Reading Laurell K. Hamilton (The Pop Lit Book Club)

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

Recent Titles in The Pop Lit Book Club Reading Barbara Kingsolver Lynn Marie Houston and Jennifer Warren Reading Amy Tan Lan Dong Reading Cormac McCarthy Willard P. Greenwood Reading Khaled Hosseini Rebecca Stuhr Reading Toni Morrison Rachel Lister Reading Joan Didion Lynn Marie Houston and William V. Lombardi Reading Nora Roberts Mary Ellen Snodgrass Reading Michael Chabon Helene Meyers Reading Julia Alvarez Alice L. Trupe

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON Candace R. Benefiel

The Pop Lit Book Club

Copyright 2011 by Candace R. Benefiel All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, or reproducibles, which may be copied for classroom and educational programs only, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Benefiel, Candace R. Reading Laurell K. Hamilton / Candace R. Benefiel. p. cm. — (The pop lit book club) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–0–313–37835–5 (acid-free paper) — ISBN 978–0–313–37836–2 (ebook) 1. Hamilton, Laurell K.—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Vampires in literature. I. Title. PS3558.A443357Z55 2011 8130 .54—dc23 2011017381 ISBN: 978–0–313–37835–5 EISBN: 978–0–313–37836–2 15 14 13 12 11

1 2 3 4 5

This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook. Visit www.abc-clio.com for details. Libraries Unlimited An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC ABC-CLIO, LLC 130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911 Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911 This book is printed on acid-free paper Manufactured in the United States of America

CONTENTS

Preface

vii

Chapter 1

A Writer’s Life

1

Chapter 2

The Author and the Genre

Chapter 3

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter—Part 1: The Early Novels: Meeting the Hunter 27

Chapter 4

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter—Part 2: Loving the Monsters 37

Chapter 5

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter—Part 3: The Ardeur 45

Chapter 6

An American Fairy Princess: The Merry Gentry Series 63

Chapter 7

Non-series Novels

Chapter 8

Hamilton’s Short Fiction

Chapter 9

Today’s Issues in Laurell K. Hamilton’s Work 91

Chapter 10

Pop Culture and the Author

Chapter 11

The Author on the Internet

v

9

79 85

101 109

vi

Contents

Chapter 12

Laurell K. Hamilton and the Media

Chapter 13

What Do I Read Next? Resources Index

161

149

131

119

PREFACE

Reading Laurell K. Hamilton is an informative guide to Laurell K. Hamilton’s fiction, ranging from her first published novel, the fantasy Nightseer (1992), through the latest of her bestselling vampire series, Bullet (2010). The guide offers an insight into the mythologies of the alternative worlds Hamilton has created, and looks at her interpretation of contemporary issues through her fantasy fiction as well as how she is moving into an even more widely read arena of popular culture, as her novels are translated into a graphic novel/comic book format. It aims to make Hamilton’s large body of work appear as a cohesive whole and place her in the context of the urban fantasy genre she has helped to shape. Discussion questions are provided to focus readings and to draw readers into thoughtful exploration of themes and ideas. The opening chapter of the guide gives an outline of Hamilton’s life and writing career, as well as some of the early influences and life events that impacted her writing. Using interviews, and her own autobiographical web essay and blog, it discusses the familial and other forces that have shaped her. Recent essays on her writing process and introductions to pieces by others discussing her work also serve to illuminate the personality and presence of this prolific popular author. “The Author and the Genre” examines the various genres in which her main series—the “Anita Blake Vampire Hunter” novels—fall, and how they blend these into a new interpretation of the urban fantasy genre. Hamilton’s novels in some way defy categorization, and this has led to confusion over where in the realm of popular fiction she should be placed. Are her vampire novels horror, mystery, romance, urban fantasy, or all of the above? This quandary has not only made her work difficult to shelve in bookstores (where should she be slotted in to be most vii

viii

Preface

easily found?) but has also led to some conflict with reader expectations. The chapter also gives an overview of the development of the figure of the vampire in literature, which serves to place Hamilton’s work in the over 200-year history of that most durable of supernatural figures. This is followed by summaries of Hamilton’s many works, emphasizing the storytelling that has made Hamilton into a bestselling author for almost 20 years. While particular attention is given to Hamilton’s two main series, “Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter,” and “Merry Gentry,” her early non-series novels, and her infrequent forays into short fiction are also discussed. “Today’s Issues in Laurell K. Hamilton’s Work” examines the contemporary relevance of Hamilton’s fiction. Despite the settings of her works in parallel worlds filled with preternatural creatures and alternative cultures, the themes of race, gender, sexuality, and prejudice have much to say about the issues of diversity in contemporary American society. The chapter addresses Hamilton’s use of fantasy elements within a realistically portrayed American setting to convey her view of some of the conflicts and discrimination inherent in a widely diverse society. Her view of the woman seeking to succeed in a violent and sexist profession, and the boundaries of sexuality are also discussed. The chapter on “Pop Culture and the Author” explores Hamilton’s engagement with contemporary American popular culture as it appears in her fictional worlds, particularly in the juxtaposition of the fantastic against a backdrop of Americana. This section also considers the ongoing translation of Hamilton’s prose fiction into graphic novel format. “The Author on the Internet” provides an overview of the considerable presence of Hamilton online, from her official web page and blog to the many fan pages and creations that are available to her readers. It discusses Hamilton’s views on fanfiction, and shows the fans’ reactions to Hamilton’s attempts to control her fictional worlds in the hands of others. Hamilton’s relationship with critics and fans is the focus of “Laurell K. Hamilton and the Media.” It discusses how Hamilton has been critically received, and the growing interest in her work which is seen as providing texts worthy of study and scholarly analysis. Initially viewed as a minor writer of genre fiction, Hamilton’s continuing popularity and large following have begun to bring her to more critical attention, even though her books are not widely reviewed in the press. The chapter “What Do I Read Next?” provides a lengthy list of similarly themed novels and series. The vampire/urban fantasy novel is currently enjoying unprecedented popularity with readers, and the availability of material with these themes is enough to keep the interested

Preface

ix

reader well-supplied. “Resources” gives a complete bibliography of Hamilton’s work, with listings of available book reviews for as many publications as possible; it also contains a list of related articles.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I thank my editor at Libraries Unlimited, Barbara Ittner, for her enduring patience and encouragement. My appreciation and thanks also go out to my cheerleaders and support network online, including my dear friends Rhea Uhl, Sheila Coyazo, Jeannette McCarty, and all the others who helped provide a sanctuary from the insanity of the world. Virtual hugs are almost as good as the real thing. Although they do not know me, I think I also owe a vote of thanks to Bram Stoker, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Anne Rice, Laurell K. Hamilton, and the other vampire authors whose creations have so inspired me over the years. May the vampires ever continue their immortal bite! And, as always, I am deeply grateful to Mom, Dad, and my husband, Roger Wright, for their unfailing support and their unwavering belief in my writing abilities.

This page intentionally left blank

1 A WRITER’S LIFE

Laurell K. Hamilton was born on February 19, 1963 in Heber Springs, Arkansas. Sources give her mother’s name variously as Susie Klein or Suzie Kline. Briefly and unhappily married, her mother relocated to Sims, Indiana shortly after her daughter’s birth and her abandonment by Laurell’s father. Sims at that time was a very small town with a population of about 100, and Klein had returned there to move in with Laura Gentry, her mother, a woman who became a major influence on Hamilton’s life and development. In 1969, Hamilton’s mother was killed in a car wreck caused by another driver running a stop sign. Speaking to Sharman Stein of the Chicago Tribune, Hamilton described the incident, commenting that after the family was notified, she remembers walking through the streets to an uncle’s house with her grandmother, who was hysterically “wailing and keening.” It was left to the six-year-old to explain to the neighbors who saw them that, “My mommy died on the way home from work.” Subsequently, Hamilton’s uncle took her to see the destroyed car, allowing her to climb inside and touch the bloodstains. “No one protected me from that,” she told Stein. “I did not flinch. I remember all the details.” The scene is almost exactly reproduced in several of the Anita Blake novels, as that heroine recalls her mother’s death and the impact it had on her psyche. The trauma was a defining moment for Hamilton. She took away from it the lesson that adults could not protect her from disaster; that “the false sense of safety that all children have, the idea that their parents 1

2

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

can protect them from everything” had been taken away from her early. In 1996, she told the Chicago Tribune, “You can’t arm yourself against a quirk of fate. We are a dice roll away from disaster for no reason. I find that very hard to accept. The world is so harsh that I prefer to see it through a patina of fantasy and horror, where the monsters are not as savage or grim as the monsters in real life” (Chicago Tribune, October 31, 1996). After this traumatic incident, Hamilton and Gentry became a family of two, and as Hamilton told Dave Dorr in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the death, her grandmother’s role in raising her, and growing up with no male in the home were “the three things that made me who I am” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 22, 1996). Laura Gentry, herself divorced from an abusive husband, had been the mainstay of her extended family even before Klein’s death; and her support in reading to young Laurell, as well as telling her Ozark folk stories, shaped Hamilton’s interests in the paranormal. Growing up with her grandmother was not easy. Mrs. Gentry, interviewed by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, commented that she wept when the school bus came “because all Laurie had was just an old grandmother to come home to.” And Hamilton herself has said she was the only one in first grade with no parents or siblings—no one to attend “motherdaughter” or “father-daughter” gatherings with her—a relatively unusual circumstance in those days. On the other hand, growing up with her grandmother taught her to be self-reliant and “as independent as an old widow woman” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 10, 2001). In a 2001 article, as her Anita Blake series moved from paperback originals into hardcover publication, Hamilton commented that she felt a little guilty. “I was raised poor,” she said. “Outside of schoolbooks, I was out of college for several years before I could own a hardback book. I just didn’t have the money. So I actually felt a little bad. Now, my fans that have bought all the paperbacks, they’re going to have to shell out for a hardback.” One of her first introductions to the horror genre was a collection of Robert E. Howard short stories, Pigeons from Hell, which she discovered at age 13. Most of the stories in the volume had originally appeared in Weird Tales, an influential pulp magazine of horror and dark fantasy that had its heyday in the 1930s and 40s. The collection included works influenced by H. P. Lovecraft, Western horror stories, and one, “In the Forest of Villefere,” featuring a werewolf. It was a revelation to Hamilton. She became fascinated by heroic fantasy and the stories of monsters, barbarian swordsmen, and action, deciding not only did she want to become a writer, but she wanted to write specifically in that genre. On her website, she also mentions discovering Edgar Allan Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, and Andre

A Writer’s Life

3

Norton in the school library at about the same age. From their writings she learned about language and atmosphere in storytelling; and in Norton, she was pleased to discover that women could write the kind of fiction she wanted to write. She also comments that at age 14, a teacher told her of being frightened by the first of Hamilton’s vampire tales. Hamilton says, “For a shy 14-year-old there was nothing better that she could have said. I’d scared a grown-up” (Hamilton, 2010). Not too surprisingly, Hamilton also credits Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, and Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot—both bestselling vampire novels of the mid-1970s—as profound and important influences. While King’s book is very much a retelling of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, transplanted to New England and given a more populist slant, Rice’s book is credited with changing the direction of the vampire novel, giving the genre a new focus on the vampire as the protagonist of his tale—not just as the monster to be hunted, staked, and destroyed. In her later work Hamilton would recapitulate this change. She begins her Anita Blake series with a heroine who specializes in executing vampires, only to come, through continued close association, to see them as human beings after all, albeit ones with decidedly different abilities, culture, and mindsets. In her high school library, she ran across Anthony Masters’ The Natural History of the Vampire, checking it out so often she memorized parts of it. This work, which traces the folkloric origins and tales of the vampire through some material on the vampire in literature and film, was a shaping influence on Hamilton’s Anita Blake series. As she grew up, Hamilton remembers watching old horror movies— especially vampire movies—on television while visiting relatives. As with so many of the fantasy and horror writers of her generation, viewing the horror classics of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s on late night television, hosted by local announcers in ghoulish get-ups, made an indelible impression. After high school, she attended Marion College, a small evangelical college which changed its name in 1988 to Indiana Wesleyan University, taking degrees in biology and English. As she recounts on her web page, her experiences in the writing program there were discouraging, with the head of the writing program trying to “cure” her of writing horror, and eventually dismissing her from the writing program for being a “corrupting influence” on other students. In fact, she feels that she was admitted into the writing program to begin with based on the desire of the head of the program to root out what was seen in that environment as an unacceptable interest in the macabre. She was told at the end of her sophomore year that she would never succeed as a writer—a crushing rejection. Barred from the writing program, Hamilton finished her English major with literature courses and went on to take a biology

4

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

degree as well. The grounding in anatomy and physiology would see use in her later writing, in which her heroine, Anita, is cited as holding a degree in preternatural biological studies. Hamilton has commented that she is frequently asked if she has sent that writing professor copies of any of her bestselling novels, and says, “No, because she didn’t believe I couldn’t succeed as a writer, she feared I could. She feared I would go out and do exactly what I have done, corrupt millions.” Following college and marriage to her college sweetheart, computer scientist Gary Hamilton, the couple moved to Los Angeles, and later to St. Louis. Laurell Hamilton put in an unhappy stint working as an editor at Xerox Corporation, and rose early in the mornings to work on her first novel. Her first published novel, Nightseer, is a fantasy about a young sorcerer and prophet, Keleios, who is seeking revenge for the murder of her mother years before. The heroic fantasy, filled with magic, swords, dragons, demons, and bloodshed, failed to attract a wide audience, garnering mostly lukewarm reviews on its debut in early 1992. Today, Nightseer is primarily of interest to Hamilton’s fans as an early look at many of the themes and motifs that inform her subsequent work. A young woman of unusual power and skill, Keleios reads like a prototype Anita Blake: a motherless child who must fight her own demons, as well as external attackers. The love interest in Nightseer, an ambiguously evil sorcerer, prefigures her vampire lover, Jean-Claude, as Keleios comes to the realization that she is not purely on the side of goodness and light herself. A sequel to Nightseer was rejected by Hamilton’s editor. Another novel, the Star Trek Next Generation tale Nightshade, came out late in the same year. Nightshade, written within the constraints of an established series, is primarily a murder mystery in which the empathic Deanna Troi (coincidentally another petite, curvaceous brunette) uses feminine insights and a realization of the connection of ecology to planetary harmony to find the roots of a plot that would have senselessly destroyed the last of a planet’s population. Both Nightseer and Nightshade have seen reissues in recent years, largely on the strength of Hamilton’s name. The big breakthrough for Hamilton came in 1993, with the publication of the first Anita Blake novel, Guilty Pleasures. At the time, genre mixing was not common, but the blend of supernatural thriller, mystery, and romance struck a chord. When Guilty Pleasures was accepted for publication by Penguin Putnam, it was as part of a three book deal, and Hamilton was ecstatic. After Nightseer failed to take off as a series, the idea that at least three Anita Blake books would see print was a turning point in her career. Hamilton has stated that she always envisioned her

A Writer’s Life

5

novels as pieces in larger series; she writes with an eye toward multiple books featuring the same major characters as they move through their lives. Guilty Pleasures introduced the vampire hunter Anita Blake, a young woman who has the rare power of necromancy and takes on monsters as a sideline to her work. Despite being (arguably) human, petite, and physically often overmatched, Anita has managed to build a reputation in the vampire community as “The Executioner,” substituting intelligence, expertise, mental toughness, and a completely cold-blooded ability to do whatever it takes to get her job done. In her world, vampires, werewolves, and other legendary monsters are as real as the night, and a controversial Supreme Court decision, Addison v. Clark, has granted vampires the rights of citizenship. And where there are vampires, there need to be those making sure that the undead—citizens or not—are kept from preying too openly on the human population. Anita, whose main job is as an animator (raising zombies, often to answer questions for lawyers and insurance adjustors), also serves as a consultant to the Regional Preternatural Investigative Team, and as such, is often called in to go over crime scenes where there is a suspicion of supernatural involvement. In the first book of the series, Anita draws the line firmly between human and monster, and she is wary of even looking directly into the eyes of the vampires lest she be “rolled” (have her mind taken over by the mental powers of the vampire). And when one of the more powerful vampires in the city of St. Louis, Jean-Claude expresses romantic interest in her, she declines. After all, a nice girl does not sleep with the dead. The first several Anita Blake books, including Guilty Pleasures, The Laughing Corpse, Circus of the Damned, The Lunatic Cafe´, and Bloody Bones, are primarily concerned with procedure. A crime with possible preternatural involvement occurs, and as a member of the Regional Preternatural Investigative Team, Anita is called in. The main action of the books revolves around her investigation of the crime. The rest of the team, which seems to consist of only two or three other detectives, never seems to make much headway on these cases, although the head of the team, Dolph Storr is at least open-minded enough to recognize Anita’s expertise and back up her conclusions. Later in the series there is some attempt at expanding his characterization, when his son becomes engaged to a vampire and he is faced not only with accepting one of the “monsters” he has fought into his family, but also with the idea that his son is about to voluntarily die and be turned into a vampire. The other major team member, Zerbrowski, usually serves as comic relief and a focus to give Anita (and the reader) a respite from the very grim reality of the crime scenes where he is usually seen.

6

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

In the course of the series, Anita meets and falls for the handsome, emotionally conflicted Richard Zeeman, a junior high science teacher who became infected with lycanthropy from a bad batch of antiwerewolf vaccine. To keep his job he must hide his “illness,” even as his natural physical abilities and intelligence lead him to rise ever higher in the local werewolf hierarchy. Eventually, with Anita’s aid and encouragement, he unseats the corrupt leadership of the pack and takes his place at its head. Yet his loathing of his own nature poisons his relationships, and he cannot accept Anita’s growing ease with “the monsters.” In addition, Anita’s continuing interactions with Jean-Claude complicate matters, as the Master of the City makes claims on the werewolves as his animals to call, and on Anita, whose increasing necromantic powers make her a highly desirable human servant for the powerful and ambitious vampire. While the Anita Blake series continues with no end in sight, in 2000 Hamilton published the first novel in another series, one which would find her with two bestselling series on her hands. A Kiss of Shadows introduced Merry Gentry, otherwise known as Princess Meredith NicEssus, who is the niece of the Queen of the Unseelie Court of the sidhe. With her story, Hamilton set up a new universe, with a new mythos and history. Since she began this series, she has published approximately one novel in each of the series annually, a writing schedule that has proven difficult to keep up. In addition, there were publications of a collection of short stories and two short novels, Micah and Flirt, that Hamilton somehow sandwiched in between other writing projects. In the Afterword to Flirt, an essay in which she discusses how she got the idea for and wrote that novel, she comments, “Sometimes working with two different publishers on two different bestselling series is like trying to date two men at the same time. You can do it, but there are moments when each man wants all the attention and there doesn’t seem to be enough of this writer to go around” (Hamilton, Flirt, 169). Hamilton’s personal life over the past decade has impacted her work, although the degree to which this is true varies in the telling. A blog post on her website from November 17, 2009 details the deterioration of her first marriage, as she and her husband gradually realized they had few interests in common aside from their young daughter. During the time she was writing Narcissus in Chains (2001), Hamilton separated from her husband. She has described this in a June, 2006 interview on the website FlamesRising.com, as one of the more amicable divorces she has known. She used the interview to refute what she described as a myth among her fan base that elements of the plot in that book, which shows Anita coming to a decisive break with her werewolf lover, Richard Zeeman, and taking up with a new man, the were-leopard Micah

A Writer’s Life

7

reflected the turmoil in her own life. She began dating younger men, who she says she found more accepting of her than men her age. As she says in the interview, “One of those younger men was Jonathon [Green], a friend I’d had for eight years. We realized that many be we were more than friends. The book was written and off to New York before I admitted to myself that maybe I was falling in love. Somehow I ended up engaged by the time the book came out, and Jonathon went on tour with me. . . . Timing made some of the fans tie Jonathon too closely to the new character Micah, and by stretching my ex-husband to the character Richard.” Since her marriage to Jonathon in 2001, he has been an integral part of her public life, working with her on the Marvel Comics adaptations of her works into graphic novels, managing her presence on YouTube, and generally being an unusually supportive spouse. The past several years have seen more success for Hamilton, as virtually every novel she publishes hits the bestseller lists, and her work is reaching an even broader audience through the graphic novel adaptations that began in 2007. In early 2010, Hamilton published a short novel in the Anita Blake series, Flirt. As the story was not really novel length, she appended to the tale a lengthy essay on how she came to write Flirt, and the process by which a random occurrence turned into fiction. In essence, she recounts how observing a friend flirting with a waiter during a lunch out gave her the germ of an idea, and that germ grew into a novella. She discusses the fact that one of the other people at the table, cartoonist Jennie Breeden, took the same event and turned it into a comic strip. Hamilton sees life through a darker lens and, for her, this same chance encounter became a tale of the dangers of sexual power. Hamilton comments briefly in the essay about how her writing is tied to the music she uses as a soundtrack for each project; and that when working on more than one story at a time, the switch in music keys her mind to the story at hand. Flirt, written during a period when she was having difficulty with the Merry Gentry book Divine Misdemeanors, gave her a period to productively back away from that novel and let her mind work in a different direction.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS • How did early influences shape Hamilton’s viewpoint? • In what ways are her major characters, Anita Blake and Merry Gentry, drawn from her own personal life and experiences? • Are Anita and Merry fictionalized idealizations of Laurell K. Hamilton?

8

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

REFERENCES Bolhafner, J. Stephen. “St. Louisan Writes About the Vampire Hunter Next Door.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Oct. 10, 2001. ProQuest Newsstand, ProQuest. Dorr, Dave. “Lunatics and Lycanthropes: Laurell K. Hamilton, Author of Nine Books on Vampires and Werewolves, Sinks Her Teeth into St. Louis.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch (pre-1997 Full-text). Feb. 22, 1996. ProQuest Newsstand, ProQuest. Hamilton, Laurell K. “Laurell.” http://www.laurellkhamilton.org/Laurell.html. “Laurell K. Hamilton.” Authors & Artists for Young Adults. Vol. 46. Detroit: Gale Group, 2002. “Laurell K. Hamilton.” Contemporary Authors Online. Gale, 2010. “Laurell K. Hamilton.” Newsmakers. The People Behind Today’s Headlines. 2008, Issue 2. Detroit: Gale, Cengage Learning, 2008. “Laurell K. Hamilton.” Who’s Who of American Women. 26th edition, 2007. New Providence, NJ: Marquis Who’s Who, 2006. “Laurell K. Hamilton.” Who’s Who in America. 62nd edition, 2008. New Providence, NJ: Marquis Who’s Who, 2007. “Laurell K. Hamilton Interview, Horror Author.” FlamesRising.com. June 20, 2006. Stein, Sharman. “Vampires and Werewolves and Witches—Oh, My! How a Nice St. Louis Girl Got All Caught Up in the Macabre and Developed a Cult Following.” Chicago Tribune (pre-1997 Full-text). Oct. 31, 1996. ProQuest.

2 THE AUTHOR AND THE GENRE

One of the interesting aspects of Hamilton’s work in her two major series is that she both works within the conventions of several genres, and yet defies them all to create a new category for herself. She is considered one of the key voices in the development of modern urban fantasy and the paranormal romance genre as well. A visit to any bookstore, or even a grocery store paperback rack, will reveal a small army of name-taking, butt-kicking female vampire slayers, and sultry, sexy vampire lovers. Sometimes both in the same book.

HAMILTON AND THE DETECTIVE STORY Jeremiah Healy, writing a description of the classic P.I. (private investigator) or detective novel in his essay, “The Rules and How to Bend Them,” in Writing Mysteries, mentions a number of so-called rules of the genre, including: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

The plot is everything. The hero must be male. The setting will be Los Angeles. Some violence is required. Write in the first person narrative. Authenticity is required.

9

10

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

Of these rules, the only ones that Hamilton really “breaks” are the Los Angeles setting, and the male hero—both of which have seen many, many variations in the past 20 or 30 years. Anita Blake is perhaps a quintessential hard-boiled P.I., especially in the earlier books in the series. She worries about the erosion of her sense of morality and, in the best tradition of Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade, she is ready to do whatever has to be done and take whatever beating is necessary. The style of the narrative, in the novels that focus on the solution of a case, and the attitude of the main character, place Hamilton’s Anita Blake firmly in the detective novel genre; yet you will rarely find her works shelved with mysteries. The Merry Gentry books have a tangential connection with the detective genre as well, with Merry working for the Grey Detective Agency as the series starts, and returning to that on occasion as the series progresses. Sam Spade, however, rarely raised zombies, and Philip Marlowe never fought vampires or shapeshifters. In addition, Hamilton’s work goes far beyond the “plot is everything” dictum in both her series, and explores the interior lives of her narrators, their romantic problems and entanglements. In short, Hamilton has used the hard-boiled detective novel as a template and a starting point to build her tales of the supernatural. So, does this make them horror fiction?

HAMILTON AND HORROR Possibly. Bookstores often think so; you can usually find Hamilton’s Anita Blake novels in amongst the Stephen King and Clive Barker offerings. Horror fiction is not easily defined, but one useful definition reads: On the most basic level, a horror text is one that contains a monster, whether it be supernatural, human, or a metaphor for the psychological torment of a guilt-ridden human. These monsters can take on various forms. They can be the walking dead, the living-impaired who stumble around aimlessly chanting “Brains! Brains!” and snacking on anyone in heels who has the misfortune to trip on the terrain. They can be the vengeful ghost of a child molester, horribly disfigured through the vigilante justice of outraged parents—and fully equipped with twelve-inch razors for fingernails and the ability to invade his victims’ dreams . . . They can be the hideous and therefore unlovable creations of mad scientists who fancied themselves greater than God, but are nothing more than deadbeat dads creating illegitimate offspring that they refuse to love and parent. Or they can be preternaturally beautiful

The Author and the Genre

11

immortals who are physically, emotionally, and intellectually superior to the envious humans among whom they live—but who must nevertheless drink the blood of their admirers for survival. (Fonseca and Pulliam, 4) And under such a broad definition, it is possible to classify the Anita Blake books in that genre. In fact, there are enough monstrous beings in the Merry Gentry books to satisfy the requirement for a monster as well. And yet, usually the goal of horror fiction is to, well, horrify the reader. Is this Hamilton’s aim? Or does she have other goals in her fiction? While Anita is often in terrifying and dangerous situations, and the descriptions of the crime scenes she visits are often horrific, Hamilton seems more focused on the way in which Anita deals with the consequences of crime—regardless of whether it is perpetrated by a human voodoo priestess, a greedy land developer, or an ancient vampire. Hamilton uses the trappings of horror fiction in creating a world filled with monsters, then sets her characters loose, both human and monstrous, to play out their stories. In the Merry Gentry novels particularly, the heroine has learned from an early age that a monstrous appearance no more means a monstrous soul than beauty necessarily equates with goodness. In the halls of the Unseelie Court, the tall and beautiful sidhe are joined by those who are not so physically appealing; and in the court of the sluagh, creatures of mind-bending ugliness are nonetheless fiercely loyal.

HAMILTON AND ROMANCE The question of romance in Hamilton’s novels is perhaps more problematic. For some time, the Anita Blake books were packaged with covers that seemed to indicate that they were romance novels, rather than supernatural thrillers. And it was true that they were deeply concerned with Anita’s love life. For volumes she was courted by the seductive and mysterious Master of the City, the vampire Jean-Claude, in between zombie raisings, vampire politics, and acts of extreme violence within the shapeshifter community. As Casey Cothran points out, “Science fiction/ fantasy . . . romance novels are texts that focus on the introduction, courtship, and eventual union of male and female characters within an imaginary world that may allow for magic, futuristic technology, or time and space travel” (Reid, Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy, vol. 2, p. 260). The problem with this is that, after the initial tension between Anita and Jean-Claude expanded to include a rival for her attentions in the form of a handsome werewolf, Richard, things begin to get

12

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

complicated. Eventually, Anita not only consummates her relationship with both of them but, from that time on, regularly finds herself compelled to add other lovers to her menu. Radway, in Reading the Romance, says, “To qualify as a romance, the story must chronicle not merely the events of a courtship but what it feels like to be the object of one” (p. 64). The standard romance novel, even in the more recent and wildly popular paranormal field, usually does not allow the heroine multiple lovers—and certainly not multiple lovers at the same time, in the same bed. It just is not done. Yet Anita, who does not take lovers casually, constantly ends up with yet another man on her string, usually as the result of her need to feed the ardeur. As a human succubus, or a vampire living off sexual energy, she develops into someone who needs multiple lovers. Sometimes she accidentally bespells men, at other times she does it deliberately. In fact, the entire plot of the recent Flirt is built on Anita’s ability to “roll” or mentally dominate a man in order to escape from a potentially disastrous kidnapping. Merry Gentry, as well, finds herself with many men to juggle. Her need is not for sexual energy, but to become pregnant and thus gain the position of heir to the throne of the faerie court in which she was raised. She is a font of earth-goddess magic as well, and the Celtic myths that govern the rituals and culture depicted in the series take a very different view of sexuality. Both Merry and Anita sometimes regret that they are unable to have the romance novel ending of a happy-ever-after with one man, but Hamilton transcends traditional romance by showing that love (not just sex) can be a broader, more flexible arrangement.

HAMILTON AND VAMPIRES Hamilton’s main series, the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter books, starts as a fairly traditional vampire narrative with the main character hunting and killing monsters. The vampires are, at best, ambiguous figures, regarded by Anita as monsters. But the series gradually morphs into a more contemporary blend of horror and romance, with Anita forging alliances with the Master Vampire of St. Louis and various werecreatures. As the timeline of vampire literature shows, Hamilton entered a long tradition of vampire literature almost 20 years ago, but that genre has been changing and morphing into new traditions and directions rapidly since she began the Anita Blake series. In fact, she is largely responsible for a good deal of the change, with her introduction of a strong female

The Author and the Genre

13

character relating to vampires and other supernatural creatures not as a victim, but as a hunter. The numerous female vampire hunters to emerge since then all owe as much to Anita Blake as they do to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who was, in her original incarnation, almost contemporaneous with the first Anita Blake book, Guilty Pleasures. The vampire genre originally presented the vampire as a monstrous other who needed to be destroyed to cast out his wickedness and evil from the community. The seminal vampire novel, Dracula, set up the conventions of the genre in 1897 for over 75 years to come. Although the portrayal of the vampire had been shifting over the past few decades before Guilty Pleasures, there was still a sense that vampires, for the most part, were dangerous predators to be destroyed, even if, as in Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, the viewpoint of the vampire had begun to surface. Guilty Pleasures departed from generic conventions with the presentation of vampires as a widely known, legally tolerated minority. Hamilton was one of the first writers to bring vampires “out of the coffin” and into society. While evidently there was not a history in the world of Anita Blake where the existence of vampires and other preternatural beings was completely unknown to humans, setting her novels after the legalization of vampirism creates an entirely different milieu in which her vampire hunter works.

HAMILTON AND URBAN FANTASY The phrase “urban fantasy” has recently gained prominence, both in discussions of paranormal romance and other fantasy works that seem to have a foothold in the real world as well as the fantastic. John Clute and John Grant, in the 1997 Encyclopedia of Fantasy, characterize urban fantasies as “normally texts where fantasy and the mundane world intersect and interweave throughout a tale which is significantly about a real city” (p. 975) and identify “taproot works” such as Dicken’s A Christmas Carol. For the Anita Blake series, the rubric of urban fantasy may be the most accurate of all the genre labels thus far discussed. Anita lives and works in St. Louis, with occasional side trips to other cities—most notably Santa Fe, New Mexico in Obsidian Butterfly and Las Vegas in Skin Trade. The monsters are much the same in every location, but the cities and the surrounding landscape are drawn as true to reality as possible, and the cities themselves become important to the plot of the novels. While Hamilton is writing in an alternate reality, the landscape and the human influences on it are as close to our reality as possible.

14

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

HAMILTON AND FAERIES The Merry Gentry books are set, similarly, in a world where supernatural creatures are known and legally tolerated, although in this case it is a world where Celtic faerie lore is actual fact. Yet the powers of Faerie are diminishing in this world, and the great Celtic gods and goddesses have lost their powers to an extent. The series is concerned with the return of magic to both the land and to the fey, through the will of the Goddess and the Consort, channeled through the person of Princess Meredith. Fantasy featuring faeries and elves, goblins, and other assorted monsters from the mythologies of the world is not uncommon. Hamilton once again breaks through the genre wall, because her faeries, while they spend considerable time within their faerie mounds, also hold press conferences, pursue careers as actors, and otherwise interact with the mortal world in very concrete and realistic ways. She has blended the heroic fantasy with a modern American setting.

GENRE, GENRE, WHO’S GOT THE GENRE? Almost all of Hamilton’s writing takes the supernatural, the metaphysical, and the uncanny and lays it over a familiar backdrop of late twentieth and early twenty-first century American society. In some cases, her blending and mix-and-match approach to genre has dismayed readers; those who pick up a book expecting a certain template are annoyed when it is not followed. Writing in a recent book of essays on her work, Hamilton comments, “If you asked me what I write, I would say Paranormal Thrillers. It encompasses everything I do, and doesn’t try and pigeonhole me” (Ardeur, p. 41). She goes on to state that her early life left her with little understanding of the idea of the standard romance plot, and notes, “So imagine my surprise when I started writing what I thought was a horror/mystery series about Anita Blake who raised the dead and executed vampires for the government, and was told it was a romance series” (Ardeur, p. 41). The essay that these remarks introduces, “Dating the Monsters,” by L. Jagi Lamplighter, contends not only that the Anita Blake books are romances, albeit romances that “break the rules,” but that, along with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hamilton’s work is responsible for the overwhelming proliferation of vampires and werewolves in current romance novels. Perhaps some of the confusion and dismay over Hamilton’s refusal to pick a genre and stick with its

The Author and the Genre

15

conventions has lost her some readers. On the other hand, sales figures (she says on her web page that there are over 6 million copies of her books in print around the world) would seem to indicate that it is not a problem.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS • How does Hamilton’s use of the conventions of various genres impact the perceptions of her novels? • Does the term “paranormal thriller” adequately convey a sense of what a reader should expect from Hamilton’s work? • In portraying Anita as a no-holds-barred fighter and killer, does Hamilton sacrifice the ability to make her a credible romance heroine? • Given Radway’s definition of the romance as a text that conveys how the object of a courtship feels about the events of a courtship, can the narrative of the course of Anita’s relationships with Jean-Claude or Richard properly qualify as a romance?

REFERENCES Clute, John, and John Grant. The Encyclopedia of Fantasy. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997. Cothran, Casey. “Romance in Science Fiction and Fantasy.” Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy. Ed. Reid, Robin A. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2009. Vol. 2, p. 260. Fonseca, Anthony J, and June M. Pulliam. Hooked on Horror: A Guide to Reading Interests in Horror Fiction. Englewood, Colo: Libraries Unlimited, 1999. Hamilton, Laurell K, and Leah Wilson. Ardeur: 14 Writers on the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Series. Dallas, TX: BenBella Books, 2010. Healy, Jeremiah. “The Rules and How to Bend Them.” Writing Mysteries. Writer’s Digest Books, 2002. 6–12. Lamplighter, L. Jagi. “Dating the Monsters.” Hamilton, Laurell K, and Leah Wilson. Ardeur: 14 Writers on the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Series. Dallas, TX: BenBella Books, 2010. 43–55. Radway, Janice A. Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991.

16

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

APPENDIX Highlights of the Vampire in Literature, Film, and Television This is not a comprehensive timeline, but it does include some of the major literary/cinematic works that popularized the vampire, beginning with eighteenth century German poetry and continuing through until contemporary bloodsuckers. 1748

Heinrich Ossenfelder, a minor German poet, publishes “Der Vampir,” one of the first literary treatments of the vampire. This short poem reveals the vampire as an aggressive seducer, who threatens to show a recalcitrant maiden that death from the bite of the vampire is superior to her mother’s teaching.

