Thank you, Donovan

My good friend, Donovan, told me to check out a series of books the other day, and that I would love them. Well, Donovan may be a really great guy, and a good friend, but I don't always agree on reading materials with him. It can be really hard to get advice on my next novel from someone whom I don't agree, but I thought I would take a chance. His summation intrigued me enough that I was willing to pick up the first book.

Laurell K. Hamilton's Guilty Pleasures is definitely just that. I have always been a fan of Buffy and her ilk, those tough but girly women. I would love to think that I would be one if there really were vampires out there. I doubt I am alone in that thinking, since they have been so popular. But, I have never been a huge fan of "vampire books". I often find them cliched and predictable. I mean REALLY predictable. (And that is from someone who loves happy ending books). If anyone were to say, "Jessica, you must like paranormal romance," I would tell them that they are wrong (to an extent), but that label doesn't do this book justice in any way.

It isn't a romance.

I know, I know, crazy as it seems to those of you that have only known me for the last 4 years, since romance (and other "ever after" books) has been the bulk of my reading, but I do enjoy other genres.

This book transcends genres to such an extent that I had no idea where to look for the next one in the store. Truly, it is part paranormal (vampires, werewolves, etc), but also horror, and in some cases pretty violent. Actually, if you keep going through the books in the series, very violent. Yet, the violence is justified by the story (mostly) so not too gratuitous. The strange thing is that a woman is doing most of the violence. I don't usually like books with a lot of violence, since my imagination is often too good. I often subscribe to the Alfred Hitchcock idea that violence is much more terrifying if the mind makes it up, than if it is shown. But, the violence in these books is kind of like that in a Quentin Tarantino movie: over-the-top. It makes it possible to read it and still go to sleep at night.

For someone that likes her women multidimensional, Anita Blake is a protagonist in the best sense of the word. She is unlike any woman I have ever met, but that just makes it all the more fun to read what she is going to do next. She is tough and smart. Yet, she is often scared, terrified and horrified (all her words, since it is written in first person). That makes her all the more real and memorable. It is nice to hear the thoughts of a woman who is going into a nest of vampires be scared of what they can do to her. I mean, she always comes out on top in the end, but still...

The fantasy world that Hamilton creates is better than most in the fantasy book world, because it is our real world with some changes in both history and the here and now. As you move through the series, you get a good look into what the world might be like if vampires, werewolves, ghosts, goblins, and zombies always existed. How we, as people, learned about them. For example, the vampire struggle for voting rights in the US is an interesting parallel to historical questions of the political ramifications of any group (women, black people) voting. Most books about vampires (if you can use them as a gauge for this one) just take the easy road and make the vampires unknown to the rest of the world.

I like the fact the Hamilton didn't take the easy way. She made a truly new world within our own, and that is often the most exciting thing about her work. Her philosophical questions about "what is dead?" is a good example of the protagonist questioning her own beliefs and has us understand how she is thinking. Kind of like the question "what is gay?" or "what is spiritual?" It really makes me wonder.

Unfortunately, even though I thought this book was WAY better than almost every other vampire book out there, the fundamental issue I have with the genre still holds with this one... The cliches of the vampire being effeminate and bisexual that is French, while the werewolf is "big, strapping MAN" is a bit silly. Didn't Ann Rice do this to death? Or maybe I am just over it.

I also thought the book dated itself too much. I have read many books written in the same time frame that didn't have this problem. I mean, Anita actually wears a fanny pack. Need I say more? She seems to either wear early 90's casual (polo shirt and black jeans) or 90's slut (strips of leather and fishnet). I keep having to change her wardrobe in my head. I am not sure why Hamilton spends so much time discussing wardrobe, but it is distracting.

I also enjoyed the first person narration at the beginning, but think it may limit Hamilton's development of other characters. It is hard to get what the others are thinking if it is always written from one perspective. I think that is one of the reasons I never felt like I KNEW any other character but her in these books. Too bad, since it would have been fun to know more about a lot of the others.

In the end, I thought this book was a great read with a protagonist that is so intriguing, I just kept wanting to hear her view on everything. I also liked the new-old world feel Hamilton created. That take is much newer and fresher than any other I have read. Although there were a few issues that I am not sure "vampire books" can really get around. I mean, is there really any other way to describe sucking blood in these books other than "erotic"? The cliches have to stop (don't they?)

Even after reading this book, I have yet to decide whether I like "vampire books" or not. It shouldn't be too hard of a question, but it seems to be for me. I like some, really dislike others, and have yet to find the ONE that will make me a believer. Unfortunately, this wasn't quite it.