Narcissus in Chains

Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Mystery of Any Anita Book
Review: Narcissus in Chains came across more as a dark version of some teenager spewing out sexual fantasies on a spiral notebook under the cover of night than a book fit of a professional author and publisher. Every man is endowed enough to make an elephant envious, and every male character (often instantly) wants to have sex with Anita. Those who don't, are just in love with her. Does this not sound like a hormonal teenager's dream? Heck, it would work for me, however..... Any night now, I expect to see Edward shower her with roses and drop to one knee professing his eternal love to her, and of course he'd be the most endowed of any of them, considering he "has all the best toys." All the men are wonderful lovers, and even better, there's ample chance to have all the great effects without even having actual sex in weird versions of supernatural sex. All the better for those orgies.
I've read (although I haven't reviewed) all of the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series from the first book to this one. The things which attracted me to them were the roller coaster ride pace they set, how the author kept me guessing to the very end on whichever mystery or situation Anita set out to solve, and the characters themselves. Everything I've reviewed to date has one common factor - it deals with shapeshifters in some ways. The good, the bad, the ugly, the adult fiction, the children's fiction, science fiction, gothic horror, romance, legends, or chiller, I've likely read it. I also like vampires, and something else which attracted me to the series was the closeness Anita's world has to the World of Darkness, a Role Playing Game by White Wolf Studios. Although I never played the game seriously, the world which it created was in many ways a mirror image of Hamilton's -- with one huge difference -- the "monsters" aren't in hiding. Fascinating concept, and wonderful characters as the readers began to get to know Anita, Jean-Claud, Richard, the Pard, Edward, and the others. I never liked the fact that every single book either had someone raped in it or at the very least the treat of rape. Where this isn't particularly offensive except in one case, I found it drearily overused to the point it was losing its impact and it seldom seemed to have any actual purpose. Some more creativity would be nice, as after all, there are considerably more horrific things a person can be threatened with. I overlooked the sexual violence, as did many of my friends, because the story was so great. Then we got to Narcissus in Chains, and the greatest mystery presented to the "old" readers ever. Where's the plot, and where did the characters go who we got to know?
Anita has devolved. Every good character should grow and change. They should lose their innocence, grapple with tough choices, and perhaps become someone we no longer recognize. However, all of this happening in a single book, to all the main characters, along with utter loss of plot is a bit much. Where once Anita was adamantly against casual sex, she's now bopping from orgy to orgy, man to man, bed to bed. Because of the ardeur, you say? When was the last time headstrong, stubborn Anita simply tossed the towel in at the first sign of trouble without digging her heels in either turning the situation around, or at least fighting it? Richard almost kills his own pack? Not the Richard we knew. Jean-Claud has gone from Master Vampire to some clingy Harlequin Romance figure gushing his eternal love (although he'll have to get in line, Eddie is probably waiting in the wings for the next novel.) Nathaniel, who Anita has always treated more as a sibling or child is suddenly her lover. Just as he was starting to heal and get himself started in a healthy direction, she jumps into bed with him. That's not the Anita we knew, who once cared about things like that, as well as her friends, all the way up to the last book. The book was almost over before anything of consequence happened - aside from sex, sex, and more sex. Even Anita's humor fled the scene for (you guessed it) sex. Part of her charm was doing minor things like lifting the cow cookie jar just to see if it would moo. She must have been too breathless to be bothered with those minor details. The idea of a Panwere was fascinating, but it was skimmed over for more (to borrow White Wolf's phrase) "way kewl powerz" via Anita, and of course, sex. The shower scene with Micha also left me a bit disturbed. In any major city, you have radio advertisements and ads which stress a woman's right to say "no" to sex, and no means no in an attempt to prevent rape. With Anita, no obviously means yes. What kind of signal is being broadcast here? Anita who never has casual sex, and says "no, no," and "no" thrice but then goes for a rough frisk around the shower with a stranger -- who makes great pubescent, heart throbbing hunk pin-up wallpaper, I might add. Of course there wasn't much else to him, but that's not unusual for this book. As for the rest of it, personally, I have no problem with erotica either realistically or supernaturally. It isn't the contents of the book itself which gave this novel an all time low rating with me, but the fact it didn't fit in with the rest of the series in any way. If Ms. Hamilton wants to write erotica, more power to her, but how about doing it in another series where it at least makes sense? It was wonderfully erotic, particularly if you're teased and tantalized by 'playing rough', but I'm not someone who does. This also isn't what I read the series for. Due to a recent interview which Ms. Hamilton more than hinted that the reader's opinions hold little sway, I will never buy another book by this author. If I wanted to read porn, I'd save myself the cover price and surf the internet for it.