1773

Go¨ttfried August Bu¨rger’s poem, “Lenora” tells the tale of a maiden carried away by a spectral horseman, who turns out to be death disguised as her soldier-lover. As the traditional vampire often does, this one has come first to find his beloved, and although the poem does not make use of the word “vampire,” the intent is clearly evident. The poem was first published in England in 1796, and almost a century later was notably translated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

1797

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe publishes “The Bride of Corinth,” a vampire ballad that tells the story of a young woman separated from her love who returns from the grave to claim her betrothed and his life. The conflict is between Christian and pagan theology, and the vampire imagery is vivid. The poem and the theme of the female vampire who draws away the life of a young man had a great influence on the Romantics in the early part of the nineteenth century.

1798

Samuel Taylor Coleridge introduced the vampire theme to English poetry with “Christabel,” which tells the story of the seduction of the title maiden by the vampiric Geraldine. Although the word “vampire” does not appear in the poem, the nature of Geraldine as a being who gains life from others is fairly clear, and the poem is accepted as an early example of vampire literature in

The Author and the Genre

17

English. This poem established the convention of vampires needing an invitation to enter a dwelling, among other things. In the poem, after Christabel manages to reject Geraldine, the vampire enthralls her father. 1801

Robert Southey’s long poem, Thalaba the Destroyer becomes the first literary work in English to use the term “vampire.” Thalaba, an epic with Arabian themes, shows its hero in the midst of a quest to avenge his father. At one point in the story he discovers the reanimated body of his bride, Oneiza, whom he describes as a “vampire corpse.” He dispatches her with his lance, a very effective stake through the body.

1816

A key moment in the history of vampire literature was the gathering at Villa Diodati on Lake Geneva. The rainy weather prevented Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, his wife Mary Shelley, and Byron’s physician John Polidori from enjoying the outdoors, and their enforced stay inside led to an impromptu contest to write ghost stories. This was the genesis (allegedly) of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and Byron (who as the author of the 1813 poem, “The Giaour,” was no stranger to the vampire motif) wrote a fragment later expanded by Polidori into the short novel, The Vampyre.

1819

Another of the British Romantic poets weighed in on the vampire theme when John Keats published “Lamia.” The title is taken from the Classical Greek mythological figure of a beautiful snake woman who drinks the blood of men and children. Falling in love with a youth, Lamia is blissfully happy with him, until she is exposed by his tutor, and the lovers perish. Keats also gave vampire literature “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” (1820), another pale, cold lady who enervates her lovers, taking their life essence, and leaving them “alone and palely loitering.”

1819

John Polidori publishes a novella, The Vampyre, based on the story proposed by Byron at the Villa Diodati. First taken to be Byron’s work, and featuring the vampire Lord Ruthven who closely resembled Byron himself, the story gained widespread popularity. Ruthven preys on young women and takes blood only occasionally, but is

18

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

depicted as the moral downfall of those he feeds upon. Upon the death of his friend Aubrey’s sister, he vanishes into the night to spread his evil elsewhere in the world. 1819

Charles Nodier adapted Polidori’s popular work into a play “Le Vampire” which was produced in Paris, and even before the end of its long run spawned a host of imitators. Subsequently, he coauthored a sequel to The Vampyre, entitled Lord Ruthven ou Les Vampires.

1820

James Robinson Planche´ adapted Nodier’s play for the London stage as “The Vampire, or the Bride of the Isles,” although the setting was moved to Scotland in deference to the fact that the theater staging the production had a ready collection of Scottish costumes. The play was primarily notable for the introduction of the “vampire trap,” a trapdoor stage device allowing the vampire to appear and vanish suddenly, to the delight of audiences.

1847

Varney the Vampyre, by James Malcolm Rymer (although originally attributed to Thomas Preskett Prest), appeared in 109 weekly installments. Varney is a prime example of the “penny dreadful,” and complete copies were quite rare for decades after its publication, as popular literature of that sort was not widely preserved. The vampire, Varney, begins as a cold, bloodsucking monster preying on the Bannerworth family, but eventually gains their respect and protection. Varney, like Ruthven, can walk in the day, is restored by moonlight, and takes the blood of maidens. At length, he ends his life by jumping into the crater of Vesuvius.

1872

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s novella Carmilla introduced yet another female vampire, in this story with strong lesbian overtones. The heroine, Laura, is strangely attracted to a visitor, Carmilla, who turns out to be her ancestress, Mircalla von Karnstein. While the vampire is eventually staked in her blood-filled coffin, this tale did establish the vampire not as a demonic spirit, possessing a victim, but as a returned dead person. The folkloric themes of vampires attacking family and being loosely bound to their home territory were both present in the novella. Carmilla has been filmed several times, with varying degrees of attention to the original plot.

The Author and the Genre

19

1897

Bram Stoker publishes Dracula, the seminal vampire novel, and the basis for most twentieth century vampire films and novels. In this novel, Jonathan Harker travels to Transylvania to conduct business with his employer’s client, Count Dracula. The Count imprisons him, and leaves for England, where he will wreak considerable havoc before Jonathan, his wife Mina, the vampire expert Van Helsing, and several assorted friends manage to hunt the vampire down and dispatch him. Dracula has been the subject of endless interpretation and criticism and is one of the novels most frequently adapted for the screen, with a new version coming out every few years. In the novel, Dracula is repelled by holy objects, and has the capability to shift into animal forms, as well as turning into mist. Stoker did his folklore homework, however, and also made the Count allergic to garlic. It is widely accepted that Stoker’s Dracula is based on the historical Vlad Tepes (the Impaler) a fifteenth century Wallachian prince who was noted for his hellishly bloodthirsty tactics as he fought against Ottoman incursions into his homeland.

1922

Nosferatu, Eine Symphonie des Grauens, an unauthorized adaptation of Stoker’s Dracula, is a silent film by F. W. Murnau that introduced some of the classic elements of the contemporary vampire, including that vampires are annihilated by exposure to sunlight. The vampire in Nosferatu, however, is not seductive, bearing close resemblance to a giant rat with hideous bat ears. As the result of a court battle with the Stoker estate, all copies of the film were ordered destroyed; but fortunately at least one copy survived. The film is an excellent example of German expressionist filmmaking, and if the special effects and makeup seem more laughable than terrifying today, it nonetheless make a great impression on the future of vampire film.

1927

A stage play based on Dracula, written by Hamilton Deane and revised by John Balderston, opened on Broadway in October, and enjoyed a successful run before going on the road. This play would become the primary basis for two movies, and would be revived on Broadway

20

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

(as well as in many regional venues) over the coming 80 years. The play combined the two female leads of the novel, Mina and Lucy, into one character, and dropped others to simplify the plot. 1931

In the 1920s, a stage play based on Dracula enjoyed considerable success. In 1931, Tod Browning was selected to helm a film adaptation of the play, and the resulting film, Dracula, provided an iconic image of the vampire which has persisted to the present day. Bela Lugosi, in the title role, made such an indelible impression that he was forever after associated with the vampire. Seen now, the movie is stagy and static. A top moneymaker for Universal in the year of its release, it led to the classic series of Universal “monster movies” which have retained popularity to this day.

1954

Richard Matheson’s novel, I Am Legend, gave a “scientific” explanation for vampirism and turned the tables on the traditional vampire plot, with the lone vampire hunter fighting the hordes of infected humans. I Am Legend has been filmed three times, with varying degrees of fidelity to the original, as The Last Man on Earth (1964), The Omega Man (1971), and I am Legend (2007).

1958

Hammer Studio revitalized the vampire with The Horror of Dracula, starring Christopher Lee in the title role with Peter Cushing as his nemesis, Van Helsing, thus beginning a long series of horror films. The Hammer Dracula movies brought the horror to life in Technicolor, with plenty of blood and other gruesome scenes playing out directly in front of the audience. Usually, plenty of buxom young women were involved as well, to add to the festivity. Dracula’s bite was more overtly sexual than ever before, and the original plot of the novel was largely jettisoned in favor of Grand Guignol bloodthirstiness. The Hammer Dracula films did, however, keep the vampire in the popular mind, as changes in social mores might have made the old Victorian ideas of suppressed sexuality less compelling.

1966–71

Dark Shadows, a soap opera that sought to incorporate some elements of the popular Gothic romance, spent a year languishing in the daytime ratings until the introduction in 1967 of Barnabas Collins, a brooding, melancholic

The Author and the Genre

21

vampire who quickly became not only a hit, but a recognizable icon. The development of a devoted female fandom led to Collins becoming a staple of the show. As a sympathetic character, tormented with guilt over his long past and vampiric nature, Barnabas Collins emerged in some ways as the harbinger of a new vampire, one with whom audiences could identify and not merely “love to hate.” 1973

Blade the Vampire Slayer first appears in the Marvel Comic, The Tomb of Dracula. One of the first AfricanAmerican heroes of the comic book genre, Blade was also teamed with Rachel Van Helsing, a strong female character. Blade made sporadic appearances throughout the 1970s, and reappeared in the 1990s in a new series, as well as in three movies from 1998–2004.

1975

Fred Saberhagen’s The Dracula Tape was the first of a series of novels casting Dracula as more sinned against than sinning, Tape retells the events of Stoker’s novel, from Dracula’s first-person point of view, and makes him the hero of the story. His viewpoint of the bumbling Crew of Light ranged against him, and his burgeoning (and requited) love for Mina Harker throw the figure of the vampire into a completely different aspect. He is a hero—not simply an evil to be destroyed.

1976

Anne Rice hit the bestseller lists with Interview with the Vampire, and in some ways the genre has never been the same. As with Saberhagen, she employed the point of view of the vampire in the novel to show that he is more than a two-dimensional villain, although her vampires are more concerned with each other than their relation to the mortal world. Preternaturally beautiful, they require a nightly death to sustain them, but the lush descriptions and overwhelming angst allow the reader to see them in a sympathetic light. This may be the first novel to truly delve into the mindset of the vampire.

1977

Frank Langella starred memorably in a revival of the Balderston/Deane version of Dracula on Broadway (and in the subsequent 1979 John Badham film). A handsome young actor, Langella infused the Count with a sensual charm and seductive manner, as well as a regal and

22

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

commanding bearing, that had been missing from most portrayals. 1979

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro’s Hotel Transylvania, the first of over 20 novels featuring the urbane and gentlemanly Comte St. Germain, takes the facts surrounding an historical eighteenth century charlatan, and deftly weaves them into a tale of vampirism. The Comte is one of the least evil of vampires; in his 4,000-year life, he has mostly sought a peaceful existence, although his constant status as an outsider has frequently brought him into conflict with venal and corrupt mortal authorities.

1987

Joel Schumacher’s movie, The Lost Boys, transformed the vampire into a teen icon, with his gang of young men partying all night, sleeping all day, never growing old, never dying, as the movie’s tagline had it. While the plot centers around the attempted seduction and later redemption of a newcomer to the fictional seaside town of Santa Carla, California and the jealousy of the leader of the local teenvamp pack toward him, the film’s translation of vampirisim into 1980s teen culture and the goth movement gave it broad audience appeal for younger viewers.

1991

Vampire: The Masquerade, a role-playing game developed by Mark Rein-Hagen of White Wolf Game Studio, started as a way for vampire enthusiasts to enter a new world of blood and darkness. The game, which eventually spawned vast amounts of guidebooks, manuals, and other literature, set up a system of vampire clans, each with differing attributes, and allowed players to create complex, multifaceted characters, navigating through a hidden world of clan politics. The game is led by a storyteller, and is often played as a LARP or live action role play, complete with costumes.

1992–1995

Beginning as part of a cycle of late-night dramas, the television series Forever Knight, centers on an 800-year-old vampire who tries to expiate his past crimes by working as a police detective in Toronto. Nick Knight (first played in a TV movie starring Rick Springfield, and in the series by Geraint Wyn Davies) survives on bottled blood, trying

The Author and the Genre

23

to regain his mortality and aided by medical examiner Dr. Natalie Lamber, while his sire LaCroix and vampiric former lover Jeannette attempt to seduce him to the dark side once more. After one late night season, the series was picked up in syndication for two more seasons, and retained a wide fanbase. 1993

Laurell K. Hamilton’s first vampire hunter novel, Guilty Pleasures, appears as an Ace paperback. The world she creates in this book, peopled not only with humans and vampires, but also with were-animals, faeries, zombies, and necromancers, along with her terrifyingly competent female vampire-slaying heroine, proved to be a turning point in vampire literature. No longer were women in vampire novels necessarily either damsels in distress, or evil vampires. Anita Blake kicks butt and takes her licks, while retaining her essential goodness, decency, and, although she claims not to be “girly,” feminine appeal.

1994

A film version of Interview with the Vampire, directed by Neil Jordan, drew renewed attention to the vampire genre. Starring Brad Pitt as the melancholy Louis, and a surprisingly effective Tom Cruise as Lestat, the movie managed to translate the lush imagery of the novel to the screen and, although it did not lead to a film franchise based on the books, performed well.

1996

Based on the popular role-playing game, Vampire: The Masquerade, Kindred: the Embraced was another shortlived television show, depicting the world of vampire clans struggling together in a city under the leadership of a council of clan leaders and a prince of the city. Julian Luna (played by Mark Frankel) as the leader of the vampires of San Francisco, is simultaneously avoiding a police organized crime investigation and seeking to find ways for the vampires to integrate into human society. The politics of the clans had begun to be a major feature of the plots of the show when it was cut short by the untimely death of Frankel.

1997–2003

Premiering on the WB network, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is based on a 1992 movie by the same name. Joss Whedon, who wrote the movie script, provided the vision

24

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

for the popular television series. Buffy, a cute blonde cheerleader, learns that she is the “Chosen One” of her generation, a slayer who must fight against the incursions of vampires and demons into mortal society. In this world, vampires are evil, soulless creatures who are vaporized at the thrust of a stake, and the Slayer has extraordinary physical abilities, as well as a mentor, to aid her in her efforts. Whedon’s series, sharply written and produced, has been the subject of much study, in its exploration of gender roles and social mores. 1999–2004

A Buffy spinoff series, Angel, moves the vampire with a soul to Los Angeles, where he sets up business as a private investigator specializing in supernatural cases. The series features many crossover appearances by Buffy regulars, such as the vampires Spike and Drusilla, and gave series star David Boreanz many chances to express his angst as he battled the evil law firm Wolfram and Hart.

2001

After many rejections, Charlaine Harris finally found a publisher for her genre-bending Dead Until Dark, the first of the Southern Vampire novels. In these mystery/ romance/paranormal/chicklit books, telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse is delighted to finally meet a vampire, after that species had “come out of the coffin” and made itself known to the world a few years earlier, when the introduction of synthetic blood had made possible a peaceful coexistence between vampires and humans. These immensely popular novels opened the door for more paranormal romances, and eventually became the basis of a television series.

2005

Stephenie Meyer burst upon the young adult publishing scene with the first of her Twilight Saga books, featuring a fangless, sparkling vampire named Edward Cullen and his human girlfriend, Bella Swan. The teen angst and themes of celibacy and desire combined to make a potent brew, and the books were seized upon not only by young teenagers, but also by their older sisters and mothers. The four books were all mega-bestsellers, and a film adaptation of Twilight in 2008 performed well enough to lead to the other books being filmed as well, with teen heartthrobs Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner as the

The Author and the Genre

25

vampire Edward and his rival, Native American werewolf Jacob Black. In addition, Twilight has spawned a seemingly endless stream of other young adult vampire and werewolf romance series. 2005

Elizabeth Kostova publishes The Historian, a massive and complex novel blending the historical facts of Vlad Dracula, the Impaler, with more literary versions of the Dracula story. The novel was an international bestseller.

2006

Blood Ties, a relatively low-budget vampire series on the Lifetime network, was based on the novels of Tanya Huff, and featured a female ex-cop who finds herself drawn into supernatural cases, garnering the assistance of Henry Fitzroy, a 500-year-old vampire and graphic novelist. The series, which lasted only 22 episodes, presented a variety of vampires, demons, voodoo priestesses, and other supernatural evil-doers, with the unusual twist that the human former police detective, Vicki Nelson, was the primary solver of problems, using her vampire friend/lover as a backup and resource.

2006

Marvel Comics began a serialization of a graphic novel based on Laurell K. Hamilton’s first Anita Blake book, Guilty Pleasures. The violent action and flamboyant characters of Hamilton’s novel made it a natural for graphic adaptation, and the author was closely involved in the project, keeping it very true to her established mythos.

2007

The short-lived (16 episodes) CBS series, Moonlight, revived the vampire noir detective mode, with an ongoing romance motif. Mick St. John, reluctant vampire, has finally made himself known to a young woman he saved as a child, and the two fall in love. Interestingly, the hero’s vampirism was revealed to the heroine at the end of the second episode, and the conviction of St. John that because he was a vampire, he was necessarily a monster became the largest stumbling block to their relationship. The premise of the show was that vampirism was much like a communicable disease, and vampires live unknown among mortals. Despite a passionate fan following, the series, cut short by the 2007–2008 writer’s strike, was not renewed for a second season.

26

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

2008

HBO begins a vampire series based on Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse books. Alan Ball’s True Blood, titled for the brand of synthetic blood that has allowed vampires to gain grudging public acceptance, combined the seductive appeal of the vampire with gritty, rural Southern gothic— not to mention the wide latitude for graphic sex and violence allowed on the pay cable venue—to create a hit. The series was renewed for a second season after only two episodes of the first season had aired.

2009

Social networking meets the public fascination with vampires in the form of the Zynga game Vampire Wars on Facebook. Similar to the popular Mafia Wars game, Facebook users recruit friends into their clans and complete missions to rise to higher levels in the game. As a type of online role-play, the game features compelling artwork and easy accessibility for a broad audience.

2009

Capitalizing on the vampire craze, the CW network introduced the teen drama Vampire Diaries, based on a series of young adult romances by L. J. Smith. The lead, Elena, a pretty high-schooler, is loved by two vampire brothers, one good, Stefan, and one evil, Damien.

3 ANITA BLAKE, VAMPIRE HUNTER—PART 1: THE EARLY NOVELS: MEETING THE HUNTER

INTRODUCTION Hamilton’s main series, the Anita Blake books, follow the adventures and development of her heroine from a purely human woman, albeit with some paranormal powers, to a sort of living vampire or succubus who feeds on the emotions and sexual energy of others. In the first few books, Anita is decidedly anti-monster. She reanimates corpses, raising zombies for a living, but has a side occupation as a licensed vampire killer and consultant on paranormal cases with the police. Although still in her early 20s, she has been successful enough to have gained a nickname—the vampires call her “The Executioner.” As the series progresses, she learns to appreciate the humanity that is still present in the vampires and werecreatures that cross her path. The earl books focus on her involvement in solving criminal cases with a supernatural slant, but as the series progresses, there is more emphasis on Anita’s increasingly complicated love life. As she becomes romantically entangled with first a vampire and then a werewolf, she gains metaphysical power and becomes not just a reanimator, but a true necromancer, one who has power over all the dead.

27

28

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

In the beginning, Anita is a chaste young woman, who comments that she does not date the monsters, she kills them. As time goes by, however, she becomes the lover of first a werewolf and then a vampire. Her connection with the vampire causes her to be cursed with the ardeur, a vampire-like hunger for emotion, which she can only assuage through sexual contact. In order to keep the ardeur at bay, she gradually adds many wereanimals and vampires to her list of lovers, which causes her no small dismay, as she feels her needs and her morality are at odds. While the early books are relatively tame in terms of sexual content, that changes radically as the series goes on, and later books do include lengthy and graphically detailed descriptions of sex, including rough sex, group sex, and same-sex pairings (although since the books are all narrated in first person by Anita, the same-sex pairings do not reach the same level of detail that Anita’s encounters with her lovers do).

SUMMARIES Guilty Pleasures (1993) In the first of the Anita Blake books, we are introduced to Anita, who is a professional animator and part-time consultant to the Regional Preternatural Investigation Team. She is a few years out of college, where she earned her degree in preternatural biology, and is employed by Animators, Inc., a company that specializes in raising zombies. She is also a licensed vampire slayer, and although vampirism is now legal in the United States, her services are still in demand for staking or otherwise dispatching rogue vampires. Despite her petite build and deceptively pretty appearance, Anita has proven herself skilled at killing vampires, to the point where she is known among the vampire community as “The Executioner.” As the novel begins, a vampire approaches Anita seeking to hire her to investigate a series of murdered vampires. She refuses as she’s an animator, not a private investigator. From the beginning, we learn that Anita is properly wary of vampires, who are capable of mind control, and has very conflicted feelings about the legality of their existence. She is of the opinion that vampires are monsters, and have little common ground with humans. Attending a bachelorette party for a friend, Anita reluctantly goes to Guilty Pleasures, a vampire-owned and operated strip club where she first sees Phillip, a stripper and bite junkie for the vampires. The party is a ruse, however, to lure Anita into investigating the vampire murders, and she falls under the sway of Jean-Claude, one of the chief underlings of the vampire Master of the City, Nikolaos. Being near the Master of

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter—Part 1

Main Recurring Characters Anita Blake—The narrator of the series, she progresses as the books go on from being an animator who raises zombies for her living, and executes vampires on the side, to being a full-blown necromancer and succubus. A petite brunette, the monsters often underestimate her ruthlessness and skills . . . right up until she kills them. Jean-Claude—Master of the City of St. Louis, he is a several centuries-old vampire of a line that specializes in sex and seduction. Jean-Claude has a killer sense of style, beautiful midnight blue eyes, long dark curling black hair, and a keen sense of politics. Richard Zeeman—A tall handsome werewolf who eventually claws his way to the head of the local pack. He is Jean-Claude’s animal to call, and part of a triumvirate of power with Jean-Claude and Anita. Richard, who contracted lycanthropy from a bad batch of anti-lycanthropy vaccine, lives in horror of his disease becoming public knowledge, as it would jeopardize his day job, teaching junior high science. Anita goes through a brief period of thinking she could settle down with Richard, but his self-loathing of his werewolf side drives them apart. Jason Schuyler—A werewolf who serves as a regular blood donor for Jean-Claude and works as a stripper at one of Jean-Claude’s clubs, Guilty Pleasures. His friendship with Nathaniel draws him closer to Anita. Jason is known for his teasing, flirty manner, but he’s an intelligent young man who often offers surprising insight. Nathaniel Graison—A were-leopard, Nathaniel was a teen prostitute, and now is a stripper at Guilty Pleasures. He becomes first Anita’s pomme de sang, as she is taken by the ardeur, and then her lover, although she has trouble dealing with his need for domination and bondage. Nathaniel is several years younger than Anita, and wears his brown hair to his ankles, setting off his lavender eyes. Asher—Centuries ago, Jean-Claude and Asher were lovers and shared the love of a beautiful human servant, Julianna. The Inquisition burned Julianna and tried to take the evil out of Asher with holy water that left him horribly scarred. Now he has come back to Jean-Claude, and with Anita’s help, they are regaining the intimacy they once shared. Micah—A wereleopard, the Nimir-Raj to Anita’s Nimur-Ra. He came into Anita’s life when she took out Chimera, a panwere who had enslaved his leopard pack. Micah and Anita formed an instant couple, and she has treasured his willingness to be what and who she needs. Edward—In his first appearances Edward was another vampire executioner, and a particularly deadly one. Anita characterizes him as a

29

30

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

sociopath, and fears becoming like him, but they are friends and she welcomes his assistance on many occasions. Edward develops a persona as the “good old boy,” Ted Forrester, and in this guise becomes attached to a young widow and her two children. Dolph Storr—The head of the Regional Preternatural Investigation Team (RPIT). Lieutenant Dolph Storr is physically imposing and smart enough to know when to call in an expert . . . Anita. Zerbrowski—Second in command with RPIT. Zerbrowski hides a keen intelligence behind a rumpled exterior. He may seem like a bumbler with no other agenda than giving Anita a hard time, but they have a mutual respect that only grows over time.

the City is dangerous, as she is a volatile, murderous, ancient entity, and Anita barely escapes her first encounter alive. Back at her apartment, another danger raises its head in the form of an old acquaintance, Edward. An assassin who specializes in killing supernatural creatures, he is demanding the name of the Master of the City, and is willing to use threats and torture to extract the information. Meanwhile, Anita is forming a friendship with Phillip and has received the first mark from Jean-Claude, as he begins a campaign to transform Anita into his human servant. Another complication arises in the form of the organization Humans Against Vampires (HAV), which may have a murder squad on the loose, and the vampire Church of Eternal Life, which proselytizes humans into becoming undead. Anita is forced to form an uneasy alliance with Edward, Jean-Claude, and a colony of were-rats, in order to defeat Nikolaos. Guilty Pleasures is perhaps the perfect introduction to this series. Most of the major players and concepts are laid out. Anita is a powerful animator, to be sure, but her powers at this point are in the realm of the human, and she has her feet firmly on the side of human law, order, and society. Humans are humans, and monsters are monsters. Her attraction to Jean-Claude provides some tension, but she has no intention of letting his obvious interest in her progress. After all, some day, she might need to stake him.

The Laughing Corpse (1994) Anita Blake has never gotten on well with her boss, Bert Vaughn. He’s petty, venal, and only concerned with making a fast buck, not with the safety or abilities of his employees. As The Laughing Corpse begins, Bert

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter—Part 1

31

and Anita are negotiating with Harold Gaynor, who wants a 283-year old zombie raised. Anita feels that she cannot do it without sacrificing a “white goat,” which is to say a human. Shortly afterward, Anita is summoned to a crime scene by Sergeant Dolph Storr, head of the Regional Preternatural Investigation Team. A family has been brutally slaughtered, and monster involvement is suspected. In addition, a toddler is missing from the house. Anita feels that the local vaudun priestess, Dominga Salvador, may have information. She contacts her mentor, Manny Rodriguez, and makes an appointment to see Dominga. It turns out that Manny was once the vaudun priestess’s lover, and participated in human sacrifices before he met the girl he later married and became a Christian. During a tense meeting, Dominga sees Anita’s potential to become a truly powerful necromancer and tries to tempt her with promises of shared power and abilities, but Anita recognizes evil when she sees it and refuses. Anita, with her usual flair for irritating people, has managed to annoy both Harold Gaynor and Dominga Salvador. Harold sends a gun-toting goon after her; Dominga sends a pair of zombies. Neither is successful in scaring her off or forcing her to participate in their schemes. Anita meets with Jean-Claude at The Laughing Corpse, a vampire owned comedy club that features, among other things, a comedy act with a zombie. When the zombie goes out of control, Anita is able to stop it, but still has to endure a lecture from Jean-Claude about her status as his human servant. Later, Jean-Claude accompanies Anita in search of Wheelchair Wanda, a prostitute who was a former girlfriend of Harold Gaynor. She tells them about Harold’s perversions and his plan to raise his relatives to get their wealth. John Burke, an animator in town from New Orleans for the funeral of his brother, seems involved in questionable practices, and Anita is unsure whether or not to suspect him of illegal activities. She is sure a gris-gris that she and John discover in his brother’s effects ties him to Dominga Salvador, and Anita is determined to see the vaudun priestess arrested, and very likely executed for her crimes. The older woman is tricky, though, and manages to destroy the evidence of her misdeeds before the police can find it. Called by the cops to assist in a search for the killer zombie, Anita is injured by the creature, and following her treatment in the emergency room, she is kidnapped by Gaynor’s thugs and drugged. When she awakens, she is informed she will do the zombie raising for Gaynor no matter what it takes. After an escape attempt is foiled by a hideous monster created by Dominga from a number of people melded together, Anita is put

32

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

under a spell of compulsion, to force her to raise the zombie that Harold wants. But trying to force Anita is never a good idea, and she proves that she is more than just an animator; she is a necromancer—one who has dominion over the dead.

The Circus of the Damned (1995) As the novel opens, Anita is being hassled by emissaries from Humans Against Vampires, and a more radical organization, Humans First. They want the daytime resting place of the new Master of the City, JeanClaude, and Anita does not want to give it up. She has a connection to Jean-Claude, even if she resents it, and fears another master vampire might not be as reasonable. Dolph contacts her concerning a vampire murder; apparently the victim was bitten and drained by several vamps working together. Anita, visiting the Circus of the Damned (yet another entertainment establishment owned and operated by vampires), meets an intriguing man, Richard Zeeman. Her first sight of him is naked in Jean-Claude’s bed, and he subsequently assists, as do all present, when a giant cobra goes out of control and wreaks havoc at the circus. Although Anita suspects Richard has something to hide, she is very attracted to him, and while giving him and another man a ride home, she accepts a date to go caving. This turns into a date to a Halloween party, when Anita realizes she has a conflicting engagement. Everyone is after the Master of the City. Anita is contacted by Edward, who also wants to know the Master’s resting place, and as usual is willing to do whatever it takes to get it. Realizing that the murder victim was a member of HAV and that, due to the manner of his death, he may rise as a vampire, Anita and the RPIT race to the St. Louis Hospital, only to find bodies strewn everywhere; and mayhem ensues. More die before Anita is able to kill the vampire, and she must hurry away from the scene to get to a graveyard. A new animator, Larry Kirkland is in over his head, raising too many zombies in one night to control them well. Anita has to use her own blood to stabilize the situation. Leaving the cemetery, however, Larry and Anita are first attacked by Humans First, and then by a pack of vampires. They are saved by the people from Humans First. Larry has decided he wants to be a vampire hunter like Anita, although she discourages him. With Edward and Humans First both pressuring her to give up the Master of the City, Anita is taken to see a Mr. Oliver. It turns out that

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter—Part 1

33

Humans First is a front for Oliver, who is a million-plus-year-old vampire who has a pet lamia, Melanie. Back at the Circus of the Damned, Anita runs into Richard again. For a middle-school science teacher, he spends a lot of time hanging out with vampires and werewolves. Anita is abducted by Melanie, who says she’s taking her to see Mr. Oliver again, but is in fact planning to kill her. Anita escapes by fleeing into a cave, eventually finds her way out, but not until after suffering from a lamia bite. Edward, trailing her, finds her outside the cave, and takes her home. Later, realizing she is dying from the bite, Richard, who has come by for their date, takes her to Jean-Claude, who saves her by giving her the third mark. Anita is so enraged by this that she betrays Jean-Claude to Mr. Oliver. However, she regrets this when she discovers the whole thing was a set-up to get rid of the Master of the City so that Oliver’s minions can wreak havoc on the human population. He believes vampires have lost by coming out into society, and that mainstreaming must end. The final showdown, staged as a battle for the entertainment of the crowd at the Circus of the Damned, involves Anita receiving vampire marks from one of Oliver’s vampires, although this vamp, Alejandro, is subsequently killed, and all the marks Anita has received cancel out. In the end, Oliver is defeated, Richard is revealed to be a werewolf, and Anita is caught between two would-be suitors, the vampire and the lycanthrope.

The Lunatic Cafe´ (1996) From the Halloween climax of the last book, the action has moved ahead to the Christmas season. At work, Anita is investigating a missing lycanthrope. Socially, Anita is called away from a date with Richard—she has just learned he is in a deadly battle for power within his wolf pack—to a crime scene in the snowy countryside. At the scene, Anita encounters an extraordinarily hostile greeting from a Deputy Aikensen who, it appears, does not favor either women officers or civilian consultants. Their standoff comes almost to guns before Aiken is forced to back down by his boss, Sheriff Titus. Once this crisis is resolved, Anita insists the victim was killed by a shapeshifter over the objections of the locals, who are proclaiming it a bear attack. Back home, Anita is met by Irving Griswold, a reporter of her acquaintance who is also a minor werewolf. He takes her to the Lunatic Cafe´, a werewolf hangout. At the cafe´, Anita meets the leaders of the pack, including

34

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

Marcus and Raina and their henchmen. Marcus wants her to investigate more missing shapeshifters, but has a problem with her as a non-shifter. After a struggle for dominance, Anita eventually escapes, and is given information about the missing shifters by Kaspar, a swanmane. She discovers that there are eight lycanthropes missing in the local community. The next day Anita meets with Elvira, who is doing a book on shapeshifters. She wants Anita to get her an interview with a were-rat. Anita agrees to make inquiries. She had also seen a familiar, if unexpected, face at the Lunatic Cafe´: Edward. When they get in touch, Edward tells her he has something to show her. After a delay, in which, among other things, Anita accepts a proposal from Richard, she meets with Edward at his hotel. What he wants her to see is a porn video, which she realizes stars some of the local shifters and which is ultimately a snuff film. Richard has been reluctant to take the final step to pack leader by killing Marcus, and Anita hopes that seeing the snuff film will make him decide the pack needs a new Ulfric. The next day Anita goes to see Dr. Louis Fane, a preternatural biologist and were-rat, about the footprints from the crime scene. Leaving, she is attacked by Gretchen, a vampire jealous of Anita’s relationship with Jean-Claude. Anita and Louis are both badly injured in the attack, and she has to call Richard to take them to Lillian, a doctor who specializes in treating shifters. In a meeting with Jean-Claude, he insists that he be given an equal chance to woo Anita, and she reluctantly agrees, since the alternative is that the vampire will kill Richard. There is considerable maneuvering between the werewolves and the vampires, with Anita caught in the middle. Anita is called out to look at a skin, and determines it belongs to a naga, an immortal snake being from India. The naga himself is found in the freezing water, and taken to a hospital. When he is able to speak, he describes a witch who sounds like Elvira. The mystery of the missing lycanthropes is largely explained. Elvira and her coven are flaying them to use their skins. This is not the end of the action, however. Titus and Aikensen, with Kaspar’s help, have been running a side business offering hunters the chance to go after shifters, and lure Anita, Richard, Edward, and a young werewolf named Jason out into the country with the intent of killing them. They fail, and Edward later sends Anita a swan skin.

Bloody Bones (1996) Animators, Inc. is considering bidding on a big contract with a real estate developer. A mountaintop graveyard has been disturbed, and the developer wants to make sure the bodies are not relatives of the Bouviers,

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter—Part 1

35

who may own the land. When Anita and Larry reach the site, the developer, Stirling, offers to bribe Anita to say what he wants to hear. Almost immediately, Anita receives a call from the police. Dolph wants her to help the locals investigate a trio of murders in nearby Branson. As usual, the locals are unwelcoming. Sergeant Freemont is unhappy, first to learn that Anita has brought Larry, a trainee, along to a murder scene, and also when Anita determines that the murderer is a supernatural being, faster than a vampire, and wielding a sword. Leaving the murder scene, Anita and Larry go to the business of Magnus and Dorcas Bouvier, a restaurant/bar named Bloody Bones. Magnus, who evidently has faerie blood, is using glamour to make the customers think each other beautiful. Anita is trying to figure out why Stirling wants the land so badly and chatting with the Bouviers when she receives another call from Dolph. There’s another murder victim nearby, this time a young woman. Ellie Quinlan has been killed by a vampire, her lover. Her parents are very conventional, and unwilling to believe their daughter could have been involved with a vampire. Sheriff St. John is helpful, but dismayed that such a thing has happened to Ellie. A disastrous foray into the woods to hunt the vampires, leaves the Quinlan house inadequately protected; the son, Jeff, is abducted and the sheriff’s wife, Beth St. John, is killed. At this point Anita calls Jean-Claude, who agrees to come to Branson so they can call together on the Master of Branson. Later, at the graveyard, Anita and Larry are sensing ghosts. Magnus shows up and begs them not to raise the dead on the mound, but will not explain why. Jean-Claude has arrived, with Jason the werewolf in tow. Their luggage, however, has been mislaid, and he is forced to spend the day in Anita’s bed. He does have the name of the pedophile vampire who has abducted Jeff, however, and Anita is able to inform the FBI that it is Xavier they need to find. In the morning, as Anita is sleeping on the couch and Jean-Claude and Jason occupy the bedroom, Dorcas Bouvier shows up looking for her brother. She explains that she and Magnus are the hereditary keepers of Rawhead and Bloody Bones, a supernatural creature trapped under the mound for several centuries. The visit with the Master of Branson, Seraphina, goes poorly. Anita and the others are attacked by a variety of means, from straight physical conflict to mindgames involving Jason having sex with a pair of vampires who can rot at will. During all this, Anita has to allow Jean-Claude to drink from her. As she tells Larry later, she may still see the vampire as a monster, but now she sees herself as one, too. When they at last perform the rite to raise the dead on the mound, it frees Bloody Bones. The dead confirm that the mound is Bouvier land.

