The next Anita Blake book by Laurell K. Hamilton is Blood Noir. It will be released June 3, 2008. The cover seems like an odd choice since they have previously been dark, yet sexy images of a woman. I wonder what the significance of scissors is? For a sneak preview you can read Blood Noir chapter one here. Looks like the same old stuff…
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(18 votes, average: 3.11 out of 5)
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March 12th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
I read the excerpt, with little hope that the writing and plot would improve…no such luck…just the same old story, Anita (the most desirable creature in St. Louis) once again ready to hop into bed with another one of her friends with that idiot nathaniel a willing partner. Her writing has stagnated…the same old plot…the same old cliches repeated over and over again “My Sweetie”…Nathaniel’s ridiculously long hair and purple eye color…Jason’s height. You would think that someone who has written so many books would improve over time…no such luck. And what is her editor doing???….nothing!
As far as I am concerned, this series started going off the cliff with “Narcissus in Chains”…and has only gotten worse….I liked all of the Anita Blake Books until that point.
To be honest, I never was crazy about the Anita Blake character, I found her to be angry with a chip on her shoulder and annoying..but I did admire her courage, spunk and sense of decency and loyalty in the early books. Now she is just insufferable and totally unpleasant…what ? every man she comes in contact with has to fall in love with her??..There are no other attractive women in St. Louis ? what an egomaniac!….and I really get sick of Laurell Hamiliton calling everyone who find her poorly written sex scenes icky, a prude or fundamentalist. I like a WELL WRITTEN erotic scene as much as the next person (see Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vamp Series or Kim Harrison’s Hollows Series), unfortunately Ms. Hamilton does not write them.
I will never spend another dime…nor another minute wasting my time reading any of her books. There are too many great books in this world to read.
March 12th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Well said. It’s just the same recycled stuff. I’ve been reading LKH’s blog over the past year or so, just skimming the posts. When I read this chapter it reads like her annoying blog posts about her life and I really see her personality coming through in the novel. Basically Anita’s personality is becoming more like LKH. Yech.
March 14th, 2008 at 7:41 am
Well, I love LKH books. I have read all of the Anita and Merry books and I have enjoyed each and every one. Yes, some were better than others, but I consider it money well spent for each and every one.
I just read the first chapter of this new Antia book and I am excited to see where the plot goes. I don’t know how any one can determine if a book is going to be bad, good, or some of the same with just reading the first chapter.
I also read the LKH blog everyday and I have to say that she is one of the very few writers who blog almost every day to let her readers/fans know what is going on in her life and going on with her books. I commend her for this. I will more writers would follow her lead. She is a writer, mother, wife, and business woman and yet she still finds the time to say hi to her fans. That to me is very remarkable. I say Yea! to LKH and Yea to more Anita and Merry books. May she wirte many many more!!!!!!!!!!
April 3rd, 2008 at 12:00 pm
It never ceases to amaze me how some people are only ever satisfied when they’ve got something to complain about. Personally I read for pleasure, I am of an age to realize there isn’t enough time left for me to waste the reading time I have left with boring books, too many old friends to revisit and new books to explore.
There are few writers that I am willing to cough up the cash and buy the hardback ’cause I won’t wait for the paperback. Laurell is one of the rare few that still enable me to suspend belief and tune out reality for a brief period of time. I am not alone. Many people do buy the hardbacks, OK so some do seem to achieve their jollies by dissecting them or ripping them to shreds. Why bother! If you don’t like the way the lady tells her stories buy something different with your cash. Thats what I did with Anne Rice. Stop whingeing about how she writes you don’t HAVE to read the book! - I just wish she could write a little faster!
April 4th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Since the very first book in the Anita series I have been riveted. All the characters have a special place in my heart, and even though Anita did become a succubus at least now she can thoroughly apreciate exactly what Jean Claud has had to deal with. Now for all those ragging on Nathaniel STOP! He has become so much more and I personally can’t wait to see what happens next. As for Richard I hope he can put his feelings of love and hate on the back burner and learn to accept the triumverate and the potential for power that they can possess. I hope that Blood Noir will be everything I have come to enjoy when reading an Anita Blake novel.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Hmmm.
So many interesting points of view on this new book.
I admit that I got into the LKH groove rather late - Thanksgiving of 2004. I was visiting my (then) boyfriend in Oklahoma, halfway across the country for me. I was also at the time looking to move out there with him. I had heard from a good friend in high school that the LKH books were wonderful, and finally I bought the first 2.
I was in love.
Well, I ended up reading all of the books that she had out in the Anita Blake series while in Oklahoma (I moved back home about 8 months after moving out there). I hadn’t read the Merry Gentry series, but I was interested.
At the time, I had no problems with the abundance of sex in the books. Now, though, I find myself wishing there was more to them. I have no problem with the sex - but I do miss the excitement and pulse-pounding suspense of the first few books, where Anita was constantly scraping by and flying by the seat of her pants.
The Harlequin seemed to have brought the series back into that mindset, but having read the first chapter of Blood Noir, I am worried it may have been a one time idea. I hold out hope that Blood Noir will be able to combine not only the steamy sex scenes, but also the daring and nerve of ‘Vintage Anita’.
Here’s hoping!
