Who's Your Author? discussion
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Why do you keep reading? LKH
I think I am one of those people who fit into this category of continuing to read, and yet I end still enjoying the books but not as much as I used to.I pretty much read all these books back to back until Skin Trade I think or somewhere around there. It was somewhere near the 11th or 12th book that I noticed my ratings had gone from 5 to a 3.
I guess I keep reading because after all of these books I feel invested in this series. I want to know what's going to happen to Anita. Also, I feel the books lately have been turning back to the "original" Anita. If Hamilton brings the series back to the writing that made me fall in love with Anita and the gang, I will be really happy.
I guess I just don't want to give up on her yet. Mind you, I no longer buy the books. I haven't bought a book since number 8 or something like that. If I don't like the book, I don't feel bad because I didn't spend any money on it.
I hope my rambling helps you out Starling lol.
I keep reading because I want my old Anita back, the one that I loved reading about. I am one of the ones that thought the books started to go down hill with Narcissus in Chains. I don't think the books are porn, but not the kick butt paranormal mysteries they started out with. I think I would classify the newer ones are erotica. Those newer books seemed to have sex on them just to have sex, a lot of the time it didn't seem important to the story line.But with that being said, I really liked Bullet. There was a whole lot of sex in it and in every combination you can imagine, but this time around it fit the story so I bought it.
I also am not one that will buy the hardcover of these as they are iffy now. I will buy the paperback if I get a good deal.
I also think people keep reading this series because they have invested a lot of time over the years and keep waiting for the glory days of Anita to come back.
I am one of the few (possibly the only one) who skipped from Lunatic Cafe to Bullet. Yes I know I am crazy, but I got it free to review, so don't judge! ;) I will most likely read them all up to Bullet now, simply because so much has happened. I am almost halfway through Bullet. Do I see the original Anita? No. I see a power happy chick who is so confused over what her morals are and who her friends are, that I am surprised her head doesn't explode! Granted, I have not read some of the previous ones that I have heard are so bad. I am not sure if that was quite an answer to your question, but hey, it helped me vent just a little!
I'm with Darcy, I keep hoping for the original Anita to come back. Not completely back because I like the characters that are her men and such but just back in that general direction. Plus, I'm a glutton for punishment I guess.
I think I will have to go for the whole glutton for punishment idea. Also, They are like very addicting. There is such a "No Way Did They Just Do That!!!" reaction.
I read something really upsetting, get sick to my stomach, think about it, (way too much). And then I find myself rereading all the gross parts. Yeah, the glutton for punishment, works for me.
They're like crack. Orgy infested, badly written, agonizingly addictive crack.
I think that Anita changing isn't necessarily a bad thing. I mean, look at everything that she's been through. My problem deals more with the writing. The last few books seemed to be more like - oh, well, here's the book that I have to write for this year. On that note, I was pleasantly surprised with Bullet. The writing was much better, the story flowed and I remembered why I loved so many of the characters.
I think part of the problem with a long running series is just that - it's been around for so long. People really get invested in the stories and the characters and grow to love them. When the author decides to go in a different direction or change the character, the readers take it personally.
Also, there is the issue of the HUGE character lists. There can be too many subplots, too many main/supporting characters and the book becomes just plain confusing. If I need a spreadsheet or a flowchart to keep everything straight, you've lost me as a reader! Sometimes it almost feels as if the author has given up...they're just writing to complete a book, not tell a story.
If I have reason to believe that the author is still focused on the series/characters, then I will continue to read and hope for the best. It's when I feel like the author doesn't care anymore that I quit reading.
Unfortunately, I am a compulsive reader! LOL! Once I begin a series, I almost always follow through with it (however painful it may be).
Well, those of you who have read Bullet are making me wish it would be come to me sooner. I want to see if the old Anita is back.
I wouldn't say the old Anita is back - but I think that the "new" Anita has finally found her stride. Plus, I felt that the writing/story line was MUCH improved from the last 3 or 4 books.
Sarah wrote: "Also, there is the issue of the HUGE character lists. There can be too many subplots, too many main/supporting characters and the book becomes just plain confusing. If I need a spreadsheet or a flowchart to keep everything straight, you've lost me as a reader! Sometimes it almost feels as if the author has given up...they're just writing to complete a book, not tell a story."I very much agree with this. And every book it seems like they should get pared down, instead we just get more added to the cast of thousands.
