Neal's review
Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 1) by Laurell K. Hamilton
I had trouble connecting with the main character, Anita Blake, especially at first. I also kept poking holes in the back story that somehow it wasn't illegal to be a Vampire when they were pretty well always invading your mind and feeding off blood to survive. I understand that some mortals were volunteering to be servants and they were feeding from them, but still I wonder how we got to legal point we are at when the book starts.
The 'Executioner' piece of it also bothers me. If it's legal to be a vampire, why is it that if they kill so many mortals and suddenly they don't deserve a trial, a warrant is issued for their execution. Are they people, or aren't they? Don't they deserve the same legal protections as humans?
I had figured out who the vampire murderer was as soon as they revealed the crucial bit of info about the character's nature about mid-way through the book.
From the discussions of my friends who have read this book I kept waiting, expecting the raunchy sex...more
The 'Executioner' piece of it also bothers me. If it's legal to be a vampire, why is it that if they kill so many mortals and suddenly they don't deserve a trial, a warrant is issued for their execution. Are they people, or aren't they? Don't they deserve the same legal protections as humans?
I had figured out who the vampire murderer was as soon as they revealed the crucial bit of info about the character's nature about mid-way through the book.
From the discussions of my friends who have read this book I kept waiting, expecting the raunchy sex...more
Ohh good. I'd like to know what a guy thinks about this vampire/mostly porn/ romance series.
Heh, well from the first four chapters I'm not sure how much I like it. I'm gonna stick through at least this book, but so far it's left me a bit cold. I haven't really found a reason to like Anita. Having just started Jim Butcher's Dresden series, which feels similar, I have to say I like Harry Dresden as a protagonist much more than Anita.Like I said, I'll give it at least one book.
Well, I'm a guy and I love the series. (Though I guess I'm not a "guy" guy.) It does get rather bogged down with sex later and slows down considerably, but I think the author's finally over that.
Yeah, in the first book I didn't really like Anita. She just sort of hates everything and feels very out of place in this dark, romantic world. But I wanted to know more about the universe they lived in. I was fascinated by it. Eventually (though it takes many books), Anita gets over herself. And yeah, the raunchy sex doesn't start happening until a few books in, and just gets utterly ridiculous around book 10 or so. Like, she can't walk 10 feet without dragging someone down and humping him. Though there's a valid plot-linked reason for it. But before then there's a lot of action and horror and I simply loved it!Wait until you meet Edward.
Oh, and as far as the legality thing goes, it's not like the American legal system hasn't ever been inconsistent before with how it categorizes and treats people. It rang true for me with how the world would deal with monsters. Different groups lobby for different solutions, and what you get is a hodge-podge of an answer that may work.
