Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Berkley (2001), Edition: Berkley hardcover ed, 430 pages
Description
Fantasy. Fiction. Romance. In her tenth adventure, nothing can save vampire hunter Anita Blake from a twist of fate that draws her ever closer to the brink of humanity.
User reviews
LibraryThing member TadAD
Anita becomes ever more unlikeable by the moment—now even the fierce loyalty to her friends is disappearing—Richard has become unbearable; Jean-Claude is plaything; etc.
Quite frankly, Anita now seems like something she would have hunted five volumes ago.
I'll try one more and hope that there's
Quite frankly, Anita now seems like something she would have hunted five volumes ago.
I'll try one more and hope that there's
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some "up" from this nadir. Show Less
LibraryThing member SimonW11
Oh dear Anita Blake started this series as a rather prudish Vampire Killer living too close to the edge .who kept getting involved with her prey. Her author's need to escalate both the threat and the "romantic interest" in each succesive book meant that I stopped reading them some while
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back.Something tempted me back and so I find myself reading pages of BDSM with a heroine that just can't be beleivebly threatened any more. Show Less
LibraryThing member la_librarian
Although Anita Blake is coming less and less forgiving and more of a sociopath I'm still really enjoying this series. She still has a line but it's way further out than it used to be. There is way more sex in the novels but it's interesting. A lot of S & M stuff going on which is a little crazy but
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still loved it. Show Less
LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
This for me is where the series went to crap. Before this I'd rate no book in this series lower than a four, but this one falls off a cliff. I held on and read to book 18, Flirt, because I had genuinely loved the series until this book, and back then once I invested in a series I kept with it, and
When I grew up there was no Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who appeared not long before the Anita Blake novels appeared. (Although Anita as a necromancer had appeared even before that in a short story.) There weren't many kick-ass action heroines around, so growing up I really appreciated them. I loved Anita's voice at first. She was a tough-as-nails take-no-crap woman in a male-dominated milieu and I found it easy to root for her. She had her vulnerabilities and hangups, but I thought Hamilton was pushing her in an interesting direction. I liked the dynamic between Anita, Jean-Claude and Richard. Jean-Claude, the vampire, started out fairly menacing, and the whole plotline with the different marks, with Anita struggling to remain human, resonated with me. Richard the werewolf represented something different: someone struggling himself to remain human, but perhaps in vain given his basic nature. And you could see Anita struggling not just between the two men, but what they represented. Learning that not all such "metaphysical" creatures should be seen as monsters, but struggling with the darkness within herself and where to draw the line. And I liked that Anita had a web of relationships beyond men she was romantically involved with, such as Dolph her colleague on the police force and her friend Ronnie Sims.
Spoilers Start Here--for this and future books
All that changed with this book. In this book Anita becomes a "succubus" because of the ardeur that forces her to have sex to feed it, and forces men to have sex with her who are drawn by it. So the fuel that drives the plots of the Anita Blake series from here on, a series that had been focused on a independent, tough take charge heroine... is rape. I hated that. And this book also adds what are my two least liked regular characters in the Anitaverse--Micah and Nathaniel. After this book Richard and Jean-Claude become more and more marginalized until in some books all we get are brief telephone conversation with them. And the sex takes over until there's little plot or scenes beyond the bedroom and Anita has an entire harem of men never developed beyond eye and hair color. That hadn't changed up to book 18.