Darcy wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Also, there is the issue of the HUGE character lists. There can be too many subplots, too many main/supporting characters and the book becomes just plain confusing. If I need a spread..."By Bullet Anita has how many men? There is Nathaniel, Richard, Jean-Claude, Micah, Jason, Asher....
Lenore *--*Phierce*-- * wrote: "By Bullet Anita has how many men? There is Nathaniel, Richard, Jean-Claude, Micah, Jason, Asher...."I think there are levels to Anita's men too. Those mentioned above plus Damien, would be the inner circle, but there are others.
Second level would include Wicked, Truth, Nicky, Donavon, Raphael, the guards that are food, the tigers from the last couple books, and tigers from this book. I am sure there are others that I can't think of off the top of my head.
There are also the third tier emergency people that will make their way to Anita's bed once and then not again. Here there are too many to name.
I just find that crazy. It is beyond the level of fiction.....
I can't speak for this particular series. I've only read the first book, and it didn't really grab me enough to keep going. But there are a few other series that I have read that have disappointed me, but I've kept reading. I think that part of my personal reason to keep going is loyalty to the author, as well as the real hope that things will eventually get back on track. For example, the Kitty Norville books, there were two in a row that I didn't like at all. Had a hard time getting through them. But I already had a loyalty to the series, so I gave the next book a shot, and it was fantastic! The series got right back to what I loved about it. At the same time, the two bad books did cause me to hesitate about buying that next book. Instead, I waited and got it from the library.
I don't know, if I really love the series, I typically will hang on through the bad spots.
Kelley, I read Guilty Pleasures and it was good, but not great. I read Laughing Corpse...better, but still not up to the hype. Circus of the Damned was great. So far the later the better until, from what I hear, about book (just guessing someone else can give you an exact book) 12 give or take one or two. I would recommend at least reading through book 3 before completely disregarding the series. Okay, my advertisement is over LOL. I agree with you though, most readers, myself included, keep with a series just looking for that one that will finally be better. I am still holding out for House of Night to get better. Even the Sookie series is less interesting than it used to be. (Not that it is quite to the standard of LKH. They are still good enough to read.)
I'll admit that I finally gave up on House of the Night! But I had a real love/hate thing going with it from the start. I couldn't stop reading, but at the same time it drove me completely crazy! I finally kicked the habit with the last book.
The reason I started this thread is twofold. There are a lot of people who review LKH and automatically give her one star and a very bad review, and do it over and over and over again until it is just annoying.The second reason is that when I got the latest Elizabeth George novel I got about 20 pages into it and realized I did not want to read it. It has taken me 4 books, two of which I didn't read, one of which I didn't even pick up to get to this point. So why was I "still reading"?
I realized that I was giving up this series for a lot of the same reasons people give up on Hamilton's Anita series. Not sex, because George isn't going that way. Although I think that all of the sex in Hamilton's books is both an excuse to get mad at the author and a real reason why some people wouldn't want to continue reading. But simply that Elizabeth George's series, and some of her characters, were moving in new directions and I missed the older group of characters who lived in the earlier books.
I'm pretty sure I've stopped reading the Elizabeth George series at this point, and I didn't review the most recent book or the other book I didn't read.
So I've got another question. What is it about Hamilton, her writing or her books or her characters,that attracted so much anger in her older fans that didn't like where the new Anita was going?
Starling wrote: "So I've got another question. What is it about Hamilton, her writing or her books or her characters,that attracted so much anger in her older fans that didn't like where the new Anita was going? "I think it is the sex that ticks the old fans off. In the beginning Anita was almost prudish in her views of sex. She seemed to look down at people that were more free with sex, like her friend Ronnie. Now she has sex with pretty much everyone.
Also the early books were so much fun with the action and how strong Anita was. Now the books center a lot on sex and relationships between people, sometimes there is a little action, sometimes there is not any.
So if you read the series for the action you are going to be disappointed as that is not where the focus is any more.
