Review on Anita Blake Vampire Hunter.

Hi people!

Today’s review will be slutly different than usually (pun intended).

The reason for that is because today I will walk us through the book series of Anita Blake Vampire Hunter.

The comic will be brought up later on.

Let my tale you something first though.

I was really intrigued when I decide to make a review for this books, one reason was that I wanted to comment on some think other than a comic, another that I liked the series, but a number of issues aroused.

The first was that I was about to criticize another writer, one that I admire, one that is better than me in every possible way, Laurell K. Hamilton.  

 You can find info on her here and here.

I decide to go with it because this isn’t as much as a criticism (Criticism is the practice of judging the merits and faults of something or someone in an intelligible (or articulate) way, as wikipedia  kindly informs me) its more like impressions I had after I read her work. The difference between these tow is as slight as the difference between PC and Mac.

Totally different think I say!

The other issue is that the series of Anita Blake is a long one, 21 books long to be exact, of which I have read only the 20 first. I toyed with the idea of reading the last one and doing the review after, but I decide against it because it wouldn’t change my overall opinion of the series. I will make a separate review on it after I read it. Maybe.

I usually re-read the subject of my review before I write it, or at least a big part of it so I want make some stupid mistake. That said, I cant re-read Anita Blake series before the review due to its massive volume, I fully intended to read them some time later on but I really wanted to make the article now not a year later. If you find any horrible mistake in the article, contact me so I can correct it.

Let us now dive in the sea that is Anita Blake.

The main faces:

Anita Blake: Vampire hunter, Reanimator, Federal Marshal and penguin admirer are only some of the jobs and title she possess, other include The Executioner, Masters Vampire Jean-Claude lover and a plain pain in the ass for her boss (even if she is his star reanimator). Add a bunch of lovers and is surprisingly this girl have time to sleep.

 Jean-Claude: Master Vampire, Anitas lover, he spends his time between been a badass Master Vampire of St. Lois and warring his undead life off because of the Anita and her often ridiculously dangerous plans, well they aren’t always her fault, but what can a ancient All Powerful Vampire Lord can do but worry?

Beside that I mean.

Richard Zeeman: Alpha werewolf, teacher, and possibly a model in his free time, he is in love with Anita but spend his time sulking in the corner because he is….monogamic animal

Reactions of real people, after they heard the above statement.

Bunch of other lovers: I am not gona mention them for two reasons, I don’t remember them, I don’t care fore them. Really I don’t.

Edward, a.k.a. The Death: Da best assassin, he hunts paranormal targets because killing the top animal in our food chain (the human people, the human) is too easy for him.  

Pictured : people weaker than a Master Vampire or an Alpffhahahaha,

nah just kidding, they would kick any vamps ass.

The story, the world and the rest: one word to describe them all. Epic. You want more? Ok, the public knows about vampires, werewolf’s, zombies the whole bunch of them, they are part of the country recognized and protected buy the law, not everybody likes that but that’s life for you.

The points I liked:

1)      Great plot: each book has something new in it, be it a Cro-Magnon Vampire, Vampire secrete police, an old Aztekian Vampire/Goddess, a werechimera, the Mother of Darkness and the Father of Light, my point being that each book has new and fresh material to powder on.

2)      Nice stages: it explains it self, Hamilton stages her scenes at great places, be it a dungeon of madman, a forest, a werebeast lair, caves, crime scenes, each place has the correct vibe. You might find it strange that I find this important but I simple cant like a story (no mater how great) if I haven’t a background to place her in.

3)      Interesting characters: Guilt ridden vampire/werebeast, scared emotionally and physically vampire, big serial killer with victim profile petite black haired woman, sadists, masochist, angry leaders, looming presences, redeeming templar knights everything can be found in here.

The points I don’t like:

1)      Disturbingly huge amount of sex: now that I write it I feel weird, I mean here I am, a guy twenty four years old saying that there is too much sex. Well there is. But you know it still feels weird to say it. What I mean when I say too much sex (or as is more accurate “disturbingly huge amount of sex”). At the first three books Anita made a point to avoid having sex with the gorgeous models that surrounded her because she was a nice catholic girl (even if she change her religion for convenience) and wanted to have a meaning for her, wanted to be in a relationship. At the forth book she finally has sex with Jean-Claude and after that…

I like a good sex scene in a book, I really do, but after the forth book the amount of sex in the books allows us to compare them with porn sites. We see Anita change. She has relationship with one guy (Richard), she leaves him because his is stupid as hell (transforming from human to werewolf on top of a woman, thus covering her in your disgusting fluids and leftovers  (skin and hair), then run off with your pack in the woods without giving a flying fuck for her (hint she is in shock), is we have to admit a deal breaker) and goes to have sex with another (Jean-Claude) and be his lover for some time, then goes with the first guy on a mission and ends up having sex with him too, then the Ardeur comes along and reason takes a coffee break. What is the Aurdeur you ask? Well think of it as a force that leads you to do thinks (sex to be precise) and in return you get power, Anita gets new supernatural powers and her partner… well he kind of gets what he really wants or needs some think like a genie that you need to have sex in order to get the wish…OR you can get raped and then get a wish, because apparently Ardeur doesn’t cares on what some one might want. So while at the start we see a Anita just going out and gathering lovers at some point that stops and she starts to just have random sex with anyone-ANYONE who just happens to be in front of her, be it guards at a the club, bodyguards, ex-boyfriends, GUYS THAT SHE SUMMON FROM ACROSS THE STATE! Ok I get that the Ardeur makes all this stuff to happen and that she does have a problem, that though isn’t an excuse to fill the book with sex! One to two sex scenes? Ok three? Oooook? Four? All of them shown in the fullest? A third of the book rotating around the sex? That’s a little too much on my taste. You really want to put them in there because its essential to the story? Fine mention them, don’t go and disrobe them again and again. They are good on to them selves but they ruin the rest of the book. You give me story, then a chapter on sex, some dialogue and then another chapter on sex and you really expected me to remember the story? Really?

2)      Nothing else: nothing, my only problem is the ocean of bodily fluids that threatens to drown the story and it’s a pity because the story rocks hard.

Here is a photo to watch and relax after the long read.

From the whole series as far my favourite book are from one to four and the ninth one, on  which she leaves her lovers for some months and goes with Edward on a mission. At the latest books Anita manages to somewhat control the Ardeur thus decreasing the sex with anyone (no, not zero, just back to enjoyable levels) and giving a chance at the rest of the story to shine.

In conclusion:

Read the books, take them slow but read them all. I look forward for better stories in the Anita Blake universe.