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with the books published up to The Harlequin, momentum kept me going, at least until I had to wait for the next book to be published. But Hamilton did something here that made me want to hurl the book against the wall. I thought, she didn't just do that! But she did, and it wasn't an aberration or anything that was ever "fixed" and so completely changed the direction of the books from fun paranormal noir to soft porn. To explain what went wrong and how I felt, first I have to explain what originally appealed to me, then what Hamilton did here, and thus get into spoilers. So if avoiding them is important to you, you might not want to read beyond the next paragraph.When I grew up there was no Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who appeared not long before the Anita Blake novels appeared. (Although Anita as a necromancer had appeared even before that in a short story.) There weren't many kick-ass action heroines around, so growing up I really appreciated them. I loved Anita's voice at first. She was a tough-as-nails take-no-crap woman in a male-dominated milieu and I found it easy to root for her. She had her vulnerabilities and hangups, but I thought Hamilton was pushing her in an interesting direction. I liked the dynamic between Anita, Jean-Claude and Richard. Jean-Claude, the vampire, started out fairly menacing, and the whole plotline with the different marks, with Anita struggling to remain human, resonated with me. Richard the werewolf represented something different: someone struggling himself to remain human, but perhaps in vain given his basic nature. And you could see Anita struggling not just between the two men, but what they represented. Learning that not all such "metaphysical" creatures should be seen as monsters, but struggling with the darkness within herself and where to draw the line. And I liked that Anita had a web of relationships beyond men she was romantically involved with, such as Dolph her colleague on the police force and her friend Ronnie Sims.
Spoilers Start Here--for this and future books
All that changed with this book. In this book Anita becomes a "succubus" because of the ardeur that forces her to have sex to feed it, and forces men to have sex with her who are drawn by it. So the fuel that drives the plots of the Anita Blake series from here on, a series that had been focused on a independent, tough take charge heroine... is rape. I hated that. And this book also adds what are my two least liked regular characters in the Anitaverse--Micah and Nathaniel. After this book Richard and Jean-Claude become more and more marginalized until in some books all we get are brief telephone conversation with them. And the sex takes over until there's little plot or scenes beyond the bedroom and Anita has an entire harem of men never developed beyond eye and hair color. That hadn't changed up to book 18.
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LibraryThing member GoldLeaf
As a long-time fan, I was slow to give up this series, but I have come back to warn others. This may be the last moderately enjoyable book in a previously very fun and imaginative series. It is a big fall from the previous book in the series (Obsidian Butterfly), and it is also marks the end of any
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real plot lines in Hamilton's writing. If you like a lot of angst, multiple sexual encounters with multiple partners (and somehow still always boring), discussions of angst, discussions of angst about multiple sexual encounters, and narcissistic, uber-powerful, and yet unlikable, female supernatural protagonists... man, oh, man, is this the series for you! Everyone else, my advice is to savor this last bit of supernatural fluff and make your final good-byes to Anita Blake here. Show Less
LibraryThing member teharhynn
This was definetly a turn from the other books. In the last book you went from a once again celebate Anita to quite the opposite. There is an introduction of alot of new characters, including Micah-as in name of the book Micah? It was good though. I would reccomend it.
LibraryThing member heidilove
The Anita Blake series starts out well, but really begins to turn toward the victim-as-passion pretty soon. If you're into that, then these deliver, but it's really not my thing. By the time we get well into the series, Hamilton's Blake is pathetically power hungry and driven by a sense of
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acceptance from men that would have any truly independent person retching in the aisle. Eventually it devolves into farcical S&M exploration, delivering light porn, but not truly erotica. If you don't want to admit what your hungers are to yourself, then these are books made for you, as I Blake (and possibly by extension Hamilton herself) suffers from the same plight. My favorite character of all is Edward, and we really never do get to see enough of him. Show Less
LibraryThing member lalawe
After Obsidian Butterfly, this was just not what I was expecting. The writing's still good, but it feels like the plot has taken second place to some generally squicky sex scenes.
LibraryThing member ravenlillie
This was the first book I read in the Antia Blake collection. I really was lost but I liked it. So I made my way to the library and found the first in the collection (Guilty Pleasures). After finishing this book I collected all of them and have read the series many time through. (the same with
I have no problem with the sex what so ever. Sometimes I feel a little embaressed for Anita but I like seeing
her out of her comfort zone. I will say that in some of the later books when I read throught them I feel that some of the information is off from the previous books. Like the facts have changed a little. I will say when I read this one (after reading the ones before it finally)I had to smile because when Micha was introduced and seem to be staying around I could almost hear the Anita Blake fans sighing and saying another one! Oh well I plan on reading the entire series no matter what happens I feel like Anita is a friend and I can't leave her.