36

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

A melee between Anita, the zombies, and the vampires, in which Stirling and his henchmen are killed. While Seraphina has taken control of Bloody Bones, she has forgotten the dire consequences of lying to a creature of faerie, and nearly dies at Bloody Bones’s hands before Anita and Xavier are able to kill it. Anita ends up a prisoner of Seraphina. After awakening in Seraphina’s coffin, Anita is able to break free, although still under Seraphina’s influence. In the end, the vampires are mostly destroyed, and Dorcas is freed from her bondage to the land where the creature was imprisoned. And Anita has grown much closer to JeanClaude, finally admitting to herself that she’s attracted to him.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS • “I don’t date the monsters. I kill them.” How does Anita’s understanding of what is and is not a monster shift over the course of the first five books of the series? • How does Anita Blake develop in her relationship to the “monsters” throughout the first books of the series? • How does the presence of supernatural beings affect society in these books? • Prejudice against those who are different is an ongoing theme in the series. Given the limits and powers portrayed, how would you feel about a lycanthrope (wereanimal) as a teacher, doctor, or working in another position of responsibility and trust? • Are Jean-Claude or Richard capable of understanding Anita? Which of them offers her the best chance of a stable relationship? They are very different men; why is she drawn to both?

4 ANITA BLAKE, VAMPIRE HUNTER—PART 2: LOVING THE MONSTERS

INTRODUCTION Anita’s life is getting more complicated. When the series started, Hamilton was adamantly against introducing sex into the series, but she came to rethink that decision as the series went on. Anita is growing and evolving; her decision to become Jean-Claude’s lover has implications that reach in many directions. The formation of the triumvirate of power between Jean-Claude, Richard, and Anita will be a turning point, not only for her relationships with them, but for the entire supernatural community.

SUMMARIES The Killing Dance (1997) Sabin, an ancient vampire, is dying. He and his human servant, Dominic Dumaire, meet with Anita and Jean-Claude in the hopes that she will be able to help his condition. She agrees to see what she can do, and leaves for a date with Richard.

37

38

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

Vampire Mythos in Anita Blake Vampires are undead. They have died and been transformed. From dawn until sunset, they are actually dead and have no observable pulse or respiration. As they age, they may awake earlier in the evening, but under most circumstances, when daybreak comes they are down for the count. All vampires have at least rudimentary psychic powers, including the ability to enthrall humans with their eyes. Some older vampires become master vampires, with power over other vampires. Eventually, some of these rise to the position of “Master of the City,” which is virtually absolute rule over the vampires in their area. Most vampires are blood-oathed to a master vampire, who then controls them. Most master vampires have an “animal to call,” or an affinity with a particular type of animal. Usually this gives them a close connection with the animals of that species as well. For example, Jean-Claude’s animal is the wolf, and he maintains close, although not always friendly, relations with the werewolves in his city. Vampires may take human servants. This is a form of marking and possession of a human by a vampire that confers some immunity to vampire powers, and greatly enhanced life and strength for the human. On the other hand, the life of the servant is closely tied to that of the vampire, and the destruction of the vampire will kill the servant. There are levels of marking, each taking place with a bite. Since the action of this series is all after the legalization of vampirism, few of the vampires in these books attempt to blend in with the mainstream of humanity. For the most part, they live in separate enclaves, under the rule of a master vampire.

Phone calls from Edward are almost never good news, and this one is no exception. He informs her there is a contract out on her life and, as if to confirm this, she is forced to shoot and kill a couple of hit men almost immediately. After a police interrogation she ends up at Richard’s, feeling it is a safer place. Meanwhile, Richard has a message from Stephen, a werewolf, asking for help. He’s being forced by Raina, the pack’s lupa, to be in a porno film. Richard and Anita go out to rescue him. They do extract him, with some difficulty, from Raina and Gabriel, a wereleopard. The next morning, there is a meeting of weres who are opposed to Raina and Marcus’s

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter—Part 2

39

rule of the werewolf pack, and Richard, after much argument, agrees to kill Marcus at the next challenge and take over, setting up Anita as his lupa—even though she is not willing to become a were. Through combat with one of the weres, Anita is forced to prove that she is not only an alpha, but a dominant. Anita is scheduled to go out on a date that evening with Jean-Claude, to the opening of his new club, Danse Macabre, and after some strategizing with Edward and the others, she leaves with the vampire. At the club, she encounters an assassin, Annabelle, and manages to kill her; but the police are getting suspicious of the bodies piling up. Dolph Storr has to intervene because he needs Anita to investigate a crime scene. The victim is a vampire named Robert who was married to a human friend of Anita’s. After a visit to Robert’s widow, Monica, in the hospital, Edward calls and convinces Anita she would be safest with Jean-Claude at the Circus of the Damned. Richard takes her there and declares that he is staying as well. Jean-Claude declares that he loves Anita, and although Richard is jealous, the three of them combine again to form a triumvirate of power. Through the combined powers of the vampire, the werewolf, and the necromancer, Anita is able to raise not only zombies, but several vampires, who will now owe primary allegiance to her. They perform some experiments to see if this combined power will enable Anita to heal Sabin, and Dominic assists with some of the spells. Later it is time for the werewolves to meet and for Richard to challenge Marcus at last. With Anita watching, Richard manages to kill Marcus, although he does have assistance from Edward and others. When Anita wants to shoot Raina, Richard stops her, and shifts into wolf form over her, to her shock and dismay. She ends up back at the Circus, so distraught that her defenses are low; and for the first time she makes love with Jean-Claude, admitting that she loves him, too. In the morning, one of the werewolf guards, Cassandra, proves to be a traitor and abducts Anita so that she can be killed in one of Raina’s porno snuff films. Cassandra is part of a triumvirate with Sabin and his human servant, Dominic, and they hope to steal the power from Anita, Jean-Claude, and Richard to heal Sabin. Anita is able to convince Gabriel to return some of her weapons by promising to hurt him in the way he enjoys. Anita kills Gabriel and Raina, and goes with Edward to rescue Richard and Jean-Claude. In the process of saving them, Anita has to accept three vampire marks, sealing her to Jean-Claude as a human servant. Also, she has to kill Edward’s backup, Harley; and he extracts a promise of future help from her in repayment. As the novel closes, Richard is very angry with both Anita and JeanClaude, making their triumvirate useless, but Anita still loves him.

40

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

Burnt Offerings (1998) As usual, things start with a bang. While consulting with the fire department about an arsonist, Anita is called away. Larry has been wounded by a member of Humans First. Then Stephen calls about a friend of his who needs help, Nathaniel. At the hospital, Anita encounters Zane, who is trying to carry off Nathaniel. When she stops him, Zane is surprisingly grateful, as he sees it as Anita stepping up to take care of the wereleopards, who have been leaderless since Gabriel’s death. Pack politics are complicated, and this is further exacerbated by the situation between Richard and Anita. She must constantly reaffirm her dominance with the wolf pack. With the wolves and the leopards at least temporarily settled, JeanClaude and Anita go out to dinner and are approached by emissaries of the vampire council who wish to meet with them. One of these emissaries is a horribly scarred vampire named Asher. It seems obvious to Anita that there is a history between Asher and Jean-Claude, but she is unaware of what it might be. Asher informs them that the Traveler has been preventing them from sensing what is going on with his own people. At the Circus they realize that there is a traitor in their midst—Liv. She is an older vampire, but not a master, and she has been granted more power from the Traveler for her betrayal of Jean-Claude. Vampire politics are complicated, too. The Traveler is a member of the vampire council whose unusual ability is that his consciousness and power move through the bodies of others. For now, he has taken the body of Willie McCoy, a fairly new vampire whom Anita has known since before he was turned. The first meeting with the Traveler, and Padma, a council member who is Master of Beasts, goes poorly. Much violence is done to various local weres, including the Rat King, Rafael, who is partially skinned, and Sylvie, a werewolf with whom Anita had been having problems, being raped by Padma’s son, Fernando. Anita realizes she must take active control of the wereleopard pard (their word for pack) or more will suffer. Along with all the violence being done to and by the shapeshifters, there are ongoing attacks on vampire-owned businesses and the vampiric Church of Eternal Life. Anita, doing what she can to help both werewolves and wereleopards, has angered Richard yet again, and he informs her he is replacing her as lupa of the pack. But Anita has other things to do. She agrees to heal Nathaniel, and is able to accomplish that by channeling the dead (and very nasty) Raina, who is now a ghost.

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter—Part 2

41

And now, a halfway house for vampires (or humans in the process of turning) owned by the Church of Eternal Life has been firebombed. Anita picks up Larry and, suitably attired in Haz-Mat gear, goes into the burned, partially flooded house. The rescuers are unable to save anyone, and end up having to kill several vampires in the ruins. Discovering that there have been similar fires in other cities, Anita suspects the vampire council of being behind the carnage. A “dinner” is called for the final meeting with the council and, through her power, combined with that of Jean-Claude and Richard, Anita and her friends are able to win through, although not without losses to themselves and their souls. Anita has had to embrace Raina’s power, using it to best Padma, and Asher makes the decision to stay in St. Louis. Richard seeks a lupa from another pack, and Anita is declared “Nimir-Ra” or leader of the wereleopards.

Blue Moon (1998) Anita is awakened from a sound sleep to a telephone call from Richard’s little brother that informs her that Richard is in jail in Tennessee for rape. She immediately finds the name of a good lawyer, and prepares to go to him. Jean-Claude has been forbidden by the local Master of the City to send any of his people, but phone calls and adjustments are made. Anita will be accompanied by the vampires Asher and Damian as well as by shapeshifters Jason, Zane, Cherry, and Nathaniel. They travel in Jean-Claude’s private jet to Myerton, Tennessee, where they are taken to Blue Moon Cabins. Once there, they make a few calls, then head for the jail and make the acquaintance of Officer Maiden. They are joined by a couple of Richard’s wolves, Jamil and Shang-Da. Richard is not welcoming to Anita, and she leaves. As the group leaves the jail, they are attacked by five men, and Anita is injured by one of the baseball bat-wielding thugs. After the attack, Sheriff Wilkes arrives and although he seems hostile to Anita, he cannot deny that she has been injured by the attackers. Nevertheless, he warns her to leave town. Richard is now out on bail, and seems determined to flaunt his relationships with other women in Anita’s face. They may be at odds, but the love/lust between them has not abated. In the midst of their painful discussions, they learn that Richard’s mother, Charlotte, has tracked down the woman who accused Richard of rape, and is confronting her in a public bar. While Anita manages to avoid a full-out fight, it’s a close

42

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

call. Richard now makes plans for Anita to attend a formal meeting of his pack with the local werewolves. Jamil teaches Anita and her leopards more about the etiquette of the lukoi, but the lesson is interrupted by the two vampires, Asher and Damian, bringing in Nathaniel, who has been tricked away from the group by a werewolf named Mira, and poisoned by bites from the local vampires. While Anita and the vampires are able to restore him, it is a tiring and draining process. Afterwards, when the local pack leader, Verne arrives, Anita demands reparations, and asks for Mira’s head in a basket. The meeting takes place under an oak tree with bodies hanging in it. Anita learns the hard way how literal the werewolves are, when she, sickeningly, receives a basket with Mira’s head in it. When the meeting turns hostile, Anita is able to save her 16 people from nearly 100 vampires by calling on the munin (the spirits of the dead pack members hanging in the tree) to help. In the aftermath, when the wereleopards ask Anita why she risked so much to save them, she finally admits they are hers, and she will not allow what is hers to be harmed. During an attack by the local werewolves, Anita is forced to channel Raina and the munin again, and cannot control them until she makes love to Richard. Their reconciliation is short-lived, however, and Sheriff Wilkes shows up ostensibly to question them, but in reality to make them leave town. Shortly after, a body is discovered in the woods, and it appears that Richard, in his lycanthrope form, has murdered the woman who accused him of rape. Anita is convinced the killer was a demon, not a shifter. Later, Anita and Richard are blackmailed into meeting with Frank Niley, a sinister character who has been lurking around the edges of the action. He has instigated much of the mayhem as part of a real estate grab. Anita ends up pretending to leave town, only to go to the home of the local pack’s wise woman, Marianne, who offers to teach Anita how to control the munin. Later, Anita receives a visit from two of Niley’s thugs, who bring a lock of hair from Richard’s brother and the tip of his mother’s finger. Anita repays them in kind, cutting off the fingers of one to make him tell her where the hostages are being held before killing him. She is able to rescue the captives, and Niley is killed by a demon he is summoning. Wilkes was in on the plot, and he dies as well. In the end, Richard confirms that Anita is his lupa, and she begins lessons with Marianne to control her powers.

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter—Part 2

43

Obsidian Butterfly (2000) Edward is calling in the favor Anita owes him. He requires her assistance as a backup in Santa Fe, New Mexico. There are 10 people missing and 12 dead, and he has no idea what did it. At the Albuquerque airport, Anita is met by Edward in his persona as Ted Forrester, and “Ted’s” fiance´ , Donna. Anita is appalled that Edward is deceiving this nice woman and her two children into thinking he’s something he’s not—that is to say, normal. Edward takes her to the hospital to examine survivors of the attacks. A detective, Marks, is suspicious of Anita. Her track record with local law enforcement continues to be rocky. The bodies, when she sees them, have been skinned, and all their external sexual organs and tongues removed. She becomes ill and has to leave the room. Anita is at a loss as to what could have completely skinned the victims and yet left them alive. Edward drives Anita to the most recent crime scene. Their relationship, as with all Anita’s friends and associates, is complicated. With Edward, it seems to be a contest as to who would be able to kill whom first. At the crime scene, Anita sees a soul and assumes it is that of the son of the owners, since they are among the skinned victims. It’s time for lunch, and Anita and Edward join Donna and her two children, Becca and Peter, at a restaurant, but their meal is interrupted by thugs threatening the family. The situation is dealt with, but Anita has to reprimand Donna for giving way to her emotions when she should be comforting her children. Anita learns that Edward became involved with Donna while investigating Riker, who wants to bulldoze archeological sites and harvest the artifacts for private sale. Edward genuinely cares about Donna and her family, which worries Anita. This is unlike the Edward she knows. Anita and Edward drive back to Santa Fe to his house, where Anita meets the rest of the team: Bernardo Spotted Horse, a handsome man who hits on Anita immediately, and the very scary Olaf, a convicted rapist. Olaf is actually a serial killer, and Anita matches his victim profile. The tension between the team members is palpable, and Anita behaves badly out of nervousness. After studying the case files, the group leaves to visit the Master of Albuquerque at her club, Obsidian Butterfly. The Master, Itzpapalotl, is an Aztec vampire who thinks she is a goddess; and she is powerful enough that no one disputes this. She is still punishing Spanish conquistadors for their rapes while they were still human, and she gives Anita information about Aztec sacrifices.

44

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

The next day, Anita and Edward are summoned to another crime scene. She decides that the skinned victims in the hospital are actually not alive, but zombies. A lead from Donna takes her to question a brujo or witch, Nicandro, but he provides little information. Returning to the hospital, Anita finds that the skinned ones are attacking. Although most are destroyed in a fire, one escapes and begins eating the babies in the hospital nursery. Anita is able to kill it, although she nearly dies in the process and must be saved by a witch, Leonora, the wife of a doctor. A return visit to Nicandro’s bar yields the information that the monster may be an Aztec god named Red Woman’s Husband. Other information surfaces, and it is learned that Riker has kidnapped Donna’s children. Edward, Anita, Bernardo, and Olaf arm themselves and head for Riker’s place. After an intense firefight, the human bad guys are taken out, but Anita is captured by Red Woman’s Husband. It was his quetzalcoatl that had murdered and skinned the humans while they were retrieving ancient artifacts; and now he plans to sacrifice her in an attempt to resurrect the Aztec gods. She is able to thwart him with Olaf’s help. Olaf has now decided that Anita is his “soulmate” and he will be watching her.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS • The books in the series are all told from Anita’s point of view. How might they differ if they were told by Jean-Claude? Richard? What if they were told by a third person narrator? • Anita is the daughter of a Latina mother, and feels like an outsider in her own family. In college, her fiance´ broke up with her due to pressure from his family, who felt she was too different to fit in with them. How does Anita’s background affect her relationships to the men in her life? • The concept of humanity is central to the Anita Blake series. How does Anita’s growing closeness to a vampire and a werewolf affect her view of what constitutes humanity? • Another important concept is Anita’s view of morality. Throughout the first part of the series, she relied on a strongly held moral code to carry her through some very harsh situations. Now, some of the tenets she clung to seem to have shifted. She fears she has become amoral, but has she? Or has she found a new standpoint? • Edward is an enigma throughout the series. How has his character evolved from the cold-hearted, sociopathic assassin as the series has progressed?

5 ANITA BLAKE, VAMPIRE HUNTER—PART 3: THE ARDEUR

INTRODUCTION In the later Anita Blake novels, Hamilton introduces the concept of the “ardeur,” a power normally an attribute of vampires of Belle Morte’s line. It means that she must feed by having sex on a regular basis, much as a vampire must drink blood. Throughout the novels, Anita is less and less concerned with either animating or her work as a federal marshal, and more tied into the pack politics and personal relationships.

SUMMARIES Narcissus in Chains (2001) An evening out with her old friend Ronnie is interrupted when Anita receives a call that one of her wereleopards, Nathaniel, is in trouble at a club called Narcissus in Chains, and she needs to rescue him. Anita calls Jean-Claude, figuring that she will need his assistance, but he is cool towards her because their relationship has been distant of late. She is reluctant to involve Richard in this situation, but at the club, it is revealed that that Jean-Claude and Richard have made a deal that when either of them

45

46

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

gets a call from Anita, both will respond. The three perform a sex and magic ritual to blend their powers more firmly. In the rather messy business of extracting her cats from the club Anita is wounded, and may have contracted lycanthropy. She wakes from a healing sleep to find herself in bed with two wereleopards she does not know, Caleb and Micah. She is able to feed off Micah’s lust for her to help heal herself. Through her metaphysical contact with Jean-Claude, she is now infected with the “ardeur”: the need to feed through sexual energy. She has sex with Micah and feeds from his lust the way a vampire feeds on blood. Jean-Claude has been jailed for Anita’s murder, and the police (and others) are astonished to see her alive at the station. The charges against him are dropped. At home, Jean-Claude insists that Jason stay with Anita, knowing she will need to feed the ardeur, and that she must have multiple men about her at all times until she is able to control it better. She endures a psychic visit from Jean-Claude’s sire, Belle Morte, and also learns more from Jean-Claude about the long ago days when he, Asher, and a human servant named Julianna were all deliriously in love together. That ended badly when Julianna and Asher were captured by the Inquisition; Asher ended up scarred, and Julianna dead. Anita and her wereanimal friends meet with the Richard’s pack at the lupanar, and Richard announces it is time to choose a new lupa for the pack. Anita faces down several challenges, including locating Gregory, who has been imprisoned in an oubliette. He is seriously wounded, and Anita has to help him heal and shift, so that he can finish healing. Richard arrives on the scene, and he and Anita go through their usual round of fighting, making love, and Richard’s poisoning things with his anger and despair. He hates what he is and seems bent on making life more difficult for everyone around him. In addition, the ardeur scares him, and he cannot handle what Anita has to do to feed her hungers. In the morning the house is attacked by the snakemen they had battled before at Narcissus in Chains, and there are deaths on both sides. Dolph comes with the police to question Anita and confesses that his son is going to marry a vampire, and he’s deeply unhappy about it. Micah, Anita and Nathaniel seem to be forming a strong bond, as the two wereleopards are accepting of Anita’s needs, but they do not have much time to spend together, as a coalition of the St. Louis shapeshifters turn up on their doorstep. Later, meeting with Jean-Claude at the Circus of the Damned, they discover that Belle Morte is doing more long-distance meddling, and she nearly succeeds in turning them all against one another. Later, Narcissus summons Anita to the club, and it is discovered that he has been used by a “panwere,” Chimera, who is capable of shifting

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter—Part 3

47

into a variety of species. Chimera was once a vampire hunter, like Anita, until he became infected with a rare form of lycanthropy and turned into a sort of super-shapeshifter—an insane one. He has orchestrated much of the problems with the local weres in order to draw out Anita to become his mate. He is seeking to control Richard’s wolfpack and Anita’s pard as well. Anita uses powers she learned from Itzpopalotl to draw out Chimera’s life force and gives it back to the people he has abused. In the end, Richard is more than ever estranged from Anita and JeanClaude; and Micah and Nathaniel are feeding Anita’s ardeur.

Cerulean Sins (2003) As often happens, Cerulean Sins opens with Anita confronted by a questionable client. In this case, Leo Harlan is a contract killer who claims he needs Anita’s assistance in raising an ancestor for genealogical research. He has come to her because she is the only animator capable of raising a 200-year-old corpse without a human sacrifice. To complicate her life and Jean-Claude’s, Musette, an emissary from Jean-Claude’s sire Belle Morte, has arrived three months ahead of schedule. She and her entourage have come to test Jean-Claude’s powers and possibly unseat him as Master of the City. As part of the bid to unnerve Jean-Claude and Anita, two of Musette’s vampires are eternal children, twisted by their centuries trapped in immature bodies. To protect Asher from Musette, who has a claim on him through Belle Morte, JeanClaude and Anita take him to bed, where Anita feeds the ardeur with both of them, and Asher feeds on her blood. His special power of making his bite orgasmic almost leads to Anita being killed from blood loss. Later that day Anita is called in by the police. A series of horrifically brutal murders require her expertise; but Dolph Storr, the head of the Regional Preternatural Investigation Team, is at odds with the world, and makes the job even more difficult than usual. Although local cops are, as usual, uncooperative, Anita’s new status as a federal marshal does deflect some of their obstruction. She becomes so ill at the crime scene, however, that she passes out and is taken home by Jason. While she recuperates, surrounded by the wereleopards, she sees Belle Morte in a dream vision. Waking, she needs to feed the ardeur again, and has sex with Jason. She is trying to cope with the demands of the ardeur while still holding onto her self-image as a moral person. But the need for feeding on sex is making this increasingly difficult without having actual intercourse with her various men.

48

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

As Anita is gradually coming back to herself, the wolves bring Richard in, gravely drained by Belle Morte, who can use her powers even at a great distance. They want to use Anita’s large bathtub to soak him. Given the rocky nature of their relationship, she hesitates, but eventually agrees and plans to move her household to the Circus of the Damned while Richard is at her house. On the way to the Circus, Belle Morte manifests inside Anita, and triggers the ardeur yet again, almost causing a car accident. Following this, Anita also has a vision of Marmee Noir, the oldest vampire and the Mother of All Darkness. This creature wants her and her powers. In addition, Anita is starting to realize she’s being followed by humans. Cornering the two men, she arrests them as a federal marshal. They turn out to be hired guns—one with a dossier as an international terrorist—but before she can question them, she is informed that Jason has been arrested. The police believe that the scratches on Jason’s arm, made by Anita while they had sex, are defensive wounds. And Dolph seems determined to believe, also, that Anita has become one of the monsters, and that she’s pregnant. It comes out that his son is going to be voluntarily turned vampire by his daughter-in-law. Dolph’s meltdown in the interrogation room ensures that Jason is released, but it will be damaging to Dolph’s career. That night, a vampire banquet is scheduled to honor Musette, but her actions have forfeited her right to safe conduct within St. Louis. Belle Morte possesses her and threatens Jean-Claude again, planning to reclaim Asher as her own. Through considerable sacrifice, Asher is saved, although the relations between Anita and Jean-Claude and Richard have deteriorated even further. Richard seems bent on self-destruction, through his hatred of what he is. And Anita becomes convinced that Marmee Noir is awakening, and showing interest in her. Plus, Belle Morte is planning a war against the Mother of All Darkness, and that conflict could destroy any peace the vampires have created in the world. Called to yet another crime scene by Zerbrowski, Anita learns that the murders are connected to the mercenaries following her and to the bodyguards of a former client. The team was hired to recruit her to raise a zombie overseas, but decided that her zombies did not look lifelike enough to pass for living. She is able to track down the killer, an outof-control shifter, and executes him in the middle of a shopping mall. The current crisis is past, but the fallout continues. Anita tries to gain some peace with Nathaniel and Micah, while she continues to date JeanClaude and Asher.

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter—Part 3

49

Incubus Dreams (2004) Serving as a groomsman (groomswoman?) at the wedding of her colleague Larry Kirkland, Anita is called away from the festivities—where the jealousy of Detective Jessica Arnet, who has a crush on Nathaniel, has surfaced—to consult on a crime scene. The victim is a stripper, obviously killed by multiple vampires. Anita fears the murderers may be members of Malcolm’s Church of Eternal Life, as the vampires of the church are not blood-oathed to Jean Claude and therefore not regulated as closely as most of the vampires of the city. Returning to the reception, Anita ends up having heart-to-heart talks with Micah, Nathaniel, and Jason. Also, her friend Ronnie is having problems with her boyfriend, the wererat Louis Fane. He proposed to her, and Ronnie’s scared of commitment. At home, Anita feeds the ardeur with Nathaniel and Damian, and unexpectedly forms a triumvirate of power with them, similar to the one she shares with Jean-Claude and Richard. But Damian, suddenly finding himself awake in the daytime, goes feral, and is only overcome with help from Richard, arriving inconveniently with a new girlfriend in tow. Damian must be rebound to Anita with a formal blood oath. Even so, her failure to keep the ardeur (as well as her normal hunger) fed, endangers Damian, who draws his life force from her. In the midst of this chaos, Anita is coming to the realization that she is starting to view Nathaniel as a boyfriend. Anita and Richard are still pushing each other’s buttons, though. They continue to fight about Anita’s love life. And Nathaniel makes it clear that he wants the relationship to move to a new level sexually. She promises Nathaniel she will see him at Guilty Pleasures that night to watch his act. In the afternoon Anita goes to work and has an unsettling encounter with a pair of grieving parents. She cannot raise their son, as murder victims make uncontrollable zombies. The parents do not understand that the boy will come out of the grave as a ravening beast that will be unstoppable until his murderer is destroyed. Anita does promise to take the son’s personal effects to a psychometrician, who may be able to see clues to the identity of the murderer. Following the meeting, as Anita is recovering from being physically assaulted by the murdered boy’s mother, she needs to feed the ardeur again and has sex with Nathaniel; but he does not orgasm, wanting his first completed sex act with her to be under different circumstances. Dropping Nathaniel at Guilty Pleasures on her way to her evening zombie-raising appointments, Anita finds one of the vampires on security

50

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

at the club causing a disturbance. Primo, an offspring of a vampire Council member known as the Dragon, is making a bid to unseat Jean-Claude as Master of the City. He is overcome, but it leaves both Anita and JeanClaude depleted. While Jean-Claude feeds from the emotions of the crowd, Anita, in a back room, feeds her ardeur, as well as Jean-Claude, by having sex with Byron, a British vampire she would not normally have turned to. Afterwards, she goes to her zombie-raising with Requiem, a vampire, and Graham, a werewolf. They are along not only to be bodyguards for her, but also to serve as food if the ardeur rises again. The raising goes oddly, and Anita feels she has enough power to raise the entire cemetery. But again, her power expenditures are too great, and she is forced to feed on Requiem before returning to Guilty Pleasures. At the club Anita reluctantly goes on stage with Nathaniel and finally marks him in public as he wishes. Afterward, Jean-Claude confesses that he has made Anita love him, because he trusts her to kill him if he becomes as monstrous as his sire, Belle Morte. Anita is appalled, but sees the truth of his statement. Before she can rest, Anita is called to another crime scene. Another stripper has been killed, and she determines that the crime is by the same vampires who were behind the other killings. She is now convinced that an unknown master vampire is in the city, leading a pack of vampires in the murders. Back at the Circus of the Damned, where she has returned because it’s closer than going all the way home, Anita bunks in with Jason and Nathaniel. She and Nathaniel finally make love, but as she feeds on Jason, her beast demands to be let out, and by shifting her beast to Jason and Nathaniel, she causes them to go into half-animal forms. Usually Anita refuses to have sex with her wereanimal lovers in that state, but this time she makes an exception. All is well until Richard shows up in a foul mood and demands to talk to Anita. His girlfriend has dumped him and he wants to talk about it. Apparently, she disliked his lovemaking, and he feels Anita can provide insight. Eventually, Jean-Claude joins them, in need of blood. After much negotiation they agree that Richard will feed Jean-Claude, and that the three of them will attempt to magnify and focus the power of their triumvirate. Early the next evening Anita goes with Zerbrowski to question a witness. She learns that the Church of Eternal Life is not teaching their new vamps how to be vampires. This is brought home as they are called to a murder scene where a woman is dead after a poorly done femoral bite. The vampire most likely to be responsible is traced to the Church, and Anita and the team must interrupt a service. She ends up executing a

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter—Part 3

51

murderer vamp in front of the entire congregation. She also encounters two warrior vampires, the brothers Wicked and Truth, and blood-oaths them to Jean-Claude. She is also able to determine the location of the unknown master vampire’s daytime resting place. She and the Mobile Reserve plan to go in at dawn. Anita returns home to rest, but before she can drag herself to bed, she gets a call from Ronnie, who is drunk at a strip club, and needs a ride home. In the process of extracting her friend from the club, Anita finds another murdered stripper. Shortly after, the serial killer master vampire sets a trap for the team. Everyone realizes the danger, but the rescue of a human civilian trumps caution. Storming the location, they take out the right number of vamps, but Anita is convinced these are not the true killers, and fears that the closed case will simply enable the master to move on and set up operations in another city.

Micah (2006) Micah is a short novel, and more focused in some ways than most of the series. In it, Anita is summoned to Philadelphia on short notice, substituting on an animating job for Larry Kirkland, who must stay home to deal with a complication in his wife’s pregnancy. The job appears to be straightforward—reanimating a federal witness for an organized crime investigation—but as is usual with anything Anita is involved in, the case is more complicated than it first seems. Since Anita knows she will need someone to feed the ardeur, she cannot travel alone. Of her current men, the best one available to go with her is Micah, the wereleopard. She is dismayed to realize this is the first significant stretch of time she has spent alone with Micah, and his decision to reserve a luxurious room for them without telling her causes her to react badly. Anita and Micah are wellsuited to one another, but they have so many barriers to intimacy that being alone with him is more stressful than it should be. However, during the course of their stay they do have some serious and much-needed discussions about Micah’s survivor’s guilt and some of his sexual fears. An alarmingly well-endowed man, he was once rejected because of his size, and is having difficulty accepting that Anita has no problem with this. Anita is still dealing with a recent increase in her power that has brought not only the ardeur and its accompanying need for sex every few hours, but also increased her powers as an animator; and she is now as likely to raise an entire cemetery as one corpse. The actual raising she was hired to perform is not without problems. The corpse of a murdered man will go uncontrollably after his murderer. In this case the

52

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

witness, Emmett Leroy Rose, who dies of a heart attack, considered himself to have been murdered. The heart attack was brought on when he was framed for murder by Arthur Salvia, a lawyer for the mob, so Rose attacks Salvia. In the ensuing chaos, Anita is knocked out, and Salvia is killed. While brief, almost more of a novella than a novel, Micah nonetheless serves as a bridge between some of the other novels and gives Micah himself a chance for growth and revelation to the readers. He had previously been a little bit of a cipher, just the perfect non-demanding man to stay in Anita’s bed and help her feed the ardeur. With this story he is presented in a more three-dimensional way; and while he remains less dramatic than some in his needs and interactions with Anita, he shows that he is a worthy partner for her.

Danse Macabre (2006) The world’s first mostly vampire dance troupe is coming to St. Louis, and to mark the occasion Jean-Claude is hosting a party for masters of cities across the nation, many of whom will be bringing candidates to become Anita’s new pomme de sang. At the pre-event get together, two of Jean-Claude’s old friends are present. Samuel, the Master of Cape Cod, is there with his wife, a siren, and their sons. He and his wife hope that Anita’s powers as a succubus can bring one or more of the sons into full sirenhood, as there are no other sirens left in the world. The other Master, Augustine of Chicago, has brought two werelions for Anita to try out. With Jean-Claude out of the room, dealing with a problem, Auggie forces the ardeur to rise in Anita. He has memories of the powers of the ardeur from vampires of Belle Morte’s line, and wants to feel its force again. She rolls him and, under the influence of the ardeur, they end up having a three-way with Jean-Claude to feed the ardeur. In the midst of this Richard arrives, full of his usual attitude. When Anita drops the bombshell that she may be pregnant, discussions ensue. Richard and Nathaniel are the leading candidates for paternity (Micah having had a vasectomy, and vampires being notably infertile). As usual, Richard is pushing for Anita to abandon everything (and everyone) in her life to settle down in his unrealistic vision of domestic bliss. Micah and Nathaniel, on the other hand, are willing for their own lives to be rearranged to accommodate a child. To verify her condition, Anita uses a home pregnancy test as the others wait, and comes up positive. Finally, exhausted, she goes to bed with Micah, Nathaniel, and Jean-Claude, only to have a visitation from the Mother of All Darkness.

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter—Part 3

53

Awakening, Anita is distressed enough at this and other developments that her various strains of lycanthropy attempt to manifest, and she must push her beasts into others. Nathaniel is first, then Haven, one of the werelions from Chicago. Richard was hoping that she would finally shift into a wolf, as he believes that would supersede the other strains, and she could be his lupa for real. But Anita is aware that if she shifts he will never accept her. One of the side effects of Anita’s growing power is that the vampires who look to Jean-Claude, and are fed through Anita’s ardeur, are waking earlier in the day. One such, Requiem, is so addicted to the touch of the ardeur that he has dumped his powerful vampire lover on the chance that Anita will take pity and feed on him. This is creating problems, as Meng Die, the rejected vampire, begins to threaten the stability of Jean-Claude’s power structure. Due to possible complications from her involvement with lycanthropes and vampires, Anita goes for an emergency prenatal doctor visit. She and her fetus are at risk not only of “Vlad Syndrome,” which occurs in children of vampires, but also “Mowgli Syndrome,” a birth defect arising from having sex with a shapeshifter in animal form, and which could have profound developmental effects. Either of the syndromes could result in Anita’s death, as well. The tests and ultrasound reveal, surprisingly and to her great relief, that she is not, in fact, pregnant. Other issues which have arisen, however, are Anita’s realization that the ardeur may have shaped her responses to Micah and Nathaniel, and theirs to her. She questions whether the love she feels for them is real, or merely the influence of the ardeur. In addition, she is beginning to wonder if she is in fact a panwere, like Chimera, and when she will shift for real and into what beast. Or will she be able to take multiple beast forms? She may be the Regina, or dominant female, of the local werelions, as well as holding that position with the wolves and leopards. She must learn to accept all of this, but she rejects Haven, realizing that Augustine only wants him as her lion in order to gain a foothold in the city. Eventually, the entire group makes it to the ballet performance. As the performance progresses, Anita realizes that an extraordinarily powerful vampire is trying to psychically subjugate the entire audience, including the six Masters of the City who are present. Anita stops him, but the use of her power attracts another visit from Marmee Noir. Awakening from the vision in which the Mother of All Darkness has revealed herself both as a shapeshifter and a vampire, Anita discovers that while she was unconscious, Richard put a cross in her hand which has melted into her flesh. Later, questioning Merlin, the force behind the dance troupe, Anita learns little from him, but manages to frighten him with the information that Marmee Noir is awakening from her long slumbers.

54

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

At the end, Anita is coming to an acceptance that she is a succubus, a living vampire that feeds off sex.

