Is anyone else tired of all the orgies in Anita Blake?

[Yasmine]

Anita Blake started great. There was not even one sex scene in the first few books. Halfway through the series we go from PG-13 to X-rated. All that hardcore stuff! Anita Blake the almost virgin now sleeps with the entire supernatural community. She was a great kick-a** heroine. Now she is but a slut. It was a great disappointment. I still follow the series but the Anita I love was the Anita before she became a slave to sex and ardeur.

[Mary]

Agreed and to make it even more unpalatable when fans expressed their opinions on it and the horrible lack of plot and the overly easy solutions to what should be monumental moments in the book the author had the gall to tell them basically they were just prudes and should shut up and deal with it...you know the same fans who put her where she is.

[Jacqueline]

It's the main reason I stopped reading them for a while. It wasn't the sex per se. I loved the Merry Gentry series and there was plenty of sex in those, too, but it blended in with the plot and was necessary to the plot. The Anita Blake series evolved into a very thin plot as an excuse for the sex scenes - or so it seemed to me.

I enjoy hot sex in my books, but I prefer it in books where the plot would have enough force to engage me even if the sex was toned down or edited out completely. If I want straight up erotica, I know where to find it, but from LKH, I expect more.

I have since heard that her later books toned down a bit, returning to her original. If so, I might be lured back. She is a good writer!

[Yasmine]

Jacqueline wrote: "It's the main reason I stopped reading them for a while. It wasn't the sex per se. I loved the Merry Gentry series and there was plenty of sex in those, too, but it blended in with the plot and was..."

yes, actually in the last 2 books she toned it down a lot. My problem is not with sex. Maybe I didn't say it right. I like hot sex scenes in the right time and place, but sex in Anita Blake has become downright intolerable! I also prefer monogamy, maybe that's why it bothers me so much!

[[deleted user]]

I prefer monogamy too, but I've read enough menage erotica to know you have to have a strong plot to carry multiple partner storylines. The real problem I have is that I wasn't getting emotional connections, just superficial sexual ones. I want ROMANCE in even the naughtiest of tales. Lack of plot and emotions have rendered the remaining series unreadable.

[Margaret]

well I just got tired of it... it's been like 6 months since I read one.. i did however, read all the way up to 19. There just isn't enough emotional aspects with all of her sex partners. I'm into the romance part of erotica. Who knows maybe I'll want to read another one in like 6 more months

[Ternelljade]

LKH's latest Anita Blake book definitely wasn't as bad as I feared regarding the orgies. I've read all the books in the series. I understand about the ardeur and bonds and all. I'm also not a prude, but there were just times I'd go "This is a bit much for me."

[Mary]

I don't mind the sex at all, what I mind is all sex no bad assery and no plot. But I am getting ready to read the new one. There are still characters I care about like Edward and Jason.

[Anika]

Tabitha wrote: "I prefer monogamy too, but I've read enough menage erotica to know you have to have a strong plot to carry multiple partner storylines. The real problem I have is that I wasn't getting emotional c..."

I agree w/ Tabitha. regarding to no real ties to the various and many partners she has and the cases/mystery does not seem as strong as it used to the beginnig. I wished or liked that it was just a triangle between JC and Richard but I must admit Micah and Nataniel are great but it like she's on schedule to please her many lovers and while the ardeur is her excuse and does need to be fed can't she get control by now and find other outlets.

But anyways I have read every book and think I will continue too but I miss the days when she just did her job at the agency, helped the police, worked with Edward and things were normal. But I wonder if and when this series will end and how.

[Jacqueline]

You guys are saying this so much better than I! There was no emotional connection was what I should have said and didn't. Merry Gentry has multiple partners, but there is a connection and purpose and it's not percieved as cheating by any of the parties involved including the reader. Even if you don't like it in other plots, in this one it made sense.
And you are absolutely right about the romance angle. It's so-o-o necessary.

[Terri ♥ (aka Mrs. Christian Grey)]

I don't mind the sex, in fact I think it added to the series because although the books were good Anita bothered me in the first books with her self righeous feminst self.

[Ann aka Iftcan]

Shari--I think up to about book 7 or 8. I read through I think it was 10 or 11. But part of MY problem with what she did to Anita (in addition to the plots becoming short-story length) was that it wasn't how the series had STARTED. She should have just ended the Anita books and started another series when she decided to start writing the porn. I've read some of the Merry books, and the sex in THOSE doesn't bother me as much as in the Anita ones--mainly I think, because Merry's character was/is totally different from Anita's--and there was no "broken promise to the reader" (is the only way I can think of to put it) with her. She says right up front that she is a very sexual creature--and that she has a number of "love/sex" gods/goddesses as direct ancestors. But even in the Merry books, the plot was maybe novella length, not novel length. I want a STORY, something that catches my interest and holds it. And sorry, but 250 pages of sex and 50 pages of plot just doesn't do that for me.

[Shannon]

I stopped reading Anita Blake at book The Killing Dance and I don't think I will be continuing on as I have read the synopsis for the next few books and believe I got out before the Anita I like turns into a sex fiend. I do like some of the secondary characters, but I want to keep the "like" I have and honestly I have better series to fill my mind with.