Rating:
Summary: not sure what the rest of you expected
Review: i just finished reading narcissus in chains, and immediately went back to read it again. i found it the most interesting and challenging addition in the series yet.
imagine my surprise at all the negative or at best lukewarm reviews i found here-- the main complaints seem to be that the book wasn't just like the earlier installments, and that anita isn't the same character she used to be.
imagine how boring things would get if an unchanging anita moved from one cookiecutter book to another. the part of the vampire hunter novels that i most enjoy is watching anita morph into someone deeper and more complex with every offering. my interest is not contingent on whether she stays "human enough"-- i can't wait to see what else it is she's turning into!

Rating:
Summary: It's still Laurell K. Hamilton
Review: I've been a fan of this author since borrowing the second book of the Anita Blake series from the local library. Since then, I've read the entire series including this newest volume. If you're just getting started with this series, pick up the first book instead. Those not familiar with Laurell K. Hamilton's writing/universe/characters will be very confused indeed as it takes a longtime fan of the series to grasp everything in this book.

While not up to par with her previous novels, it is still fitting. Anita is tied closer to Richard, and Jean-Claude by marrying the marks. As she ventures through the side-effects, one begins to wonder just how much humanity Anita will retain when she finally accepts the fourth mark. I enjoyed reading this book, and I anxiously await the next volume in this great series.

Rating:
Summary: What The Heck...????
Review: Is this an aberration or a "new direction"? If its the former, glad to hear it. If its the latter, thanks its been fun but I'm done.

You ever read a book and think....what was/is going on with this author that this book is the result? Thats how I felt about this book.

Maybe its just me, but having your main character screwing around every chapter with another male with an enormous schlong and calling it "characer development" is laughable to the extreme.

If you're a Jean-Claude or Richard fan, BEWARE !!! They are badly written, dumped on, and in the case of Richard, unbelievably mangled. Ah, but not to worry, Anita has a new instant soulmate, Micah. A character so flimsy and useless the most memorable thing about him is the size of his willy.

You had me until this one Ms Hamilton....

Rating:
Summary: Disappointment
Review: I, now, own the cassette set of "Narcissus in Chains," that our base library will probably end up owning. It is a library edition, which by the way is not in the information on the set. I understood when I purchased the tapes that the story would be "abridged." I did not take this to mean that the story would lose characters and chapters as if a kindergartener had edited the material. Asher has disappeared, along with Jason and Nathaniel. Scenes were cut that explain why certain things are occurring. I was very disappointed.

The readers, who would benefit from owning this set of cassettes, are people who have never read an Anita Blake book. These people might not notice the inconsistancies.

My advice, to anyone thinking about the cassette version, think long and hard before you buy it. Since there is no such thing as a zero star. I have had to give the set of cassettes one star. Do not take this one star as approval. Just remember the old adage, "Buyer beware!"

To Ms. Hamilton and her publishers, I know that you can do better.

Rating:
Summary: The sex is great but the plot drops the ball
Review: I've read and enjoyed every single one of Hamilton's books in this series, eating them up like naughty bon bons, despite plot flaws, blatant dropped threads, and the staginess of getting Anita into ANOTHER moment where having public sex while dressed in skimpy leather is the only way to save someone's life. I really enjoyed meeting the new man in Anita's life, but this book gypped your loyal readers, Laurell. There's a threesome promised at the beginning of this book, a threesome that's been promised long ago, and readers have been waiting for it patiently, waiting for Anita Blake to get over her prudery. But Laurell, you didn't deliver it. Richard's fade from the scene wasn't believable, wasn't even on stage. I would rather see him engage in the threesome and not be able to handle it than just have you dismiss him as a used-up creation of your own past discomfort with the sexual side of Anita.

Rating:
Summary: A Good One Sitting Read
Review: Once again Laurell K. has done it. Although with a bit of a diffrent spin to Anita's life she has added another great chapter to the Anita Blake novels. I can't wait for next book by Laurell K. to come out.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad but don't make this your first Anita Blake novel...
Review: Others have said that you have to start the Anita Blake series at the beginning and I agree. The initial books start developing the characters and relationships admid various crisis. By the time we get to Narcissus in Chains - the crisis is secondary - the relationships come first. If you start off with this novel, I don't think you'll come back.