The Harlequin (2007) Anita is visited by Malcolm, head of the vampire Church of Eternal Life. He believes some of his vampires are being framed for murders. He cannot bring this to Jean-Claude, so he has come to Anita. He is worried that something (of which he cannot speak) is after him, something sent by the vampire council in Europe. Shortly after this, Anita receives a mysterious parcel containing a white porcelain mask. Jean-Claude informs her it is a message from a group of enforcers for the vampire council. The Harlequin was instituted by the Mother of All Darkness to police and punish vampire leaders who violate various rules, such as Malcolm’s resistance to the blood oath. Modeled in style on the Commedia dell’arte and in action like the wild hunt, it is composed of very old and powerful vampires who are capable of manipulating the emotions of vampires and lycanthropes. The Harlequin begins by granting a request for a meeting. Anita decides heavy backup is in order, and at dawn she calls Edward. After some discussion he agrees to come to St. Louis. Returning to JeanClaude’s bedroom, she prepares to settle down with Micah and Nathaniel, when Richard arrives and asks to join them. Anita is skeptical, but later, as she is visited in a dream by Marmee Noir, she is glad have Richard near. The Mother of All Darkness can call cat lycanthropes, but not wolves. Marmee Noir wants Anita, and does not wish her to be taken by the Harlequin. As protection she gives Anita yet another beast. In addition to wolf, leopard, and lion, Anita now has a tiger within. As usual, though, Richard can only make things worse with his presence; and he spends his time pouring his bitterness and anger out on all around him, especially Anita. Into this mix, the King of the Wererats, Rafael, comes with a demand. He feels that although the rats have been allies, they need a closer bond with the Master of the City, and he has observed that Anita’s lovers, and their animal groups have gained in both power and protection. With all present influenced by the psychic powers of the Harlequin, a confrontation develops that ends with Richard and Jean-Claude gravely wounded, and Anita using the ardeur to feed on the wererats. In the course of this, she learns the location of two of the Harlequin. Almost dead, Anita has a dream of Belle Morte and is told that in their attack on her and Jean-Claude, the Harlequin have violated their

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter—Part 3

55

own laws. Anita wakes in a hospital room. Edward has arrived, and a plan has been concocted. To save Richard, Jean-Claude, and through them most of the vampires in the city, Anita will have to draw power from yet another animal group by feeding the ardeur with its leader. The lions have declined, a decision they will regret, but the swan king, Donovan Reece, is amenable. Anita is furious with Edward’s choice of backup. He has arrived with Peter, his 16-year-old almost stepson, and Olaf, a serial killer who has a fixation on Anita. As she recovers, she must deal with the traitorous leader of the lions, and with the arrival of Haven, a thuggish werelion who is ready to take over the pride. In the final showdown with the Harlequin, Columbine and Pantalone are shown to be acting outside of council authority, making a bid to take over St. Louis and establish their own territory. Jean-Claude and Anita are able to defeat them because of the devotion they command from their people, vampires and shifters alike. But in the process, Richard completes his alienation from Anita. He will not stand with her and JeanClaude, fearing the ardeur. At the end of the novel, a true representative of the Harlequin gives Anita an amulet against Marmee Noir, and St. Louis is safe from the current crisis. But the rising power of the Mother of All Darkness is a shadow on the future.

Blood Noir (2008) Jean-Claude’s pomme de sang, Jason, has received bad news. His estranged father is dying of cancer, and his mother wants him to come home. He should preferably have a girlfriend in tow, since one of the points of contention between father and son is that Jason’s interest in dance, his job as a stripper at Guilty Pleasures, and his physical appearance all hit his father’s radar as homosexual. So Jason asks Anita to accompany him to his hometown and let everyone think they’re a serious item. Anita agrees, reluctantly, after Nathaniel, Micah, and Jean-Claude all urge her to go. Arriving in Asheville, North Carolina, Jason and Anita are immediately caught up in local troubles. Jason is mistaken for Keith Summerland, the son of an influential local family. The current governor of the state, who is starting a run for the presidency, is a Summerland, and his bad boy son, Keith, is scheduled to be married in Asheville in a few days. Anita quickly learns that many of the townspeople are descended from nineteenth century religious cult leader Jedediah Summerland, and his blond, blue-eyed good looks have bred remarkably true through the

56

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

generations. Jason has been dealing with being mistaken for one of the Summerland twins, who are his age, for most of his life. And landing in town just before Keith’s wedding puts Jason and Anita into the middle of a media circus. A visit to the hospital shows Anita just how dysfunctional Jason’s family is. One of his sisters once witnessed Jason—or possibly someone who looked much like him—in a very compromising position, and it reinforced the family’s bad opinion of him. Later, an encounter with Keith Summerland’s fiance´, Lisa, another old friend of Jason’s, leads to an invitation for him and Anita to attend the bachelorette party. And this is a problem for Anita, who realizes too late she will not be able to control the ardeur in such a sexually charged atmosphere. When the entertainment for the evening arrives in the form of a vampire and male weretiger strip act, Anita loses control. Returning to her room with Jason, she is joined by the white tiger, Crispin, and a red weretiger. Unaware that her mind has been take over, or “rolled” by Marmee Noir, Anita has sex with the three weres for two nights, waking on the following day with no memory of the events, and her metaphysical connection with Jean-Claude blocked. Since their arrival, Anita and Jason have been alternately harassed and protected by Governor Summerland’s men; and it is only now that Anita learns that Keith Summerland has eloped with the vampire bride of a Master of the City. His life is in danger, and so are Jason’s and Anita’s because of Jason’s resemblance to Keith. Although Anita does not yet realize it, she and Jason are being used as convenient decoys to draw the attack of the vampire’s hit men. Anita is already upset that she has spent nights of which she has very little memory having unprotected sex with two strangers, when into this volatile situation, Richard appears to make things worse. Jean-Claude, worried at the lack of communication between them, has sent Richard to check on Anita. The werewolf has gained some of the ardeur, as well as a good portion of Anita’s inner rage, and uses it ruthlessly to try and roll Anita, to make her desire only a monogamous relationship with him. She manages to break free of his metaphysical hold, but discovers that Jason has become her animal to call. Crispin is another problem: she has rolled his mind so thoroughly that his free will is gone. Whether this is through her powers as a necromancer and as a vampire’s human servant, or whether it is part of her status as a “little queen” weretiger (a female powerful enough to split from a clan and form her own family) is unclear. Evidently, she has inadvertently put out a call to every unmated weretiger in the country to come to her as a possible mate, and this will have continuing repercussions.

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter—Part 3

57

With Richard dismissed, Anita and Jason plan to go visit his family in the hospital again, but as they prepare to leave they are abducted by vampires. Perhaps fortunately, Jason is still being mistaken for Keith Summerland, and Anita is discounted as simply a girl on the side. She is able to kill both vampires and summon help, but not before Jason has been tortured and badly injured. As he recovers in the hospital, his father comes to him, and the two are finally reconciled. She learns later that the third man she killed was the human servant of the Master of Charleston, and that the vampire has died with his servant’s death. In order for JeanClaude to save face with the other Masters of the City, Anita and Jason will be rumored to be “punished” for their indiscretion, and JeanClaude will be freer to date others. Anita will have to deal with her increased powers over the weretigers, and she is very worried that Marmee Noir is gaining strength.

Skin Trade (2009) Anita Blake has received some strange things in the mail, but now she has gotten a severed head in a box, mailed from Las Vegas. She suspects Vittorio, the vampire serial killer, is involved. She calls Undersheriff Shaw in Las Vegas, and is told a message to her was found written in blood on a wall next to the decapitated body of a policeman. The situation is dire, and Anita agrees to go to Las Vegas. Before she can leave, Edward calls and invites himself along; Anita needs backup but will have to leave St. Louis before Jean Claude awakes, so she agrees. Once in Las Vegas, Anita begins to meet the officers in the Preternatural Unit, all of whom have psychic abilities. Anita realizes she will have to pass a test of her own power before she is accepted as one of them. She is tested by “Cannibal” who feeds on memories, and she has a flashback of fighting Vittorio; his power, however, goes beyond that and they feed on the emotions of each other’s memories. Both are “living vampires”—succubi. Despite bonding well with the team, Anita is interrogated by Shaw and others; her standing with local law enforcement is strained, as they have a hard time accepting she is what she is reported to be. Shaw in particular seems to have a chip on his shoulder about her. Edward turns up, and there is yet more discussion about Anita’s capabilities to do her job. Edward reveals that Olaf/Otto is also along, as well as Bernardo Spottedhorse. Anita and Olaf greet one another. There is a very twisted sexual tension between them; he is a serial killer and has a crush on her. With all the delays, the vampire hunters are now going to the crime scene as darkness falls.

58

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

At the crime scene, they realize the fallen officers were not fed on, but bled out. The evidence is incomplete, however, and they need to go to the morgue for further investigation. Anita and Olaf examine some of the slaughtered cops, and Anita concludes that one of the killers was a very powerful weretiger, and also that one of the policemen, a Wiccan practitioner, was trying to cast a spell when he died. She proceeds to seek an audience with Chang-Bibiana, Queen of the White Tiger Clan and wife of the Master of the City, Max. Anita must prove her power once again, as Bibi sees her as a rival for leadership, and the tigers recognize her as a “little queen,” one who does not yet rule a clan but has the capability to do so. At this point, thanks to Marmee Noir, Anita carries a rainbow of tigers as part of her lycanthropy, including colors thought to be long extinct. She has already made Crispin her white tiger to call, and adds a black tiger, Domino, and a blue, Cynric. The weretigers differ from most in their clan structure— which always looks to a female leader—and their emphasis on favoring naturally born over made weretigers. Added to the disturbing mix is Victor, the son of Max and Bibi, a born tiger with a vampire father and ambitions of leadership. He promises to help Anita and the police identify the killers, and provides a list of the tigers in the area capable of the partial shift that is indicated by the crime scene evidence. The police, particularly Shaw (whose wife left him, it transpires, for a shapeshifter), are presenting a problem. As usual, Anita’s reputation has preceded her, and her attitude does not help. After the first suspect tiger is apprehended, Anita has a metaphysical vision, realizing that Marmee Noir wants to possess her body. Meanwhile, another of the tigers being surveiled by the police has apparently attacked, and by the time Anita is allowed on the scene, the tiger is mortally wounded, and two SWAT officers have been minced. Anita and Edward agree that the SWAT officers were killed by something beyond the force of any lycanthrope. Interrogating the tiger’s girlfriend, Anita comes perilously close to shifting and is clawed from the inside by one of the tigers she carries metaphysically. She has to be stitched up by a doctor who works with local shifters. After some rest to heal, Anita and the other marshals go to visit Phoebe Billings, the high priestess of the local Wiccans. En route, Anita receives word that bodyguards (and food for the ardeur) have arrived from St. Louis. The visit with the priestess leads to another repulsed attack on Anita by Marmee Noir, and the revelation that an untrained local witch has

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter—Part 3

59

raised a blade-handed demon that might be responsible for some of the killings. Before Anita can go after him, though, she must feed, and the vampire brothers Wicked and Truth transport her into the desert to feed the ardeur with sex. Afterwards Anita gets a call that the Vittorio’s vampires have taken hostages in a strip club. Outside the club, she confronts Vittorio and learns that he, too, wants to make her his human servant. When his bid to master her is thwarted, Anita and the police are left with 10 vampires who were bespelled by Vittorio. Legally, they must be executed for their actions, but Anita and a policeman work to prevent what they now see as murder. Exhausted, Anita goes to rest, but her sleep is disturbed by a dream of Marmee Noir and Vittorio, who turns out to be almost as old. He was once Father of the Day, with power to walk in sunlight, and to call armies of jinn from the air. He is on the verge of regaining his powers; and in the dream, Anita sees Marmee Noir destroyed by explosives. When she wakes she finds that she has fed on all the available colors of tiger, but Vittorio has taken the power. He has also kidnapped Max and Bibiana. Confronting him in his daytime lair, Anita is able to best Vittorio by unleashing the ardeur. Slowly, she is learning to embrace her powers.

Flirt (2010) The short novel, Flirt, opens with Anita having a bad week. Two clients have come in, both wanting what she is unable or unwilling to do. Wealthy Tony Bennington wants her to raise his deceased wife as a zombie that will not know she’s dead, and who will look completely lifelike. Equally rich Natalie Zell wants her unfaithful husband back, but only so she can kill him all over again—painfully. In the midst of these disquieting meetings with would-be clients, Jason, Nathaniel, and Micah arrive to take her out to lunch. They have a lovely time together, and the boys flirt with the waiter, teaching Anita a bit about flirting as well. She’s such a prickly personality, it does not come easily to her; but she’s willing to learn. Two weeks later, Anita goes back to the restaurant, and the same waiter is very pleased to see her. She chats with him until a werelion enters the restaurant. This werelion, Jacob, and his cohort, Nicky, have a grim message for Anita. Unless she accompanies them, and raises a zombie for a client, snipers are watching her three men and will kill them unless instructed otherwise. But there’s a wrinkle. Anita, although she does not shapeshift, carries multiple strains of lycanthropy, in addition to having the powers of a living vampire. And the lions are very attracted

60

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

to her. They almost fight over her, and the unity of the werelion pride is broken very quickly under her influence. Anita is not surprised to learn that one of her two problem clients is behind this threat. She knows that she is in very great danger, but has to cooperate to keep her men alive. The pride’s witch, Ellen, has cast a circle of power around their location, so Anita is cut off from metaphysical contact with Jean-Claude or any of her other lovers. She comes to realize that her one hope of survival and victory is to feed off Nicky, and in the process to roll him as thoroughly as any vampire would. When she does, he loses all free will to her. Jacob comes to escort her to the cemetery where the corpse that she must raise is interred. Under the mistaken idea that she will need a human sacrifice in order to do the job, the werelions have brought a prostitute in, drugged. She dies before Anita can explain that it’s unnecessary; but in a scuffle, one of the werelions is mortally wounded, and Anita uses his death to call up her power. She raises not only the zombie she must, but the rest of the graveyard as well, and commands the zombies to destroy the man who threatened her. With the zombies put back in the ground and the circle of power broken, Anita discovers that her men are riding to her rescue. She has saved herself and them, and Jacob will never bother her or hers again. But she’s stuck with Nicky, now her pet werelion. Flirt is also notable for the inclusion of an essay following the story, describing Hamilton’s writing process and how she developed the idea for the story—sparked by an actual incident involving a waiter in a restaurant—into the completed novel.

Bullet (2010) Anita and her friends are attending a student dance recital to see the child of a woman under Jean-Claude’s protection, as well as Jason and Nathaniel, who are dancing with older students. Both Jason and Nathaniel perform surprisingly well, to Anita’s delight, but there are undercurrents of emotion in the evening that are troubling to her. Asher seems discontented, and when they return to the Circus of the Damned some of the reason comes out. He feels rejected and unloved, as Jean-Claude has not been his lover out of deference to Anita. His power has increased, lately, and he threatens to take the werehyenas, led by Narcissus, and move to another city to establish his own territory. At this juncture, Richard appears, and seems to have completely turned around his behavior, offering to take part in a me´nage a quatre

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter—Part 3

61

with Anita, Jean-Claude, and Asher to make up for past misdeeds. This placates Asher for the time being. A metaphysical attack from Belle Morte and Padma, the Master of Beasts, lets them know that the vampire council has split, and some are looking to wipe out Jean-Claude before he becomes powerful enough to set up his own alternative council in the United States. In addition, there is still the thread of the Mother of All Darkness. They are advised that one of the only ways to ensure that they are not subsumed by her is for Jean-Claude and Anita to become the new Master of Tigers. But before this can be accomplished, Anita must sort out the local werelions and choose a lion to call. Haven, who has become the Rex of the pride, is ready to step into the spot, although he is very jealous of Nicky, whom Anita rolled so thoroughly he now has no free will and is technically a “Bride.” (This is related to the Brides of Dracula, and is a term picked up by the preternatural community to indicate those mind-slaves of vampires—or in this case, succubi.) When Haven arrives, he has with him two younger lions, Travis and Noel, who are close to death, having been beaten by the Rex because he suspects (falsely) they have slept with Anita. She saves the lions, but is unable to convince Haven of their innocence. Eventually Anita is forced to kill Haven after he shoots at Nathaniel, wounding him and killing Noel instead. Already shocked by this, Anita is hit with the news that a contract has been put out on her, Jean-Claude, and Richard; and also that the Master of Atlanta has gone mad, revealing himself to be one of Morte d’Amour’s bloodline of rotting vampires. These vampires are both rare and extremely dangerous, and Anita’s warnings to local law enforcement concerning the danger are not sufficiently heeded to prevent heavy loss of life. Before Richard can be warned about the contract, he is shot by assassins, and only survives because Anita is able to draw on the power both of her bond with the wereanimals, and her death-energy. She uses magic she learned from Obsidian Butterfly to extract the life essence from two of Richard’s pack, and this gives him the strength to shift, and recover from his wounds in wolf form. To fully create a metaphysical bond with the weretigers of all clans, Anita is presented with an opportunity to bond with several golden tigers, a species hidden by servants of the Harlequin for over 2,000 years. In the end, an uneasy balance has been restored. The power of the council has been broken, and the Harlequin and the Mother of All Darkness have been divided. While a vampire civil war is brewing, there is no clear overwhelming power among the factions.

62

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS • What is your viewpoint on the ardeur? Is it simply a curse, or does it enable Anita to grow in unexpected ways? • Throughout the entire series, how has Hamilton shifted and re-imagined the vampire to suit her narrative? • Where do you think the series is going? What form will the conflict with Marmee Noir take?

6 AN AMERICAN FAIRY PRINCESS: THE MERRY GENTRY SERIES

INTRODUCTION Hamilton’s second series, debuting in 2000, steps far away from the vampires and weres of the Anita Blake books into a universe peopled by Celtic faeries. These beings hold little resemblance to Tinkerbell: they are taken from the old traditions of the Irish and other Celtic peoples. These faeries are tall, beautiful, with flowing, often ankle-length hair. Many of them were gods at one time. The heroine and main focus of the series, Meredith NicEssus, or Merry Gentry, is not a typical faerie. She is shorter, not as slender as the Seelie Court in particular expects, although she does have the “sidhe scarlet” hair and triple-colored eyes of the sidhe. Merry is in her mid-30s, which makes her centuries—if not millennia, younger than most of the fey.

SUMMARIES A Kiss of Shadows (2000) Princess Meredith NicEssus, the only faerie princess born on American soil, is working incognito for the Gray Detective Agency in Los Angeles under the name Merry Gentry. She is in hiding from her Aunt Andais, 63

64

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

Recurring Characters and Key Terms The Merry Gentry series features the following major characters and terms: • Andais—The sadistic Queen of the Unseelie Court. She is Queen of Air and Darkness, Merry’s aunt, the sister of Essus, and mother of Cel. Andais is a war goddess, and her personal guard, called the “Queen’s Ravens,” is composed exclusively of men sworn to celibacy, except where she is concerned. Although she is a sadist and is widely believed to be insane, Andais appears to have the best interests of the Court at heart and has sworn to abdicate her throne in favor of either Cel or Merry, depending on who can first demonstrate themselves fertile with a sidhe child. Her consort is Eamon. • Barinthus—A former sea god and one of the Queen’s Ravens, Barinthus is one of the most powerful members of the Courts. He has long been called the “Kingmaker” for his involvement in the selection of court rulers. He had supported Essus and now he is trying to help Merry ascend the Unseelie throne. • Cel—Prince of Old Blood and son of Andais. His personal guard is made up entirely of women. Where his mother is suspected of insanity, his is clear. He is completely without morals or scruples. • Demi-fey—Lesser fey, these resemble the fairies of popular conception. They are small, often with wings, and are regarded as inferior by the fey; but they do have their own court and their own Queen. • Doyle—Captain of the Queen’s Ravens. Completely black of skin and hair, he is often referred to as the Queen’s Darkness (or simply as “my Darkness” by the Queen). He is a warrior of mixed blood, a peerless swordsman. • Faerie—The realm ruled by the fey. • Frost—Doyle’s second-in-command. Frost began existence as an embodiment of the winter weather, and grew from being Jack Frost into the powerful warrior he now is. Sometimes he is referred to as “Killing Frost.” Frost is brooding and temperamental. • Galen—From her childhood, Galen has been Merry’s best friend. He is the youngest member of the Queen’s Ravens, and does not remember the great days of faerie power. His lineage is half pixie and half Unseelie sidhe; he has green hair and is a descendant of fertility deities. His powers include a subtle ability to make people like him, but he is extremely apolitical, naı¨ve, and idealistic. For

An American Fairy Princess

• •

• •

•

•

•

• •

Merry, he represents the idealism and innocence of childhood. The problem is that Merry is learning quickly that in order to survive, she needs to let go of ideals and innocence. Jeremy Grey—The owner of the Grey Detective Agency is a minor supernatural character. His detective agency is one of the only ones in America that offers services to and concerning the fey. Kitto—The bastard child of a snake goblin and a raped sidhe woman, he is a long-abused subject of the Goblin King, given to Merry by Kurag as part of their alliance. Merry must share flesh with him, either by sex or as a bite, to keep her alliance. Kurag—The King of Goblins, this bloodthirsty, violent being is one of Merry’s few, allies. Due to his respect for Merry’s father, he is willing to give Merry a chance. Meredith NicEssus/Merry Gentry—Princess, Daughter of Essus. Her name NicEssus means daughter of Essus. Then first Faerie Princess born on American soil, she is young and of mixed blood, her grandmother being a brownie. She is mortal, unlike most fey, in her mid-30s, but has a lifetime of experiences of both the Seelie and Unseelie Courts—much of it bad. Merry has chosen to live outside of faerie, incognito, to keep from being assassinated. Rhys—A member of the Queen’s Ravens, and a former God of Death. He is a film noir buff, and a longtime friend of Merry’s. One of the few fey to keep a house outside the sithen, or faerie mound, he is more conversant with technology than many of the fey. Centuries ago, he was captured and tortured by goblins, and lost one eye in the process. He has never forgiven the goblins for his disfigurement. Seelie—The Seelie sidhe are the ones who appear to be good and beautiful, although their surface hides the ugliness of their practices. They insist on all in their court being beautiful; but is a beauty of appearance, and not necessarily spirit. Sholto—Lord of the Sluagh, he is the son of a sidhe father and a nighthag, and it shows in the nest of tentacles around his middle, although in most respects he closely resembles the sidhe. As King of the Sluagh, and Huntsman of the Wild Hunt, he is an important ally of the Unseelie Court. Sidhe—another term for fey, or faerie. Sidhe usually refers to the high fey, who are tall, slender, immortal, and beautiful. Their eyes and skin glow with a lovely light during sex, and they are altogether magical. Siobhan—Captain of the King’s Guard, she is Cel’s right hand and personal killer. She can kill with a touch.

65

66

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

• Sithen—Faerie mounds, the sithen are living entities that change at whim. Rooms appear and disappear, and light falls from a nonexistent sky. Entrance to the sithen is at the behest of the mound itself, and time sometimes runs at a different rate inside the sithen than it does outside faerie. Each court has its own sithen, as does the Sluagh. • Sluagh—A realm of faerie even more strange than the Unseelie Court. This is a collection of misshapen and terrible creatures who have long been, like the goblins, perceived as footsoldiers of the Unseelie sidhe. • Taranis—The King of Light and Illusion has ruled the Seelie Court for centuries, although his rule is in increasing jeopardy, as his powers are failing. He is Merry’s uncle, and she has never trusted him since he almost killed her as a child for asking an inconvenient question. • Unseelie Court—The faerie court that holds the dark side of faerie; the members of the Unseelie Court are mostly fair of form and face, but they are much more honest in their actions than the Seelie fey. They often have powers more connected to blood and death.

the Queen of Air and Darkness, who rules the Unseelie Court of faerie. Meredith has escaped detection, so far, because she can use her personal glamour, or magic, to disguise herself. As the novel opens, Merry is confronted by two women, who have a story about fey-wannabes and ritual magic. Merry goes undercover to investigate and discovers that the culprit is using a magical aphrodisiac oil called Branwyn’s Tears to sexually enslave women with fey blood. But his “magic” is being controlled by a sidhe, and he dies, leaving Merry outed as the long-sought missing princess. Following a lengthy police interrogation, in which she is forced to use very direct methods to prove what Branwyn’s Tears can do, Merry’s friends from the detective agency attempt to help her evade the Sluagh, a host of lesser Unseelie fey dispatched by her aunt with orders to kill her or at least return her to faerie for execution. The attempt is unsuccessful, and Sholto, King of the Sluagh, makes her an offer. If she will become his lover, he will protect her from her aunt. She is hesitant, because his mixed blood has bequeathed him a physical deformity, a nest of tentacles on his stomach. And before she can quite overcome her reaction, she is attacked by his other lovers, a trio of nighthags. Along with her mortality, another of Merry’s faults, in the eyes of the queen, is that she has not manifested adult sidhe powers. But now one of

An American Fairy Princess

67

her father’s gifts, the “Hand of Flesh” manifests—an ability to turn an attacker literally inside out. On the run again, Merry finds herself trapped, and the Captain of the Queen’s Ravens, Andais’s personal guard, appears. Doyle, known as the Queen’s Darkness, promises her safe passage back to the court and proves this by giving her the Queen’s mark, transferred via a kiss. The Sluagh were tricked into trying to murder her, and both Doyle and Merry suspect Cel, the Queen’s son and heir. The next day, they travel back to St. Louis, where the fairy mound, or sithen, of the Unseelie Court is located. Merry is greeted by two more of the Queen’s Ravens, her old friends Galen and Barinthus. Riding to the sithen in the magical Black Coach (currently manifesting itself as a limo) Galen and Merry almost fall victim to a lust spell. The Queen long ago decreed that her guards must be celibate, except with her, and Doyle and Galen have both now come close to earning death by torture. Arriving at court, Merry learns the reason for the Queen’s urgency and also for Cel’s attempts on her life. Andais fears that the sidhe are losing their power, and that her bloodline is dying out. She is willing to free the guard from their geas—or oath—of celibacy, but only for Merry, and only in an attempt to get the Princess pregnant. Whoever becomes fruitful first, Merry or Cel, will take their place as the Queen’s rightful heir; and in fact, the Queen offers to abdicate in favor of Merry once a child is conceived. Merry is rightly wary of the Queen’s sincerity, and fearful of further attempts on her life. In order to strengthen her position, she begins making alliances with the Sluagh, with the goblin king, Kurag, and with the demi-fey. She is a politician, and grew up in the rough school of the Unseelie Court. And to cap off the story, it is discovered that Cel was the one who allowed Branwyn’s Tears to be used on humans. For this violation of faerie law he must suffer severe punishment: he is to be covered in the aphrodisiac and chained alone in a dark cell for three months. Torture, even for an immortal.

A Caress of Twilight (2002) Merry has taken up life in Los Angeles in her old apartment, but now she has roommates. Doyle, Frost, Rhys, Galen, and Kitto are with her, as guards and lovers. About three months have passed and she is not yet pregnant. As the story begins, Merry and two of her guards are approached by a representative of Maeve Reed, a longtime movie star and exile from the Seelie court.

68

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

When Merry meets with Maeve, she learns that Maeve is also desperate to conceive, ideally with her dying, mortal husband. In addition, Maeve reveals the secret that earned her exile: as the goddess Conchenn, she was approached by the Seelie King, Taranis, to become his new queen, but refused him out of the conviction that he is infertile. This is explosive. If the news leaked, the sidhe of the Seelie court would demand his blood to reinvigorate their people. A sterile king means a dying people. One of the lessons Merry is learning is that if she is to be a queen, she must be the queen first within her household, and she finds this difficult to get across to her guards. With the fear that more assassination attempts might occur at any time, the guards see Merry as someone to be protected, not obeyed. Merry and Doyle finally consummate their relationship, only to be interrupted in the afterglow by Queen Andais, using a mirror for communication, who informs them that the Nameless has been released and is heading westward. The Nameless is a conglomeration of magics, the product of the last great working of the fey. They gave up much of their magic at the time Thomas Jefferson allowed them into the country, in an attempt to make themselves into something that could exist side by side with humanity. Using mirror magic, Merry also calls Queen Niceven of the demi-fey, seeking a cure for Galen. He was injured by the demi-fey, and his wounds will not heal. Merry is also looking to enlarge her alliance with the tiny winged folk. The price of the cure and an alliance is a weekly drink of Merry’s blood by a surrogate to be chosen by Niceven. The next day, Merry is called to a crime scene for consultation. Dozens of people have been found dead, apparently suffocated, but no cause has been identified. Hostility from the human police detective in charge sends Merry away; but not before one of her guards, Rhys, determines that the killings are the result of fey magic, specifically the release of elder ghosts, the spirits of fey. Rhys feels this could be the start of a bid to cause war between the courts, or another try at killing Merry. And as a former death god, he has some expertise in this area. Kitto, Merry’s goblin, is taken ill and seems to be rapidly fading into death. Determining that only sharing flesh with him will halt his downward spiral, Merry allows him to bite her, and the flesh and blood revive him. While her wound is being dressed, King Taranis’ social secretary appears in the mirror and summons Merry to a Yule ball in her honor. Merry finds the invitation both problematic and ominous. Meanwhile, the cure for Galen’s wounds, promised by Niceven, can only be passed on by intimate contact between Merry and Niceven’s demi-fey representative, Sage. In the process, Merry learns a closely held

An American Fairy Princess

69

secret of the demi-fey: some are able to change size to almost human height. When Galen is healed, he is Merry’s choice for performing a fertility ritual to assist Maeve and her husband to conceive a child. In acting the part of the Green Man in the ritual, Galen helps Maeve become pregnant. In the meantime, King Taranis is pressing for Merry to come to the Seelie court, and insisting she must do so before Yule. She is suspicious of his motives, and her men concur. They fear he may seek her death as a sacrifice to renew the Seelie sidhe. After refusing Taranis’ invitation, Merry discovers Detective Lucy Tate has arrived with news of another mass murder. In fact, this is the third such crime scene, but the first was not publicized. There is, they learn, one survivor, a fey. Questioning him, they discover that Taranis is responsible for releasing the Nameless, specifically to kill Maeve Reed. A confrontation with the Nameless at Maeve’s house results in the manifestation of Merry’s second hand of power, the Hand of Blood. Calling all the blood out of the Nameless, Merry and her guards are able to overcome it and bind it back into the earth. The balance of power in faerie is shifting, and Merry is emerging as a force to be reckoned with.

Seduced by Moonlight (2004) Seduced by Moonlight begins shortly after the events of the previous book. Merry and her lovers are in Los Angeles at the house of Hollywood screen goddess (and former “for real” goddess) Maeve Reed, dodging paparazzi and trying to get her pregnant. But these relatively innocent pursuits are not to last long. Merry is called in to a conference through a mirror with the Goblin King, Kurag. He insists that Merry prove to him that Kitto has become sidhe following sex with her. Eager to press her advantage, Merry bargains for an extra month of their alliance with every goblin hybrid she can bring into sidhe magic. But she must prove that Kitto has been brought into sidhe powers, and the easiest way is to make him sexually aroused enough to glow, as the sidhe do. Kurag also has two half-sidhe goblins, Holly and Ash, he wants Merry to bed—although neither one is particularly keen on the idea. At this point, Siun—the nightmare of a goblin who formerly owned Kitto, and who tortured Rhys when he was a goblin captive—appears. In his panic, Kitto accidentally uses his new magic and traps her halfway through the mirror. Seeing that Siun is stuck, Kurag allows her death; and the proof of Kitto’s power is enough to convince Ash and Holly to

70

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

try for powers of their own with Merry. The killing of Siun also proves that Rhys has regained his godhead as the death deity Cromm Cruach. Meredith has become a vessel for the Goddess, Danu, and without her own volition brings Maeve back into her godhead. When Frost touches her during this, he, too, gains godlike powers that he never had before. In addition, long-lost magical artifacts seem to be reappearing around Merry, the first being a silver chalice. The cup or cauldron also reappears after Merry has a dream about it, an effect that has significant impact upon the sidhe who believed it lost forever. The reappearance of the chalice presents several problems for Merry and her men. As a relic of the Seelie court, they fear King Taranis will demand its return, even if Queen Andais does not attempt to wrest it from Merry. In somewhat circular logic, Doyle and the others reason that Merry’s possession of the chalice is proof that she is meant to have the chalice. They do not have much time to contemplate this, however. Merry, with her guards, is due at the Unseelie court to pay a visit to her aunt; and two nights after that, King Taranis of the Seelie court is hosting a ball in her honor. Arriving in St. Louis, she is met by Barinthus and an assortment of the Queen’s Ravens, all there not only to protect her, but to test the power of the ring she wears. Before, it indicated men with whom she would be fertile; now its powers are increased. The ring’s reaction to Barinthus, once a sea deity, is so strong that rivers and lakes overflow for miles around. Magic is not the only problem. During a press conference, there is an assassination attempt, and when Merry reaches the sithen she finds that her Aunt, Queen Andais, is in the grip of bloodlust, slaughtering her own men. Merry is forced to use the hand of blood to stop it, and in the process dies, reborn with the power to heal with a kiss. She is able to save even the most grievously wounded and bring the Queen back to some form of sanity. At the Queen’s court that evening, Merry fights a duel and both her opponent and the instigator of the plot against herself and Andais are killed. Merry has proven herself a worthy opponent, and there is now some thought that she may have become immortal, as well.

A Stroke of Midnight (2005) The action picks up the day following the events of Seduced by Moonlight. Merry is the center of attention at a press conference within the sithen. Surrounded by her guards and lovers, she explains that she was not harmed by the assassination attempt the night before. The press

An American Fairy Princess

71

conference ends abruptly, however, with the discovery of two bodies in a corridor—a demi-fey and a human photographer. Merry persuades Queen Andais to allow human police into the sithen, thinking that criminal forensics might find the culprit. On the way to meet the police, Merry and Amatheon, a new addition to her retinue, experience a vision, and continue the bringing of life back to faerie. When she returns to herself, she discovers that Galen has nearly been killed. Cel’s allies, and even those who merely fear Merry’s mixed blood, know there has been a prophecy that the “green man” will create new life. That is taken to mean that Galen will be the one to impregnate Merry and become king. Andais is starting to come to grips with the idea that her son, Cel, is neither sane nor fit to rule the Unseelie court. In the meantime, Merry has also used the Queen’s ring to find a fertile couple, Nicca and Biddy, and bargains with Andais for them to have each other, since the lack of babies within the faerie courts has become a crisis point. A suspect is arrested in the murders, and Merry learns she has offended Niceven, queen of the demi-fey. In order to retain her alliance with Niceven, she makes a deal that she will give blood to a wingless demi-fey, Royal, in hopes of bringing on his wings. The rest of the wingless demi-fey will look on. An unexpected side effect of a sexual encounter with Galen, Nicca, and Kitto causes a wall to explode, and many of the waiting demi-fey are injured. In the course of healing them, Merry brings on all their wings. She also gains a mark of power on her body, the living image of a moth. The murders turn out to have been a minor affair, prompted by sex and jealousy. But they are solved by the Queen with torture before the human police have time to process their evidence. Another curious circumstance has arisen. As in eras past, time in the sithen has begun to run at a different rate than in the mortal world. While investigating whether this is true in other sithen as well as in the home of the Unseelie court, Rhys and two other guards are accused of raping a Seelie sidhe.