[Ty]

Shari Kay wrote: "Thanks guys! Seems like I'm safe through at least 5!"

I agree that The Killing Dance is one of her BEST Anita books and you would definitely be missing out if you miss this one. Fair warning - this is focal to Edward, bad-assery extraordinaire.

[Sascha]

One of the things I as a writer notice about the orgies and sex is that they actually forward the plot, because each time she has sex a new power or gift is opened up.

Yeah, it's a little overdone, even for me, but I always ask readers to consider what would happen if before Dance Macabre if she didn't write a 700 page BDSM monstrosity and just picked up like normal with cases and such?

Readers often tell me they'd be upset because the steam/pressure never got let up. You can't just explain that away in a sentence or two because dynamics change.

It's always a tough call for writers in this genre to decide where and when to put sex in their stories if they do NOT know how to use it properly.

And of course you can please all of the readers some of the time...but those times aren't always at the same time!

[Paganalexandria]

Yasaman wrote: "Anita Blake started great. There was not even one sex scene in the first few books. Halfway through the series we go from PG-13 to X-rated. All that hardcore stuff! Anita Blake the almost virgin no..."

I agree it's not the sex it's the complete character change. If you notice the uber-sex didn't start until Laurell started writing the Merry Gentry series. I really believe the writer had a hard time writing two different series at the same time and she loved Merry so much she unconsciously added her personality to Anita Blake. I also believe she has more of a handle on this which is why the last few books have gotten back to basics with the sex fitting a lot better in the storyline.

[Missyb]

I could care less when Anita has sex with Nathaniel & Micah or with Jean Claude & Asher, it's when the story disappears and all we get is meaningless sex between her and everyone. I was pleasantly surprised at the last few books, they had a police case she worked and she didn't sleep with everyone around.

[Ann aka Iftcan]

Pagan--the sex started before the Merry Books came out. Merry came out in 2001--and the sexualization of Anita came in 1998 or thereabouts.

And, as with many others, my real problem with what she did to Anita was to totally change the character on us mid-stream. I really think that if she'd just gone ahead and started the Merry Gentry books and "retired" Anita, I'd have been a lot more willing to accept the sex.

And I've read interviews that LKH gave where she basically said, "I'm going to write what I want to write, and the rest of you can deal with it."

And again--I'm NOT satisfied with her writing any more, because I feel cheated. There just isn't enough CONTENT--its all just sex. And she is a GREAT story teller is the really sad part. I loved her writing, UF, Fantasy, whatever from when she WAS stretching her muscles and giving us a good story.

[Jacqueline]

Ann aka Iftcan wrote: "Pagan--the sex started before the Merry Books came out. Merry came out in 2001--and the sexualization of Anita came in 1998 or thereabouts.

And, as with many others, my real problem with what she..."

There speaks an established writer who can afford to ignore her readers. I, too, may write what I like, but if I didn't care what my readers thought, my books would remain in their spiral notebooks in the bottom drawer of my dresser!

I understand writers who want to stretch themselves and not get locked into a series rut. I have no problem with LKH writing what she chooses just as she probably doesn't miss my purchases of her books. I just wish she wrote it into a new series rather than changing the characterization in these.
Although... I find it interesting to hear that later books went back to her old style. Maybe the voices of dissatisfied readers were heard after all.

[Yasmine]

Jacqueline wrote: "Ann aka Iftcan wrote: "Pagan--the sex started before the Merry Books came out. Merry came out in 2001--and the sexualization of Anita came in 1998 or thereabouts.

And, as with many others, my rea..."

Although LKH claims that she doesn't care what the others think and say, I strongly believe that it was all these complaints that led her to tone down the sex and work more on the plot. I myself was much more satisfied with her last two books. She is changing direction again but I wonder where the series is going to. Many above mentioned it is high time she abandoned Anita and stick to Merry instead. I totally agree. The story of Merry was left unsaid just when it was reaching its peak, while Hamilton is busy with a series that doesn't seem to have anything more to say.

[Yasmine]

Ann aka Iftcan wrote: "Pagan--the sex started before the Merry Books came out. Merry came out in 2001--and the sexualization of Anita came in 1998 or thereabouts.

And, as with many others, my real problem with what she..."

Actually Anita's sexuality starts exactly at book 10 (2001) when ardeur, feeding of it and having several sexual partners starts. We had sex during books 6 to 9 and it was OK, every one likes good sex scenes! But the true change starts from book ten. I enjoyed Anita from book 1 to 9, but after that I really couldn't stomach her sexuality. It was just too much!

[L.M.]

Hello everyone. I saw the title of this and since I, too, am a former reader of the Anita Blake series, I thought I would say I agree with everyone here. My favorites in the series were prior to Anita the slut books. Yes there was a purpose for the sex but really, couldn't LKH have found another way for those powers to manifest? I skimmed through Micah and was shocked at her describing him as enormous and when sleeping with Anita, torn her up so bad she bled. That was the last time I even picked up an Anita Blake book. I, too, heard LKH said if you don't like it, tough. She allegedly changed her tune later but the damage to Anita, and views like these, had already done its damage. That's a pity because this series had a very nice premise, LKH is a good writer and I missed those earlier times.