The best example is at the very start. The book opens quickly with Anita getting a call that a wereleopard under her care has been captured and she has to rescue him from some new gang in town. The tone is set for having to rescue him quickly but 50 pages pass until that happens. She calls Jean Claude, her vampire lover, for help and they talk on the phone for 15-20 pages about their relationship. You can't help thinking "Hello - there's someone in trouble needing your help...stop this chatting"

I also think the attraction of Anita Blake is that she is human and can hold her own against various monsters. That's appealing but in the latter novels, esp this one, her developing powers remove that very human aspect. When she has to confront some attack (physical or mental) she's as likely to develop some new mental power that she never knew she had before. At times the new powers don't seem to fit with the situation.

Also Richard and Jean Claude used to be interesting characters. Powerful, wise. Both gets more emasculated with each novel. If this is your first novel then I doubt you'll see any reson why she dated Richard in the first place. In fact you'd be hard pressed to figure out why she would want to be with either of them. And these guys are supposed to be alphas/masters of their own groups? I don't think so. Just pretty boys now with no power.

This book also focuses too much on the sexual aspect of Anita's growing powers. Each chapter is to make you wonder "Who will she bed now?". This is unlike the earlier novels when sex, or lack of it, provided a tension. I think the new reader needs to see how Anita's personality has moved from her cautious approach to the more barely inhibited sexual relationships in this novel.

I don't think I'd be so critical of the sexual subtheme of the novel if I had not just finished Hamilton's first Merry Gentry novel. This is her new character and likely will be a series as well but in many ways they are the same book. Gentry is a private investigator living in a culture where mythical creatures are known to most people. Gentry loves to wear guns and knives. Gentry however is a faerie and a princess, only passing as human. Gentry has a strong sexual appetite as part of her background and that novel also details her sexual activities. Very similar novels.

I like the Anita Blake series but the earlier ones were better. If the next novel also spends 80% of its content on the relationship of the triad and on the "do I have sex or not" subtheme as does this one then I likely will stop reading this series.

If you like Anita Blake there is a similar series of a woman, ex-cop, who befriends a vampire and who deals with criminal aspects of various para-normal monsteres. THe author is Huff and all the books start with Blood such as Blood Rites.

Rating:
Summary: Maybe the best one yet... Maybe?
Review: What can you say? As these books become more and more complex, it makes reviewing them that much more difficult. (Thanks Laurell, I think...) After what has at times seemed like forever, (and not the 'couple of weeks' Anita claims) Our girl is back in St Louis, and is almost ready to jump Richard, Jean Claude, maybe even both, when trouble drops in on her. In desperation, she is forced to call in 'DDG' and the 'Furry Boy Scout', not only to rescue her some of her cats from an S and M club, but to 'marry the marks' that bind her to the wolf and the vampire. Anyone who's read the synopsis will probably have heard that this is where Anita gets 'scratched' by one of her cats during her now 'typical Anita', mid-rescue, free-for-all. I for one didn't buy the 'Anita Blake, Wereleopard' possibility. I mean, the girl's got enough goin' down without doing the furry every month, what with Raina's ghosty, munin thing, dissention in her pard, the new beau', Micah, Nimir Raj of another Pard, friction between her and Richard, who as ever seems to amass contradiction wherever he goes, and now thanks to the Vampire marks, it seems she has inherited what boils down to, in simplest terms as a 'lust monster', <apparently Jean Claude has one too.> which needs regular feeding. Oh yeah, let's not forget that there's also the Big, Bad, monster of the month, that wants Anita. <I knew it, I just knew it, everyone wants the girl!> True this book may have a somewhat thinner-than-usual plot, and also true there's now a lot of 'getting down to it' from Anita, but hey, six months of celibacy when she has these two waiting for her with baited (and probably minty) breath, Come on? My worry, once again is that Laurell now has her work cut out for her in Cerulean Sins... Only time will tell

Rating:
Summary: I wish there was an option for 0 stars
Review: Thanks Ms. Hamilton for taking a series I really enjoyed, with a fascinating alternate present with vampires and werewolves living among us and a really interesting, strong female lead with an unusual profession (necromancer) with interesting side characters like Jean Claude and just stomping your foot on it and twisting it under your, completely destroying it. There is absolutely nothing left of the original series which I enjoyed so much.

Thanks!