Mistral’s Kiss (2006) Merry, asleep in the Queen’s bed after the events of the previous novel, dreams of the Goddess and the Consort, and awakens with a drinking horn made from a boar’s tusk held in gold, an ancient artifact of power that once belonged to the sidhe now known as Abeloec. When he drinks from it, he regains some of these powers. And as he makes love to Merry,

72

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

joined by Mistral, the new captain of the Queen’s Ravens, they are all transported into the dead gardens of the sithen. The Queen appears, unhappy with Mistral, but makes a bargain with Merry that if her magic, released by sex, can bring a sign of life back to the garden, she can save a group of sidhe from torture and death. Sex with Mistral brings on a storm, and the water and magic reawaken the land; although one of Merry’s guards, Aisling, a sidhe of incomparable beauty, dies in the process, his body transformed into a flock of birds. Merry asks for a door out of the gardens, and the sithen opens one, but it leads to a place of danger. And when she asks for a door into the dead gardens again, it gives her a door into the hollow hill of the sluagh, a place filled with bones and a dying lake. Sholto, King of the Sluagh, appears. He is wounded and angry. Lured by a Seelie sidhe woman who promised him sex, he was trapped and mutilated, his tentacles shorn from his torso. Merry must convince him that she and the Unseelie court had no foreknowledge of the atrocity. Sholto wants to believe her, and one of the night hags, Segna—who is both a lover and a guard—is overcome with jealousy. She attacks Merry and is mortally wounded when she falls on sharp bones. According to the law of the sluagh, Merry herself must make the kill. But Segna is not dead yet, and she attacks Merry and Sholto, wounding him further and sending him to the bottom of the lake before Merry can use her hand of blood to incapacitate the night hag. Sholto rises from the lake, having found a bone spear, another longlost and ancient artifact of power belonging to the sluagh. The hag finally slain, Sholto and Merry make their way to the island of bones in the center of the lake. They are visited by the Goddess and the Consort, and Sholto has a choice to make: to bring back the sluagh as it once was by sacrificing Merry, or to use her life-magic and recreate the sluagh differently. He chooses Merry’s way, and they make love. The sluagh is remade, but wild magic is hard to control, and Sholto looses the Wild Hunt, not knowing if he and Merry will be its prey. Merry and the other sidhe are forced to flee, finding a door that puts them outside the Unseelie sithen, still pursued by the Wild Hunt. While her men hold off the Hunt, Merry finds a band of goblins led by the half-sidhe Holly and Ash, and reminds them that their king swore alliance with her. With their help and Merry’s hand of blood, the Wild Hunt is vanquished. All the men who had disappeared along the way now come forward. They have gained in power; and Galen, emerging from the earth into the Hallway of Mortality, the Queen’s torture chamber, releases all the prisoners—including, unfortunately, the Queen’s son, Cel.

An American Fairy Princess

73

With her cousin released, it is too dangerous for Merry to stay at the sithen, and Sholto uses the power of the sluagh to take her and her guards back to Los Angeles and relative safety.

A Lick of Frost (2007) Merry and her guards, Rhys, Doyle, Galen, Frost, and Abeloec are giving depositions regarding the alleged rape of a Seelie noblewoman by Rhys, Galen, and Abe. It soon becomes apparent that the ambassador from the United States to the kingdoms of faerie has been subverted and bespelled by the Seelie King, Taranis, to regard all Unseelie fey as evil and deformed. When Taranis himself joins the conference, by means of a mirror, he nearly overcomes Merry with his magic. And when it becomes evident that the charges against Merry’s guards have been falsified, Taranis loses control and tries to kill several of the guards while Merry is carried to safety by Galen. Doyle and Abeloec are badly injured in the attack, which must be stopped by the King’s own guard. One of the officers, Sir Hugh, tells Merry a vote will be taken among the Seelie nobles to replace the king, and suggests that Merry herself is a viable candidate. Merry declines to declare whether she would accept the offer or not, saying she must talk with her aunt, Queen Andais. When Merry returns to Maeve Reed’s house where she and her guards are living, and calls Andais, she finds that the Queen of the Unseelie court has already been told that Merry has agreed to rule. Andais is furious, and takes out her anger by abusing her guards. Eventually, Merry is able to convince Andais that her informant was mistaken, but the abuse continues as Andais is jealous of Merry’s attraction for the Queen’s remaining guards. In addition, Merry has to finalize her meeting that night with the two half-sidhe, half-goblin brothers, Holly and Ash, who wish to have Merry bring them into their sidhe powers through sex with her. Holly and Ash arrive in the evening, with a guard of Red Caps. Merry greets Jonty, a Red Cap who fought alongside her in an earlier battle. She has brought back some of their power, and he is so moved by her acknowledgement, that he sheds a tear. In accordance with goblin culture, Merry catches the tear on her finger and drinks it. Somehow, this simple action invokes magic; Maeve’s house is remade into a sithen, and faerie land is created. In recent days, Merry’s magic has returned faerie dogs to her people, and those who are able to touch one of the dogs are grounded, and withstand the shock of recreation. Others, not so fortunate, collapse. Some are revived by a lick from the faerie dogs, but Frost, who is Merry’s favorite, remains unconscious.

74

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

At this time, too, Merry’s ring of fertility flares to life, and she realizes she is carrying twins. As has happened before in faerie lore, each twin has multiple fathers, so instead of one king, Merry will have six: Doyle, Frost, Rhys, Galen, Mistral, and Sholto. She also sees a vision of a third child, a potential child to be born later. To her distress, however, Doyle tells her that he and Frost received a dream vision earlier, that one of them would need to be a willing sacrifice. Frost is the sacrificed king, although he is not dead. As a result of Merry’s prayers to the Goddess not to let him die, he is transformed into a white stag, and there is no indication when or if he will ever regain his sidhe form. Going alone into the gardens to grieve, Merry is attacked by Taranis. The King of Light and Illusion has disguised himself as one of her guards, and while she is unconscious from his assault, he takes her back to the Seelie court. When she awakens naked in his bed with a concussion, he announces that they have had sex. Merry is able to tell the faerie healer that she was already pregnant, and she, along with Sir Hugh and some of Merry’s men who have infiltrated the Seelie sithen, manage to sneak her out of the bedroom and into a press conference. Taranis had planned to announce that he had saved Merry from rape at the hands of her own guards; but instead she tells the reporters first that Taranis had cast an illusion to make Lady Caitrin believe that she was raped by Unseelie fey, and that it was Taranis and his henchmen. She also reveals that she is pregnant, and that she was kidnapped and raped by Taranis. Merry is taken to a hospital for treatment and to do a rape kit. She has won the race for the Unseelie throne, but she mourns the loss of Frost more than she is happy at her victory.

Swallowing Darkness (2008) Following her rape at the hands of King Taranis, Merry is taken to the hospital for treatment. The next morning, she is surprised and pleased to have a visit from her Gran, the half-human, half-brownie who raised her. It soon becomes evident, however, that Gran holds serious grudges against several of Merry’s lovers, now the fathers of her children. She accuses Sholto of the murder of her great-grandmother, during one of the wars between the courts, and speculates that Doyle, in his role as the Queen’s assassin, may have been the one who killed Merry’s beloved father, Essus. Her hatred is uncharacteristic, and her sudden attack on Merry and her guard shocks them, but they are able to control her when discovering that she is under a spell put on her by Merry’s cousin, Cair. When Cair strikes again through Gran, unleashing her hand of power,

An American Fairy Princess

75

the men are forced to kill Gran; and Merry calls the Wild Hunt to find Cair, as she is a kin-slayer. This time, Merry rides with the Wild Hunt, leaving Galen and Rhys to carry Gran’s body back to faerie for burial. The Wild Hunt finds Cair in the midst of the Seelie court, and it becomes clear she bespelled her grandmother at the behest of Seelie nobles to assassinate Doyle and Sholto. She reveals that a plot is in motion to kill Mistral; and after she is executed, Merry goes after Mistral. When she finds him under attack by archers using cold steel, she executes the leader of the plot, Onilwyn, herself. Merry is learning that being pregnant is making her more ruthless in her protection of herself and her kings. Merry and Sholto take Mistral, gravely wounded, into the sithen of the sluagh, which creates a healing bower for them. Before they can tend to Mistral, though, they must rescue Doyle as well. A full-blooded fey, being in a human hospital surrounded by metal is killing Doyle. As they go to his rescue, Merry and Sholto are crowned and handfasted by the powers of faerie. They return with Doyle, and sink into an enchanted slumber within the sithen of the sluagh. Awakening, they find Sholto’s power threatened, and he is reconfirmed as king, with Merry his queen, by the bestowing of weapons of power on himself, Merry, Doyle, and Mistral. In addition, the sluagh sithen is under siege by the nobles of the Seelie court, who claim Meredith is being held against her will. They are there to “rescue” her. Merry retaliates by insisting on calling in the human military, knowing that the Seelie sidhe will have to back down or risk being exiled from the country, according to the terms of the treaty they made with Jefferson. The Seelie withdraw; but Merry, fearing an attack by Cel’s allies, decides to travel with a military escort. She is justified in her caution, as the convoy is indeed attacked. Merry is forced to use the hands of flesh and blood to destroy the captain of Cel’s guard, Siobhan, and eventually confronts Cel himself. In the meantime, she has discovered that she can use her hands of power to heal as well as destroy, and brings back Jonty and the Red Caps with her powers, as well as a number of human soldiers. Doyle defeats Cel; but his mother Queen Andais attempts to intervene and as she does, the crown of moonlight and shadows, the crown of the Unseelie court, is transferred from her to Meredith. She also learns that it was Cel who killed her father, Essus. Cel is destroyed, but in the fighting, the white stag who is Frost transformed, is mortally wounded. Merry is unwilling to give up Frost, and renounces the crown if the Goddess will save him. He is reborn from the body of the stag, and reunited with Merry and Doyle. As the novel ends, Merry has returned to Los Angeles with her kings, determined to find her own happy ending and keep all safe, far away from the faerie mounds of Illinois.

76

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

Divine Misdemeanors (2009) Pregnant, and back working in L. A. at the Gray and Hart Detective Agency, Merry is called as a consultant by the police to the scene of a particularly strange homicide. A group of flower faeries have been killed, dressed and posed to mimic a book illustration. While Merry is questioning a tiny demi-fey who claims to have witnessed the killers, she is interrupted by Gilda, the Godmother of Los Angeles. Gilda is not a true fey, but a human transformed by wild magic into a sort of counterfeit fairy. Her jealousy of Princess Meredith precipitates a melee with the police and paparazzi, leading to some unfortunate publicity for Merry. Later at a beach house with most of her men, Merry has a vision sent by the Goddess of some of the soldiers she had saved and the Black Coach, now shaped like a military Humvee, and her intervention rescues them again. The Goddess moves her to have sex with Rhys on the shore, between land and water, and their passion releases magic that creates a new sithen—or faerie mound—in Los Angeles. Following that, she has sex with two of her guards, Ivi and Brii, in order to prove to them that they are free to begin relationships with female guards. As both of these are men with vegetative magic, the sex with her causes a cherry tree to sprout and grow to full size in the house, which casts an aura of peace over the remainder of the weekend. Weekends end, however, and on Monday another fey murder is reported. But before Merry can leave for the crime scene, Barinthus, who has been regaining some of his former powers, shows his jealousy. Merry has brought many of the sidhe back into their full power, and Barinthus was once the sea god, Manaan Mac Lir. He longs to have all his power back. His anger almost creates a fight between him and Galen and Doyle, both of whom he sees as lesser sidhe since they are of mixed blood. Merry is forced to assert the authority both of her royal bloodline and the rulership given her by the Goddess to partially defuse the situation. At the new crime scene, a psychic who works with Merry for the detective agency is able to use his empathic powers to reveal clues about the killers. His information is at odds with that of the earlier witness. Back at the main house, Merry first encounters the tiny demi-fey who have gathered around her. The Queen of the demi-fey, Niceven, is demanding that Merry fulfill her part of the agreement between them and allow one of the demi-fey to feed on her blood. When she feeds Royal, she gives him the ability, rare among the demi-fey, to shift his size to that of almost human. She also has a few minutes to spend with her half-goblin lover, Kitto. Despite Merry’s self-imposed exile, the politics

An American Fairy Princess

77

of the Unseelie Court, and the echoes and scars of the past, continue to reach out and touch her life. Her alliances with the goblins and the demi-fey seem to be unstable, apt to collapse at any moment if she does not take care. Before dinner can be served, Merry and her older guards, including Rhys, Doyle, Sholto, and Barinthus, are called to come to a police lab specializing in analysis of magical items to inspect the wand confiscated from Gilda. They determine it is a device designed to steal fey magic but not created by the sidhe. The next day more demi-fey are found slaughtered. And a mysterious human who wants to be a sidhe turns up at the offices of the detective agency to talk to Merry, eventually giving her the identities of the murderers—a human wizard and his demi-fey lover. A final confrontation with the killers serves to heal some of the rifts between Merry and her friends, particularly Barinthus, but there can be no end of the politics of the faerie courts, and they will continue to affect the lives of Princess Merry and her extended family throughout her pregnancy.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS • How do the Merry Gentry books make use of Celtic faerie lore? • Religion and godhead are important themes in the series. What is your reaction to the Goddess worship depicted in the books, and the close relation between nature and supernatural power? • How do the Seelie and Unseelie Courts both mirror one another and serve as opposites? Despite its darkness, Merry prefers the Unseelie Court; what is your opinion of the courts?

This page intentionally left blank

7 NON-SERIES NOVELS

Hamilton’s major work has fallen into the two series, the Anita Blake and Merry Gentry novels. But in her early days as a writer, she produced two fantasy novels and one Star Trek: Next Generation story. The first of these books, Nightseer, was intended to be the beginning of a fantasy series, but as she says on her website biographical sketch, after Nightseer was published, “the bottom fell out of the fantasy market.” Her second novel, a sequel to Nightseer, was rejected by her editor, and she took a work for hire job to produce the Star Trek novel, Nightshade. She has never said much about the 1995 Ravenloft novel, Death of a Darklord, but it is also part of a wider series by many authors, in a dark fantasy universe that includes elves, demons, and in this case, zombies. Even in these works outside her eventual successful series, however, there are hints of the themes that she will continue to pursue: the young woman blessed (or cursed) with an ambiguous magic; the connection between the land and the people who live in it; and a fascination with the dead.

NIGHTSEER (1992) In the prologue, the young child Keleios has a vision of her mother, Elwine the Gentle, being killed by the evil sorceries of Harque the Witch. In short order the vision comes true. Some years have passed, and Keleios is now in her mid-20s. The halfelven princess is a fully trained dream-prophet who receives visions in the 79

80

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

night; but three years earlier she had discovered a new magic in herself, and was put down in rank from master to journeyman until the new sorcery was mastered. She is now living at Zeln’s school, in Astranthia, learning from masters in other arts. But her gift of prophecy remains, and she has seen a catastrophe approaching: the destruction of the school and of much that she holds dear. The dream-phantasm that brought the words of doom has also attacked a young girl, Alys, who shows unusual talent in dreaming. This girl must be rescued with healing magic; and in helping her, Keleios is drained of energy. Yet she knows she cannot rest and recover because she alone can save the most important books from the school’s library, which is fated to burn. Among the unlikely allies she acquires is prince Lothor, a devotee of Loth, the god of bloodshed, and a fellow student who has expressed interest in Keleios as his future queen. She does not trust him, but he is ever near, and his motives are not fully known. On the other hand, the motives of the herb-witch Fidelis, who is also Keleios’ roommate, are clear. Fidelis serves her mistress, the evil Harque. Keleios had attempted to kill her mother’s slayer some six years earlier, and it left her with a demon mark and the knowledge of failure. Outside the school, the High Councilman of Astranthia, Nesbit, is plotting the downfall of the school, considering Zeln’s liberal policies of empowerment for all Astranthians a danger to his power. Currently, the school has been almost stripped of master magicians, and the time is ripe for an attack. When the predicted attack comes, Keleios, Lothor, and a few others attempt to defend the school, even enlisting the help of the dragon-mage Eroar. But the attackers have summoned demons, and despite Keleios’ skill, the defenders are defeated. Nesbit declares all the school’s masters and journeymen traitors, and imprisons or exiles them. Keleios, Lothor, Eroar, and another journeyman ally, Tobin, are exiled to the Grey Isle, the keep of Harque the Witch. As they fight against the forces of evil in Harque’s keep, Keleios acquires a magical sword, which is able to slay demons and drink their power. With Harque vanquished, Keleios returns to the home of her twin sister, Methia, Nesbit’s former mistress. While the High Councilman has not been displaced, the threat of Harque the Witch has been ended, and Keleios is obligated to keep a promise. She must wed Prince Lothor, but she finds that it is not a fate worse than death, after all.

NIGHTSHADE (1992) As Hamilton was beginning her writing career, she accepted an assignment to write a Star Trek: Next Generation novel for a Pocket Books series. While Nightshade can be read as a standalone, it is helpful to have

Non-series Novels

81

a little bit of background on the series characters in order to fully appreciate the story. Captain Picard is a stalwart, intelligent leader, and his chosen crew members for the mission are also competent, good officers. Lieutenant Worf, the head of security on the Enterprise, is a Klingon, from a race which was once the primary enemy of the Federation. By the time of the Next Generation series, however, the Klingons had largely resolved their differences with the Federation, and Worf is an able and valued officer on a Federation vessel. Counselor Deanna Troi is even more unusual. As a half-betazoid, she is an empath; she senses the emotions of others and serves to back up the Captain in dealings with strangers. Nightshade is a fairly pedestrian entry in the series; it reads much like a slightly expanded episode of the Star Trek: Next Generation television show. The novel begins with Captain Jean-Luc Picard, the Klingon Lieutenant Worf, and Counselor Deanna Troi beaming down from the Starship Enterprise to the planet Oriana on a peace mission. The planet is dying, a result of a centuries-long civil war between two factions, the Torlicks and the Venturies. The conflict has been so protracted, neither side remembers what started it, but all are determined to gain victory at whatever cost is necessary. In the meantime, their once lush and verdant world has become a poisoned, ruined desert and their race is dying out. Few children are conceived; fewer still brought to term, and those are almost entirely severely deformed. They must spend years in medical limbo being repaired before they can function. The only people who could prevent the death of the planet are a small, persecuted group of biotechnicians, the Greens, who are despised and hunted by both sides of the conflict. Picard and his two officers, sent by the Federation to facilitate peace talks, are hosted by General Basha and his wife, Colonel Talanne, the leaders of the Torlicks. Picard, in setting up the peace talks, is able to insist on the inclusion of a small delegation of Greens, recognizing the vital role they will have to play in regeneration of Oriana’s ecosystem. About this time, the Enterprise is called away to answer a distress signal from a Milgian ship. The Milgians are an unknown race, and the Enterprise will be their first Federation contact. Their ship is in danger of implosion, and they (for the most part) refuse to evacuate it, having a close tie with the very fabric of the vessel. Geordi LaForge, chief engineer of the Enterprise, goes to the Milgian ship to try and see if he can determine the nature of the damage to it and effect repairs. Dr. Beverly Crusher also boards the Milgian ship to render medical aid and attempt to evacuate more of the crew. The ship is a living organism, tied genetically to the crew, and it will take a heroic effort on Geordi’s part to establish communications with the engines and track down the source of

82

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

the problem. Back on Oriana, at the reception to start the peace talks, disaster strikes. The opening toast, with Picard’s favorite Earl Grey tea, ends with the death of the Venturi general, Alick, poisoned by parties unknown. As the closest to him, Picard is arrested for the murder, and the three Greens along with him. They will all be executed in three days unless Worf and Troi can prove them innocent. The investigation takes them into the psyches of key figures, and Troi comes to realize that many of the Orianians are empathic projectors—wild talents with enormous powers to influence the emotions of those around them. In the end, everything is resolved, and the Enterprise returns to retrieve the away team.

DEATH OF A DARKLORD (1995) This novel is part of the Ravenloft series, a group of generally unrelated novels set in a universe based on a Dungeons and Dragons campaign setting, also known as the “Demiplane of Dread,” which features a series of domains, each ruled by a mystical Darklord who is unable physically to cross the borders of his domain. A detailed knowledge of the background, however, is not needed, as the novel can be read as a sort of Gothic horror/ fantasy. Vampires, were-creatures, and zombies are not unknown in these novels, and Hamilton’s themes in this area are clear. The story is bleak and tragic, and presents characters moving through a blighted landscape. The land of Kaartakass is tainted. Magic is feared, and magicwielders hunted and destroyed as evidences of a corruption in the soul. Death of a Darklord opens with a dying man making a devil’s bargain, which will apparently bring him youth in the form of a new body for his consciousness to inhabit. Calum Songmaster had long been a part of a brotherhood dedicated to rooting out evil, but the fear of death brings him under the power of Harkon Lukas. The deal made, the scene switches to a group of friends of the dying man, Jonathan Ambrose, a mage-finder, his wife the gypsy Tereza, their friends Thordin and Konrad, and the twins they have adopted, Blaine and Elaine Clairn. Together, they are a cell in the brotherhood going on missions assigned to them through Calum Songmaster. But Elaine is finding that she harbors magic within her. Visions haunt her, and drag her to the edge of insanity and death, but Jonathan’s love for her is overcoming his virulent hatred of everything magical, a hatred that stems from the cruel and senseless deaths of his parents at the hands of dueling mages. Recognizing that her magic needs direction and training, Elaine is introduced to the mage Gersalius, who promises to teach her to control and channel

Non-series Novels

83

her power. Blaine and Thordin return from a task with a request for help from a man who has died in their company; and at the same time an assignment has come for the team from Calum. As it happens, the village seeking aid in both cases is the same. Cortton is under an evil spell; the dead are rising from their graves. En route to Cortton, the band (including Elaine and Gersalius, both reluctantly allowed to accompany them) run across another beleaguered party. In this case, an elf Sylvanus, his daughter Averil, and their companions Randwulf and Fredric, are fighting off wolves led by a man-wolf. Helping them drive away the attackers, Jonathan’s party is amazed to see the elf, a cleric from another kingdom, bring the knight Fredric back from death. He guides Elaine in using her own magic to help heal the grievous wounds of the others, and as a larger group they proceed to Cortton. Jonathan is frightened of Elaine’s growing powers, to her sorrow, and their once-loving relationship is soured perhaps past retrieval. Arriving after nightfall they are attacked by a veritable army of the dead and find that all doors are closed against them. The twins are separated from the rest, as they fight against the attacking zombies. The main group, much wounded, eventually find shelter in an inn. But the man who has opened a door for them is Harkon Lukas. Blaine and Elaine are led, by a better preserved zombie who wishes to show them something, to a cemetery. The message is unclear, and the twins end up returning to the village, where Blaine is killed, attempting to save Elaine. She is able to find shelter for the remainder of the night, tortured by the knowledge that had she had time with Blaine’s corpse, she could have resurrected him with her magic. With the morning and the retreat of the zombies, Elaine finds the rest of her friends, only to learn that Tereza is gravely wounded, Averil is dead, and the healings she performed on Sylvanus, Fredric, and Randwulf have all gone monstrously wrong. Her magic is corrupted by the taint in the land, and even the newly discovered love of Konrad, a widower who had never noticed her before, is not enough to overcome her sorrow. The plague of zombies is defeated, but the novel ends with more deaths. The fulfillment of the devil’s bargain made at the beginning with Calum Songmaster satisfies no one—not even Harkon Lukas.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS • What similarities of theme and style are found in the non-series novels and the later series fiction?

84

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

• Hamilton infuses Nightshade with considerable commentary on environmental irresponsibility. How does her stance on climate change prefigure the current public debate on global warming? • Death of a Darklord ends ambiguously, with the main character, Elaine, off stage. What is continuation of Elaine’s story likely to be? Is her power necessarily a force for evil, or can she function as a force for good within the confines of the land that contains her? • Does Nightseer function well as an introduction to a series? What strengths does it have as a first volume in a continuing story, and what weaknesses?

8 HAMILTON’S SHORT FICTION

While Laurell K. Hamilton does not primarily write short fiction, as many writers do, she began by writing and publishing short stories as she honed her craft. In recent years she collected many of those early stories into the 2006 volume Strange Candy. She has also had material appearing in a number of anthologies; the current popularity of anthology volumes featuring novellas by four or so prominent paranormal romance writers has led to Hamilton publishing lengthy excerpts from novels. “Magic Like Heat Across My Skin,” which appeared in the collection, Out of This World (2001) is a long section from her novel, Narcissus in Chains (2001), and “Blood Upon My Lips” is an excerpt from the beginning of Incubus Dreams, which was reprinted in Cravings. The stories in Strange Candy are a mixed bag, including the first story featuring Anita Blake and several heroic fantasy stories from the same world as Nightseer. One recurring theme of these short works in common with Hamilton’s novels, besides the presence of magic, are the female lead characters. In almost every case, whether it’s the protoAnita, or Sidra, or Behvinn, or Jessamine, these are not damsels awaiting rescue. They are capable women in their own right, warriors ready to handle whatever wizards and demons can throw at them. The first appearance of Anita Blake in “Those Who Seek Forgiveness” focuses on her talents as an animator, and serves as an introduction to her world, although the action evidently predates the landmark Supreme Court decision of Addison v. Clark that gave vampires legal status in American society. In this story, Carla Fiske wants to hire Anita to raise 85

86

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

her recently deceased husband. An unfaithful wife, she seeks his forgiveness for the affair that she says indirectly caused his death by heart attack. But there’s something she has not told Anita, and it will affect the zombie-raising, badly. The story evokes the graveyard (Hamilton says it was based on one her grandmother took her to frequently as a child) and the mechanics of the animating ritual. In this early story, Hamilton laid out many of the basics of the world of Anita Blake, and she has stayed true to most of the particulars as the series has progressed. “Those Who Seek Forgiveness” also appeared in the 2008 zombie anthology, The Living Dead. In “A Lust of Cupids,” Rachel Carrdigan, 33 and single, discovers that she is being stalked on a city street by a group of cupids shooting white arrows of true love at her. She ducks into the first open door she can find and meets Tom Hagan, 35 and single. They pass the time getting acquainted, waiting for the cupids to wander away, and find a mutual attraction to each other. But when Rachel thinks it’s finally safe to leave, she and Tom find otherwise. Who has set the cupids after them, and why? This story is light and humorous (for Hamilton), and showcases a playful, imaginative side to her writing fantasy. “The Edge of the Sea” is a darker fantasy, but poetically tells the story of a woman haunted by tragic events. Adria and Rachel are roommates living at the beach. One night, Adria goes out to find Rachel dead in the embrace of what she is shocked to see is a merman, or triton. While the authorities refuse to believe what Adria insists she saw, the triton is killing women on the beach every other night. And he is returning to lure Adria out with his dark beauty—as he must have lured Rachel—but Adria knows the consequences of his love. She’s ready for him when she finally goes to meet him on the sand, even if it means, afterward, that she will have to leave the edge of the sea forever. In this fantasy story, Hamilton manages to take a realistic setting and introduce one supernatural element, creating a story in the style of magical realism. “A Scarcity of Lake Monsters” is another example of a world with supernatural elements, presented in a matter-of-fact manner. Mike and Susan are wildlife biologists, working on a government program to breed more of an endangered species; but in this case, the species in question is the lake monster. They have developed a genuine affection for the subject of their study, an enormous lake monster named Irving, even as they study him, hoping to unlock the secret of lake monster reproduction. When Irving is mortally wounded by a boat propeller, they finally discover a few things about lake monster reproduction, and dealing with those who are less careful of nature. This is a relatively rare instance where Hamilton chooses to have her story narrated by a male character.

Hamilton’s Short Fiction

87

“Selling Houses” takes place in the world of Anita Blake, but features no characters from the series. As Hamilton points out in the preface to the story, she was wondering how ordinary jobs might change, in a world where vampires are legal. Abbie is a real estate agent, trying to move a house with a bloody past. And she thinks she might have found the perfect buyer for a house with a windowless basement. “A Token for Celandine” is an early story, set in the same world as Nightseer, and tells of a white healer who is seeking purification, travelling into hostile territory in the company of the narrator Behvinn, a Varellian (who apparently is from a race that could pass for elves). The story tells the climax of their quest and the finding of a token to purify Celandine. But the cost may be greater for Behvinn. “A Clean Sweep” is a slightly, delightfully, twisted superhero tale. Captain Housework has discovered that, with all his archenemies defeated, his powers are only sought by careless housewives. It’s frustrating, and he finally determines a new direction for his career. “A Clean Sweep” first appeared in the 1996 anthology Superheroes, edited by Ricia Mainhardt and John Varley. “The Curse-Maker” is another tale from the heroic fantasy world of Nightseer. Hamilton introduces a mercenary, Sidra, and her blood blade, a semi-sentient sword that drinks blood, and can steal souls. In this story, Sidra is out for vengeance when one of her friends is attacked by a curse that may kill him, and the trail leads to higher places than she expects. “Geese” is a poetic fantasy once again in the Nightseer world. The young sorceress Alatir has hidden among a flock of wild geese, her shape shifted to save her from a curse, for the five years since her family was killed by a more powerful sorcerer. Now she finds she must regain human form and try to best her foe; but she is sad to leave behind Gyldan, her mate among the geese. “House of Wizards” is a short, humorous tale set in the world of Nightseer. In a household of talented but impractical wizards, a new wife with no magic finds she has her own power to bring order to chaos. Rudelle is so domestic and down to earth, it’s no wonder her wizardly new husband, Trevelyn loves her. “Here Be Dragons” is characterized by Hamilton as a science fiction story, although it deals with the softer science of psychic powers, and the ramifications of an upswing in the occurrence of psychic powers. Dream therapist Dr. Jasmine Cooper is called back to the school where she passed her childhood to deal with another psychic dreamer of similar power—a little girl. Lisbeth is scary, but Jasmine is just as much a monster. “Winterkill” takes the reader back to the Nightseer world, and tells the story of Jessamine Wizardsbane, an assassin on a mission to rid the

88

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

world of sorcerers. She has her reasons, and for this particular job she will do whatever it takes to achieve her objective, even if it means having curses placed on herself and her lover. “Stealing Souls” is another story about Sidra and her blood blade, Leech. This time, Sidra is on the cusp of fulfilling a vow she made as a child to rescue the souls of her sisters. The quest will involve demons, magical towers, and a great deal of blood for Leech to drink. The last story in Strange Candy is another Anita Blake story, set shortly before the events of Narcissus in Chains. “The Girl Who Was Infatuated with Death” has also appeared in the anthology Bite (2005). “Girl” is an odd, ambiguous story, in its way. A woman has come to Anita about her daughter, but this is not the usual request for a zombie raising. The daughter, Amy, has decided at 17 that she wants to become a vampire, and she is well on her way to realizing that ambition. Normally, Anita would agree with the mother that the girl should be stopped, at least until she reaches her majority, but in this case she learns that the young woman is suffering from an aggressive bone cancer and about to lose one leg—or possibly both. At this time Anita has been avoiding both her lovers Richard and Jean-Claude, but she is forced to go to Jean-Claude for help in locating Amy, and the passion between them flares all the stronger for being suppressed for months. The outcome of the situation with Amy, and what will be done with the young vampire who agreed to bring her over, is somewhat lost in the shuffle when the sexual tension between Anita and Jean-Claude rises, leaving the question of whether the girl infatuated with death in the title is the teenaged cancer patient or, in fact, Anita Blake. Hamilton’s most recent foray into short fiction is the story “Can He Bake a Cherry Pie?” which appeared in Never After (2009). In this charming, almost traditional fairy tale, young Elinore is faced with being sold into matrimony to an odious, elderly earl. She has no wish to become the earl’s fourth—or is it fifth?—wife, but her father is leaving her little choice. So she stands up and announces that she will go to attempt the rescue of an ensorcelled prince. She assumes it is a suicide mission, as women have been attempting his rescue for decades, only to find death. However, Elinor discovers that her more “womanly” approach gets her farther than others have made it, but the captive Prince True has learned little in his imprisonment, and remains the same arrogant, misogynistic jerk he has always been. The final contest, when Elinore must best him in baking, comes to a surprising conclusion. Apparently, if the prince is not charming, the damsel may not want to end up with him. There is no question, however, of Elinore being known ever after as anything but Elinore the Brave.

Hamilton’s Short Fiction

89

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS • How does Hamilton’s fairy tale, “Can He Bake a Cherry Pie?” utilize the elements of the traditional fairy tale to comment on contemporary expectations of women? • How does the story, “The Girl Who Was Infatuated with Death” hang together thematically? The switch in emphasis from the case to Anita’s relationship with Jean-Claude dominates the latter part of the story; can the title refer to Anita, as well as her client? • How do the Sidra and Leech stories fit within the context of the heroic fantasy genre? Are they comparable in theme, tone, and structure to Robert E. Howard’s tales of Conan the Barbarian, or Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser? • Given Hamilton’s preference for writing female protagonists, how do Sidra and Elinor compare to Anita and Merry?

This page intentionally left blank

9 TODAY’S ISSUES IN LAURELL K. HAMILTON’S WORK

Laurell K. Hamilton’s two main series deal with vampires and werewolves, and the politics of faerie, respectively, which may not seem like a fertile ground for social commentary. Yet within her alternate worlds, one can find explorations of themes of race, gender, sexuality, and prejudice that have much to say about the issues of diversity in contemporary American society. She uses fantasy elements within a realistically portrayed American setting to convey her view of some of the conflicts and discrimination inherent in a widely diverse society. There are no solutions offered, but using her created societies, she provides food for thought on how basic functionality might be achieved. Within the Anita Blake series, she has depicted a city, St. Louis, which is physically much like the “real” St. Louis. The geography of the city, its neighborhoods and roads, is portrayed realistically, with one major difference arising from a social situation. And that would be the addition of a riverfront district dominated by minority-owned businesses, the tourist attraction Blood Square, featuring clubs like the strip joint Guilty Pleasures, the comedy club the Laughing Corpse, the dance club Danse Macabre, and the nightclub Circus of the Damned, to name a few. The difference lies entirely in the ownership of these establishments. They are owned and managed by vampires. In Anita’s world, vampires, werewolves, and other preternatural creatures have always been present, and evidently have been known to humans for all that time, although the 91

92

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

various elements, human and supernatural, have not coexisted easily. In the United States, the legal rights of vampires have been recognized only recently, due to a controversial Supreme Court decision, Addison v. Clark. And while these creatures have gained some of the rights of citizens, they do not have full civil rights. The dead, in Anita’s world, do not have the right to vote. Lycanthropes, who are considered still human but diseased, presumably do have suffrage, although they are largely discriminated against in other ways. In fact, we are informed that in some of the Western states there are still varmint laws on the books, which allow for slaughter of any werecreature on sight, with no penalty. As for vampires, their quasi-legal status has impacted Anita’s job as a vampire hunter. Before Addison v. Clark, she could stake any vampire she found, no questions asked. Now she needs a warrant of execution, unless it’s a case of self-defense. As the series progresses, there is mention of competing bills being proposed in Washington, one to remove the legalization of vampirism and another to grant the undead full legal status. It is possible to read vampires in Anita Blake as a minority, whether racial or sexual. Much like African-Americans in the pre-civil rights era, Hamilton’s vampires have grudging status among “normal” society. They can own businesses, although most of these are contained within a certain district of town. The tourists come to Blood Square hoping to see something exotic and superficially dangerous, and the vampires are careful to give them what want and no more, understanding that they are allowed to operate openly only as long as they behave. This is reminiscent of the popular Harlem clubs of the 1920s and ’30s, presenting the racial Other as a spectacle for the enjoyment of the dominant majority. That the business model works as well as it does, given the predatory and often violent tendencies of the vampires, is largely due to the strong hand of the Master of the City, Jean-Claude, who keeps the vampires in check and often has strong influences on the werewolves and other werecreatures as well. Yet not all the vampires wish to live in the ghetto of the vampire district, and there are some moving to the suburbs, as well. In the short story, “Selling Houses,” real estate agent Abbie wonders briefly what the neighbors will think when they find they have vampires living next door, but she concludes that everyone needs to live somewhere (Strange Candy, p. 65–82). Still, one can just imagine the discussions about property values going down. One of the key threads of the series has to do with Anita, who begins her appearances as a virulently anti-vampire character who regrets the legalization and continues to treat the vampires as dangerous and untrustworthy predators, but later comes to realize that, as with any other group, there are good and bad to be found among the vampires.

