs perfectly. I read for both knowledge and entertainment. Sometimes you need to read gritty books that help you understand things (i.e., To Kill A Mockingbird, or Someone Knows My Name). Other times, you need to just let your brain take a vacation and read without worrying about whether the plot or characters are plausible (i.e, Anita Blake and Sookie Stackhouse). I call the latter reads my "brain candy" LOL.

I really liked the first 10 books. Then, I too began to get tired of them. I am still reading them, but changes need to be made.

ah, I do like these and yes, I consider it a guilty pleasure. I picked up the first one when it first came out, oh, so many years ago. The first 6 or so had Anita completely celibate and then they kept getting raunchier, but I still enjoyed them. I particularly like the ones where she's teamed up with Edward (Obsidian Butterfly and Skin Trade) but let's face it, this is total escapism.

@Wanda - I call them "brain candy" too! LOL

Allison wrote: "I particularly like the ones where she's teamed up with Edward (Obsidian Butterfly...)"

Is it Obsidian where Anita gives him the "One day we'll have to find out who's the better of us" line, which he answers with "I didn't make you a better monster"?

I've been marveling over that for quite some time, but obviously not enough to re-read the book yet. :D
Loved that part, and thought it sums up Edward perfectly.

Edward is one of my favorite characters...love Zerbrowski too hehe

I liked them up until... I don't remember, maybe 6 or 8. The last "good" one (so to speak) was the one where she went out west to help Edward. I like sex, sure, but I also like plot. I enjoyed her work with the police and would like to see more solving of mysteries. Oh well...

Desiree wrote: "I'm forcing myself to go through this Anita Blake series, because I was given 15 of the books for free. Unfortunately, this series is beyond the pale and has the exact same problem as Twilight and ..."

omg lol. love the rant. got so sick of all the men poping up and her like what ever.

I was very glad when she brought Edward back in Skin Trade, he is my favorite character too. Flirt did not include him but the following book, Bullet, once again includes Edward.

I'm glad Edward makes a comeback in the later books, I always enjoyed him in the early ones (though not a huge fan when he became a family man he is still one person whose name I enjoyed seeing).

The family man bit with Edward was jarring in the storyline.

Mostly the books did keep me reading start to finish (I really liked the first couple and at the time was fairly new territory, different from most of the mass market popular stuff).

After about maybe the first three, I feel like there was a plot or a storyline that keeps being hinted at with bits and pieces buried somewhere in all the Anita-Anita-Anita stuff. Then a few more miniscule twists thrown in and seemingly dropped (triumvirate, mother of night, father of ... Triumvirate...merfolk...).

The later books just don't seem to actually have more than a few paragraph's worth of plot. The heroine who was righteously, if in somewhat comic book hero style, defending the weak and on the side of right and justice has disappeared—and without that turns pretty cardboard with a mindset of "me" that in real life would start her down the road of sociopath.

The sex, okay, at first the twist of the heroine having more than one man in her life hinted at being interesting or at least different. Except she (a) spent too much time whining/agonizing/unaccepting over and (b) I do not remember any lust or passion.

I could actually have been happy with the amount of sex (or even more) if it had been her overwhelming desires or passions. Not the Anita-is-a-good-girl but for all these supernatural reasons beyond her control she just has to have it. There's an ick element to me when anyone is having sex against their will even if later in series they are less the victim and more the aggressor. I don't remember Anita ever owning it so to speak; grew more and more the "had to."

I have not yet read the last published one. Really soured for me (1) one of the last orgy scenes where a married and unwilling guardsman was participating against his will and hints of multi-partner even against normal sexual orientation (I don't care if same gender or not, it's just the if-not-for-supernatural-ardeur or whatever it would never have occurred issue that disturbs me) and (2) the downloadable sample for the last book (I haven't read so going by friend reviews and comments) made it sound like series was returning to the original books in what some readers felt was a deliberate attempt to suck you back in but the rest of book was more of the same slush as the disliked later books.

The federal marshall Anita in book one would curl up and die to see the activities and situations the current Anita takes in stride. The pack leader and master vampires a law unto themselves would not have set well with her. So I guess there was character development; but, more devolving into savage rule by supernatural elements than evolving into a stronger hero using powers for good. Readers stuck in the muck and morass of the sexploits and power struggles of the supernatural world versus an interesting plot and a muti-dimensional, interesting set of characters we can follow along a storyline.

Just mucking around since the first few books. (Sheesh, when is this chick going to just have sex because she is horny?)