Darcy wrote: "Starling wrote: "So I've got another question. What is it about Hamilton, her writing or her books or her characters,that attracted so much anger in her older fans that didn't like where the new An..."I agree, but I think it is more than sex, and more than just the characters. Think back to all your favorite romance and fantasy books. How many of those have a love triangle? Or something similar? The readers get so caught up rooting for who they think the main character should be with. It is a way for the author tho connect with the characters to connect with the readers.
LKH's earlier novels all had that. There was plenty of action and enough sexual tension to keep readers on the edge. As the series progressed, Anita got more and more love interests. Now, at first this wasn't a bad thing. I am not saying it has a limit of 2 love interests to work, but once you get so many that the reader can no longer connect to the characters, well, then you have a problem.
Many readers sigh in relief when the character finally picks one and "does the deed" even if they do it with both, you go back to the emotional "team" building again. So was LKH adding sex into the mix a bad thing? Not at first, but again when it became so much, so casual, and so power crazy, that the reader could skip over it without missing a developing detail to the character, when they really don't care what the character is doing, and when it is poorly written, it is obvious the character has changed from the one that the readers fell in love with, and the author has lost that big connection that has to be there in order to create fans. LKH messed with a good thing. You know what they say about that...
I really enjoyed this series until Danse Macabre and gave up after The Harlequin. I only came back to the series after hearing Skin Trade brought back the kick-ass Anita. I didn't mind the sex, it's that there was too much of it. I get bored after a while since so many pages are dedicated to it. I wanted more action - that was my primary reason for loving this series. In Bullet, I wanted to watch the action in Atlanta instead of being stuck watching Anita have sex again. But other things have cropped up that I'm not liking at all.
Anita's all-powerful, she's become arrogant and the huge number of men she sleeps with is hard to keep up with, I don't always remember who they are. I've found I don't care about the tigers or the lions and the focus on them has become boring. The characters have changed in ways I don't feel are realistic and the group sex with multiple voyeurs makes me think "porn movie set" with everyone taking turns.
I skipped and skimmed a lot of Bullet, I just wasn't interested in most of it. Unless I hear the series becomes more action-orientated I won't be reading any more, which is sad because the first 12 books were excellent.
**Nods in agreement with everything Amy says**It is sad for me especially to know that LKH is going to drift so far from her original story. I know the series needs to evolve, but I really liked the necromancer story. It was different. Between that and a little mystery LKH had something going for her. Now, well like you said, half the book doesn't even matter.
Since this is a LKH thread and not anita thread I think the same could be said for Merry.Swallowing Darkness should've been the last one just saying.
Yeah, I can get that, Lenore. I'll admit I loved the triangle too. I think she invented the vampire/werewolf triangle as a matter of fact. I own one hardcover that was probably created for the SF Book Club that had two of the middle books together with the two beautiful men and Anita in the middle.And I've seen a lot of Team Bill and Team Eric going on in the Sookie threads. Maybe I didn't think about that because I wasn't talking about the books online when I was first reading them.
I'm going to take issue with the "poorly written." She has had some very bad editing with the last few books. I'm not sure why, but the thing that drove me nuts was the typos in the last Merry book. Unless she is responsible for turning in the actual typescript for printing off the books, and I doubt if she is, that kind of think is the publisher's fault.
The word and paragraph repetitions are also editing errors and now author errors. You can't proof read your own work. Every author needs First Readers and editors. It is possible she won't work with them, but I read her blog and that isn't what I'm seeing there.
Frankly there have been too many books and too quickly.
The problem with the idea that LKH has lost her fan base is that the books are more popular now than they were before that is supposed to have happened. And the older books are still selling in paperback and on Kindle. They aren't necessarily the same fans, but that truly does not matter.
But I'd still like to know why those people who were in the old fan base, hate what they are reading and are still reading. It isn't as if those are the only paranormal books out there these days.
Kyle, I'm one of the people who didn't think that the Merry series had ended and wanted more threads tied up before it was.OK, lets pull it back to the original question. Why were you still reading the books?
And if you could think of some other author's series where you kept reading, like I did with Elizabeth George, maybe it would help all of us understand why we sometimes do that.
