Rating: 
Summary: Best book YET!!!(...)
Review: I first started Reading Anita novels when I bought out of this world, where it showed a preview of Narcissus in Chains. Let me tell you, I loved it when I realized that there was more to come but I had to buy the book. It whet my appetite and sometimes I dreamed people in the story and how I would continue/end it. When I got it I finished it that same day. You might have to read all 9 books but u should definitely get it. For all those people saying it has too much sex-that's stupid. The series was leadng up to this point and if u don't like it-don't read it. I like the development of Anita-it was a long time coming. I'm sorry to say this but I'm glad she and Richard broke up-he was getting on my nerves. She should stay with Jean Claude and hook up with Jason b/c it's goin to happen sooner or later; hopefully she hooks up with Aasher and/or Nathaniel.
Take my advice- go buy the book, but first read the others and then make your own opinion. But to me it doesn't have a lot of sex. Hope she stays with Micah also- it's better for her to accept what she is and she does it in this book;that's a good thing b/c this book is about growth and it's time she did that.
For those who read it and are eager for the next book,in case you don't know, Olaf-from Obsidian Butterfly-is coming back in book 11. Can't wait for it to come out.
Rating:
Summary: Thank God
Review: I couldn't put this book down from the minute that I picked it up. All I have to say is Thank God Anita finally had the strength to accept herself and insist that everyone around her accept her as she was. It is definitely that complication that has kept us involved for the last half of the series, and I hope that Hamilton can give us another book just as riveting with that problem seemingly solved.
Rating: 
Summary: Series spiraling out of control
Review: From the promise of the series' beginning, we have entered into the product of hidous mutation.In the first book, despite her animating powers, Anita still seemed fairly human and outmatched. It was her charm that this mostly normal woman had the skill and guts to hunt down paranormal monsters that could shrug off bullets and bench press cars. Now it seems that there is nothing she can't do. As many have stated before, it's become "what new power can we give Anita now" and it's getting old. Animator, necromancer, powers linked to vampires and were creatures... will she become omnipotent eventually? With the character a walking Deus Ex Machine there is no challege left to the series. Focusing more on Narcicuss, the novel was less about any mystery or plot but instead Anita's sex drive. A little of that would have gone a long way but instead there was simply overkill. Every other chapter seems to mirror sex of some type, making less the plot-filled stories of the past and more a soft core porn movie. The only real good points of the novel was the resolution of the JC/Richard triangle, only to add another character in the mix to extend the mayhem. Hopefully, Ms. Hamilton will simplify the next book and get back to plot.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good but...
Review: I enjoyed Narcissus in Chains very much but I also wished that Jean Claude had had more of a role in this book. I'm glad that Richard is out of the picture as the weaknesses in his character just plain frustrated me! The relationship between Micah and Anita didn't quite work for me as it seemed too rushed. After having kept Richard and Jean Claude on hold for months, she suddenly meets a Micah and sleeps with him??? Too unbelievable. The relationship between Jean Claude and Anita is believable as they have a history together. I also don't understand why Anita needs to have so many men in her life. Can't she just stick to Jean Claude or at least one man? Why does she always need two men to sleep with? It just doesn't seem to be her character and no one changes their morales that quickly!
Rating:
Summary: Sadly disappointing!
