Review: Blue Moon by Laurell K. Hamilton

Blue Moon by Laurell K. Hamilton
(Anita Blake #8)

4 out of 5 stars

Published 1998 by Ace
This review may contain spoilers for the previous books in the series

There are so many characters in the Anita Blake series. Almost every book there are added more to Anita's group of sexy hunks. All these characters are both the strength and the weakness of Blue Moon.

Usually when I write a review, I add a little paragraph describing the main plot. The problem with this book is that there is so little plot that it almost seems useless to try to explain it. I'll give you a tiny summary instead: Richard is accused of rape, he'll turn furry soon, have to get him out of jail. And something with trolls.

Hamilton's heavy characterising is taking the toll on her plots. When this series started, the books were about a murder or an investigation, and you met some awesome people in between. Now the people are taking the stage, leaving almost no room for the plot. Seriously, there is so much talking, so much in depth flashes into the lives of about eight people of her sexy hunk group. The real plot could be described in just eighty pages.

The thing is, I really like character based books. So I don't get bored of all the interactions. But I know many of you are plot-lovers. I wouldn't recommend the Anita Blake books (the fifth and up) if you prefer plot-heavy books. In this one, there was a teeny tiny plot. From what I've heard, it'll only get smaller and smaller from now on.

Aside from the fact that I just detest Richard lately, this book was very enjoyable for me. It's like watching a horror paranormal soap series. Nothing very exciting, but definitely addicting.

On to the next one!

Blurb

When she chose master vampire Jean-Claude over her ex-fiancé, alpha werewolf Richard Zeeman, Anita learned that sometimes love is not enough. But though she and Richard won’t be walking down any aisles, she can’t turn her back on him when he’s arrested on a rape charge in Tennessee. Anita knows firsthand that Richard has the morals of a saint—or at least a boy scout. But his guilt or innocence is not the issue. He’s behind bars, and in five days a full moon will rise…

Other reviews you might be interested in

• Review: Burnt Offerings by Laurell K. Hamilton (4/5 Stars)
• Review: Generation by William Knight (4/5 Stars)
• Review: Fire Baptized by Kenya Wright (2/5 Stars)
• Review: Enormity by W.G. Marshall (4/5 Stars)

More links

• Author page
• Press
• Goodreads
• Book Depository

Review: Burnt Offerings by Laurell K Hamilton

Burnt Offerings by Laurell K. Hamilton
(Anita Blake #7)

4 out of 5 stars

Published by Penguin
This review may contain spoilers for the previous books in the series

The Anita Blake series is a guilty pleasure of mine. I just don't know why, but I enjoy reading them. I like to see main character Anita struggling with herself and her countless "I'm bigger and badder than you" enemies. I like the horror side of the series. Ms Hamilton definitely has a sick mind sometimes, but it works.

Burnt Offerings was perfect for satisfying my Anita Blake fix. I'm glad Anita is still (kind of) monogamous in this one, from what I've heard she won't really stay that way. The infamous vampire council comes to town, which brings a big bunch of amazing characters like the tortured Asher and another triumvarate.

Anita, as always, runs around waving with her gun and generally kicking ass. She's getting some very interesting powers with Richard and Jean-Claude behind her. But I see a bit of a change in this book; she's mellowing down a bit. Don't take me wrong, she still has attitude problems. But she knows when a person needs a bit of comfort, and she doesn't shy away of giving it.

There was a lot of plot going on in Burnt Offerings. Anita has to deal with the vampire council, an arsonist on a rampage, two kinds of shifters that vie for her attention, and a jealous boyfriend. I wasn't completely satisfied by the way everything wrapped up. Probably just because I wasn't expecting it to be that way.

The Anita Blake series is one that you can't recommend or discommend. You either hate it, or love it. Some people love the early books, but hate the latter. There is just one way to find out to which team you belong, and that is to try it. I personally know for sure, I'm not done yet with Anita.

Blurb

Anita Blake is a vampire hunter. But when someone else sets his sights on her prey, she must save them both from the inferno.

Other reviews you might be interested in

• Review: The Killing Dance by Laurell K. Hamilton (4/5 Stars)
• Review: Bloody Bones by Laurell K. Hamilton (4/5 Stars)
• Review: Generation by William Knight (4/5 Stars)
• Review: Enormity by W.G. Marshall (4/5 Stars)

More links

• Author page
• Press
• Goodreads

Review: The Killing Dance by Laurell K. Hamilton

The Killing Dance by Laurell K. Hamilton

4 out of 5 stars
This the 6th book in a series. May contain spoilers for previous instalments.