Starling, did you like Divine Misdemeanors? Well I keep reading LKH because she was the first PNR & UF author I read. I have loyalty to her and the Anita series. That being said, I want some of the old Anita to come back. I'm one of the few who LOVED Skin Trade I thought that it was heavy on plot and mystery and, yes there was sex, but it took a back seat. Flirt...just plain pissed me off. I don't think an editor even brushed that book let alone going over it meticulously. Bullet, I think just the NUMBER of men pissed me off. I realize they are all tied to sex but that is a serious cop out. I don't care if theres sex, but just have sex because you want to have sex you know? Or because you love the people your with not because some evil vampire blood line if forcing you.
I can't really think of a series have done that with. Usually, I intend to keep reading even if the books are what I consider bad; however, I am reading so many series that when I go to buy books, half the time I forget or think I will buy it later because I have more important books to read. I am starting to fear that Sookie will do that eventually if it begins to decrease at a faster speed.
Charlaine knows exactly how long Sookie is going to be and has already said she would not keep it going just for the sake of money. I firmly believe LKH did that a while ago with Anita. Anyone whose read Bullet, Can any of you see a possible ending in book 20 that would be suitable for this series? I can. Everything is coming together and they are about to go up against their greatest foe. Seems pretty "end of a series" to me.
Kyle wrote: "Charlaine knows exactly how long Sookie is going to be and has already said she would not keep it going just for the sake of money. I firmly believe LKH did that a while ago with Anita. Anyon..."
But do you think it will be? Not to defend LKH for an unnecessary continuation to a series, but the books are still selling. Most of us have already testified to this. So I wish she would end it while the series is still doing okay, but I don't know that she will.
Ok I was really good. I got blood noir and skin trade out of the libarary. Never finished either and thought that's it. I'm done with LKH. I didn't even read Flirt. Then I read the premise of Bullet and I'm afraid I crumbled and bought this book. I think the fact that Marmee Noir is back and wants Anita's body stirred up memories of Raina. (I loved Raina as a bad guy. She was just pure evil!)I keep thinking I'm done and then something comes along and I hope that the old Anita comes back. I haven't started Bullet but when I do I'll let you know. :^)
I thought oh great is there even going to be a story until about page 100. From there the action started to surface and it isn't terrible. No where near early book standards, but still. Not terrible. I know I'm not helping you Gem. :)
Hey, I like to know what I'm letting myself in for.I just couldn't finish Skin Trade or Blood Noir. My last favourite was The Harelquin. I loved that book and thought "Yeah old Anita is back!"
Speaking of Raina...what happened to her spirit connection with Anita? Anita used her for a couple of books in a row and then she got all quiet. I love Raina, like Gem said...just pure evil.
Lenore, she won't end the series...I jsut think she needs to.
Can't say I've read them LOL. I had to skip from Lunatic Cafe to Bullet. I plan to go back and read a lot of them though.
Kyle wrote: "Speaking of Raina...what happened to her spirit connection with Anita? Anita used her for a couple of books in a row and then she got all quiet. I love Raina, like Gem said...just pure evil."Yeah, even in non spirt form it would have been cool. She was an excelent villian to Anita and she couldn't be controled by Anita's majic Hoo hoo! lol!
Kyle wrote: "Speaking of Raina...what happened to her spirit connection with Anita? Anita used her for a couple of books in a row and then she got all quiet. I love Raina, like Gem said...just pure evil."I really liked her as Anita's adversary. I don't think we've seen her since Narcissus in Chains. I suppose Anita doesn't have a need for her now that she can heal with her other abilities.
Raina...Raina... Wasn't she Gabirel's (or was it Marcus's) mate in Lunatic Cafe? Or am I thinking of someone else? The woman who did the porn videos that turned into killings?
Lenore *--*Phierce*-- * wrote: "Raina...Raina... Wasn't she Gabirel's (or was it Marcus's) mate in Lunatic Cafe? Or am I thinking of someone else? The woman who did the porn videos that turned into killings?"You got it, that is who they are talking about.
Okay. Just making sure. She was evil. I liked her too, though. Best bad guy in the series yet (up to book 4 anyway) LOL
I'm not sure who the "her" is, but if it is Charlaine Harris she writes the best end of series books I've ever seen. If she says that Sookie's story is going to end in book X, watch out, because it will and it will be a great ending.I loved the last books in all three of the other series.
