Writings Of a Lonesome Soul

This past last year I completely quit reading. Its something that used to distract me and make these bipolar/ depression filled days go by so much faster. So along with dropping even more weight this year.... I wanted to get back onto that reading bandwagon. My game plan? Start with an author that I absolutely loved. So what better place to start than with the woman who penned my favorite novel, Ms. Laurell K. Hamilton.

Simple enough right? I mean I've been reading her work since I was 14 years old, so this should be easy right? Wrong. While I am a dedicated fangirl of the first Anita Blake novels Ms. Hamilton causes me one hell of a headache. To this day "The Killing Dance" is still my favorite novel and I am continuously recommending this series all the way up to "The Harlequin." For those of you whom are unfamiliar with LKH's work that is 15 consecutive novels that I repeatedly tell people they should read.

Anita Blake : The Laughing Corpse

But as much as I campaign in honor of these books I also begrudgingly admit my struggle as a reader of LKH. As the years the have passed and books have released I have become increasingly annoyed, disappointed and confused by this author. Anita Blake was a badass yet vulnerable woman who exuded strength and compassion. She was a woman to cheer for and stand beside. Now she has become a shell... practically just a woman who screws a bunch of supernatural, albeit, hot men.

  At first its no big deal. Its done under the guise of necessity for her character.The series started off as a story driven love triangle and has worked its way into an orgy of meaningless sex just for sex sake. Starting with Narcissus in Chains when the main character of Anita Blake becomes infected with the ardeur. The ardeur is a supernatural power inadvertently given to Anita by her vampire Master Jean-Claude that gives her massive amounts of power but also demands that she have sexual intercourse with several different people through the course of a day. That pretty much means Anita Blake is a succubus and thus required to bone but that is not the only transformation this character endures. She goes from the aforementioned badass and empowering woman to spending 60 to 70 percent of her time obsessing about whether she has become a slut and engaging in her never ending sexual activities.

Anita Blake & Jean Claude: Circus Of The Damned

I'm no stranger to the world of erotica, MFM or pretty much any genre that could be thrown under the romance/erotica/supernatural banner. And in theory the idea of a character, specifically a female leading character having multiple (even 10 or 15) partners doesn't bother me. But this character, one that I loved so much. It pushed me to my limits and I can't stand it. With every new man entering Anita's bed and body a piece of my love for this character died. Anita is supposed to be the love of
Jean Claudes life and he hers yet there story is not treated as such.

There are many types of love stories and LKH admits that being Polyamourous in her real life influenced the character. But this can't even be classified as Polyamorous because this isn't love or even attraction. Anita Blake is screwing just for the sake of it and the author is trying to convince us that it is because she is a succubus and must feed. There is no substance nor true motivation for this behavior. It is frustrating to watch an incredible talent and character dwindle down to this. I can not stomach reading or rereading this series now knowing what its become. To be shown a world filled with amazing content, characters and story is a readers utopia. Watching said world decay from something of substance.. From true story into 60 to 70 percent of the series and book become mindless boning... That is a readers nightmare.