Review: As I was reading some of the other reviews it occurred to me that I no longer remembered exactly what had happened in this book and I read it only two months ago! If you've ever read an AB-VH book you'll know how odd that is. I had pre-ordered and eagerly awaited the arrival of this book. I read it as quickly as I'd read any of the others, plowing through knowing that it HAD to get better. As the pages dwindled I wondered just when the plot was going to begin. Answer...it never did. It started out promising enough. Anita is back in St. Louis ready to deal with "the boys" and the triumvirate that has been talked of so much in the other books. The long awaited "marrying of the marks" occurs and it IS exciting. And then....nothing. A big tease followed by a big letdown. The focus of this book is not on the triumvirate at all. J-C plays a pitifully small part of the story and Richard has become an insufferable jerk. Just when you think he is going to get his act together he freaks and turns into someone unrecognizable. In the past he could be annoying and frustrating but now he is completely irrational. It doesn't fit and looks like the author just got mad at the Richard character and decided to punish him. This book consists of a muddled mess of many subplots---most of which seem to exist only to get Anita into as many sexual situations as possible. There is an introduction to some new one dimensional characters. Most of the old favorites are barely mentioned and the Nathaniel character is fleshed out and matured....but only so it would seem okay should Anita decide to have sex with him. Anita's new love interest, Michah, is a king wereleopard who is only as tall as little Anita but more well endowed than Richard. (Uh....yuck.) Michah has no morals and no qualms about doing all the killing that needs doing. He is clearly in place to give Anita license to be as bad as she wants to be. And is J-C threatened by the new competition? No. He's nearly as attracted to the new guy as Anita is! Anita's moral decline is distastefully done. The part of brain that always kept her in check in spite of great temptation has strangely evaporated. The excuse for her new feelings about group sex and sex in general is that she's been endowed with some of Jean-Claude's sexual mojo as a result of the marrying of the marks. She doesn't WANT to have all the sex, you see. She NEEDS to have it. And so she does. And that makes it all okay. Huh? I'll leave out any mention of the baddies in this book but only because they simply weren't that memorable. The standard formula was used in this book, with far less interesting results than usual. It is set in the land of whips and chains, blood and pain. There is trouble. Anita must save the day. She's gone from powerful to superhuman to super-duper human so that's not a problem. All of this is doesn't take too much time away from the gratuitous sex. But in the end we are left with a string of events tied together by sex and left wondering what happened to the people we'd come to know in the other books. I still have hope for this series but I would recommend that any first time readers start at the beginning when things were scary and Anita always delivered what she promised. This book did not deliver.
Rating:
Summary: The only disappointment from Ms Hamilton.
Review: (...) It's not that "Narcissus in Chains" is bad but after the fantastic "Obsidian Butterfly" it doesn't compare favourably. The book has some good points we are reintroduced to old friends like Ronnie, Dolph, and the pard...this reunion in itself is interesting as we get to see Anita's friends reactions to what she has become. Dolph is disappointed, and Ronnie is distanced from Anita upset at the cold killer that is slowly replacing her best friend. We are suddenly aware that Anita's closest friends,those she can be comfortable with, are the monsters.It's this kind of character progression that had me hooked on the series originally. The plot of Narcissus is not a major detraction from normal, Anita once more has to protect her people from an unknown threat she also has to deal with finding a new leader for the wereleopards and to decide which of her two lovers to pick- Richard her ulfric or Jean Claude her master vampire. So far, so good right? Wrong my problem with this installment is that it feels very rushed as though Hamilton has finally decided to hell with it and raced through who should remain in Anita's bed, and how far the triumvitae should go. I felt the decision to marry the marks and who Anita ultimately will stay with should have taken more deliberation, after all between the 3 they have faced far more dangerous situations than Nathaniel and pard members being kidnapped, so why rush into the magical mysticism Anita at least has fought against for so long? I am glad that there is some resolution to the love triangle but after we have spent 9 books of Anita agonising over her lovers of her own morality in no longer being monogomous, she deserved better than a few chapters sweeping the whole procedure under the carpet and adding yet another love interest. The plot itself is convoluted and lacks cohesion nearly everything takes a backseat to the "ardour" a side effect of marrying the marks. This to me acts as an excuse for Anita to throw aside the morality and personal code she has been famed for in the last 9 books to become a soft porn bimbo. i know some readers will argue that she is in thrall of strong magic, but that has happened before and Anita coped well enough.Hell she loved Richard but they never slept together until 4 books after they met, so why she should leap into bed with a total stranger now baffles me. The erotica in Hamilton's previous books was sensitive and added to the plot, here I'm sad to say it detracts from the plot, and becomes dull I expect better from Hamilton than this substandard Ann Rice parody, hence the harshness of my review. I will praise her for having the (...) to move forward in the series rather than it remaining a stalemate but I had hoped she would do this while staying true to the character motivations she has built over the years. To have Anita suddenly becoming sex obsessed goes against everything we know about her character, in fact she reminded me so strongly of Hamilton's other creation Merry Gentry (Kiss of Shadows) I had to check the dust jacket to make sure I had the right book. Please return Anita to normal, I'm open to change I was thrilled with the idea that she might go furry in this book the potential that it had was immense but I can't see this current incarnation going anywhere...Ms Hamilton please, please prove me wrong?!
Rating:
Summary: Laurell gets better every time :)
Review: I know a lot of people said (bad) things about this book and they're entitled to their opinions, but I just have to say that I absolutely LOVED this newest addition to the Anita Blake series. I've been reading since the beginning and have salivated while waiting for each latest book. LKH is the author who got me turned on to the preternatural, and I owe her a great debt for that. Some can say Bram Stoker or any other great authors, but no, for me it's Laurell K. Hamilton.