April 17th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
I have to admit, my love has waned as the sheer amount of erotica increased, but I still look forward to every book. At the end of book six my first thought was, “damn. There goes all the sexual tension between her and Jean.” I really enjoyed the cat-and-mouse game that they played, her independence, and how she fended them off so well. Plus, I read it for the first time my freshman year of high school, so I was a bit shocked and uncomfortable with the whole “graphic sex scene” thing.
I’ve read her Merry Gentry series and love it, but with the fae, you know what you’re getting into. It did seem kind of ridiculous at times. It also seemed more important to the storyline and politics of the book and characters.
Basically, I miss Zebrowski, not-scary-beyond-all-reason Dolph, and the police work/action side of Anita. Sex is overrated.
April 17th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Okay, let me see if I understand……because I expressed MY opinion that I no longer enjoyed the writings of LKH and I think she sucks as a writer….I am whining or complaining?? But if you LOVE LKH you are just expressing an opinion?…I take issue with that. Let me point out the obvious, this is a COMMENTS PAGE. If you think she is a great, interesting writer good for you, continue to buy and read her books. But do not insult my intelligence or call me a whiner because I have a different opinion. I did not call you names because you happen to like the drivel LKH puts out. I have as much right to my opinion as you do.
I also read for pleasure. I probably read two to three books per week of all different genre. There are some truly great writers out there, I just discovered Alice Hoffman and writes beautifully and intelligently. There are millions of books to suit everyone’s taste.
April 17th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Ren, you are exactly right. The fun flirty Zerbrowski, the Dolph that wasn’t out to murder Anita on sight, the work part. I’ve wondered about that myself - I mean, she has this big house that she rents (I believe she rents and not owns), so obviously she has to be working at times. I refuse to believe that Anita would ever sit back and let a man (or men in her case) pay for everything. She has always struck me as a very independant woman and that has always been one of my favorite traits in the books.
I suppose on May 27 we shall see where it goes.
April 20th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Hey, Ren & A-SRG, I agree with what both of you have been saying. I’ve read the AB books since they first came out, and I have to agree that as Anita became more sexually active, the focus of the books changed. I’m not sure if that was LKH trying to keep up with the trend in the romance genre, or if she just decided to show another side to Anita. Hmm … I admit that sometimes I get a tad glazed in the eyes lately as I read the books, but I still enjoy the characters and the completely bizarre lifestyle that Anita now leads. Oh, and A-SRG? I believe that Anita is the one the pays all the bills — I recall that she bought the suits for the men when they attended Larry’s wedding, didn’t she? Anyway, even though LKH’s books have gotten a bit hackneyed, I’ll still buy them.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:28 pm
I have to agree that the sex does tend to get a little tedious, but all in all I absolutely love it. Though from the point of Dance Macabre to the Harlequin I have been very disappointed at the lack of police work. It was just exciting to see Edward again!!
^.^ I’m looking forward to reading and buying this book, because in so many aspects, despite the paranormal nature of the book, the characters are drawn right back to their human roots. Death, cancer, love, heartache.
Though I do want to stab Richard in the eye with a spork. Emo werewolves are sooooo not fun >.
April 24th, 2008 at 7:49 am
OMG Kitsune that is too funny about the spork. I agree completely, Richard needs to get over himself.
April 24th, 2008 at 10:36 am
I have not read the preview of chapter one yet, and will most likely wait until the book comes out. I have been a fan of this series since it came out, but I am getting tired of all the sex and characters that are not growing. The last few books really have been more Richard issues and sex. SEX SEX SEX!!!!! I wouldn’t even call it erotica because it is different.
I am not going to stop reading, because that I would drive me crazy since I have already put so much into this series, but hopefully LKH reads this and will try and see where her readers are coming from. Hopefully her “Merry” series won’t go down the same path as “Anita” . . .
April 25th, 2008 at 6:46 am
I can’t even read the new books - but it is such a crying shame when you go back to the first 5 or so of the Anita series - they actually had PLOTS and they are wonderful. LKH obviously has a real gift for characterization, but somewhere along the way (and sadly before she started writing the Merry series which could have been so fabulous) she has completely lost her ability to complete a plot and her editors are obviously so scared of her that they don’t dare to mention the MASSIVE gaping plot holes. I’d rather wait a bit longer and read something that was actually finished rather than obviously hurriedly cobbled together.
May 2nd, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Hey L8girl, I remember her buying the suits for the guys, but I’m just thinking - when does she ever work anymore? LOL.
Well, of course, I raced out to get The Harlequin in paperback on April 29th.
There is a longer preiview that seems to happen just after the posted chapter on LKH’s website.
I’m not particularly impressed with it. Will I be anxious until the full manuscript hits shelves and I can read it? Of course. But so far, from what I’ve read, it almost sounds (to me personally) as though it won’t be on of the better books. Yes, of course I’m going to read it, but so far, it sounds… Off. I wish I could describe it better than that but for now, I suppose we shall simply have to wait until the book hits shelves to see how it turns out…
**Fingers crossed and wishing on stars**
As for the Merry Gentry series… There is a preview of the Swallowing Darkness cover (Mmm). If you are a fan of this series as well, check it out. Apparently a preview of Chapter one will be out later on. The link there now simply takes you to Chapter one of A Kiss of Shadows.
Until next time, adieu.