As a note: I haven't read the last few AB books...

I always enjoyed Hamilton's description of the supernatural politics in her books, but otherwise... these books were perfect for me when I first read them in 8th grade. Unfortunately, when I tried to catch up on the newer volumes in college, I realized just how poor the writing was, and just how thin of a character Anita is. The further I got, the more slap-dash the plots seemed to be. At least in the early books Anita had some strong morals that were vaguely interesting, but even those have vanished beneath the weight of beautiful men and constant orgies. The characters even started to lose their original personalities and morph unrealistically as time went on.

The biggest peeve of mine (and, it seems, most of you) is the shift from paranormal detective novel to erotica, and then from erotica to pure smut. The last few books I trudged through were practically drowning in sex scenes. What's worse, all this sex starts taking place at weird, plot-stalling, even ridiculous, times. I think the scene that occurs directly after meeting Micah was where I first noticed how.... out-there the scenes were getting. When it got to the point where I felt that most pornographic videos contained more plot... I decided that it was time to stop reading.

I was extremely disappointed.

In fact, I was so annoyed that I completely abandoned the genre for years. I read the first few books about 13-years-ago, and stopped keeping up just before Micah came out. Now, after all of that time, I've finally found an Urban Fantasy novel that doesn't leave a bad taste in my mouth. So, if the basic idea and the 'feel' of Anita Blake are to your liking, check out Kat Richardson's "Greywalker" series. Though it's not entirely about Vampires (yay), the protagonist is far more interesting and less of a Mary Sue. A few nice points:
-She has a relatively normal job and isn't some kind of prodigy in an unobtainable job at 14 because of how Amaze-ZA-ZING she is. Though I thought that Anita's job was NEATO when I was younger, now it strikes me as sort of silly. Never mind that she seems to ignore said jobs as the books go on.
-She is not desired by every man she comes across. In fact, she's never described in a manner that suggests that she is somehow instantly desirable or more attractive than the average woman. This was definitely a breath of fresh air after Anita and the long line of men (and women!) volunteering/demanding to hop in her bed.
-The Vampires make more sense. The author makes sure to point out that their motives, time-sense, etc. have been altered over time, and that the older they get, the more inhuman they become. I always hate when a vampire who is several decades old is somehow spellbound by a twenty-something. Physically, sure, but mentally it's almost pedophilic to me.
-A lot of research and history goes into her books so that they are as realistic as possible, while still handling preternatural situations.

I'm sure that there are some other books out there that handle a similar situation in a less ridiculous manner, but I was extremely impressed with these... so when I saw this subject I felt it necessary to share.

I was getting annoyed with the series, but the last few books have been about a US Marshall case she is working. They've been pretty good. The only complaint I'd give for the last few is the lack of Jean Claude, except for the last one.

I like the books....up to probably around Blood Noir-Skin trade (these are the slippery slop before the s*** writing explosion). I dig the delish smut. I can put up with Anita being over the top 'amazing'. I have read all the books in this series, ALL of them. If any of you are having issues, like say at Blood Noir (or at any point), let me save you some coin and brain cells. STOP READING. Holy crap does it get outrageously stupid. I'm embarrassed to say I have bought them all, including probably one of the worst books ever written, Flirt. Flirt-Kiss the Dead all went straight to the used book store as trade for me. In Kiss the Dead I couldn't even bring myself to read every page, I skimmed. It's become terrible. I feel like it's writing to get the money from sales not because there is any story to actually tell. I wrote the series off. It really breaks my heart because I'm a mega Jean Claude, Nathaniel and Jason fan.

I loved the first few books of this series till it became poorly written porn for the ever busy house wife, Anita had a lot of promise in the beginng but when she had to rely on the triumverate it got stale. At least with Meredith Gentry you knew the series was about sex

Carina wrote: "Hmm, whereabouts does the plot come more forward and the sex take a backseat? If it isn't many books after Blood Noir I might start buying them again..."

I liked the Anita series up to Incubus Dreams, which was hard core, xxx rated porn and nothing but.

LALA introduced the Ardeur and all that ha ha "vagic". LMAO. and it rather became a pain in the butt BORE to read thru all that porn to get back to the plot.

But the books before Incubus Dreams, imo, were fast moving, 3 things coming at you in the first 10 pages. yeah, she was a prude - and I HATED Richard.

I'm still reading it, just for the plots. She needs to get the 4th mark with Richard/JeanClaude. She has that with Nathaniel and uh, Damien? Forgot his name.

