Against my better judgment I started reading this abhorrent Laurell K. Hamilton - Anita Blake series.

The first two books were weak but I was able to read them, sort of like watching a B movie. Then the third book did this:

In one chapter the main character's car is totaled. A couple chapters later she gets in her car and drives somewhere. A couple chapters later she talks about how she has to get a ride because her car is totaled.

How could an author fail so hard? How could her editor fail so hard? I was beside myself, I have read hundreds of books and I have never seen such an obvious, blatant mistake. I could talk for an hour about all of the things wrong with this series and its pedestrian writing but after that it all seems petty.

Jesus.

 

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heh. wait till you get about 9 books in and she without warning completely changes the style of the books from action/mystery to 100% erotica with no plot.

its kinda funny...she was part of the source of the current paranormal craze. her books along with kenyons and feehans were the ones that really sparked it. thing is though i never suggest her books to anyone in my store anymore. what am i supposed to tell them...read this series up to about book 9 or 10 but then quit because they turn into garbage? oh and while you need to read those first 3 books to get the basics they sort of suck and seem like bad teen fiction. who the hell would read it if i was honest with them lol.

 

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I had always refused to read her books for all of these reasons. The only reason I started was because my cousin only buys swill but I would rather borrow things from her than buy new things at the moment.

I am aware of the shift to porn and am planning to drop the series when I get there. Honestly, if the books stay this bad I might not even get there. It's rare that I can't even get through a book, I read the entire Sword of Truth for Christ's sake.

 

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You know, I didn't hate this series.

I read all 19 books last month and with the exception of 1-3, 10, 13 and most notably 16 the rest of the series was fairly good. I think it was best during books 4-9 but I didn't hate it once it became relationship centric. The erotica was there in books 10-19 but it really wasn't as overwhelming as everyone makes out.

I was really pissed when I read book 10 because it seemed like she eviscerated nine books worth of character development in the name of a deus ex machina excuse for sex but I think she eventually brought the character back in to focus and managed to build something worthwhile- just in a different direction.

There are some flaws in it, especially in plotting and characterization and I don't know if I'd suggest the series to anyone else but I managed to enjoy them enough to read 19 books in 27 days.

 

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If you take the sex out of the books, the amount of it, the plots are fairly decent enough.

It's just sex is laced into everything she does. No sooner has she stopped having sex, but she's having sex again.

 

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Facts:

1. I work at a bookstore (one of the bigger ones in Norway)

2. Among our longest lasting best-sellers you'll always find 1-4 series of what we like to call housewifeporn.


Conclusion: sex is smart if you want to sell

 

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