Today’s Issues in Laurell K. Hamilton’s Work

93

There are organizations depicted in the novels that also parallel some of those set against recognizing diversity in American life. Anita comes into contact with both Humans Against Vampires (HAV) and their splinter group, Humans First. Both these groups are self-righteously determined to end the scourge of vampirism in the human community; and Humans First, at least, is willing to use deadly force to execute vampires. At first, Anita is at least partially in sympathy, but as she comes to regard vampires as individuals with a range of good and bad traits, she can no longer find philosophical common ground with the extremists. Vampires in literature and film have long been construed as a response to whatever is seen as a current societal threat, whether racial, sexual, or political. Mikhail Lyubansky’s essay “Are the Fangs Real?: Vampires as Racial Metaphor in the Anita Blake Novels” takes on the problem of race relations and prejudice in Hamilton’s work (Lyubansky, 137–148). While he points out that there are few characters of color to be found in the novel (a lack Hamilton defends by stressing her own desire not to create offensive racist or stereotypical depictions of minorities in her work), he argues that the vampires themselves constitute a stand-in for the racial Other in society, and comments on Anita’s shift in stance from essentially distrusting and fearing all vampires as the series begins with Guilty Pleasures to her more enlightened viewpoint later on. As he says, racial justice “requires racial intimacy, a deep knowledge and familiarity with those who are not part of the racial ingroup. . . . Hamilton clearly gets this, for Anita’s prejudices against vampires waned as she got to know some of them intimately” (Ibid, 147). On the other side of the fence from the extremist anti-vampire groups is the Church of Eternal Life, a cultish movement led by an ancient vampire, Malcolm. While powerful in his own right, he is not contained in the power structure of the Master of the City. The Church, as Anita points out, is able to deliver exactly what it promises—eternal life. Members are both human and vampire, with the humans mostly those aspiring to become vampires at some point. Neither Jean-Claude and his vampires nor most humans are pleased by this. For the vampires it is dangerously public and uncontrolled, and for the humans it represents a deadly attraction as a recruiting point for the undead, drawing people away from mainstream life. Vampirism in fiction and film has often been equated with homosexuality, largely based on the inability of most iterations of the vampire to procreate in anything resembling normal human biological reproduction. They must, in short, recruit from the ranks of humanity, and this makes them a danger to the status quo. While the vampires in the Anita Blake novels do retain use of their genitalia, they rarely are able to breed.

94

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

For Hamilton, vampires are dead, although they rise into a semblance of life nightly, and dead men have dead sperm. The exceptions—and these are rare—involve relatively new vampires and extraordinary circumstances (one couple is able to conceive while the male vampire is warmed sufficiently by a hot tub to produce living sperm). In addition, those exceptional conceptions bear terrible risks of obscene birth defects, having a high instance of producing babies with “Vlad’s Syndrome”—born vampires who have a tendency to chew their way into the world. Yet while Hamilton’s male vampires are (for the most part) unquestionably straight, or at least bisexual, the vampires are treated as sexually marginalized, predators who will turn their helpless victims into creatures such as themselves. It is interesting that Hamilton often dresses her vampires in costumes that would make Liberace swoon with envy, then goes on to say that Jean-Claude, especially, could wear lace and make it look masculine. So, throughout the Anita Blake novels, vampires have limited civil rights, and even those are under attack. In addition, vampires have little legal recourse under the current laws, and most offenses are punishable— after an abnormally swift trial—by death. The justification for this lies in the difficulty of safely imprisoning such beings, but it does present the opportunity for abuse of judicial power. For Anita, a turning point in her development that occurs fairly recently in the series is the realization that vampires can be controlled by other vampires, and may be less than fully culpable in otherwise capital crimes. In Skin Trade, she is faced with the prospect of staking a number of chained down, conscious vampires, who were involved in what should be an executable offense, but she has realized that they had no control over their actions. She has long served as judge, jury, and (especially) executioner in vampire cases, but she is starting to find that she has no stomach for the inflexible rule of law in every situation. In Narcissus in Chains, her friend Ronnie comments that Anita is the one who taught her that vampires were not just “people with fangs,” but by the time of Skin Trade, she has changed her opinion to some extent. Anita is very much pro-capital punishment, if the crime merits it. And she has no compunction about taking out vampires who are dealing with humans in such a way as to cause them harm. She just does not believe that category includes every vampire. They are blamed for recruiting humans to their numbers (and one must admit, there is some truth to that, as there is no argument in Hamilton’s world for a genetic predisposition to vampirism), as well as being made into a spectacle for the curious. One suspects the gawkers at Guilty Pleasures are there to see a vampire show in the same way that others might go to a drag show. There are attempts at segregation of vampires,

Today’s Issues in Laurell K. Hamilton’s Work

95

although these are ineffective. The vampires have, to a greater or lesser extent, mainstreamed. They cannot hide completely, with their restrictions on daytime movement; and if they are not law-abiding citizens they do pose a threat to those around them. But like most people, the majority of the vampires view the possible sanctions as a deterrent to bad behavior. One of the essays in the recent collection, Ardeur, focuses on the judicial system as it exists in regard to vampires and werecreatures in the Anita Blake books. In the introduction to Melissa Tatum’s “Trying the System,” Hamilton comments that, “In the end, equality is something the law strives for, but it’s almost impossible to achieve. In my world, we’ve given up the pretense of fairness for vampires and shapeshifters” (Tatum, 122). Tatum’s essay points out that the purpose of the legal system is to protect society from the “aberrant behavior of certain individuals,” while the purpose of the criminal trial is, conversely, to protect the individual from society (Ibid., 125). She sees the situation in the Anita Blake books as the U.S. government laudably deciding make vampires legal citizens; then it promptly turns around and “flagrantly violate approximately one-half of their constitutional rights by imbuing federal marshals with the legal authority to be vampire executioners” (Ibid., 123). She points out that the situation parallels those of other disenfranchised minorities in the past when newly brought into the fold. In The Harlequin, Anita comments that the law “isn’t about justice . . . it’s about the law.” And Tatum sees the practice of federal marshals executing vampires as particularly problematic. “The job of vampire executioner turns the entire U.S. criminal justice system on its head. It tosses out the law in an attempt to replace it with justice and restricts the number of people who have a say in defining what constitutes justice” (Ibid., 133). To see that this is an issue in question in the real United States today, one need look no farther than the detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Another issue that Hamilton addresses in the Anita Blake books is the societal reaction to individuals carrying possibly communicable diseases. In her world, lycanthropy is a disease and carriers are banned from a variety of jobs, often ostracized, although the lycanthropy virus is not one which is easily caught. It should be noted that Hamilton covers all species of wereanimals with the umbrella term lycanthropy, whether they are werewolves, wereleopards, wererats, or whatever. Lycanthropy is a disease, not a lifestyle choice, but it has some of the same distancing effects that vampirism carries. In the Anita Blake novels, for example, Richard Zeeman is a werewolf. He is careful not to let that be known, however, because if it got out he would lose his job as a junior high science teacher. He is a good teacher, the reader is told, and loves his job. He did not catch lycanthropy through a werewolf attack, which is the

96

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

most common means of transmission, but instead received a bad dose of anti-lycanthropy vaccine, and at the next full moon he shifted into wolf form, as he has done since. Other werecreatures in the novels include a reporter, Irving Griswold, who is a werewolf, Dr. Lillian, a wererat who runs an underground clinic for injured werecreatures, and Cherry, who was a nurse. Although werecreatures are functionally very healthy and nearly indestructible, they are equated with sufferers of HIV/AIDS. The discrimination is illegal, but it continues. Hamilton is not simplistic enough to say that the reluctance of humans to have werewolves teaching their children or handling their health care is unilaterally wrong. There is a danger of infection involved, if a person receives a wound from a lycanthrope while he or she is in animal form. And while lycanthropy is not a traditional life-threatening disease, those who have it become members of a subculture that will almost inevitably take them away from family and friends. The social structure varies, but wereanimals in Hamilton’s works are very tied to their pack (or equivalent) and subject to its rules and traditions. Allegiances and dominances are important, and the pack becomes the social focus, much like a gang. Sex and sexuality play an important role in both of Hamilton’s main series. In some ways, this is ironic, given her initial reluctance to deal with depicting actual sex acts in her books. Interviewed by Stephen Bolhafner, she commented, “When I first started the series, I wanted every touch and every caress to be so amazing that I would never have to put the dirty deed on paper . . . And so, for books and books, I showed violence and monsters, and the camera never flinched. And then when it became clear that sex was going to happen on paper, I flinched.” When she overcame this shyness, she did not at first embrace the erotic content of her novels. Speaking to D. T. Schindler in Publisher’s Weekly, Hamilton said, “In the beginning, I was terribly uncomfortable with it,” and noted that she had to be talked into it by a close friend and one of her editors. In fact, even after she began writing such content, by her own admission she put many of the sex scenes in the earlier novels far enough into the books that she would never need to read them in public appearances. The erotic content has given rise to much discussion, positive and negative; she has mentioned in interviews that about half her fan mail “offers accolades for the erotic content of her novels; the other half is complaints and threats” (Schindler 42). Most would agree that once Hamilton broke through the selfimposed barrier regarding writing sex scenes, she approached the matter with the same attention to detail and riveting description that she did her scenes of violence and action. One of the points of contention in the sexual content of Hamilton’s work, however, is her depiction of women

Today’s Issues in Laurell K. Hamilton’s Work

97

(mostly Anita and Merry) with multiple sexual partners. Devon Ellington, in her essay, “Ardeur’s Purpose,” in the collection Ardeur, comments that one of the problems with most series that feature a romantic relationship is that conventionally, once the hero and heroine meet, “every other serious suitor falls away, and once they kiss or have sex, the woman must be monogamous” (Ellington, 107). Anita, especially in the earlier part of the series, does feel that morality is best served with just such a scenario. She is torn between two would-be lovers, werewolf Richard, and vampire Jean-Claude, and feels that she must choose between them. The deal she makes with Jean-Claude, that whatever Richard gets, he gets, effectively keeps her out of Richard’s bed, as she is trying to avoid her desire for Jean-Claude. Yet events move on, and some books later she has set up house with two other lovers, Micah and Nathaniel, and is “dating” a series of other men. The way she is able to justify her sexual activity is twofold. First, she frequently comments that she does not do “casual” sex; every man in her bed is important to her. And it is true that most of them are not flings; they are men who will continue to be in her life, even if they first come to her sexually as a result of the other moral loophole in her existence, the “ardeur.” A metaphysical ability and necessity to feed off the sexual energy of others, the ardeur is the perfect excuse for repressed Catholic schoolgirl Anita to throw the expectations of conventional society to the winds and have great sex with as many men as she can gather to her welcoming bosom. She fights against it—she says, although, as Ellington points out, “when faced with an option that will lessen the effect of the ardeur, sometimes something as simple as eating regular meals, [Anita] deliberately ignores it” (Ellington, 110–111). In Hamilton’s other series, Merry Gentry is trying, desperately, to get pregnant. And this leads to her have sex with multiple partners, sometimes several at once. There are also multiple instances of Merry using her sexuality to cement alliances, to gain advantages over those who would harm her, and even, through the mystical connection she has to the Goddess, to use sex as a means of reawakening the lost powers of the fey and of the land. In both series, the conflict between conventional Christian morality and unbridled sexual expression is a constant topic of discussion. Contemporary American society has long struggled with ramifications of sexual liberation; in Hamilton’s work, the monogamous relationship is either impossible or unworkable for her female protagonists. And for both Anita and Merry, sex is frequently not what the mainstream considers acceptable. Multiple partners, sexual variation, and trips to the fringes of alternative expressions of sexuality are found in these works,

98

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

and the underlying message appears to be that if it hurts no one, it’s all right. Women in Hamilton are not only sexually liberated, but find power as well in their work. Anita Blake in particular cracks through the glass ceiling in several ways, and while she is consistently superior in her talents and abilities, she nonetheless is forced to prove it continually. As a consultant to the police, and later a federal marshal, Anita frequently comes in contact with law enforcement officials. Their reactions range from the (mostly) tolerant support of her immediate team, to outright hostility from officials, particularly those in jurisdictions outside her normal area of operations. Anita, petite and pretty, seems to personify helpless femininity to most men. This is before they see her handle weapons or view violent crime scenes that have hardened officers throwing up in the bushes. Anita has to be twice as tough as the men just to prove that she can handle the work. Scenes of Anita proving she is as badass as the boys abound, in every one of the novels where police procedural elements are included. While this is more frequent in the earlier books where police simply cannot believe that she could be the lethal force and expert in preternatural crime that she is rumored to be, even in later novels, the trope continues. When Anita visits Las Vegas, for example, in Skin Trade, she spends many pages convincing the locals that her metaphysical power is everything it should be, and she also feels the need to demonstrate her physical strength, which has been augmented by her bond to Jean-Claude. Hamilton is not necessarily a feminist writer, but she does take the stance that women have the capacity to be as capable as men, if not more capable, given the proper training. Anita Blake does not spend a lot of time wondering if she is the equal of the men in her life; she goes out and does what she needs to do and proves herself worthy of respect. In all of these areas, the discussion of contemporary issues is subtextualized behind metaphors of supernatural entities and metaphysical powers. The author’s opinions are not necessarily foregrounded, and the amount of lecturing or preaching is kept to a minimum. She lets the stories and the characters speak for themselves, and if there are issues where opinions are put forth, they are dressed in such glitteringly fascinating narrative that the reader is never more than tangentially aware of them. Hamilton expresses her opinions by example, not by rhetoric.

Today’s Issues in Laurell K. Hamilton’s Work

99

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS • How do Hamilton’s depictions of vampires and lycanthropes create understanding of the situation of marginalized minorities; or do these depictions feed into the exotic view of the Other, perpetuating stereotypes? • Given the portrayals of Anita Blake and Merry Gentry, can Hamilton be considered a feminist writer? In what ways does she uphold or subvert conventional views of women? • How do you feel about Hamilton’s portrayal of sexual relationships and alternative sexualities? Are her series too obsessed with sexuality, or is it, as she says, germane to the plots of her novels?

REFERENCES Bolhafner, J. Stephen. “St. Louisan Writes About the Vampire Hunter Next Door.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Oct 10, 2001. ProQuest Newsstand, ProQuest. Ellington, Devon. “Ardeur’s Purpose.” Hamilton, Laurell K. and Leah Wilson, eds. Ardeur: 14 Writers on the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series. Dallas: Benbella Books, 2010. 105–119. Lyubansky, Mikhail. “Are the Fangs Real?: Vampires as Racial Metaphor in the Anita Blake Novels.” Hamilton, Laurell K. and Leah Wilson, eds. Ardeur: 14 Writers on the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series. Dallas: Benbella Books, 2010. Schindler, D. T. “Laurell K. Hamilton: Underworld Seductress.” Publishers Weekly. 251. 38. (Sept. 20, 2004): 42. Tatum, Melissa. “Trying the System.” Hamilton, Laurell K. and Leah Wilson, eds. Ardeur: 14 Writers on the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series. Dallas: Benbella Books, 2010. 121–134.

This page intentionally left blank

10 POP CULTURE AND THE AUTHOR

POPULAR CULTURE IN LAURELL K. HAMILTON One of Hamilton’s major motifs is the insertion of the supernatural into a realistic American scene. She uses a number of ways to accomplish the setting of the scene. For instance, the office where Anita works is readily identifiable as a typical workplace. Although the main business of the firm is raising zombies, it is a thoroughly normal office, and Anita often comments on the color of the walls, the plants in the lobby, the motherly receptionist, and the unreasonable, demanding boss. She lets us know what the cartoon is on her coffee mug and the dress code that Bert tries endlessly to enforce. This is not a Gothic or even a faux-Gothic milieu. For Animators, Inc., raising the dead is a business like selling houses or doing accounts. Anita, for all her larger-than-life powers as a necromancer, still has to make it in to the office with a skirt not too short, makeup just right, and demeanor appropriate to reassure clientele. What she does with iron, blood, and salt out in the cemetery as she works with those clients may be decidedly out of the ordinary, but the work setting itself is out of real life, or an office sitcom. Another striking use of setting in the Anita Blake novels is the depiction, in many of the stories, of middle- and upper-middle-class suburbia. When Anita is called to a crime scene, she sometimes finds that the victims are ordinary, harmless people, slaughtered in their homes. She walks in to find normal rooms with normal couches and photographs and children’s toys, 101

102

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

but everything is covered with gore. Sometimes the carpet squishes underfoot with the blood of the victims, whose bodies are found in pieces in beds and bathtubs. It is sickening and shocking, both for Anita and the reader; and in the early novels, before she becomes hardened to such sights, she is sometimes overcome with nausea at the wanton ruin of bodies. There is a way in which the reader is drawn in to thinking “this could be my house, my family,” and the horror of it is increased. There is no dreamlike distance, no crumbling castles to create a comfortable space for the uncanny. It is in our living rooms, with fangs and claws and blood. A very great deal of blood. Before Anita finds more lively bedmates, she tells us that she sleeps with Sigmund, a stuffed penguin, in her bachelorette apartment. The hominess and ordinariness of a young single woman who has held onto a few treasured stuffed animals makes Anita a more realistic character. And the shock is greater when, as in The Laughing Corpse, a zombie sent slithering through her window in the middle of the night by a vengeful voodoo priestess ends up covering the toy penguins with bits of rotting goo. Anita’s loss is palpable, in this scene, and indicative of her growing estrangement from the mundane world. She has lost her penguins, and her cozy apartment is no longer either safe or clean. As time goes on she will spend more nights in the Gothic dungeons of the Circus of the Damned, where her vampire lover Jean-Claude makes his residence, and in a house that has no homey touches provided by her. By the time Incubus Dreams rolls around, the matching plates and coffee cups have been provided by a wereleopard with a domestic bent, and the penguins are nowhere to be found. In addition, Hamilton relentlessly chronicles what Anita wears and the mundane activities she indulges in when not at work. In the early novels the reader is always told what color “swoosh” is on Anita’s current pair of Nike running shoes, and the various polo shirts and business suits and blouses she wears. It makes for an interesting juxtaposition against the supernatural world, where shapeshifters are often naked and vampires tend to go in for stylish bondage club wear. The novels frequently chronicle not only whatever outrageous costume Jean-Claude is wearing, but also the outfits he finds suitable to put Anita and the rest of his entourage in whenever vampire politics are in the offing. That this is deeply annoying to Anita seems to matter not at all, although JeanClaude’s notions of fashion are sometimes mitigated to ensure Anita’s ability to carry her weapons and fight. As the series moves on, Anita is more and more concerned with the affair of the preternatural world, and there is less emphasis on the mundane, which is a pity in some ways. Consider, for example, the running gag in The Laughing Corpse of Anita’s problems with fittings for a bridesmaid’s dress. She is scheduled to be in the wedding of a friend,

Pop Culture and the Author

103

and the dressmaker is beyond dismayed at the prospect of covering Anita’s many scars while putting her into a pink dress. In a later novel, Incubus Dreams, Anita is again a member of the wedding party; but this time, as a member of the groom’s side, she insists on wearing a tuxedo to match the rest of the groomsmen. This may reflect the decade that separates the publication of the two novels, but both are indicators of Anita’s lack of patience with the mundane world. While Anita is often busy working nights, and has little time or inclination for pop culture entertainment, it is striking that she and her boyfriend Richard, in the early days of their relationship, find a respite from dealing with werewolves and vampires by watching old musicals on video. She is not a traditionally feminine woman, and he is a thoroughly masculine man, but they are able to share, for a short time, the innocence of Rogers and Hammerstein musicals. Parallel with this in the Merry Gentry novels is Rhys, a sidhe who was once a Celtic death god, and has an interest in old Humphrey Bogart detective movies. He is described as one of the few sidhe who has a house outside the sithen (or faerie mound) primarily because of the television reception. When he relocates to Los Angeles with Merry and joins her in working at the Grey Detective Agency, he is known for wearing classic trench coats and fedoras, a tribute to Bogart and film noir, and a means of tying the novels more closely to the detective genre. One ironic facet of Hamilton’s use of popular culture is the fascination, in Anita’s world as well as our own, with vampires. While readers and viewers in the real world flock to read vampire novels, watch vampire movies and television shows, and lionize the authors and actors who make these vampires seem real; in Anita Blake’s world, where the vampires do exist and are widely known, the public’s fascination with them brings people in droves to the vampire clubs and businesses in St. Louis’s Blood Square and to the Church of Eternal Life, in the hopes of becoming a vampire as well. Instead of Robert Pattinson on the cover of the tabloids, the girls are swooning over the fabulously beautiful Jean-Claude; and as his girlfriend, Anita is forced to learn how to deal with reporters and photographers. Media coverage becomes an issue in several of the stories. For example, in Blood Noir, Anita is portrayed in the tabloids as having thrown over Jean-Claude in favor of his pomme de sang, the werewolf Jason Schuyler; so she and her vampire lover must scramble to correct the impression, lest the news coverage have negative implications for Jean-Claude’s standing in the vampire community. Somehow in today’s vampire-saturated culture, the idea that if vampires existed they would capitalize on the human fascination with them by running dance clubs, strip joints, and other entertainment venues seems

104

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

wholly plausible. And that the more beautiful and powerful among them would find themselves at the center of media attention also follows. What this may be saying as a comment about the vampiric nature of celebrity culture in contemporary America seems fairly obvious. Vampires are popular culture—about as popular as it gets. And this is true both in Anita’s world, and the real one. Paparazzi play a role, as well, in Hamilton’s other series, the Merry Gentry books. Princess Meredith is a victim of celebrity culture. At the time of her father’s murder, photographs of his body and her grief were exploited in the tabloids. When the series opens she is on the run for her own safety, and living incognito in Los Angeles. Merry, although of mixed blood, is famous for being the only genuine fairy princess ever to be born on American soil, and that makes her a news item. Despite the sidhe being creatures of ancient magic, they are also astute enough to realize what they must do to keep abreast of modern culture. Queen Andais of the Unseelie Court, as well as King Taranis of the Seelie Court, employ publicists and humans to liaise with the media and the government. When Merry returns to the faerie mound in Seduced by Moonlight, she must hold a press conference before she is allowed to travel the last distance to the sithen. There are other instances throughout the series where Merry and her consorts are plagued by pursuing reporters and photographers; the magic and beauty of the sidhe make them prime targets for attention, in the same way that the more beautiful and powerful vampires in the Anita Blake books are. There is considerable weight given to the media reaction to Merry’s story. She is urged to spin events in certain ways to make her Aunt Andais look better; and there is comment about how the Seelie Court, which is superficially prettier and therefore perceived as more beneficent, has used appearances to create and sustain favorable public opinion. As Merry grows in skill as a potential ruler within the world of faerie, one of the things that begins to set her apart from the mindset of her men is her use of the media for her own ends. Following her rape by King Taranis, she threatens to hold yet another press conference to tell her story, and all are aware of the potentially disastrous results this could have for the King. Merry’s threat to tell all to the human media is sufficient to buy her some grace time.

LAURELL K. HAMILTON IN POPULAR CULTURE In 2006, Marvel Comics began publishing a comic book adaptation of the first Anita Blake novel, Guilty Pleasures. It appeared in 12 issues and was later released as a two-part graphic novel, with a one-volume

Pop Culture and the Author

105

complete edition following. To play up the name recognition, it was billed as Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures. The text was taken almost entirely from the original novel, with virtually every plot point unchanged and the dialogue directly quoted. The artists worked with both Hamilton and her husband Jonathan Green to preserve the integrity of her vision. In the past 25 years or so, since the publication in 1986 of Art Spiegelman’s Maus, Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, and in 1987 of Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, the graphic novel gained widespread respect as a mature art form. While many, if not most, graphic novels are published first in comic book format and then collected in more durable bindings, and often printed on slick paper for better reproduction of the artwork, the graphic novel is a far cry from the older traditional comic book. The contemporary graphic novel is aimed at a mature audience and often contains more explicit violence and sexuality than the classic comic book. The subject matter is wider ranging, as well. One of the first modern graphic novels, Will Eisner’s A Contract with God, and other Tenement Stories (1978), dealt realistically with everyday people in everyday situations. The growing demand for graphic novels that would appeal to an adult readership meant that the boundaries of the form could stretch far beyond superhero tales and deal with more complex and nuanced plots, advanced by the artwork as well as the text and dialogue. Guilty Pleasures, with its hard-boiled heroine and action-packed plot, translated well into a comics/graphic novel format. Anita is perhaps, in the fashion of comics, presented as more beautiful and curvaceous than the books indicate, and the other characters—seductively beautiful vampires and shambling, rotting zombies—are in the tradition of older horror comics. Much of the focus of the graphic novel is on Anita’s wide dark eyes as she witnesses the erosion of the last of her innocence in the face of the undead creatures among whom her work takes her. The similarities between Anita and Jean-Claude are more apparent in the graphic novel as well, with their hair, a trademark feature for both, portrayed almost identically down to the errant strand across each forehead. The two become mirror images: the male vampire with his impossible good looks and dangerous charm, and the female vampire slayer with her matching beauty and lethal moves. In the source novels, Anita claims that she “cleans up well,” but goes to great lengths describing how she is not a “girly” sort of woman. In fact, Hamilton gets considerable mileage out of Anita’s discomfort when trapped into doing a typically feminine activity, such as going for fittings for a bridesmaid dress, as she does in The Laughing Corpse. These scenes are played for laughs in the graphic novel format as well.

106

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

Following the publication of the adaptation of Guilty Pleasures, a short two-part story appeared in 2008 entitled The First Death. It was later compiled into a one-volume graphic novel, and included in the volume was a “Reader’s Guide to Guilty Pleasures,” which provided sketches of characters, places, and organizations in the novel, complete with portraits. The lengthy (for a graphic novel) text goes far to delineate the various major and minor characters. This is far more than filler; although it does not function as a part of the direct plot, it enriches the experience of the graphic novel, especially for those readers who might not have read the source text of the adaptation. The story of The First Death chronicles an episode early in Anita’s career as a vampire executioner, including such incidents as her first meeting with the enigmatic and enchanting vampire, Jean-Claude. A sub-plot in Guilty Pleasures involves a malevolent vampire, Valentine, who is forced to wear a mask as the result of disfiguring scarring sustained in an abortive attempt on his life using holy water. As it happens, this was not some random event but a desperate attempt by Anita to defend herself from his attack. He blames her for his scars, although he and his minions are responsible for some of Anita’s more spectacular scars, the often-referenced cross-shaped scar on her forearm and the large scars at her collarbone. The First Death, with its procedural story of the hunt for child-murdering vampires, basically provides backstory for Anita, Jean-Claude, and the members of the Regional Preternatural Investigative Team as they came together for the first time, pulling together these prequel elements into a brief, if cohesive, narrative. In 2008–2009, the second Anita Blake novel, The Laughing Corpse, appeared in 15 comic book issues, which became three graphic novel volumes subtitled “Animator,” “Necromancer,” and “Executioner.” Once again, the structure of the narrative followed the source novel closely, with minor updating to move the timeframe of the story from the early 1990s into the twenty-first century. The third novel, Circus of the Damned, is currently in production as a comic book, and the first volume of the graphic novel collection of the issues (one through five) is due out in a few months. Recently, there was a rumor on the Internet that Marvel had suspended production on the Anita Blake comics, but this rumor has been refuted by the editor at Marvel, Michael Horwitz. The production of the Anita Blake Vampire Slayer comics raises interesting questions. While even the early novels contain elements of violence and sexuality beyond the traditional focus of the comic book, the Anita Blake books, as the series progresses, become more and more focused on internal metaphysical conflict and the sexual nature of the

Pop Culture and the Author

107

ardeur. And this may present problems for the future of the graphic novel series. Obviously, these are intended for an adult audience due to the graphic (no pun intended) violence, but as later books are adapted, they may push the envelope from “R-rated” to “X-rated,” unless significant portions of the novels are skimmed over. While the graphic novels are, in fact, very close to the plot lines of the books, the need to replace text and descriptive detail with artwork does have an impact on the subtlety of the stories. There is not much room for interior monologue in the structure of a graphic novel. This can be an artistic bonus, in some cases, with the reader’s interpretation of the artwork standing in for what may take paragraphs of text to convey in prose. On the other hand, it reduces the complexity of expressions and emotions to what the artwork is able to depict. In the Anita Blake graphic novels, Anita is often shown with very similar expressions, and the deep-seated anger that is so strongly her major emotional characteristic in the novels, gets lost behind her big, dark brown eyes. Jean-Claude, too, seems to vary from overly pretty to merely handsome, and it is rare that the artwork adequately conveys the sense of danger and menace that makes Anita so wary of him in these early books of the series.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS • How does the mundane setting of the Anita Blake novels provide a backdrop for the supernatural elements? Does it make the vampires harder to believe in, or more credible? • Having looked at the graphic novel adaptations of several Anita Blake stories, how do they compare to the experience of reading the books? Does the abbreviation of the interior monologue of the narrator enhance the plot, or does it make the story too straightforward?

This page intentionally left blank

11 THE AUTHOR ON THE INTERNET

OFFICIAL WEBSITES http://www.laurellkhamilton.org/ Hamilton has a very nice official website, with which she has close personal involvement. The site is graphically pleasing and easy to navigate, and does contain a great deal of information. The home page has access to short entries on all her novels via pictures of the current covers. The FAQ (frequently asked questions) does not seem to have been updated for some time, but the rest of the website is up-to-date. The biography section covers Hamilton’s early influences and her beginnings as a writer, but ends with the publication of the first Anita Blake book, Guilty Pleasures. One of the most interesting features of the web page is Hamilton’s blog. Recent entries concerning personal appearances and other topics are current (at this writing, the most recent entry was three days old), and tell amusing stories about trips to fan conventions, or cons, talk about her writing projects and how they are progressing, meditations on life, etc. The blog entries range from very short to rather lengthy, and the archive of blog entries stretches back to 2003, with easy access by month. This is an invaluable source of information about Hamilton’s life and writing. While most of the entries are clearly written by her, there are occasional entries posted by others, speaking officially for her. Hamilton talks, quite entertainingly, about writing, overcoming her fears and the lingering traumas

109

110

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

of her childhood, her religion (she converted several years ago to Wicca), wildlife rescues, her relationships with her family, and so on. However, one should also note that on Hamilton’s blog are the occasional rants; one of the classics is from January 29, 2006, where she takes on the “negative readers” (http://blog.laurellkhamilton.org/index.php/ site/comments/dear_negative_reader). In this blog entry, Hamilton addresses the fans—and she has many—who have actively expressed concern/displeasure over the direction the Anita Blake series was taking. With the introduction of the ardeur (whether this is a power or an affliction for Anita is debatable) which required her to feed off sexual energy, fans split on whether this had ruined the series. The increasing emphasis on Anita’s sexual activity, often with groups of men involved, had the effect of putting off many previously loyal readers. And these people were not shy about openly expressing their disappointment with the later books to Hamilton, both on the Internet and in person. Evidently, toward the end of 2006, Hamilton had had enough, and went on her blog to express her own feelings about this to her readers. The result was a minor blowup on the blogosphere, which is nicely summarized (with links to other blogs) on jamiehall’s LiveJournal page at http:// jamiehall.livejournal.com/27526.html. Hall comments on the ability of authors who cease to accept editorial direction to alienate readers and publishers, and wonders if Hamilton might be on the road to losing her fanbase, due to the changes she has made in her subject matter. The forum on the official site is relatively new, having started in January, 2010. It is a “members only” discussion forum, but anyone can join (currently, membership is hovering around 11,000). The forum has seen over 125,000 posts on topics ranging from Hamilton’s works to other interests and other writers. Discussions appear to be lively, but the moderating team keeps a close eye on content, and posts that infringe the rather strict rules of the forum are quickly pulled. The forum includes sections for “messages for Laurell,” and “questions for Laurell,” and she is listed as the first member to join the forum. While her personal post count is not high, there is evidence that she does read and respond to messages. Other genre authors have also joined, and apparently sometimes stop by the board to pass on information. As fan forums go, this one, being under the watchful eye of the author, is perhaps a little limited in terms of free discussion; but it could be a useful resource for students or book clubs looking for specific subject discussions on the various novels. This is not the first fan discussion forum on Hamilton, but it is the most currently active. There is indication on the forum that former incarnations have come and gone, apparently some falling victim to spammers. Of the available forums found at the time of this writing, the official one has by far the most members and the most

The Author on the Internet

111

activity. Possibly the presence of Hamilton herself and the stamp of authorial approval are key elements in the success of the forum. The website also includes a lengthy list of links, for everything from other Hamilton-oriented sites to pit bull rescue and St. Louis tourist information. Of the other Hamilton-related websites, there are two publisher sites.

http://www.randomhouse.com/features/lkhamilton/ The Random House site for Hamilton focuses on the Merry Gentry series, which Random House publishes, and contains minimal information about the books and the author. With some searching, one can link to an excerpt from each book—usually a long passage from the first chapter. The “praise” is limited to a few phrases suitable for a book jacket, not actual text of any reviews. There are easy links to various online bookstores to purchase books.

http://us.penguingroup.com/static/packages/us/laurell khamilton/start.html The Penguin Putnam site gives short blurbs about Hamilton and each of her Anita Blake books, through the first 11 books in the series. The information on each book, and the excerpt (when one is provided) vary widely. From Guilty Pleasures, with the first three chapters posted, to Bloody Bones, which gives four brief paragraphs of text that provide a bare description of the opening situation. For more recent information, a search of the Penguin website yields little information but does have a comprehensive listing of Hamilton’s publications with them, including audio-book editions, with options to purchase.

UNOFFICIAL WEBSITES One of the hallmarks of modern fan interaction with texts is the creation of communities of fans on the Internet. This is especially true of genre writers or series, and the paranormal genre, so popular in the past decade, has become an inspiration for fan activity on the Web. With a series like Anita Blake, the tendency is for fan sites, good, bad, and indifferent, to spring up like flowers in the April rain. That’s the good news about unofficial sites. There is a downside, however. For example, the list of links on Hamilton’s main page references an “Anita Blake Compendium,” which has evidently vanished from the web. A fact of life in dealing with the Internet is that websites, especially amateur fansites,

112

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

sometimes appear and vanish without warning, taking their archives of information, speculation, and opinion with them. In some cases, no one notices; in others, the loss is palpable. Another link from the official page, the link to the Laurell K. Hamilton/ Anita Blake webring (http://www.fortunecity.com/boozers/cheshire/62/ webring.htm) looks promising, with many sites listed in the rings; but closer inspection reveals that many of these are basic informational sites, and have not been updated in years. A typical site is http://anitaunder ground.webs.com/, “Anita Underground,” which does not appear to have been active in the past year. Other formerly active sites have seen no activity in the past several years. With the material and forum available on the official site, it may be that the smaller fansites became irrelevant, or simply that the fans who put them together lost interest. The Anita Blake wiki, http://www.anitablakewiki.com/, does appear to be currently updated, and contains extensive information about works, characters, and the settings of the books. This is far more typical of a fan-run and maintained site, and one of the few that seems to be active. The wiki includes exhaustive character profiles, complete with photos and fan art, and a detailed and carefully researched timeline of the action of the entire series. There is also a documented list of “YAABIs” (an acronym for “Yet Another Anita Blake Inconsistency”), evidence of the close reading provided by fans. Wikipedia has extensive content on Hamilton and her work, including a basic page, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurell_K._Hamilton, which has a comprehensive bibliography, links to pages for the individual works, and multiple links to other sites. There is similar bibliography at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database, at http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi? Laurell_K._Hamilton, although this site offers no other substantive information. A relatively new site, www.fictiondb.com, offers short descriptions of each of Hamilton’s books and publication information on most, if not all, editions. The entries for books are tagged for easy subject access. Joining the site and logging in, members can see cover art for the various editions: http://www.fictiondb.com/author/laurell-k-hamilton~9551.htm.

INTERVIEWS AND OTHER ARTICLES ON THE WEB http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2008-11-19/news/mistress-of-horror-nobodywrites-vampire-novels-the-way-st-louis-laurell-k-hamilton-does-ndash-andyes-there-s-lots-of-sex/ Aimee Levitt interviews Hamilton in November, 2009, about Anita Blake, Skin Trade, Swallowing Darkness, and the writer’s life.