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Merry Gentry)I have no problem with the sex what so ever. Sometimes I feel a little embaressed for Anita but I like seeing
her out of her comfort zone. I will say that in some of the later books when I read throught them I feel that some of the information is off from the previous books. Like the facts have changed a little. I will say when I read this one (after reading the ones before it finally)I had to smile because when Micha was introduced and seem to be staying around I could almost hear the Anita Blake fans sighing and saying another one! Oh well I plan on reading the entire series no matter what happens I feel like Anita is a friend and I can't leave her.
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LibraryThing member mightyscoo
This is where a rock solid, wonderful series finally falls. Don't read this book unless you are into porn and think it reasonable to assume that having a man stick his penis in every possible orifice is transcendentally sexual.
LibraryThing member TwilightBlue
Wow, Anita's boundaries just keep being pushed and pushed.
The heads of each lycanthrope group are coming up missing. Anita needs to find out why.
The 'marks' are becoming more of a problem. I read a review by Stella Pang. It's a good review although, I quite enjoy the book. But in all fairness she's
The heads of each lycanthrope group are coming up missing. Anita needs to find out why.
The 'marks' are becoming more of a problem. I read a review by Stella Pang. It's a good review although, I quite enjoy the book. But in all fairness she's
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right about having a warning about adult content. As the series goes on, the sex gets more descriptive and well raunchier. Nothing at all like those Silhouette romance novels. Show Less
LibraryThing member library-lisa
oh where, oh where has the plot line gone... oh where, oh where can it be???
I thought Anita Blake was supposed to be an animator and a vampire slayer. I think Hamilton's best bet at this point would to just make Blake a porn star and get on with it.
I thought Anita Blake was supposed to be an animator and a vampire slayer. I think Hamilton's best bet at this point would to just make Blake a porn star and get on with it.
LibraryThing member nickeemattos
Reminiscent of her own steely character Anita Blake, Laurell K. Hamilton has blown the competition out of the water and provided a flesh-feast of sensuality unrivaled by anyone. It is definitely not a tale for everyone and in some cases with the later sequels, the plots have made or broken some die
I read all the installments in less than two weeks, sacrificing sleep and reading until I was sated, until the wee hours of the morning. Jean-Claude, Master Vampire Extraordinaire is a frothy confection of "sex, blood and majick" and the errogenous tug-of-war between he and Anita sets the pace for the whole series.
What is very important for readers to remember is that this latest book is another level of Anita that we have never seen. Throughout each book, we have been taken on a development of her character and finding answers to questions we've had. It is impossible to explore this heroine without understanding why she is so angry-why she fights having someone close to her. It is an exploration into her humanity and that includes sexual experimentation and softness in her character that we had never seen before.
She has new powers developing all the time as a Master Necromancer and as she is taken on a discovery of them, so she takes her companions...After all, why did the Vampire Council kill necromancers on site?-because they were dangerous! Anita's metamorphosis into her new non-human self is not nearly complete. Maybe the culmination of this metamorphosis will occur when she, Jean-Claude and Asher meet up with Belle Morte (read Queen Succubus) in the next book. It can only get sexier and bloodier. Will Belle Morte ensnare our delicious "ma petite" Anita-who knows?
This is tricky genre to write and read-but Ms. Hamilton has done an admirable job of exploring it thoroughly. If you even have the merest hesitation reading these books, throw it aside and indulge, feel it hook you and take you into their world. Narcissus in Chains explodes with ferocity between Jean-Claude, Anita and Richard, and leaves the reader panting for more.
