Narcissus in Chains

Rating:
Summary: A great twist in a great series
Review: I LOVED this book, as well as the whole Anita series. This book differs greatly from the others in the series, in that it deals more with Anita's personal life and relationships than with her solving homocide cases. It has it's own suspense and mystery, but in a much more personal way with Anita. You really need to have read the previous books to appreciate this one.

Rating:
Summary: A need-to-read for fans.
Review: I was a little disappointed with Laurell K. Hamilton's 10th book, Narcissus in Chains, only because it did not follow the same format as the previous books did. There is very little going on except for the details about Anita's new abilities. The only time a mystery is even introduced is towards the end, almost as an after thought. However, that's okay. the character development that was explored was needed and, I believe, will add a new direction for the series, instead of a same monster, different day pattern it was beginning to fall into. However, if you don't read this book, you may be lost when the next comes out.

i love this series and I think Narcissus in Chains was a satisfying, if not typical, book to add to the series.

Rating:
Summary: Eagerly waiting for book 11
Review: I really enjoyed this book and after the long wait for it, I was not disappointed. I don't understand why some say there wasn't a plot. The plot started when Anita got the phone call informing her Nathaniel was in trouble again. The same people who have him are behind the other alphas being kidnapped. Anita
is the one who goes and rescues all of them. Along the way, we learn more about Asher, Jean Claude, and Julianna's life together. The reason why Asher and Jean Claude left the council and the reason they returned. A plot for another book is being set up with Belle Morte sending one of her people to check up on the group in St. Louis.
Anita seems to have finally come to terms with the fact that she is Jean Claude's human servant. She is more at ease with herself and her group of leopards. I saw a kinder, gentler Anita, but yet she is still the same tough broad, I've learned to like. There are choices forced upon her that she didn't want but in the end, she learns to live with them and have a certain degree of peace.
I paid out my money for this book after reading an ARC, I was able to get from a friend. I think the money was well spent and I'm looking forward to book 11.

Rating:
Summary: Hang on to your seatbelt
Review: I bought this book on 10/09 and finished in 7 hours. It is a thrilling ride I'll gladly take again. In fact, I have already reread it. Hamilton propels her characters along a path I never envisioned; and that is what's great about this book. I don't want to figure out the entire plot after 50 pages. I don't want repetitive books where Anita solves the preternatural crime and kills (almost) every vampire in sight. I want books that sell me a ticket into another world filled with adventure and maybe a little pain.

There are two plot points that are perhaps too obviously telegraphed but not enough to dampen the ride. After all, I read books for the journey not just the destination.

So, if you want to be challenged, to go outside your comfort zone, if you want to read books where the characters are vibrant, although not always "alive" and never predictable, read Laurell K Hamilton--read "Narcissus in Chains".

Rating:
Summary: I just loved it!
Review: I got caught up in this series after reading the preview in j.d. robb's (nora roberts) "out of this world". being new to the series I got to read all 10 of these in short order. it was a rare treat. I think I was somewhat obsessed with the whole thing. it really built to a fever pitch by "narcissus" and it was well worth the reading. the books just kept getting better and better. I can't recommend enough that the books are much better read in order. each book could most likely stand on it's own but they mean so much more if you've read them all and know the whole story.

I say "great work, ms. hamilton, keep up the good work!"

Rating:
Summary: Even LESS clothes Than Ever
Review: Utilizing repetitous phrases to illustate situations it becomes very possible to have "gratuitous descriptions of clothes." But Hamilton is getting much much better, letting herself focus more on the gratuitous sex and violence all of us have grown to love when it comes to Anita Blake.
Narcissus in chains is a very convoluted plot and serves more to explore the characters in the "anita-verse." Every book Anita picks up more powers, more people to protect, more guys who lust after her and becomes more and more unlike her "guilty pleasures" coplike female dick tracy self. This book is is in totally unexpected direction when taken in context with the first books.
I liked this book a /lot/. But i dont read this book series to be intellectually stimulated. It's not a book you just pick up without reading the previous 9. I wish she had given away some of the wacky plot twists /not/ in the epilogue, but in the plot, where plot twists should be, but at least there was a change in situation beyond another scar, and Anita didn't end up in her familliar stalemate. Its not the most cohesive book Hamilton's ever written, but it's lots of fun. And its a book series worth picking up.