The Author on the Internet

113

http://www.locusmag.com/2000/Issues/09/Hamilton.html Excerpts of a September 2000 interview with Hamilton in Locus Magazine, a major Science Fiction and Fantasy news, reviews, and criticism publication. She speaks about doing research for Guilty Pleasures and other aspects of her writing. http://www.sffworld.com/interview/31p0.html A brief interview from Orbit, from November 2000, with short questions and answers. http://www.sfsite.com/11a/lh187.htm Interviewer Alisa McCune talks to Hamilton in September 2004, about getting started in publishing, her choice of genre, and her interest in animal rescue. http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/investing/20041115a1.asp In this interview with Jay MacDonald of Bankrate in November 2004, Hamilton discusses her upbringing, her (brief) stint in corporate America, and merchandising her creations. http://www.flamesrising.com/laurell-k-hamilton-interview-horror-author/ The horror fiction website, Flames Rising, interviewed Hamilton in 2006 about her writing, her personal life, and her interest in animal rescue and other charities. http://www.crescentblues.com/6_6issue/int_hamilton.shtml In this interview with Christopher DeRose, Hamilton discusses research for her series, and writing “what scares her.” http://www.crescentblues.com/3_3issue/hamilton.shtml This interview, titled “Laurell K. Hamilton: Getting Real with Things That Go Bump in the Night,” discusses the writing process and the appeal of horror fiction. Written in 2000, shortly after the release of Obsidian Butterfly but before the first Merry Gentry book was published, the interview has lengthy comments on the new series, as well as on the ongoing Anita Blake series. http://shelf-life.ew.com/2010/06/01/qa-anita-blake-vampire-hunter-authorlaurell-k-hamilton/ From June 2010, this interview on the Entertainment Weekly website discusses the strong women in Hamilton’s fiction, the continuing popularity of the paranormal genre, and the writing process.

On her official site, there is a link to downloads of interviews, podcasts, and other material at http://www.laurellkhamilton.org/downloads.htm.

HAMILTON AND THE FANFICTION QUESTION One of the more typical fan expressions of interest, these days, is the creation of fan fiction. These stories create new plots for the characters in a series, fill in the blanks, or offer alternative viewpoints of events.

114

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

Hamilton actively discourages fan fiction (or as it is often known, fanfic) based on her universe. In a blog entry in 2007, she (or her representative, since from the wording, this is obviously not written by her) states a firm position against transformative works: . . . the rumor has again surfaced, which it does periodically and emails are coming in asking about it. No we are not launching lawsuits against sites that hosts fanfic or RPGs. We do not have a cadre of lawyers scouring the net for offenders. Some of the sites who host such things have asked for permission and been denied. They then chose to remove them. If you need a reason why, here it is (taken from the message board): It is true, we say NO to fanfic. The question of why comes up often. So here below is the reason. I have also listed the sites where the info came from it you want to look at all of it yourself. Some of the fanfic sites require the originating author to give permission. When asked, they receive a polite no letter. We have never sicced a cadre of lawyers on fanfic sites as some rumor we do. Nor do we comb the Internet looking for fanfic. No one here ever reads fanfic. Of any sort. Mostly we are too busy to do so and it holds no interest. (Personally, my TBR pile is huge and I don’t like reading on screen. There is something about holding a book in my hand, curled in bed with a cup of hot chocolate that is almost magical to me.) As far as we know, no court has yet ruled on fanfic legality under the Copyright Act. I know there are many “Internet” lawyers out there positive it is okay to do. But they are not judges and their opinions have no legal standing. In fact, many copyright lawyers have no doubt that fanfic is simply an unauthorized and therefore infringing derivative work that takes without permission the originating author’s plots, characters and other copyright-protected literary elements. In any event, until a court ruling comes down that clearly states one way or another, we will go with the blanket no policy. Laurell is not the only author to have this policy. Many do now due to the situation cited below. MARION ZIMMER BRADLEY She created the planet of Darkover as a setting for her own series, writing a large number of Darkover stories as a solo author and later collaborating with other authors to produce Darkover anthologies, where once again she encouraged story submissions from unpublished authors. For a time, Bradley actively encouraged fan fiction within the Darkover universe, but this came to an end following a dispute with a fan over an unpublished Darkover novel of Bradley’s that had similarities to some of

The Author on the Internet

115

the fan’s stories. As a result, the novel remained unpublished, and Bradley demanded the cessation of all Darkover fan fiction. The Darkover novels may be considered fantasy with science fiction overtones or science fiction with fantasy overtones, as Darkover was a lost earth colony where psi powers had developed to an unusual degree. US COPYRIGHT LAW Also noteworthy is the series of Darkover anthologies published by Marion Zimmer Bradley, beginning in 1980, consisting largely of fan fiction extended into her canon. At the time, the intent was to make Darkover a shared universe similar to the Cthulhu Mythos. The author eventually discontinued these after a 1992 skirmish with a fan who claimed authorship of a book identical to one Bradley had published and accused Bradley of “stealing” the idea. The resultant lawsuit cost Bradley a book, and her attorney advised against permitting fan fiction of any kind. This incident is credited by some to have led to a “zero tolerance” policy on the part of a number of other professional authors, including Andre Norton, David Weber, and Mercedes Lackey. From Wikipedia An excerpt from a letter to the editor of “Writer’s Digest,” March, 1993. The letter was written by Marion Zimmer Bradley: “ . . . While in the past I have allowed fans to ‘play in my yard,’ I was forced to stop that practice last summer when one of the fans wrote a story, using my world and my characters, that overlapped the setting I was using for my next _Darkover_ novel. Since she had sent me a copy of her fanzine, and I had read it, my publisher will not publish my novel set during that time period, and I am now out several years’ work, as well as the cost of inconvenience of having a lawyer deal with this matter. “Because this occurred just as I was starting to read for this year’s _Darkover_ anthology, that project was held up for more than a month while the lawyer drafted a release to accompany any submissions and a new contract, incorporating the release. I do not know at present if I shall be doing any more _Darkover_ anthologies.” “Let this be a warning to other authors who might be tempted to be similarly generous with their universes, I know now why Arthur Conan Doyle refused to allow anyone to write about Sherlock Holmes. I wanted to be more accommodating, but I don’t like where it has gotten me. It’s enough to make anyone into a misanthrope.” . . . http:// www.fanworks.org/writersresou . . . ne&authorid=53 You too can hunt up articles that are far more extensive on the issue through any of the search engines (http://blog.laurellkhamilton .org/index.php/site/comments/lkh_bit_11_25_07).

116

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

While fanfic based on the Anita Blake series does exist and, in fact, links to the Anita Blake and Laurell K. Hamilton webrings will find sites that contain such stories, Hamilton has placed a public interdiction on Anita Blake (and presumably Merry Gentry) fan fiction on such multifandom fiction archives as http://fanfiction.net. On the other hand, finding Anita Blake fanfiction through more specialized sites, such as http:// www.3till7.net/fulldark/index.php, is not difficult. Perhaps it should be noted, however, that as with many of the Anita Blake/Laurell Hamilton sites, this one has not been updated for several years. In addition, there are fanfiction archive sites, such as Pomme de Sang, http://pommedesang.com/efiction/, an archive with over 2,700 Anita Blake fan fiction stories which is very active. A sister archive, Soudre de Sang (http://www.pommedesang.com/sds/) is a selective, by-invitationonly, archive with some 320 stories.

ONLINE ROLE-PLAYING GAMES Another way that fans interact with a beloved series is through the phenomenon of online role-playing (RP) games. Most of these are relatively small groups of 50-100 members. To participate, one must apply, with a character description, and abide by the rules of whatever universe the game tries to recreate. For example, a game set in the Anita-verse would limit characters to the same sort of limitations a character in one of Hamilton’s books might have. At its best, online RP can immerse the player in the world of his or her choice can become an exercise in group writing, with stories that go in unexpected directions and personalities that take on lives of their own. A few Anita Blake/Merry Gentry general online role play sites: http://nadinenoel.proboards.com/index.cgi http://lukoi.net/phpBB3/index.php http://obsidianbutafly.proboards.com/index.cgi http://s7.zetaboards.com/Circus_of_the_Damned/index/ http://macabremenace.proboards.com/index.cgi

YOUTUBE On YouTube, there is a “Laurell K. Hamilton Video Channel” at http:// www.youtube.com/jondgreen , which includes video of personal appearances, readings, and book signings, and which is maintained by her husband, Jonathan Green. A search for other videos yields almost 225

The Author on the Internet

117

results on Hamilton, including clips from television appearances, promotional interviews, and so on. However, there is also a full complement of fan creations (at the time of this writing, close to 1,000 videos), such as trailers for an Anita Blake movie and music videos celebrating various aspects of the series. The practice of making fan videos dates back to the early days of the Star Trek: The Original Series fandom, when fans synced slideshows of photographs taken from television broadcasts to music for presentation at fan conventions. The process evolved through the days of VCRs and increasingly easier access to video editing to the current status of online screen capture and editing of clips and stills. Once an art form shared by a few convention goers and circulated on videocassettes, with posting on websites such as YouTube and Vimeo, the fan video has become a widely and easily shared expression of creativity, available to the entire world. A few examples should give the flavor of the available videos. Most are, as is typical for fanvids, set to appropriate music. These videos blend clips from other movies, artwork, still photos, quotations, and music to create a transformative experience of the text—or of what the fans want to see from a movie based on the series. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EZPB5TEHN0&feature=fvw: A movie opening. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMmRwjrKx2E&feature=related: “Anita and Richard, After The Harlequin.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCcrD2XBxkY&feature=related: Anita Blake fan video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hwwuztzJg8: Casting picks for a movie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPb4Ol8LKKM: “You know you’re addicted to The Anita Blake series when . . . ” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIqYzH-2jVQ: Anita Blake Comics Video Tribute.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS • What are the significant differences between the material found on Hamilton’s official website, the publisher websites, and the independent fan websites?

118

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

• What factors may have led to the decline of the independent websites? • How do you feel about Hamilton’s stance regarding fan fiction? Is it reasonable, or does it stifle fan expressions of interest? • Which website discussed in this chapter is most interesting or useful? • Do fan videos and other artistic creations form a good introduction to Hamilton’s work?

12 LAURELL K. HAMILTON AND THE MEDIA

Hamilton’s relationship with critics and fans is the focus of “Laurell K. Hamilton and the Media.” It discusses how Hamilton has been critically received and the growing interest in her work as providing texts worthy of study and scholarly analysis. Initially viewed as a minor writer of genre fiction, Hamilton’s continuing popularity and large following have begun to bring her more critical attention, even though her books are not widely reviewed in the press.

HAMILTON AND THE CRITICS (Please note that publication details on the reviews quoted below are listed in Chapter 15.) As a beginning author, Hamilton’s books were not widely reviewed, and mostly found attention from genre reviewers. Her first book, Nightseer, received a lukewarm response from the science fiction review journal Locus, in which Carolyn Cushman commented, “Working within a standard fantasy scenario in her first novel . . . Hamilton manages to make her apprentice magician just different enough to keep the book from being a total waste of time . . . for a newcomer she demonstrates a real feel for the most popular elements of genre fantasy, hampered primarily by a tendency to excess that may well be tempered by experience.” Reviews of her second published work, Nightshade, a Star Trek: Next Generation novel, were hardly kinder, with Hugh M. Flick, a 119

120

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

reviewer from Kliatt (a review journal for young adult paperbacks) noting, “The horrors of runaway pollution are clearly spelled out for even the most undiscerning reader.” As Hamilton hit her stride with Guilty Pleasures, reviewer Cushman of Locus continued unimpressed, commenting, “All that’s missing is real romantic tension, but the characters are generally too unpleasant to be involving. Still, there are plenty of kinky plot twists, lots of dark humor, and a slap-dash pace to keep things going.” On the other hand, a second review in the same issue of Locus, by Scott Winnett, was much more favorable: “Hamilton takes her world by the teeth and runs with it, devising a whipcrack adventure that moves like the wind . . . this is not really a horror novel, but a dark fantasy thriller set in a carefully-constructed alternate world.” This may have been the first, but certainly not the last time that the genre question arose, and Hamilton’s blending of genres was noticed. The second Anita Blake book, The Laughing Corpse, continued the pattern of reviews only from genre or young adult review journals, but was generally better received, with Locus’s Cushman commenting on the genre mix again: “The package and title scream ‘horror,’ but this is a contemporary detective story in supernatural clothing . . . ” and concluding, “If you can stand a bit of humor in your horror, or vice versa, this is a deserving follow-up to the aptly-named Guilty Pleasures.” By the time the third novel in the series, Circus of the Damned, debuted, Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine was on board for the ride. The reviewer, Michelle West, was under no illusions that the book was a serious literary effort, but in her column titled “Guilty Pleasures,” noted, “This book is like a roller coaster. First, you can be thrilled by the ups and the downs, but you always know that you’re never going to derail, no matter how unpleasant the ground looks when it’s approaching. Second, you get on it of your own accord, and it takes you pretty much back to where you started, but you leave with no sense of having been cheated for the lack of progress; in fact, you might just go back and stand in line again for the same privilege.” The same sort of reviewer attitude persisted for the next several books, with the review in Kliatt for The Lunatic Cafe´ stating, “Hamilton is a writer who combines elements of everything in her work: police procedural, wry sense of humor, detailed knowledge of the supernatural, and much more.” West, writing in Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine in 1997 concerning Bloody Bones, the fifth book in the series, noted, “The plot twists are contrived—but they’re the type of contrivance that you generally notice after the ride, not during it . . . Mayhem, madness, old spells, and older vampires. And Anita Blake at the center of it, struggling to stay on top, stay alive. Hamilton through and through.” Clearly, the reviewers had pegged Hamilton by this time as an author

Laurell K. Hamilton and the Media

121

who would deliver a good ride with plenty of bloodshed and action, but not much more. What one sees, too, is that as the book reviews continue, even though this is a mass-market paperback series, venues likeLibrary Journal, Booklist, and Publishers Weekly, all review publications used by libraries to make purchase decisions, are beginning to carry reviews of Hamilton’s work. A brief and somewhat puzzled notice in Booklist for The Killing Dance, comments that the story incorporates elements of “romance, mystery, and a high level of gore,” but characterizes the series as “ingenious.” The Science Fiction Chronicle, discussing Burnt Offerings, states that “Blake herself is one of the most interesting and assertive protagonists I’ve ever encountered.” However, a review in the same journal for the following book, Blue Moon, while positive, injected a note of doubt: “I confess that some of the confrontations between the protagonist and her enemies seemed a bit repetitive this time. Otherwise, this was a very fine addition to a series which clearly has not exhausted its potential.” The series reached a landmark with the ninth book, Obsidian Butterfly. This was the first of Hamilton’s books to be published in hardcover. Hamilton herself evinced some concern over the change, speaking with Stephen Bolhafner of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 2001, “ ‘I feel a little guilty, actually,’ she says about the move from paperback originals to hardcover. ‘I was raised poor. Outside of schoolbooks, I was out of college for several years before I could own a hardback book. I just didn’t have the money. So I actually felt a little bad. Now, my fans that have bought all the paperbacks, they’re going to have to shell out for a hardback.’ ” Reviews of the Obsidian Butterfly were the usual mixture of complaint and praise, ranging from Kirkus Reviews, which commented, “The humorless Anita is quite analytic and tiresomely long-winded; one reads on and on waiting for her to shut up and for something to happen,” to Carolyn Cushman of Locus, who characterized the novel as, “A nice, grisly vacation from Anita’s usual relationship problems,” and Library Journal, which said “As in Hamilton’s other novels, this book contains an abundance of thrills, chills, violence, and sexual innuendo,” and recommended it for all public libraries. Fantasy and Science Fiction embraced it most enthusiastically, with Michelle West writing, “the series that started with Guilty Pleasures (I can’t think of a more appropriate title for either that novel or the entire Anita Blake series) and moved at a brisk clip to Blue Moon continues in the same vein, if you’ll pardon the pun. . . . Hardcover or no, it’s the same Anita Blake in new clothing, which for people who like to relax on the roller coaster, with the certainty of both safe thrills and a neat exit, is a very good thing. Is it worth the hardcover price? Yes. Go forth and buy in confidence.”

122

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

The next book after Obsidian Butterfly, Narcissus in Chains, drew some criticism for the amount and variety of sex. A reviewer in Publishers Weekly noted, “As she becomes more like the fantastic creatures she protects or kills, she, alas, doesn’t get any more interesting as a character. Her obsessions with lust serve mainly to overwhelm a rickety plot. Blake needs to put her clothes back on and get back to work. Too much flesh and not enough plot leads to the old but so true saying, ‘Less is more.’ ” And Kirkus Reviews comments succinctly that Anita is “a woman of variable morality.” When Cerulean Sins appeared, Library Journal seemed less than enthralled with the turn the series was taking, noting, “Anita is a smart gal who can think fast and shoot even faster, but her weaknesses revolve around the many men in her life . . . Earlier books in the series focused on a mystery rather than Anita’s complex private life and were much more interesting. Still, this is from a best-selling author and should be considered for purchase.” On the other hand, Publishers Weekly felt the series was looking up after a misstep. “Anita Blake is one of the more fascinating fictional heroines since Scarlet O’Hara—and a hell of a lot more fun than most. Despite her satin lingerie, short skirts and high heels, she kicks both human and non-human bad-guy butt—hard. . . . If this all seems complicated, it’s nothing compared to Anita’s sex life. There’s plenty of the hot stuff, but it’s presented with a certain morality and definite hilarity. After unraveling, to the detriment of writing and plot, some character and story line knots in previous bestseller Narcissus in Chains (2001), the author is back on track with the best Blake yet.” And Kristine Huntley, reviewing in Booklist, appeared to concur, commenting, “Hamilton’s complex, enthralling world is utterly absorbing, and Anita’s many fans will be thrilled to see her back in action.” By the time Incubus Dreams was published, while Publishers Weekly strove to maintain a positive attitude with the statement, “There’s plenty of life (and undeath) left in this series, and Hamilton’s imagination is apparently as inexhaustible as her heroine’s supernatural capacity for coupling,” but felt compelled to add, “The trend toward emphasizing the erotic may lose some established fans, but is likely to gain the author many more new readers.” Patricia Altner, in Library Journal commented coolly, “Fans of the series will not be disappointed; recommended where the series is popular.” Publishers Weekly was somewhat more optimistic over Micah, the short novel that followed Incubus Dreams, noting, “Hamilton . . . delivers a highly palatable portion of what makes her series heroine, federal marshal and vampire-hunter Anita Blake, a bestseller: equal portions hot sex and supernatural crime fighting—with a dollop of old-fashioned

Laurell K. Hamilton and the Media

123

male-female melodrama—served up in a world where new were-animals have their own crisis hotline. . . . A good entry point for the uninitiated, this offering provides further insight into both characters and their universe.” And the next novel, Danse Macabre, saw the same journal noting, “The uniquely complicated life of Anita Blake . . . That Anita has no detecting to do may disappoint some fans . . . The very lack of a finale suggests that there’s no end in sight for this fabulously imagined series.” On the other hand, there is an almost audible sigh of relief with the next review in Publishers Weekly of The Harlequin. “Hamilton’s latest should prove more satisfying to longtime fans with its straightforward supernatural politics and steamy (but not extreme) sex.” Kristine Huntley, reviewing for Booklist, was not quite so sanguine concerning The Harlequin, stating, “This time Hamilton relies a little too heavily on complex vampire politics, though sex and intrigue abound, and Anita’s pregnancy dilemma makes particularly compelling reading. Long time fans will enjoy the yarn while probably hoping there will be a little more action for Anita next time.” With the appearance of Blood Noir, the reviewer for Publishers Weekly had evidently tired of the sexual content of the novels, commenting, “The florid 16th Anita Blake novel (after 2007’s The Harlequin) updates Anita’s endlessly erotic adventures as a living vampire with many weird lovers. . . . Hamilton chronicles Anita’s escapades with a growing air of ennui, which longtime readers can’t help sharing as sex increasingly takes the place of plot and character development.” Critics seemed more welcoming of the next book, Skin Trade. Publishers Weekly unbent enough to allow that although “The book is largely concerned with the melodramatic conflict between hunter and hunter and Blake’s soap-operatic love life . . . Hamilton does manage some genuinely moving passages, particularly those describing the terror of innocent vampires caught up in the arbitrary and draconian U.S. legal system.” Altner, in Library Journal, was far more positive: “For readers who have been longing for the engaging stories of the early Anita Blake urban fantasies, with lots of adventure nicely mingled with sexual tension but fewer pages of graphic sex, this is the book. Right from the start this supernatural thriller grabs the reader’s attention and does not let go.” And Kristine Huntley in Booklist nearly rhapsodized, “It takes a while for things to get started—petite Anita has to prove herself to men who both disdain and desire her—but readers who find that the lengthy sex scenes in Hamilton’s novels drag down the story will be pleased that this one features more varied action, though, as usual, sex rules most of Anita’s interactions with humans and supernatural creatures. Recommend this as the best entry in a while in Hamilton’s long-running series.”

124

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

It is interesting to note that the last two books (to date) in the Anita Blake series, Flirt and Bullet, were not reviewed in Library Journal, Booklist, or Publishers Weekly, despite appearing on the New York Times bestseller list. Possibly the series is seen as such a juggernaut that reviewers feel their approval or disapproval will have little effect on sales, and that libraries will purchase the book based on public demand alone. The Merry Gentry series, which was far more straightforward in its sexual content from the first volume on, as well as having the advantage of coming from a “name brand” author, saw reviews in the usual places from the first volume onward. The first volume, 2000’s A Kiss of Shadows, drew favorable reviews from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly, with LJ saying, “Here is an edgy story of sex, violence, and magic that manages to be both disturbing and entertaining. Highly recommended for all public libraries,” and Publishers Weekly adding, “Erotica is fantasy, but it rarely gets as fantastic as this. . . . As wild as the novel’s premise is, memorable characters and wicked wit make it all delicious, ribald fun.” Kirkus Reviews was a little more restrained, commenting, “There’s a lot of crazy stuff lurking under the L. A. smog, and this Hamilton lady has seen all the brownies and goblins.” In fact, Kirkus Reviews became less enchanted with the series quickly, saying of the second volume, A Caress of Twilight, “Private dick/faerie princess Meredith Gentry returns in this faux-noir sequel . . . still babbling that overripe moonspeak . . .” Although the reviewer for Library Journal was still cautiously favorable, commenting, “Hamilton’s novel, awash with magical and erotic images, blends Celtic myth with life in modern-day America. The intricate plot fascinates, but readers should be aware that it includes a great deal of graphic sex,” noting that is by the author of the popular Anita Blake series. The third volume, Seduced by Moonlight, again drew mixed reviews, with Library Journal weighing in with the opinion that it was “compelling storytelling” and “contains the same sultry eroticism while deepening the interrelationships among the principal characters.” Kirkus takes the moral high ground in its review, with the dry comment that “Given all the rolling around beforehand, it seems only right that at this novel’s climax, Meredith finds herself abed with 16 males.” And concludes it is “Steamy embraces wispily laced together by moonlit shadow-webbing.” A Stroke of Midnight was touted by Publishers Weekly as the strongest entry in the series, with a reviewer going alliterative to state, “Faeries, fornication and forensics fuse for yet another darkly fantastic frolic for Hamilton fans.” Other reviewers differed; a reviewer named “Alisa” on

Laurell K. Hamilton and the Media

125

the website “Reviewer’s Bookwatch” commented, “The sex acts themselves dominate so much storyline, it is impossible not to wish for more character development. A Stroke of Midnight will satisfy those Hamilton fans that have embraced the sexual tone of her recent works.” The series was basically branded for erotica without sufficient plot development, and often reviews of subsequent volumes pointedly stated that “fans” would appreciate it. Mandi Bierly, reviewing Mistral’s Kiss in Entertainment Weekly, said, “Newbies will struggle to digest the plot . . . But everyone will enjoy the marathon, 40-page opening sex scene. While we bow to proud Merry’s stamina, we’d love to see her lead men (or goblins) into battle with more than just her sex appeal.” Bierly gave the book a mediocre grade of C+, while Publishers Weekly noted, “Lots of earthshattering, supernatural sex and a rousing climactic battle will have Hamilton’s fans panting for more.” The most recent three volumes of the series have not garnered many reviews, much like the later Anita Blake books. Whether this is a commentary on the quality of the works, their unstoppable popularity, or boredom on the part of the reviewers is unknown. In the single available review of A Lick of Frost in Publishers Weekly, the reviewer calls Hamilton’s style “breathless” and “overheated,” while wondering in the subsequent review of Swallowing Darkness if “a tidy ending will leave fans wondering whether it concludes the series.” Hamilton had intended for the series to go only six to seven volumes, but obviously she has rethought that—doubtless after perusing sales figures. An eighth installment, Divine Misdemeanors, published in 2009, saw the series attempting to return to its roots as a detective story, but Nina C. Davis, reviewing the novel for Booklist, comments, “The mystery aspect in the latest installment in Hamilton’s popular series starts out with great page-turner potential, then struggles to overcome some heavy personal drama, only to fizzle out in a too simply resolved conclusion. However, the novel as a whole rebounds as new conflicts emerge within Merry’s clan as their faerie powers grow. Hamilton provides a tensionfilled ending and offers her diehard fans more of the sexually entwined politics, mesmerizing imagery, and wry humor that have kept them loyal and always eager for the next title.” Throughout her career, book reviewers have damned her with faint praise, often tsk-tsking over the sexual content that has invaded her work for the past decade and a half now. And serious book reviewers have simply not gone near her work, leaving it for trade publications and genre reviews to cover. Yet despite the lack of widely seen reviews, her books sell, and the trade reviewers, for the most part, pay due respect to the bottom line.

126

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

HAMILTON AND THE FANS How did Hamilton’s work become so popular then? In a word, fans. Stephen Bolhafner of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, writing up an interview with Hamilton, says that she built her audience by word of mouth. “It was through the fans,” Hamilton comments in the interview. “I’m not sure where I’d be if there wasn’t an Internet, actually. One of the first ways that people began to talk about me to each other was over the Internet.” The timing was good, undoubtedly. A new series that would appeal to fans of science fiction, vampire fiction, horror fiction, mystery fiction, and what have you, debuting when nerds began congregating online. It was inevitable that Hamilton’s work would attract attention that would boost sales and build a solid following for her novels, regardless of what the book reviewers were, or were not, saying. As mailing lists gave way to Internet fanboards, the fanbase became more defined, and some of the fan following still maintains a healthy online presence. As discussed in Chapter 11 both official and unofficial sites follow Hamilton’s writing, with discussions, fan fiction, and fan artwork. Yet there is a certain ambivalence between Hamilton and her fans, and vice versa. Fans who loved the first several Anita Blake books were not always as positive about the later entries in the series, and took exception to the ardeur and the graphic sexual content of the later books. According to her blog, many of her “fans” expressed their dissatisfaction to her, both online and during personal appearances, and her reaction to this was not only strong, but expressed publicly. In essence she told any readers who did not like what she was writing to go elsewhere, as the books were selling very nicely—thank you so much. Curiously, the anti-fans, as they deem themselves, continue an intense interest in Hamilton’s work, reading and critiquing every new novel, and engaging in lively and open debate on other online venues, such as discussion boards through Amazon.com and elsewhere. The loyalty of these readers, and their passionate attachment to Anita Blake, even as they consider Hamilton’s more recent portrayals of their heroine to be in error, is one of the more striking aspects of the response to Hamilton’s writing. Clearly, in the early books of the series, she created a character who resonated deeply with readers, and they have maintained that fascination with Blake, even though they disapprove of Hamilton’s direction with the series. The strong feelings that Hamilton’s novels generate in her readers are easily demonstrated. A check of customer reviews of her novels on Amazon.com reveals that all of the Anita Blake books have well over

Laurell K. Hamilton and the Media

127

100 reviews posted by readers, and the number ranges up to 780 reviews for Incubus Dreams. (As a point of comparison, Nora Roberts, another prolific and best-selling author, tends to have between 50–200 reviews for most of her books). And not all of the reviews are positive. Incubus Dreams’ average rating is two and a-half stars out of five; and the onestar ratings are more than twice as frequent as the five-star ones. Still, Hamilton maintains a close connection with fans, both in public appearances at science fiction and fantasy conventions, and through her official web page, which hosts a discussion forum. Although the forum is largely populated (and policed) by fans, Hamilton does come on the site from time to time to answer questions and look at messages left for her. The fact that this is a part of her official site, however, does mean that it is not as open a forum as an independent fanboard might be, and members are cautioned never to say anything negative or disrespectful regarding the author. Some critical commentary on her works is allowed, but certainly not encouraged.

HAMILTON AND THE SCHOLARS Simply put, Hamilton’s work is only beginning to attract the attention of scholars in popular culture and vampire literature, largely due to the enormous current interest in the vampire. Articles are beginning to appear, however, and at the 2010 Popular Culture Association meeting in St. Louis, a round-table discussion panel on Hamilton’s works drew a respectable audience. Also in 2010, a volume of 14 essays on Hamilton’s work, Ardeur, was published by Benbella Press. This volume, edited by Hamilton herself and with introductions to the articles by her, covered such issues as sexuality in the Anita Blake books, the vampire as a racial metaphor, the subversion of the U. S. criminal justice system in the series, “Anita Blake and the Horror Renaissance,” and so on. Some of the essays are by scholars, some by authors in the field. The introductions in some cases applaud the essayists, and in others attempt to refute them, making the book an entertaining, quasi-scholarly debate between Hamilton and some of her more serious commentators. The volume was eagerly received by fans, despite its scholarly bent, although Hamilton’s editorship of the collection was seen as an attempt to skew its content to essays uncritically favorable of her writing. Other articles have appeared in such venues as the Journal of American Culture (a paper placing Anita Blake in the tradition of the hard-boiled, tough-guy detective), the Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts (Sylvia Kelso’s

128

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

“The Feminist and the Vampire: Constructing Postmodern Bodies”), and Refractory: A Journal of Entertainment Media (an article comparing Anita Blake and Buffy the Vampire Slayer in their relationships with vampires). At least two master’s theses to date have considered the Anita Blake series. With the continuing interest in vampires and strong female heroines, there are bound to be more scholarly analyses of Hamilton’s body of work. With so much to choose from within the two major series and the continuing popularity of both her subject matter and her works themselves, further publication on the topic is inevitable.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS • Book reviews of Anita Blake often mention fast-paced action and strong storytelling. How has Hamilton developed in terms of plotting and narrative structure, over the course of her career? • What are some of the aspects of Hamilton’s work that have fans coming back for more, even when they are upset with current directions? • How has Hamilton’s control of her fanbase on the official website functioned to restrict fan discussion and interaction? Or has it?

REFERENCES Bolhafner, J. Stephen. “St. Louisan Writes About the Vampire Hunter Next Door.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Oct. 10, 2001. ProQuest Newsstand, ProQuest. Crosby, Janice C. “Hamilton, Laurell K. (1963– ).” Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy. Ed. Robin A. Reid. Westport: Greenwood, 2009. Volume 2, p. 155–156. Fletcher, Danielle R. “Precocious Girls and Ambiguous Boys: Vampires and Sexual Identity in Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake Vampire Hunter and Nancy A. Collins Midnight Blue.” Master’s Thesis, University of Northern British Columbia, 2002. Guran, Paula, and Jeff Zaleski. “Playing with Plenty of Imaginary Toys.” Publishers Weekly 250, number 12 (2003): 63. Hamilton, Laurell K. and Leah Wilson, eds. Ardeur: 14 Writers on the Anita Blake Vampire Humter Series. Dallas: Benbella Books, 2010. Hoffman, Ingrid. “Romancing the Vampire: The Lives and Loves of Two Vampire Slayers: Anita and Buffy.” Refractory: A Journal of Entertainment Media 8 (2005): [21 p.].

Laurell K. Hamilton and the Media

129

Holland-Toll, Linda J. “Harder than Nails, Harder than Spade: Anita Blake as ‘the Tough Guy’ Detective.” Journal of American Culture 27, number 2 (2004): 175–189. Jensen, Jeff, et al. “Hungry for Vampires.” Entertainment Weekly 1059 (2009): 23–28. Kelso, Sylvia. “The Feminist and the Vampire: Constructing Postmodern Bodies.” Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts 8, number 4 (1997): 472–87. Kelso, Sylvia. “The Postmodern Uncanny; or, Establishing Uncertainty.” Paradoxa 3, number 3/4 (1997): 456–70. Kessler, Angela and Warren Lapine. “Laurell K. Hamilton Interview.” Chronicle 25.8, number 239 (Sept. 2003): 14, 32–34. “Laurell K. Hamilton: Death and Sex.” Locus: The Newspaper of the Science Fiction Field 45, number 3 [476] (2000): 5. McCarty, Michael. “Seduced by Moonlight: An Interview with Laurell K. Hamilton.” More Giants of the Genre. 20–26 Holicong: Wildside Press, 2005. McCarty, Michael. “Seduced by Moonlight: Laurell K. Hamilton.” Modern Mythmakers: Interviews with Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers and Filmmakers. Ed. Michael McCarty. 67–76. Jefferson: McFarland, 2008. Miller, Laura. “Real Men HAVE Fangs.” Wall Street Journal—Eastern Edition. Oct. 31, 2008: W1+. Pearl, Nancy, and Patricia Altner. “Bloody Good Reads: Vampire Tales with Bite.” Library Journal 130, number17 (2005): 96. Rafferty, T. “Shelley’s Daughters.” The New York Times Book Review. volume 113, number 43. (Oct. 26, 2008): 12–13. Richards, M. “Bring Out Your Undead: The Children of Lestat.” [Bibliographical essay]. Publishers Weekly 253, number 23 (June 5 2006): 22–24. Schindler, D. T. “Laurell K. Hamilton: Underworld Seductress.” Publishers Weekly 251, number 38 (September 20 2004): 42. Schneider, Maria. “Genre Bender.” Writer’s Digest 88, number 2 (April 2008): 44. Siegel, Carol. “Female Heterosexual Sadism: The Final Feminist Taboo in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series.” ThirdWave Feminism and Television: Jane Puts It in a Box. London, England: Tauris, 2007. P. 56–90. Wong, Joansandy M. “Constructing Reality from Fantasy in The Wheel of Time and Anita Blake.” Master’s Thesis, Baylor University, 2004.

This page intentionally left blank

13 WHAT DO I READ NEXT?

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR OTHER WORKS It’s never been cooler to be undead, and there are vampires and other paranormals to spare out there. If you like your vampires (and other creatures of the night) good, bad, ugly, handsome, you have plenty of choices in this day and age. In fact, it can be difficult to sort out the ones worth reading from the plethora of urban fantasy available. In this list of recommendations, I’ve tried to avoid the straight romance series in favor of ones with more mystery and action. Most of the series listed are still in progress, with new titles appearing at least yearly. These books are full of strong female characters, gritty action, and romance. Here are recommendations for a few series that should be of interest to readers of Laurell K. Hamilton. The series volumes are listed in order of publication. In most cases, it is helpful to read the books in order, as the development of the mythos in each series is slightly (or even radically) different, and frequently relationships develop and change as the series continue. Are these the only series of this nature available? In a word, no. There are probably at least as many more series out there with paranormal bad girls and vampire private eyes, but these represent some of the best of the genre, and some of the longest-lasting series in that vein. As a side comment, it is very common for the entries in each of these series that feature empowered (and supernaturally-powered as well) women, to focus on their athletic bodies, often portrayed from behind, and less the faces of the heroines. These are obviously women who are 131

132

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

more than capable of kicking ass and taking names, often while wearing tight leather pants or miniskirts and stiletto heels. The series dominated by males—usually old school, hard-boiled detectives—tend more toward illustrations of the down-tilted brim of a fedora, showing a cigarette and a fang or two. Novels in the vampire romance vein, on the other hand, generally feature handsome, frequently bare-chested heroes and heroines on the verge of biting into a partner’s neck, with the general implication that orgasm will shortly ensue. In many cases, in addition to the novels of these series, the authors have published in popular anthologies, which provide a good sample of several writers’ works.