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hard fans. Some might prefer to read about Harrisons' Rachel Morgan, Armstrongs' Elena Michaels and Paige Winterbourne, or Harris' Stookie Stackhouse. I was introduced to this genre through Laurell K. Hamilton's series. Yes, everyone starts off with Anne Rice, but I think that Hamilton developed a special place in the genre for her characters that's worth exploring. Her niche appears strongly reliant on Jean-Claude and his interactions with Anita. Without JC...well the series would be flat. I read all the installments in less than two weeks, sacrificing sleep and reading until I was sated, until the wee hours of the morning. Jean-Claude, Master Vampire Extraordinaire is a frothy confection of "sex, blood and majick" and the errogenous tug-of-war between he and Anita sets the pace for the whole series.
What is very important for readers to remember is that this latest book is another level of Anita that we have never seen. Throughout each book, we have been taken on a development of her character and finding answers to questions we've had. It is impossible to explore this heroine without understanding why she is so angry-why she fights having someone close to her. It is an exploration into her humanity and that includes sexual experimentation and softness in her character that we had never seen before.
She has new powers developing all the time as a Master Necromancer and as she is taken on a discovery of them, so she takes her companions...After all, why did the Vampire Council kill necromancers on site?-because they were dangerous! Anita's metamorphosis into her new non-human self is not nearly complete. Maybe the culmination of this metamorphosis will occur when she, Jean-Claude and Asher meet up with Belle Morte (read Queen Succubus) in the next book. It can only get sexier and bloodier. Will Belle Morte ensnare our delicious "ma petite" Anita-who knows?
This is tricky genre to write and read-but Ms. Hamilton has done an admirable job of exploring it thoroughly. If you even have the merest hesitation reading these books, throw it aside and indulge, feel it hook you and take you into their world. Narcissus in Chains explodes with ferocity between Jean-Claude, Anita and Richard, and leaves the reader panting for more.
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LibraryThing member Flamika
I'm sure everyone who reads this series knows that this book was the major turning point. The first 50 pages or so are brilliant, but the novel rapidly degenerates from there. I'm in the "me no likey" camp.
LibraryThing member susanbevans
Not that impressed by this one. It's kind of going down hill for me. Not enough plot, too much kink.
LibraryThing member miyurose
This was the one hole I had in the series, and it's probably the book most important to this later portion, because it has the first appearance of the ardeur. I still have mixed feelings about the direction of the series, yet I read them like I'm starving. Apparently she's doing something right!
LibraryThing member LoriTori
This was Micah's introduction into the series!
LibraryThing member pauliharman
I can see why some people gave up on Anita after about book 6, the squick quotient has definately gone up. it doesn't seem to bother me (unlike LKH's faerie books, where it just seems gratuitous).
Lycanthrope policitcs comes to the forefront in this novel, where Anita not only has to battle the bad
Lycanthrope policitcs comes to the forefront in this novel, where Anita not only has to battle the bad
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guys, but a new power (the ardeur) rising in herself caused by the marks binding her to Jean-Claude and Richard. This novel also introduces Micah. Show Less
LibraryThing member Ceysa
Anita returns from New Mexico to celebrate Ronnie's birthday. A phone call sends her off to a new club just over the stateline run by a werehyhena because Nathaniel is in trouble. But before she can save the day she has to fix the holes within her, and calls Jean Claude for help.
The metaphysical
Anita saves Nathaniel, nearly loses her life, meets a Nimir Ra, learns that she has to save a member of her pard from a death sentence to the werewolves because she is no longer the lupa, meets Micah an interviewing Nimar Ra, and learns that she has inherited Jean Claude's incubbus powers all on her own. And tis is all in one day.
Laurell K. Hamilton usually packs a great deal of action into a few days, but this book really has a lot of action in just a few days.
Anita learns that Dolph no longer trusts her, as she has to save Jean Claude from a death sentence for supposedly kiling her, while Dolph wants th force her to have a blood test to prove she's not a monster.