Rating:
Summary: Sex, sex, sex ... simply terrible
Review: This series has gone from hunting vampires and werewolves to having group sex with them. It's dreadful. No plot whatsoever, just on and on with the soft core, which isn't even a turnon, just a sleeping pill. Do yourself a favour and buy one of Hamiltons earlier works instead.

Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: I just got this book yesterday and I couldn't put it down. Read it in exactly 7 hours. This book is one of Hamilton's best yet. She takes ya by the imagination and runs you not only through the wringer but a roller coaster as well. Just went you think that there is going to be a calm moment, nnnooo way, not even a moment. Kinda bummed about the ending (and no I ain't going to spoil the fun, not even for a nanosecond) but at the same time, I loved the ending as well. Hope her next one is just as good(after she takes a well deserved break of course). Thanks Miss Hamilton, for this wicked bit of book.

Rating:
Summary: Good but not great.
Review: Anita Blake (necromancer/vampire executioner/human servant to a Master vampire/etc.) is back in St. Louis and it's just a few weeks after the events in Obsidian Butterfly. First on her list of things to do is to deal with both Richard the werewolf and lovely Jean-Claude-- Master vampire. Things rapidly become very complicated when her wereleopards get into deep trouble in a BSDM club and she has to go to their rescue.

Almost the entirety of this book deals with Anita's far, far too complicated love-life ..in almost overwhelming detail. She gains another boyfriend (or two, depending on how you count things) and has to deal with both being a lupa to the werewolf clan and nimir-ra to the wereleopards. While Anita's lovelife is very interesting, it's going a bit too over-the-top this time.

The exciting mystery and suspense from Obsidian Butterfly is missing in this book and some of the writing dealing with threesome with Richard and Jean-Claude is a bit of a let down. The new boyfriend gets thrown into the mix far too easily.

However, it was generally a fun read and I read it all in an evening.

Rating:
Summary: A GREAT BOOK!!
Review: The 10th installment of the Anita Blake series, Narcissus In Chains, is a fabulously written book dealing mostly with internal conflict. We finally see Anita make some choices, not necessarily the choices we thought she would make, but then again when has Anita ever done anything that we've expected:-) Since the internal conflict is so predominate the external conflict is not as intricate as some of her other books, but don't worry-there's still plenty of gun fights and supernatural grandstanding to please the most hard-core of Anita fans.
This book is mostly about love. Not just the mushy romantic happily ever after love, but love in all its many guises, including self-love. So many of the characters just need to love themselves. The most prominent ones being Anita, Richard, and Asher. This book is about Anita finding and accepting parts of herself. For so long Anita's head has been in the sand trying to run away from her problems. Trying to run away from herself. The last six months have been about finding out who and what she is, what she needs, and how to survive with the answers to those questions. What did she find out? That she needs others. Not just Jean-Claude and Richard, but all of her friends. She needs love, just like we need love. The Anita Blake series has never been just about monsters and supernatural creepy crawlers, it's about a personal journey. A self-discovery of a protagonist who is both cynical and ruthless, yet naive and honorable. The previous books have all been leading up to this story. In almost every other book Anita has to put aside her personal feelings to save her people. Now she has to explore those feelings, not only to save her people, but to also save herself.
What makes Narcissus In Chains so great is its characters. There are so many beloved characters in this series that are multidimensional. We feel for these characters just as much as we feel for Anita. We know when they make stupid choices yet we can forgive them because we understand why they make those choices. These characters are not evil or good in the strictest sense of the word. They are human. Yes-I said human. Even the vampires and were-creatures are human. These characters are not black or white. They're gray. Just like we are. For an author to write and develop these characters while writing in first person is a special talent that all I can do is sit in awe of. Although this book answers a lot of questions it still leaves plenty of conflict available for future books. I guess all I can do now is sit and wait and hope Ms. Hamilton can find a way to write faster:-)