The Killing Dance is the sixth book in the controversial Anita Blake series. There are different camps in the ongoing discussion whether the books get better later on, or complete crap. I'm not sure yet which side I'm on.

What I do know is that I had a great time reading The Killing Dance. In this book Anita is in danger. That's nothing new. But now someone is hiring professionals to kill her. She has a price of about half a million above her head. It's just a matter of time until someone takes his chance.

In order to keep safe she has to hide in the notorious Circus of the Damned, where the daytime hiding place of the vamps is. This puts a strain on her fragile balancing act, the love triangle with vampire Jean-Claude and alpha were Richard.

These books are my guilty pleasure. They are certainly not literary prize winners, and you can't really identify yourself with the main character (if you are as gun happy as Anita, you do have a problem), but the story is engrossing and fast-moving. There are always tons of troubles and dangerous situations Anita has to overcome, and I like to see how she escapes death this time.

It's getting clearer and clearer that Anita isn't the straightforward good guy any more. She's dating the enemy. She doesn't think twice about killing. But it's nice to see that even the Executioner can get downright scared at times.

She's quite good at shooting moving targets, but in the relational department she can use some training. I though it was rather funny to see how she's struggling to keep everything from falling apart. There was some great JC/Richard interaction in The Killing Dance. I enjoy their jealous fighting over Anita. That being said, I have to admit that after reading this book I'm completely partial to Jean-Claude. He shows once again that deep down in his corpse-body there is still a heart somewhere. He truly wants Anita to be happy. Opposed to Richard, who just can't get past his jealousy. I already know a bit of how their relationships are going to evolve, but I'm still curious to how they become that way.

Maybe it's important to keep enough time between reading the Anita Blake books. I can understand how you get sick of Hamilton's repetitiveness when you read them all after each other. I thought the repetition of phrases wasn't as prominent in this book as in the others. The excessive use of the word "power" was slightly annoying, but I couldn't really come up with an alternative, so I don't blame the author.

I'm going to keep reading this series. I still find the books enjoyable, even though I can see them changing. I won't rush into buying book seven, Burnt Offerings, but when I'm looking for some fast-paced killing with sexy vampires and a lot of tension between the characters, I'll pick one up again.

Blurb

With a price on her head and professional killers on her trail, Anita Blake, prenatural expert and vampire killer extraordinaire, turns to the men in her life for help. Which in her case, means an alpha werewolf and a master vampire. She needs as much protection as possible, human or otherwise. But Anita is beginning to wonder if two monsters are better than one.

Teaser Tuesday #8

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• Make sure you do not include spoilers
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Teaser Tuesday #8: The Killing Dance

"The most beautiful corpse I'd ever seen was sitting behind my desk."

The great first sentence of the fifth book in the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton. I'm quite curious what I think of it, the first few books in the series I really enjoyed, but the rest of the series is rather controversial. Lets see how it goes (:

BR: Bloody Bones

Bloody Bones (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #5) by Laurell K. Hamilton


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
In the 5th instalment of the Anita Blake series, Anita is summoned to resurrect a whole hill of scrambled zombie mess. When she arrives, the police wants her opinion as monster expert on a slaying of a couple of teenagers.

Of course, nothing is what it seems and throw in some master vampires and fey magic and a boggle, and you get Anita in a whole lot of trouble.

It is fast paced, as we are familiar with from the other books, but this one sees a lot of growth in some characters. Anita is still the ass-kicking heroine we are used to, but finally, she's learning an important lesson: not every vampire belongs to the monsters.

We see Larry grow from shy animator to a relentless vampire killer. It's good to see that he still has compassion and isn't as pitiless as Anita, but he is getting close.

The bathroom scene I totally loved. Jean-Claude for once isn't the arrogant bastard, and he's actually... kind of cute.

The clothes thing is starting to bother me. I don't need a total description of someone's wardrobe. Hamilton is actually ruining some scenes for me because, I'm just not into white suits with lace and blouses with long sleeves that cover hands and jackets that hit mid waist. If she would have said nothing about his clothes, he would have been so much sexier in my imagination.
Okay, I admit, Larry in leather pants was kind of funny.

There are also a lot of repetitive sentences that once you notice them, start to get on your nerves. Sharp and immediate pain, anyone?

I just wish Hamilton would leave that final chapter. It doesn't add to the story, and overall feels a little anti-climactic. We spend 300 pages fighting the baddies and she closes off with, "Ah well, everyone's hurt but okay. And the lesson we learnt today children, is that not all monsters are that bad".

Overall, fun book to read, gets you on the edge of your chair, we get to see more of Anita's powers which is nice, we get to see a sensitive JC, which is nice, and Richard isn't there to play jealous alfa-werewolf, which is even better.

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