First of all, I thought it was great that Laurell finally got Anita to almost come to terms with what she is. I mean, come on, people are complaining about the sex? It's been like that from the beginning. Every one of the books has been very sensual and focused on Anita's sexuality. AND, people keep on saying she's changed so much from the beginnging. Hello? It's called growth. Her character's been through a lot of (stuff). Of course she's not going to be the same 3 years later.I say way to go Laurell. And reviewers keep on saying that she let go of her morals or something for sleeping with Micah so fast after she met him. She had a very good reason for jumping into bed with him. He's her MATE!! Duh. Speaking of him, I thought it was great though that she finally found her true partner in Micah, because I really like his character, but whether she'll follow that path is anyone's guess. Although, I was a little disappointed that she didn't turn furry at the end. I thought Anita would make an excellent wereleopard. I have to say I'm glad she gave Richard his walking papers. Finally. By the end of the book he sounded like a whiny little boy, when he's supposed to be Ulfric and responsible for a lot of people's safety! I just wanted to clock him over the head. I can't wait for the next installment, and I'm hoping to see more of good ol' boy Edward. But, for now, I'm just going to have to settle for reading the first 9 over again. Keep up the good work, Laurell!!
Rating:
Summary: No one can read just one....
Review: I read the whole series in a matter of weeks. I found the books to be entertaining, and addictive. I called them my trashy vampire novels, but they are much more than that. You get a chance to see Anita evolve in every aspect of her life. Especially her spiritual life. She faces every nightmare and fear she has, and comes out on top. There is a lot of power and might tucked into the tiny person of Anita Baker. I can't wait to see what she does next!! The cover of this book is hanging on my bedroom wall, signed by Laurell K. Hamilton. It is one of my most prized posessions.
Rating: 
Summary: Scattered...
Review: In the previous AB novels, Anita was given a problem to solve and it took the whole book to solve it. In each book, the process was very detailed and very well written. I don't know what happened in this book - yes, Anita has to save Nathaniel in the beginning. Yes, people are trying to kill her. Yes, she knows she neck deep in trouble, but she doesn't know why. Well, neither do we. You don't get to the problem until chapter 24. You don't really meet the bad guy until chapter 64. You do catch a glimpses of him in an early chapters, but you don't see him as a true threat. Between chapters 24 and 64, there's not much being done to solve the problem. Other problems:
1) She tells Richard to be tough with his wolves, but she lets Elizabeth run wild. Anita finally gets satisfaction, but why did she let it go on this far? She knows that it would put her other leopards in danger to let Elizabeth run wild. Yet, Anita wanted to be nice about it. After hearing Anita harp on Richard for sooo many books, this was a little hard to accept. 2) New characters are thrown in willy-nilly, without much development. What's up with Gil? 3) You barely get a glimpse of the old characters or her old way of life - Dolph, Zerbrowski, Ronnie. What ever happened to Larry and her boss? We have seen Anita go from being an animator and consultant for RPIT to sex slave. (Harsh, but true.) 4) This book covers too many areas - lycanthrope politics, bringing back Damien and Gretchen, marrying the marks and the fallout, Anita's worry about the next full moon, Dolph's situation, sex, and a bad guy lurking around. All of these items could've been their own book with great development and detail. NIC really lacks the focus of the other books. I could pick on the sex and detail clothes desciptions, but I won't. OK, I will. I loved those descriptions in the previous novels. Those novels could support the fluff. This book couldn't - the sex and clothes got in the way. It was a struggle to finish this book. By the time I did, I didn't care about Anita anymore. I usually start from the beginning and re-read the series after I get done with an AB book. This time, I haven't. Why? Because it would make me more disappointed in the plot and character development in NIC.
Rating:
Summary: Last LKH Book I'll Buy
Review: Okay, we figured it out 5 books ago. Anita hates loving J.C. Anita is one tough cookie. Anita and Richard have unresolved issues. Something fairly new: Anita as a tramp. Consider these elements: 1. Anita having sex with anything sporting the proper plumbing
2. Anita whining about #1
3. Richard not happy about #1
4. Anita telling everyone around her how tough she is
5. Anita / Richard / J.C. triumvirate not working out Remove these elements and you'd be left with a story that fit into 50 pages. LKH comes up with interesting ideas and unusual characters. It's too bad that her last several books have primarily belonged in the porno rack. It's not even GOOD porn, the kind that titillates -- it's just the kind you skim over, wondering when the story is going to start moving again. Come on, LKH, you can do better.
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