I can't believe libraries carry some of the books, tho, since they don't carry hard core porn and neither do regular bookstores. Some of the hard core porn is SO hard that some porn shops don't carry that kind: bestiality and pedophilia.

Oh yes brain candy. Live in the fantasy. What would you really do with all of the ready and willing men?

Jacq wrote: "Oh yes brain candy. Live in the fantasy. What would you really do with all of the ready and willing men?"

Never a shortage of those, it's just usually the ones you don't want. :D

Desiree wrote: "I'm forcing myself to go through this Anita Blake series, because I was given 15 of the books for free. Unfortunately, this series is beyond the pale and has the exact same problem as Twilight and ..."

Haha. I am a true fan of the books, yes, even after the plot kind of got lost after Incubus Dreams (as in eventually she was fucking every body and it just became too much - theres no way in the real world that she would still be tight after all those creatures have gone through her - but what you've said makes excellent sense. Yes, shes a really dumb bitch but she's still awesome in that fact of ridiculousness. L.K. Hamilton does hate women though, that can NOT be denied.

Anita was awesome till she was neutered by the Triumverte (however you spell it) when Laurel pretty much threw away the fact shes a sanctioned Vampire hunter who also raises the dead I gave up on the series.

LK deserves credit for her early works- which for me were an intro to UF, and I still love Circus of the Damned and The Laughing Corpse, but I can't give her any more chances to redeem herself now. And the Merry Gentry series were just crap.

I enjoyed this series. Yeah, it did seem to get a little heavy in sex for awhile, but the storylines were still interesting. The darkness behind some of them were, well...words can't describe it LOL. I'm hanging out for the next book.

Since Obsidian Butterfly (IMO the best of all the books) theres been very little story progression. Ive said in other discussions that the books that followed OB could have been boiled down to 3 or 4 if all the pointless (IMO) sex was removed. OK some authors can do sex scenes and they dont detract from the story they tell, but the amount of porn that started appearing in these books was taking up 80/90% of the book and this was a continuing thing. It seemed to me that whenever Edward appeared in the novel the story would have a lot more progression than in a non Ed book.
I Havent actually bought one of the books for a number years now but I still read em (Library) I gotta know where the story is going after follwing it for so long.
One final comment. Please kill Richard, ive had enough of his whining, all he seems to do is bitch and moan, get into rage, apologise, try and get into Anita's pants, and then piss off in a huff. Die you moaning git.

I agree Richard cries about everything. We can do without him maybe Olaf can take him out. I like when Edward is in the books. Edward did state that if Anita needed to "feed" they would handle it. Really? How would that change the relationship?

David wrote: "Since Obsidian Butterfly (IMO the best of all the books) theres been very little story progression. Ive said in other discussions that the books that followed OB could have been boiled down to 3 or..."

I'm glad I am not the only one to not like Richard. The only good thing he did in my opinion was act in such a way that made Anita go to Jean Claude.

Richard - blah. Micah? yes please!!! Nathaniel? more of the yes please! Jason - heck yes! LOL

I have to say that this is one of my favourite series. I love everything about it.

I have to agree about richard though. He just does my head in.....

Nathaniel is by far my favorite! Richard....he's a pansy, he definitely needs to buck up and be a man.

Tabitha wrote: "Nathaniel is by far my favorite! Richard....he's a pansy, he definitely needs to buck up and be a man."

so very true!!!!! I love asher's charachter

Like many others, I enjoyed her early books up to about Micah, when it just became sex, sex, sex (and yes, I actually would skip the sex to see if I could find some plot).

Now I enjoy erotica. I have no problem with it. But this Mary Sue with forced sex I agree was just bleagh. Hamilton reached new heights in making sex boring. Also, the more Mary Sue Anita became, the less I liked her. I haven't read anything after Obsidian Butterfly, and I don't plan on it. She's pretty much done, in my book.

I loved the first five or six books, then lost the plot point. I still read (or more accurately skim) the books from my local library, hoping she'll get back to a decent plot. I feel she needs to have something really drastic happen to several of her characters to make the series valid again. A fellow reader and I joke that she needs to kill off an important major character instead of background characters. It would give her an emotional place to go without all the meaningless and emotionless sex.

I sort of feel like she needs to stop writing ridiculously long series. They get worse the longer they get, in both series I've read. Like she can't sustain the plot or has to come up with weird sub-plot shit and that waters the WHOLE THING DOWN.

She needs to stop at like...five...and be done with it. :P