I have no idea how LKH will do with a final book in a series because she has never done it.
There is no reason why she should be expected to. PD James finally wrote what I think was the last book in her mystery series, that she wrote for about 40 or 50 years, but she is in her 90s. It is possible that LKH intends to do likewise.
I don't think the Raina thread was ever closed down permanently. Anita was learning how in Obsidian Butterfly, but I don't think it was ever mentioned again.
Starling wrote: "I'm not sure who the "her" is, but if it is Charlaine Harris she writes the best end of series books I've ever seen. If she says that Sookie's story is going to end in book X, watch out, because it..."That could be great and disastrous. Ever heard the expression, "Quit while you're ahead?" Well LKH doesn't really seem to grasp that concept. If she doesn't shape up the series pretty quickly, I don't think it will turn out well for her or her publishers. Especially sense, I know that the bad reviews (you can't tell me she doesn't know that the books have been getting bad reviews) will get to an author and they will no longer produce quality work.
She reads the bad reviews and thinks we're all in the closet lovers of the books. No woman we are out of the closet lovers of Anita's world but you need to FIX HER! She thinks she's like the goddesses author of the paranormal genre nad its SO annoying. I mean she's always bragging about how she has been at this for 20 years. Well Sherrilyn Kenyon has been at this since 2002 (i think) and has over 22 million copies of her books sold. LKH has a little over 8 million. Stephenie Meyer started in 2005 and has almost 100 million of her books sold (mind you not same genre but still paranormal). I think she needs to stop acting like the end all to beat all because it will come back to bite her in teh ass.
Starling the "she" was Raina..if we're talking about the same post.
Kyle, that is the problem with the word "she". The "she" I was talking about was an author, but I wasn't sure which one.The Raina post was a different one.
I'm glad we are all having such a good time with this thread. I was a bit worried about starting it.
It was LKH I think. Harris has series endings down as a mastered skill. I'm not worried about sookie.
I used to read her blog, but had to quit. She is just plain crazy!! She often talks about herself in the third person, no rational person does this. But maybe this is just part of what makes her create interesting worlds for her books.
Okay, I have never read her blog, but from the posts, LKH seems like an egotistic maniac. She thinks we are closet lovers of her books? That borders on insulting, really.
I think that a lot of creative people have a tendency to be a little nutso!! Not that that's a bad thing... She's quirky and a little crazy. I don't know if I would pick apart someone that no one really knows (it's kind of like when people become infatuated with actors and actresses and think they actually know them). She could be a great person, so I don't think it's fair to get too personal...Does she have any ego? Heck, yes!! I, too, had to quit reading the blog because it was really turning me off of her writing.
I don't think that writers should necessarily cater to readers, instead they should focus on producing a great story. Maybe the choices they make aren't popular, but that doesn't make them "bad" or "wrong." The best part of reading for me is a plot twist that I didn't see coming. These days, I read mostly for the characters/relationships because I can generally figure out what's going to happen next in the plot. When I find an author that can genuinely surprise me, I latch on!
I keep reading LKH because I think that she has some truly great and unique ideas/characters. There have been several books that have had tons of "filler" that had no substance, but there are also some great moments in there. I'm reading for those great moments. Plus, I can't wait to find out what happens next.
Yeah I watched LKH's interview with Paranormal TV, something like that online and she went on and on about how she was the pioneer of this genre.Um, Anne Rice? Ever heard of her?
After awhile I had to stop watching because her gloating over herself was getting a bit too much for my tastes.
Not a question of is it porn or not. Not the question of do the books have a plot. Both of those questions can be talked about in other places.
But just the question of why you would continue reading a series once you know you are no longer enjoying the books?
She said OK, but has also asked us to remember to be polite to one another.
One of the reasons I'm asking is that I'm probably finished reading the books of a long time favorite. In this case she writes straight mystery novels, and not paranormal, but I think the questions about why this happens to fans and readers is a reasonable one.
I am honestly curious. If you are one of the people who thinks LKH writes porn or books with no plot and you've felt this way for more than one or two books, why are you still reading the books, and getting them either by buying them or getting on library hold lists right after they come out?