Belle Morte makes an appearance, and she is intrigued by Anita all the way from France.
Shapeshifters are dying, Shape shifters come to Anita for help who then sends them to the police for more help.
Anita joins with Micah, making him her Nimar Ra for her pard and joining their two pards, faces down trouble in the werewolves and has to ride to the rescue of the entire shapeshifter community of St. Louis.
What else is a girl supposed to do?
The metaphysical
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marriage of the trimumvarate results in making all kinds of things happen.Anita saves Nathaniel, nearly loses her life, meets a Nimir Ra, learns that she has to save a member of her pard from a death sentence to the werewolves because she is no longer the lupa, meets Micah an interviewing Nimar Ra, and learns that she has inherited Jean Claude's incubbus powers all on her own. And tis is all in one day.
Laurell K. Hamilton usually packs a great deal of action into a few days, but this book really has a lot of action in just a few days.
Anita learns that Dolph no longer trusts her, as she has to save Jean Claude from a death sentence for supposedly kiling her, while Dolph wants th force her to have a blood test to prove she's not a monster.
Belle Morte makes an appearance, and she is intrigued by Anita all the way from France.
Shapeshifters are dying, Shape shifters come to Anita for help who then sends them to the police for more help.
Anita joins with Micah, making him her Nimar Ra for her pard and joining their two pards, faces down trouble in the werewolves and has to ride to the rescue of the entire shapeshifter community of St. Louis.
What else is a girl supposed to do?
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LibraryThing member bookwormteri
Just okay, this one seemed to move a little slowly for me....lots of were politics, Anita might be furry once a month, she and Richard are on the outs...etc.
LibraryThing member averitasm
Great series. this one is a little different but still very good.
LibraryThing member LJT
As far as I'm concerned, this is the last in the series for me. They have devolved into a sorry excuse for porn and violence. If you like that, give it a try. but for me, it was boring, confusing, and not a fun read at all. I don't like Anita anymore, and couldn't care less what happens to her now.
LibraryThing member vampyredhead
The 10th in a series about Anita Blake, vampire hunter. This series is highly addictive. Fun, sexy, scary, and romantic. Non stop action. A real page turner.
LibraryThing member sdtaylor555
This book had lots of sex, but I liked the way it was done. It was plausible I thought. I maybe had a bit too much :) but the plot was good and the characterizations were still good. I liked it.
LibraryThing member TheSolitaryBookworm
As I said in my last review, I was hoping that the downhill slope that Hamilton is walking with the series must stop with this book but I was left disappointed. The book remained the downhill spiral that it took after Obsidian Butterfly and if this continues, the fans of the series will certainly
This novel indeed introduced a new character but also was an addition to the growing pile of Anita's lovers which is not really a good since if you ask me. I don't mind reading erotica but reading it 80% of the novel is just too much for me. As Anita was described to have embraced her growing powers but it just somewhat made her more promiscuous and made the novel soft porn. I don't want to use that term but it's what the book is giving me.
Reading the book I realized that I skim through pages to avoid reading the steamy parts. The initial story of the book seemed lost and I'm wondering if Hamilton can bring justice to the series again with the future books.
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look for alternative options.This novel indeed introduced a new character but also was an addition to the growing pile of Anita's lovers which is not really a good since if you ask me. I don't mind reading erotica but reading it 80% of the novel is just too much for me. As Anita was described to have embraced her growing powers but it just somewhat made her more promiscuous and made the novel soft porn. I don't want to use that term but it's what the book is giving me.
Reading the book I realized that I skim through pages to avoid reading the steamy parts. The initial story of the book seemed lost and I'm wondering if Hamilton can bring justice to the series again with the future books.
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Awards
P.E.A.R.L. (Honorable Mention — Science Fiction — 2001)
Language
Original publication date
2001-10
ISBN
9781101146330