Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter is a series of dark fantasy novels by Laurell K. Hamilton, narrated in first person, hard-boiled detective style by the title character, Anita Blake. Anita lives in a fictional Saint Louis much like our own, save that, not only are things like vampires and shapeshifters real, but everyone knows that they're real and they are considered citizens of America, much like normal humans. The novels follow Anita's ongoing conflicts with the supernatural as she attempts to solve a variety of supernatural mysteries, come to grips with her own abilities, and navigate an increasingly complex series of romantic and political relationships.

1 Series overview
- 1.1 Progressive worldbuilding
- 1.2 Anita's relationships
2 Novels
3 Short story collections
4 Comic books
5 References
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Series overview

The initial novels were usually classified as crime fiction, alternate history (a subset of science fiction), fantasy, or horror.

[edit] Progressive worldbuilding

In the early books, Anita considers vampires untrustable monsters. She fears and pities lycanthropes. Over time she meets and befriends vampires and lycanthropes. In book 1 she quips, "I don't date vampires. I kill them." By book 4 she has dated one.

Anita's increasing trust of the "monsters" parallels her learning more about their respective cultures and becoming more involved in their communities and politics. In the most recent books Anita has also acquired some lycanthrope and vampire abilities (see Anita Blake). As Hamilton has stated, "Anita is my eyes on her world, my camera." ^[1] Throwing Anita deeper into magic, vampire, and lycanthrope experiences lets the reader explore these cultures vicariously.

For more information on Anita's world, see Mythology of Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter.

[edit] Anita's relationships

Anita Blake is celibate during the first 5 novels. She has her first "in-book" date in book 3 (Circus of the Damned). Book 6 (The Killing Dance) has her first sexual encounter since the beginning of the series. In-book sex returns in book 8.

Beginning in book 10 (Narcissus in Chains), the sexual content increased significantly. Sadomasochism, dominance and submission, multiple concurrent relationships, and lycanthropic sexual fantasies are all explored. Previous sex scenes were explicit but rare. Due to the increased sexual and relationship content, the later books are sometimes shelved in romance.

In a January, 2002 interview, Hamilton responded to questions about why she added sex with:

Anita is my eyes on her world, my camera. The camera had stayed steady on the violence for books and books. What did it say about me as a writer that I wanted to take the camera away for sex scenes but not violence? If the camera stays on track for one, it must stay on track for the other. ^[1]

In a relatively long blog post, dated December 29, 2006, Hamilton invites readers disappointed in recent Anita Blake novels to stop reading her work altogether.

Life is too short to read books you don't like, so if you're not having a good time, stop doing it. [...] But let me say, one thing puzzles me. When I decide not to read an author, or series again. I don't go on their message board and keep talking about the books I don't want to read.

She wonders if "negative fans" read her novels anyway or if they are criticizing her work without actually reading it. She also confesses that she knows there are people who hate how the Anita Blake books have changed.

Let this post also put to rest the idea that I don't know that a small minority, albeit a loud minority, hates my series. I've known that for awhile. [...H]aving someone say to your face, that they hate your books and at least twice, that they hate you stand out in our minds. Since I wouldn't stand in line for hours to tell someone I loved their work, the fact that people stand in line for hours to tell me they hate my work, just puzzles the hell out of me.

Hamilton states that she does not understand how someone could hate her and her work and still read it and still seek out her message board to debate it. She noted that her sales figures for the later books seem to indicate that the "negative fans" are in the minority, and concludes by encouraging "positive fans" that simply enjoy the books. ^[2]

For more information on Anita's history through the series, see Anita Blake.

[edit] Novels

Guilty Pleasures (1993) ISBN 0-515-13449-X
The Laughing Corpse (1994) ISBN 0-425-19200-8
Circus of the Damned (1995) ISBN 0-515-13448-1
The Lunatic Cafe (1996) ISBN 0-425-20137-6
Bloody Bones (1996) ISBN 0-425-20567-3
The Killing Dance (1997) ISBN 0-425-20906-7
Burnt Offerings (1998) ISBN 0-515-13447-3
Blue Moon (1998) ISBN 0-515-13445-7
Obsidian Butterfly (2000) ISBN 0-515-13450-3
Narcissus in Chains (2001) ISBN 5-558-61270-3
Cerulean Sins (2003) ISBN 0-515-13681-6
Incubus Dreams (2004) ISBN 0-515-13449-X
Micah (February, 2006) ISBN 0-425-20797-8
Danse Macabre (June, 2006) ISBN 0-515-14087-2
The Harlequin (2007)

[edit] Short story collections

Cravings (2004) ISBN 0-515-13681-6 (Contains the first 3 chapters of Incubus Dreams and 3 short stories by other authors)
Bite (2004) ISBN 0-515-13449-X (Contains an original short story and 3 short stories by other authors)
Strange Candy (2006) ISBN 0-425-21201-7 (Contains an original Anita Blake short story and other short stories by the same author)

[edit] Comic books

Issue 1 cover.

A monthly comic-book adaptation of the series began in October of 2006. The comic is adapted by Stacie M. Ritchie, illustrated by Brett Booth, and published by Dabel Brothers Productions.

On October 20, 2006, Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Guilty Pleasures #1 was released under Marvel’s collaboration with the Dabel Brothers. The issue sold out on the release date. Marvel and Dabel Brothers released a second printing with a limited edition print on November 15, 2006. A third printing with a new variant cover was released on February 21, 2007. ^[3]