[The_Khan]

Hi my friends, I wanted to share this news with you all, George R.R. Martin is mentioned in it as well, enjoy

http://www.nydailynews.com:80/entertainmen...7p-404357c.html

[fan_83]

she is a good writer but recently shes being too staid..
either that or she has a hidden fascination with oral sex

her earlier works are excellent but the work of the last 2-3 years are becoming repetitive and she nearly lost her plot with teh anita blake series and is turning it into (my opinion) a erotic novel

[ObsoleteResolve]

More like hardcore pornography. The early novels are fun, fun stuff- the latest stuff?

I haven't read since whatever the book was before Micah. The fact that she has a hardcover World of Darkness novel in the bookstores is sad and fascinating and just pathetic.

I'll stick to Butcher and Harrison and Armstrong for my urban-fantasy-horror kick, thank ya very much.

[Abyss]

First nine Anita Blake books - brilliant great fun urban fantasy goodness.

Everything since - thinly veiled writer avatar genre romantic porn.

It's the greatness of the first nine that so ticks me off on everything subsequent. LKH was supposedly writing her Merry Gentry series to indulge those readers who felt the need to read about vampire/werewolf menage-a-twelves, but nope, cut to Anita spending 95% of a book sheboinging, thinking about sheboinging, or talking about sheboinging, and maybe 5% plot and character development.

But let me drag it back to The DabelKhan's point - neat article. I didn't know the details of the Dabel Bros history with GRRM, so interesting too. I like what i've seen of the LKH comic adaption thus far, and as per the above, the source material is firmly within LKH's strong set, so all the better and glad to see it succeed.

- Abyss, does not equate 'decision to engage in group sex' with 'character development'. Tho perhaps should...

[mxlm]

Interesting article. Hadn't realized the DB had such a rocky (and prolonged) beginning. Probably should have, what with the state of the comic industry these days. At any rate, given the quality of the Hedge Knight, I'm glad it worked out for 'em.

Quote

It's the greatness of the first nine that so ticks me off on everything subsequent. LKH was supposedly writing her Merry Gentry series to indulge those readers who felt the need to read about vampire/werewolf menage-a-twelves, but nope, cut to Anita spending 95% of a book sheboinging, thinking about sheboinging, or talking about sheboinging, and maybe 5% plot and character development.

Precisely how I feel about 'em.

Quote

Abyss, does not equate 'decision to engage in group sex' with 'character development'. Tho perhaps should...

'course it's character development, when handled properly. Hamilton doesn't handle it properly. Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Dart provides a solid example of how to make (explicit) sexuality an integral part of character development.

[Dagger]

I agree with the consensus here, I loved the early books. But her Mary Sue tendencies got to be too much as well. "Oh, look how pretty Anita is. And she's the smartest darn girl too. Let's spend the next two paragraphs describing in intricate detail what she's wearing. Ah, here's Jean Claude. He's pretty too, let's describe what he's wearing for half a page. And then there's Richard. Let's waste some ink describing how glorious his hair is. And you know, that Anita is so darn cute and precious and special that these gorgeous supernatural creatures just sprout stiffies when they're thinking about her..." Man, that crap just got old real fast.

[drza44]

Abyss;145840 said:

It's the greatness of the first nine that so ticks me off on everything subsequent. LKH was supposedly writing her Merry Gentry series to indulge those readers who felt the need to read about vampire/werewolf menage-a-twelves, but nope, cut to Anita spending 95% of a book sheboinging, thinking about sheboinging, or talking about sheboinging, and maybe 5% plot and character development.

I agree with this. And in my case it was an especially jarring transition, because my addiction to reading caused me to bang through the whole series (14 books? 15 books?) in about 11 days. So the switch from supernatural detective books to porn romance novels was like I just started reading an entirely new set of books in mid-stream. By the last one I didn't even especially want to continue, but I was so far into the flow that I couldn't break it even though I had no expectations that it would really come back to what had drawn me in the first place.

[The_Khan]

Don't worry my friends, we'll make sure we keep you very happy with the Anita Blake adaptations

[Morgoth]

that you probably will. Your drawings tend to be excellent from what I've seen

[vaiski]

ObsoleteResolve said:

I'll stick to Butcher and Harrison and Armstrong for my urban-fantasy-horror kick, thank ya very much.

Harrison and Armstrong referring to which writers and works?

Now that I've devoured through Dresden Files I could try something else of similar nature.

[drza44]

vaiski;159587 said:

Harrison and Armstrong referring to which writers and works?

Now that I've devoured through Dresden Files I could try something else of similar nature.

Kim Harrison writes a series built around Rachel Morgan, the first of which was called Dead Witch Walking. Rachel is a witch, and the overall tone of the books is similar to the Dresden books. I fully recommend them.

Kelley Armstrong writes a series called Women of the Otherworld. The books are a series of standalones with different protagonists, each of which is a woman with a supernatural power. The women all loosely know each other and have a bit of interraction, and most of the protagonists have been the lead in two stories so far (one has been the lead in three). This series was just okay to me, and was several notches behind Dresden, Harrison, or the first part of the Hamilton/Anita blake series. It felt more formulaic, a bit more Mary Sue, and didn't hold my interest as much.

[vaiski]

Thans for the info, I'll order a book or two by Harrison and Hamilton then.

[Abyss]

@Vaiski - If you're going LKHamilton, trust me on this - stick to the Anita Blake books and stop after Obsidian Butterfly.

Please. Think of the trees.

- Abyss, tree-hugger with the splinters in unmentionable places to prove it.

[vaiski]

Will do Abyss, no worries
I've never been good at buying one book at a time, so I ordered first three of the Blake series and likewise three from the Morgan series.

[drza44]

You thought so? For me, her last book (speaking of Harrison, not Hamilton) was actually one of my favorites. I enjoyed the series after the first three books, but it was after the fourth one that I went out and looked for a message board for the series.

[mxlm]

I'd like to third Abyss's recommendation. I'd heard something similar (stop after finishing Obsidian Butterfly), but couldn't keep from thinking 'surely they're exaggerating; surely the series can't totally change in character and quality in one book'.

They're (we're?) not exaggerating. The series can change. In one book. To crap. And it does. When you finish OB, just pretend it ends with Anita dying or something.

[drza44]

potsherds;159751 said:

I like elf-boy. He wasn't in it. I hate what's-his-name-regular-human guy who totally uses her. He was totally in it.

And this arc with Ivy is a go-no-where-fast deadend. Lot's will happen in that department, that I will care nothing about, and I can't see any final resolution making my happy.

I want her and elf-boy to get more action. The two of them bicker like kids. It's fun! If that doesn't go anywhere, I'll be disappointed.

I'm gonna try out these spoiler tags...

Spoiler

I don't mind elf boy, but Ivy's gotta be in the mix somewhere. That chemistry is crazy. If it makes you feel better, Elf boy is supposed to be prominent in this one, according to the author.