THE CLASSICS Anyone interested in vampires really should start with the granddaddy of them all, Count Dracula. Here are a few of the biggest books in the genre, the ones that every vampire fan should know. Bram Stoker, Dracula (1897—many editions). This is not the book that first introduced the vampire—there were others before it, including John Polidori’s The Vampyre and Sheridan LeFanu’s Carmilla, but Dracula remains the most read and most studied vampire novel of them all. In over 110 years it has never gone out of print. Stoker set the gold standard for vampires, introducing the intrepid vampire slayers facing a menace more powerful than any mere mortal. In short, young clerk Jonathan Harker travels to the Carpathians to meet a client, Count Dracula, who is planning to relocate to England. Harker discovers that the Count is a vampire, but is unable to stop his departure. Arriving in England, Dracula seduces beautiful Lucy Westenra, and eventually turns her into a vampire also. Harker, his fiance´ e Mina, a Dutch vampire hunter named Van Helsing, and Lucy’s suitors Seward, Morris, and Lord Godalming, combine to battle the evil before it can spread. Perhaps surprisingly to modern readers Dracula can walk in the day, but he has most of the common attributes of the vampire stereotype, including sleeping in a coffin, an allergy to garlic, a lack of reflection, and a need for his home soil. Stephen King. Salem’s Lot (Doubleday, 1975). King reinterprets Dracula by moving the vampire (renamed Barlow) to small-town Maine. He combines the horror of an evil vampiric presence with the ironic exploration of the probable effect of an easily spread plague of vampirism. With everyone who is bitten turning vampire, the town is very shortly hip-deep in plebeian American vampires, and the overwhelmed vampire hunters have their work cut out for them. They could definitely use Anita’s help!

What Do I Read Next?

133

Anne Rice. Interview with the Vampire (Knopf, 1976) and The Vampire Lestat (Knopf, 1985). The modern fascination with the vampire can be dated back to Anne Rice’s first two (of many!) vampire novels. Interview presents a view from the other side of the fangs; and with Louis, and later, Lestat, the overpoweringly seductive immortal took center stage. There are no maidens in distress here, and no fearless vampire hunters. The vampires are beautiful, largely amoral, and live in a world where humans are disposable food. Rice’s vampires are strictly nocturnal, spending their days in coffins and killing a human every night to sustain their existence. Interview tells the story of a young Louisiana planter who is transformed by a vampire, detailing the angst of his long life. In The Vampire Lestat, the sinister vampire who turned Louis tells his own story, and his mixture of brash egotism and stunning beauty makes him a worthy predecessor to Hamilton’s Jean-Claude. Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. Hotel Transylvania (St. Martin’s, 1978). The first volume of a vampire series even longer than Anita Blake, Hotel Transylvania introduces the historical eighteenth century alchemist and charlatan St. Germain, and explains the known information about this fascinating character with vampirism. St. Germain is the hero of all the books about him, and the humans’ inhumanity makes his need for a wineglass full of blood, usually taken in the course of sex, seem more a minor quirk than a serious flaw. George R. R. Martin. Fevre Dream (Poseidon Press, 1982). The aristocratic vampire, Joshua York, is seeking a way to conquer the blood hunger that burns within him; and along the way, to save as many other vampires as possible, in hopes of being able to live alongside humans. Traveling along the Mississippi in the years before the Civil War, he will need to defeat the plots of an evil vampire and garner the help of the bluff riverboat captain, Abner Marsh. Martin’s novel climaxes with an edgeof-your-seat steamboat chase. Elizabeth Kostova. The Historian (Little Brown, 2005). A massive novel, with multiple criss-crossing storylines, this takes the vampire Dracula/historical Dracula nexus and explores the hunt for a legendary, and real vampire. There are no pretty, seductive boys with fangs here; but the combination of a multigenerational saga, with the search for the truth of a bloodthirsty reality, makes for a classic vampire read. Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan. The Strain (William Morrow, 2009). Another recent, grittily horrific vampire novel that presents vampirism in terms of a virus. A plane landing in New York City is discovered to have a load of dead passengers, and their bloodless condition leads eventually to the conclusion that a master vampire has arrived in America. This is another story of vampires multiplying like an infection

134

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

across the country, and the humans will begin to fight back; but vampires, from Dracula onward, have proven remarkably hard to destroy. A second volume of the trilogy, The Fall, appeared in 2010. Otto Penzler, ed. The Vampire Archives (Black Lizard Press, 2009). This outsized paperback volume (now also published in a three-volume mass-market format) combines literary vampire stories from the past 200 years with accounts of real vampires and some poetical vampires. The Vampire Archives provides an excellent overview of high quality vampire fiction, along with haunting and terrifying reads. One of the classics included is Sheridan LeFanu’s novella, Carmilla—one of the most important precursors to Dracula. The anthology has recently been issued as a series of three mass market paperbacks, respectively titled Bloodsuckers, Fangs, and Coffins. Justin Cronin. The Passage (Ballantine, 2010). Another recent novel with horrific vampires, The Passage chronicles a post-Apocalyptic America beset by a vampire plague, the misbegotten effect of a government effort to create a super-soldier. The word “vampire” occurs rarely in the text, but the signs are there. The virals have more in common with mindless folkloric revenant vampires than with any sensitive heroic vamps, but the story has an epic sweep that draws in readers. Two more books are planned to complete the story.

WOMEN BATTLING VAMPIRES, WEREWOLVES, AND SUNDRY ASSORTED DEMONS These series are most similar to Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake, although you will be hard pressed to find anyone quite as tough and graphic as Anita. Nevertheless, here you will find intelligent, sometimes reckless women—often with extraordinary powers or skills—fighting to make the world a safer place. And often hooking up with some deadly, delicious vampire hunks on the side.

Kim Harrison’s The Hollows In this world, a plague created by genetically altered tomatoes radically changed the balance of power; and supernatural beings, such as witches, weres, vampires, and other paranormal species, have come out, forming a substantial, if semi-segregated part of American society. Rachel Morgan, a born witch and freelance troubleshooter (very much in the vein of Anita Blake) has recently quit her position as a runner with Inderland Services, the paranormal equivalent of being an FBI agent, to move into

What Do I Read Next?

135

an old church with her new partner, Ivy Tamwood, a living vampire with whom Rachel develops an ambiguous relationship. She’s also partnered by Jenks, a pixie with a large family to support. Part of the charm of this series is that Rachel is no superwoman, and her faults and foibles make her engagingly human. She makes mistakes, and these lead her into problems with demons far more powerful and cunning than herself. Yet her connections with friends always somehow seem to lead her safe home. On the other hand, Rachel, like Anita Blake, is a smart, athletic, talented individual who more than holds her own in most fights. The series currently runs to seven volumes, each with a snarky title based on a Clint Eastwood movie. Harrison’s work also appears in numerous anthologies. Starting as mass-market paperback, the series has moved to hardcover publication, and hardcover reprints of the earlier volumes are available. Dead Witch Walking (Eos, 2004) The Good, the Bad, and the Undead (HarperTorch, 2005) Every Which Way But Dead (HarperTorch, 2005) A Fistful of Charms (HarperTorch, 2006) For a Few Demons More (Eos, 2007) The Outlaw Demon Wails (Eos, 2008) White Witch, Black Curse (Eos, 2009) Black Magic Sanction (Eos, 2010) Pale Demon (Harper Voyager, 2011)

Jennifer Rardin’s Jaz Parks Decribed as “Dracula meets James Bond,” Jennifer Rardin’s series of novels about CIA vampire slayer Jaz Parks and her boss, a 300-year-old Rumanian gypsy vampire named Vayl, provide glorious romps through the assassin/spy genre with a paranormal twist. Jaz is an engaging heroine with some serious guilt issues following the death of her previous team of slayers, and Vayl is as mysterious and hot as any vamp lover could wish for. Sadly, Rardin passed away shortly after the completion of the eighth book of the series, but this is one no vampire lover should miss. Once Bitten, Twice Shy (Orbit, 2007) Another One Bites the Dust (Orbit, 2007) Biting the Bullet (Orbit, 2008) Bitten to Death (Orbit, 2008) One More Bite (Orbit, 2009) Bite Marks (Orbit, 2009)

136

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

Bitten in Two (Orbit, 2010) The Deadliest Bite (Orbit, 2011)

Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress Frost’s Cat Crawfield is a half-vampire who trains with a vampire bounty hunter, Bones, and teams with him to hunt and kill rogue vampires. Coming from an initial fear and hatred of both vampires and her own half-vampire nature (an attitude drilled into her by her mother, the survivor of a vampiric rape that resulted in Cat), she must learn not only the physical skills needed to hone her abilities, but also the mental outlook that will enable her to build a relationship with her undead mentor. Halfway to the Grave (Avon, 2007) One Foot in the Grave (Avon, 2008) At Grave’s End (Avon, 2008) Destined for an Early Grave (Avon, 2009) This Side of the Grave (Avon, 2011) And recently, she has begun a second, related series, “Night Huntress World” First Drop of Crimson (Avon, 2010) Eternal Kiss of Darkness (Avon, 2010)

Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire Series (Sookie Stackhouse) This is the series on which the popular HBO series True Blood is based, but the books are not quite as gritty, and great fun. In this world, the development of cheap, commercially available synthetic blood has enabled vampires to “come out of the coffin” and join American society; although shapeshifters and other “supes” (supernatural beings) have not followed suit. Sookie Stackhouse, a waitress at one of the few eateries in small town Bon Temps, Louisiana, is telepathic. This presents problems for her social life until she meets a vampire, Bill Compton—a local boy who survived the Civil War only to be turned into a vampire on his way home. Now he’s come back to his hometown, and Sookie discovers to her delight that she cannot read the minds of the undead. Sookie’s telepathic abilities, however, make her uniquely valuable to the local vampire power structure. The series currently has 10 volumes, with a collection of short stories and further volumes in development. Dead Until Dark (Ace, 2001) Living Dead in Dallas (Ace, 2002)

What Do I Read Next?

137

Club Dead (Ace, 2003) Dead to the World (Ace, 2003) Dead as a Doornail (Ace, 2004) Definitely Dead (Ace, 2005) All Together Dead (Ace, 2006) From Dead to Worse (Ace, 2007) Dead and Gone (Ace, 2008) A Touch of Dead (Ace, 2009) Anthology of Sookie stories first published elsewhere. Dead in the Family (Ace, 2010) Dead Reckoning (Ace, 2011)

Carrie Vaughan’s Kitty Norville Series Kitty Norville, in this series, is a woman who was attacked by a werewolf and is affected with lycanthropy. But, hey, even werewolves have to pay the rent, and Kitty makes her living as host of a late night radio talk and advice show for supernatural citizens. The first book deals with Kitty’s inadvertent start of the show and her coming out of the closet as a werewolf, live on the air. The tensions are explored not only between the mundane world and that of the supernatural creatures, but also the rivalries and undercurrents surrounding the various elements of the supernatural community. As is so often the case in fiction, werewolves and vampires do not play well together, and Kitty, trying to maintain her independence and control of her life, often finds herself at odds with the rest of the world, preternatural or not. Kitty and the Midnight Hour (Warner Books, 2005) Kitty Goes to Washington (Warner Books, 2006) Kitty Takes a Holiday (Warner Books, 2007) Kitty and the Silver Bullet (Grand Central Publishing, 2008) Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand (Grand Central Publishing, 2009) Kitty Raises Hell (Grand Central Publishing, 2009) Kitty’s House of Horrors (Grand Central Publishing, 2010) Kitty Goes to War (Tor Books, 2010) Kitty’s Big Trouble (Tor Books, 2011)

Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld The Otherworld series is unusual in that it does not follow the adventures of just a single character, but rather an interlocking set of

138

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

characters from one novel to the next. The first focuses on a werewolf turned journalist, Elena Michaels, and her interactions with her wolf nature and her pack. The second continues her story but introduces vampires and witches to the mix, including Paige Winterbourne, the heroine of later volumes. Other strong female leads in the series are Jaime Vegas, a necromancer and budding media star who really does talk to dead people, demon-battling ghost Eve Levine, and chaos demon and tabloid reporter Hope Adams. The supernatural investigations are more varied than in some other series, and while there are romance elements, the main theme of the series revolves around these preternatural women solving crimes. Bitten (Viking, 2001) Stolen (Viking, 2002) Dime Store Magic (Bantam Books, 2004) Industrial Magic (Bantam Books, 2004) Haunted (Bantam Books, 2005) Broken (Seal Books, 2006) No Humans Involved (Bantam Books, 2007) Personal Demon (Bantam Books, 2008) Living with the Dead (Bantam Books, 2008) Men of the Otherworld: A Collection of Otherworld Tales (Bantam Books, 2010) Frostbitten (Bantam Books, 2010)

Tanya Huff’s Blood Series Victory Nelson, homicide detective, has been pensioned off the force due to her gradually failing eyesight, and started her own investigation agency. In the first book of the series, this practical, mundane policewoman becomes aware that the world is far more complicated than she had supposed and makes the acquaintance of Henry Fitzroy, romance novelist . . . and vampire. Turns out he’s an illegitimate son of Henry VIII. The two begin a relationship, part professional, part personal, and this is played off against Vicki’s longstanding love/hate connection with her former partner, Detective Mike Celluci. This is an older series, but interest in it revived with the Lifetime television series, Blood Ties, based on the characters from the books (Yes, in the television series, Henry was a graphic novelist, instead of a romance writer. Either way, refreshingly, he’s a vampire who works for a living.) Huff brings an engaging realism to her tales of vampires and demons battling in the streets of Toronto. In

What Do I Read Next?

139

addition to the original publications, newer reprints with television series tie-in covers are available. Blood Blood Blood Blood Blood

Price (DAW Books, 1991) Trail (DAW Books, 1992) Lines (DAW Books, 1993) Pact (DAW Books, 1994) Debt (DAW Books, 1997)

Chris Marie Green’s Vampire Babylon Hollywood stuntwoman Dawn Madison is a woman with a mission—to find out what happened to her parents—and she stumbles across Hollywood’s undead underground. She quickly morphs into a vampire slayer, using her human skills to discover unsettling facts about her family background. Night Rising (Ace Trade, 2007) Midnight Reign (Ace Trade, 2008) Break of Dawn (Ace Trade, 2008) A Drop of Red (Ace Trade, 2009) The Path of Razors (Ace Trade, 2009) Deep in the Woods (Ace Trade, 2010)

L. A. Banks’s Vampire Huntress Legends The Vampire Huntress, Damali Richards is an African American chosen slayer, the Neteru, who has a cover identity as a spoken word recording artist. She is accompanied by a multiracial group of guardians who assist her in her efforts. The vampires here are badasses who fund their nefarious lives with drug dealing, gun running, and (worst of all) an evil multinational corporation. In this long series Damali finds love, loses it, and finds it again with her vampire lover Carlos Rivera; and mixes in a healthy dose of religion with Lilith, the wife of Satan, seeking to steal Damali’s lover to conceive the Antichrist. The stakes could not be higher. This is a series that must be read in order for it to remain comprehensible. The action is fast and furious; but without an understanding of the mythic underpinnings, it can be wildly confusing. Banks also has a werewolf-based series, Crimson Moon. Minion (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2003) The Awakening (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2004)

140

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

The The The The The The The The The The

Hunted (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2004) Bitten (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2005) Forbidden (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2005) Damned (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2006) Forsaken (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2003) Wicked (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2008) Cursed (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2008) Darkness (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2008) Shadows (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2008) Thirteenth (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2009)

Patricia Briggs’s Mercy Thompson Series Mercy Thompson is a shapeshifter and an auto mechanic. Briggs presents a world where the lesser fae, such as brownies, have been forced into the open by advances in human technology that made it impossible for them to hide any longer, but the big guns of the supernatural world—the shifters, vampires, and greater fae—are still hidden from view. Mercy, who is not technically a were, but rather a “walker” who can shift at will into a coyote, operates under the traditions of Native American skinwalker lore, as opposed to the European werewolf “rules.” And although she is not as powerful as some of the creatures surrounding her, her special abilities and common sense carry her through. Moon Called (Ace Books, 2006) Blood Bound (Berkley, 2007) Iron Kissed (Ace Books, 2008) Bone Crossed (Ace Books, 2009) Mercy Thompson: Homecoming (Del Ray, 2009) A graphic novel. Silver Borne (Ace Hardcover, 2010) River Marked (Ace Hardcover, 2011)

BLOODSUCKER, P. I. The hard-boiled detective has been successfully crossed over into paranormal territory on more occasions than one might think. Vampires and noir go well together; the long shadows of the past reaching into the present to torment one doomed protagonist after another on the mean streets of the great American cities. And if the P. I. doesn’t have fangs, you can bet his adversaries do.

What Do I Read Next?

141

Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files This paranormal series became a regrettably short-lived Syfy channel television series, but the print version has many fans. Butcher’s protagonist, hard-boiled antihero Harry Dresden, is a wizard, usually broke, and fighting supernatural forces that menace his equally unfortunate clients. Harry lives in a world that has rejected the preternatural in favor of science and technology, but nonetheless holds a plethora of vampires, werewolves, ghouls, fairies, and what-have-you. Some are good, some are bad. And Harry’s compulsion to do good and try to save the day (or the night) consistently lands him in difficulties that only his not inconsiderable luck leads him out of more or less in one piece. Storm Front (Roc, 2000) Fool Moon (Roc, 2001) Grave Peril (Roc, 2001) Summer Knight (Roc, 2002) Death Masks (Roc, 2003) Blood Rites (Roc, 2004) Dead Beat (Roc, 2005) Proven Guilty (Roc, 2006) White Night (Roc, 2007) Small Favor (Roc, 2008) Turn Coat (Roc, 2009) Changes (Roc, 2010) Side Jobs: Stories from the Dresden Files (Roc, 2010) An anthology of short stories related to the series. Ghost Story (Roc, 2011)

P. N. Elrod’s Vampire Files Elrod writes a very classic noir series about a hard-boiled detective, a journalist who finds himself in unusual circumstances in Depression-era Chicago. Oh, yes, and did we mention that Jack Fleming is a vampire? He had had a vampire lover, years before, and when he is murdered, somewhat to his surprise he awakens with new abilities and new hungers. Needing to support himself and find a sheltered spot to pass the days, Jack manages to forge a partnership with a dapper English private investigator, Charles Escott, and also manages to hook up with a remarkably tolerant and lovely cabaret singer, Bobbi Smythe. One interesting aspect of these stories is that Fleming survives primarily on cow’s

142

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

blood, which he acquires by shifting into mist and invading the Chicago stockyards to rematerialize next to his bovine victims—much to the detriment of his footwear. The Depression-era settings lend these stories a different feel, like an old Humphrey Bogart movie. Bloodlist (Ace, 1990) Life Blood (Ace, 1990) Bloodcircle (Ace, 1990) Art in the Blood (Ace, 1991) Fire in the Blood (Ace, 1991) Blood on the Water (Ace, 1992) A Chill in the Blood (Ace, 1999) The Dark Sleep (Ace, 2000) Lady Crymsyn (Ace, 2001) Cold Streets (Ace, 2003) Song in the Dark (Ace, 2006) Dark Road Rising (Ace, 2009)

Charlie Huston’s Joe Pitt Series Joe Pitt is yet another hard-boiled, down-at-heel gumshoe who happens to be a vampire. He’s not the best and brightest vampire or detective, and often finds himself manipulated as he’s caught between factions of vampires in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Clans of vampires teeter on the brink of all-out war, with only the dubious diplomatic skills of Joe Pitt to keep the precarious peace. The violence in this series is pervasive, but the fresh take on vampire politics and the witty, hip dialogue make this series an entertaining read. Huston has said that the fifth book will be final entry in this series. Already Dead (Ballantine Books, 2005) No Dominion (Ballantine Books, 2006) Half the Blood of Brooklyn (Ballantine Books, 2007) Every Last Drop (Ballantine Books, 2008) My Dead Body (Ballantine Books, 2009)

Mario Acevedo’s Felix Gomez Possibly the only vampire fiction that had to be declassified by the Department of Energy . . . the Felix Gomez series features an Iraq War veteran turned vampire, turned private investigator. This series is about

What Do I Read Next?

143

as hard-boiled as it gets, although the titles are perhaps misleadingly titillating. In addition, Acevedo throws in everything from aliens to zombies; conspiracy theories abound and morals are often compromised, if not entirely abandoned, as Gomez attempts to maintain an uneasy balance between the supernatural forces that surround him and the world of humanity he has left behind. Nymphos of Rocky Flats (Rayo, 2006) X-rated Bloodsuckers (Rayo, 2007) The Undead Kama Sutra (Eos, 2008) Jailbait Zombie (Eos, 2009) Werewolf Smackdown (Eos, 2010)

THE ROMANCE OF THE FANG Paranormal romance has boomed in recent years, and there are many, many series available, from goofy chicklit to young adult to romance mixed with urban fantasy. The following series represent some of the best and most popular of the urban fantasy/vampire romance series, which may appeal to readers of Laurell K. Hamilton. In them, you will find lusty and fanged heroes, many with traditional romance novel intimacy issues, which are happily resolved when the right woman comes along. In addition, there are also frequently epic showdowns between good and evil, with vampires fighting their nefarious enemies to save their race, or their planet, or both.

J. R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood In this mix of gritty urban fantasy and romance, vampires are not the bad guys, but a separate race, wishing only to live peacefully among humans. In fact, they only drink the blood of vampire members of the opposite sex. They have a fully realized society, hidden within human civilization, although the race is under attack from members of the sinister Lessening Society, a group of immortal evil-doers dedicated to wiping out vampires. Standing between the civilian vampires and annihilation by the lessers is the Black Dagger Brotherhood, a beleaguered group of warriors who stalk the night in leather when they aren’t drinking expensive liquor in their favorite bar. The war often takes a backseat to the romance elements of these books, with each of the brothers finding his fated mate, and eventually winning her and working out the problems of their relationships. One of the saving graces of this series is that, as dominantly

144

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

masculine as the Brothers are, they are matched by their women, and culturally and genetically programmed to view females of their species as equals. This is a complex, but understandable, fully realized world with a compelling group of characters. The names and vocabulary can be a little confusing at first; names and other words are altered slightly—for example, warrior vampire names tend toward things like Tohrment, Vishous, and Phury. But once a reader is drawn into the world of the Brotherhood that ceases to be a problem. At present, the series has seven volumes, plus an Insider’s Guide which features a previously unpublished novella, as well as other material on the Brothers and the writing process. Dark Lover (New American Library, 2005) Lover Eternal (New American Library, 2006) Lover Awakened (New American Library, 2006) Lover Revealed (New American Library, 2007) Lover Unbound (New American Library, 2007) Lover Enshrined (New American Library, 2008) The Black Dagger Brotherhood: An Insider’s Guide (New American Library, 2008) Lover Avenged (New American Library, 2009) Lover Mine (New American Library, 2010) Lover Unleashed (New American Library, 2011) Ward also has a series on Fallen Angels, set in the same universe. Covet (Signet, 2009) Crave (Signet, 2010)

Sherilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter Kenyon blends Atlanteans, vampires, werewolves, Norse myth, Greek myth, Celtic myth, and whatever else she can get her hands on into this popular series of urban fantasy/romance novels. Dark Hunters, who are claimed by the goddess Artemis, with the aid of her lover/assistant Acheron, fight against the evil Spathi demons and Apollites, a cursed vampiric race. The romance overrides the plot in most of these books, and it works best if the reader doesn’t try to make too much sense out of the complicated mythos. Every book features a different protagonist; yet their stories are interconnected pieces of the same mythos, and the lead characters from one book often turn up as minor parts of others.

What Do I Read Next?

145

The overarching character, Acheron, remains mysterious in origin until his self-titled book, a massive volume which splits between a “historical” section detailing the tortures and agony of Ash’s mortal life and his later status as a god, finding love (after millennia) with a human woman. While it is now a few books behind the series, The Dark Hunter Companion provides a great deal of useful information about the complex mythos Kenyon has created. In addition to the Dark Hunter books, there are also three (so far) Dream Hunter novels. Fantasy Lover (St. Martin’s, 2002) Night Pleasures (St. Martin’s, 2002) Night Embrace (St. Martin’s, 2003) Dance with the Devil (St. Martin’s, 2003) Kiss of the Night (St. Martin’s, 2004) Night Play (St. Martin’s, 2004) Seize the Night (St. Martin’s, 2005) Sins of the Night (St. Martin’s, 2005) Unleash the Night (St. Martin’s, 2005) Dark Side of the Moon (St. Martin’s, 2006) Devil May Cry (St. Martin’s, 2007) The Dark Hunter Companion (St. Martin’s, 2007) Acheron (St. Martin’s, 2008) One Silent Night (St. Martin’s, 2009) Bad Moon Rising (St. Martin’s, 2009) No Mercy (St. Martin’s, 2010)

Lara Adrian’s Midnight Breed Readers may find this series similar to Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood, as it also features a band of warrior vampires who have made it their mission to protect the vampire race by fighting against the feral Rogue vampires who threaten the security of the vampire enclaves with their schemes for world domination. While the vampires of this series— genetic descendants of alien visitors to Earth—can and do feed from mortal women, once the women pair up with a vampire, they cease to age and become eternally youthful with occasional sips of vampire blood. Kiss of Midnight (Bantam, 2007) Kiss of Crimson (Bantam, 2007) Midnight Awakening (Bantam, 2007)

146

READING LAURELL K. HAMILTON

Midnight Rising (Bantam, 2008) Veil of Midnight (Bantam, 2008) Ashes of Midnight (Bantam, 2009) Shades of Midnight (Bantam, 2009) Taken by Midnight (Bantam, 2010) Deeper than Midnight (Bantam, 2011)

ANTHOLOGIES Not sure just where to start? What authors will appeal to you? One way to jump in is to try anthologies. With the popularity of paranormal fiction, there are a number of anthologies showcasing big name authors, and some lesser-known writers. A short story or novella may just give you enough of a taste of style and content to help you decide whether to check out a series. The anthologies listed below should provide a sampling of the available titles. Bite (Jove Books, 2004) (Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, MaryJanice Davidson, Angela Knight, Vickie Taylor) Cravings (Jove Books, 2004) (Laurell K. Hamilton, MaryJanice Davidson, Eileen Wilks, Rebecca York) Immortal Bad Boys (Brava, 2004) (Rebecca York, Rosemary Laurey, Linda Thomas-Sundstrom) Dates from Hell (Avon, 2006) (Kim Harrison, Lynsay Sands, Kelley Armstrong, Lori Handeland) Holidays Are Hell (Harper, 2007) (Kim Harrison, Lynsay Sands, Vicki Pettersson, Marjorie M. Liu) My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding (St. Martins, 2007) (Sherrily Kenyon, Charlaine Harris, L. A. Banks, Jim Butcher, Rachel Caine, Eshter M. Freisner, Lori Handeland, Susan Krinard) My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon (St. Martins, 2007) Jim Butcher, Kelley Armstrong, Katie MacAlister, Rachel Caine, P. N. Elrod, Marjorie M. Liu, Lilith Saitncrow, Rhonda Thompson) Hotter Than Hell (Harper, 2008) (Kim Harrison, Tanya Huff, Marjorie M, Liu, Cheyenne McCray, L.A. Banks, Susan Krinard, Keri Arthur, et al.) Many Bloody Returns (Ace, 2009) Kelley Armstrong, Jim Butcher, Rachel Caine, P. N. Elrod, Charlaine Harris, Christopher Golden, et al.)

What Do I Read Next?

147

Dead After Dark (St. Martin’s 2008) (Sherrilyn Kenyon, J.R. Ward, Susan Squires, Dianna Love) Unbound (Eos, 2009) Kim Harrison, Melissa Marr, Jeaniene Frost, Vicki Pettersson, Jocelyn Drake Weddings from Hell (Harper, 2008) Maggie Shayne, Jeaniene Frost, Terri Garey, Kathryn Smith

This page intentionally left blank

RESOURCES

Laurell K. Hamilton is a prolific writer, as earlier chapters have amply demonstrated. A list of her works, with pertinent book reviews appended, follows. It is important to note that the first publication of each book has been cited, but most of Hamilton’s works have been published in multiple editions and formats. The first eight Anita Blake books, for example, were originally issued in mass-market paperback format; all have subsequently been released with variant cover art and in trade paperback format. In addition, the early Anita Blake novels were published in book club omnibus editions. From Obsidian Butterfly onward the novels first appeared in hardcover, with the exception of Micah, a lesser work that came out in paperback; although it, too, has subsequently been released in hardcover format. Even Hamilton’s non-series works, Nightseer, Nightshade, and Death of a Darklord, have seen multiple issues. Additional sections of this chapter include a listing of basic biographical sources and a list of further readings about Hamilton’s work.

WORKS BY LAURELL K. HAMILTON Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter (In order of publication) Hamilton, Laurell K. Guilty Pleasures. New York: Ace Books, 1993. Review(s): Library Journal 130.17 (Oct. 15 2005): 96 149

150

Resources

Locus 31 (Oct. 1993): 27. Locus 31 (Oct. 1993): 33. Locus 31 (Nov. 1993): 48. Locus 32 (Feb. 1994): 75–76. Science Fiction Chronicle 14 (Sept. 1993): 32. Voice of Youth Advocates 16 (Feb. 1994): 381. Hamilton, Laurell K. The Laughing Corpse. New York: Ace Books, 1994. Review(s): Locus 33 (Oct. 1994): 33. Locus 33 (Oct. 1994): 53. Science Fiction Chronicle 16 (Jan. 1995): 37–38. Voice of Youth Advocates 17 (Feb. 1995): 348. Voice of Youth Advocates 18 (Apr. 1995): 9. Hamilton, Laurell K. Circus of the Damned. New York: Ace Books, 1995. Review(s): Library Journal 120 (May 15, 1995): 99. Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction 90 (May 1996): 42–43. Science Fiction Chronicle 16 (June 1995): 37. Hamilton, Laurell K. The Lunatic Cafe. New York: Jove Books, 1996. Review(s): Kliatt Young Adult Paperback Guide 30 (May 1996): 16. Hamilton, Laurell K. Bloody Bones. New York: Ace Books, 1996. Review(s): Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction 92 (May 1997): 127–8. Hamilton, Laurell K. The Killing Dance. New York: Ace Books, 1997. Review(s): Booklist 96 (Sept. 15, 1999): 242 Kliatt Young Adult Paperback Guide 31 (Nov. 1997): 16 Science Fiction Chronicle 19 (April 1998): 54.

Resources

151

Hamilton, Laurell K. Burnt Offerings. New York: Ace Books, 1998. Review(s): Library Journal 135, 8 (2010): 46. Library Journal 123 (May 15 1998): 119. Publishers Weekly 245 (Mar. 23, 1998): 96. Romance Reader (Apr. 20, 1998) (online) Science Fiction Chronicle 19 (May 1998): 40. Voice of Youth Advocates 21 (Dec. 1998): 368. Hamilton, Laurell K. Blue Moon. New York: Ace Books, 1998. Review(s): Kliatt Young Adult Paperback Guide 33 (Mar. 1999): 22. Romance Reader (Oct. 12, 1999): (online) Science Fiction Chronicle 20 (Feb. 1999): 43. Hamilton, Laurell K. Obsidian Butterfly. New York: ACE Books, 2000. Review(s): Drood Review of Mystery 20 (July 2000): 17. Kirkus Reviews 67 (Nov. 15, 1999): 1760–61. Library Journal 124 (Dec. 1999): 185–86. Library Journal 135, 11 (2010): 37. Locus 43 (Dec. 1999): 27. Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction 98 (June 2000): 41–42. Publishers Weekly 246 (Dec. 20, 1999): 62. Science Fiction Chronicle 21 (June 2000): 47. Hamilton, Laurell K. Narcissus in Chains. New York: Berkley Books, 2001. Review(s): Booklist 97.22 (Aug. 2001): 2051. Kirkus Reviews 69 (Aug. 15, 2001): 1149. Publishers Weekly 248 (Sept. 17, 2001): 60. Hamilton, Laurell K. Cerulean Sins. New York: Berkley Books, 2003. Review(s): Booklist 99 (Apr. 15, 2003): 1456. Entertainment Weekly (Apr 18 2003): 75.

152

Resources

Kirkus Reviews 71 (Mar. 1, 2003): 334. Library Journal 128. 6 (2003): 129. Hamilton, Laurell K. Incubus Dreams. New York: Berkley Books, 2004. Review(s): Booklist 104.4 (Oct. 15, 2004): 395. Kirkus Reviews 72.17 (Sept. 1, 2004): 825. Library Journal 129.16 (Oct. 1 2004): 69. Library Journal 130.12 (2005): 131. Publishers Weekly 251.37 (Sept. 13, 2004): 63. Hamilton, Laurell K. Micah. New York: Jove Books, 2006. Review(s): Library Journal 131.12 (2006): 118–120. Publishers Weekly 253.4 (2006): 192–193. Hamilton, Laurell K. Danse Macabre. New York: Berkley Books, 2006. Review(s): Booklist 102.21 (July 2006): 42. Library Journal 132.3 (2007): 156. Library Journal 131.12 (2006): 71. Publishers Weekly 253.21 (May 22, 2006): 35 Hamilton, Laurell K. The Harlequin. New York: Berkley, 2007. Review(s): Entertainment Weekly 938 (2007): 83. Library Journal 132.13 (2007): 129. Publishers Weekly 254.18 (2007): 143. Hamilton, Laurell K. Blood Noir. New York: Berkley Books, 2008. Review(s): Publishers Weekly 255.16 (2008): 40. St. Louis Post Dispatch (May 25, 2008): F8

Resources

153

Hamilton, Laurell K. Skin Trade. New York: Berkley Books, 2009. Review(s): Booklist 105.17 (2009): 5. Booklist 106.5 (2009): 65. Library Journal 134.17 (2009): 46. Library Journal 134.10 (2009): 93. Publishers Weekly 256.16 (2009): 37. Hamilton, Laurell K. Flirt. New York: Berkley Books, 2010. Review(s): Library Journal 135.10 (2010): 54. Hamilton, Laurell K. Bullet. New York: Berkley Books, 2010. Review(s): Romance Reader (June 6, 2010): online St. Louis Post Dispatch (July 6, 2010): D9 Hamilton, Laurell K. Hit List. New York: Berkley Books, 2011. (Forthcoming)

Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Omnibus Editions Hamilton, Laurell K. Club Vampyre. New York: Science Fiction Book Club, 1997. Contains the complete text of Guilty Pleasures, The Laughing Corpse, and Circus of the Damned. Hamilton, Laurell K. Midnight Cafe´. New York: Science Fiction Book Club, 1998. Contains the complete text of The Lunatic Cafe´ , Bloody Bones, and The Killing Dance. Hamilton, Laurell K. Black Moon Inn. New York: Science Fiction Book Club, 1999. Contains the complete text of Burnt Offerings and Blue Moon. Hamilton, Laurell K. Nightshade Tavern. New York: Science Fiction Book Club, 2005. Contains the complete text of Obsidian Butterfly and Narcissus in Chains.

154

Resources

Merry Gentry (In order of publication) Hamilton, Laurell K. A Kiss of Shadows. New York: Ballantine Books, 2000. Review(s): Kirkus Reviews 68 (Sept., 1, 2000): 1217–18. Library Journal 125 (Aug. 2000): 168. Locus 45 (July 2000): 33. Publishers Weekly 247 (Sept. 4, 2000): 89–90. Science Fiction Chronicle (Feb. 2001): 41. Hamilton, Laurell K. A Caress of Twilight. New York: Ballantine Books, 2002. Review(s): Booklist 98.14 (Mar. 15 2002): 1219. Bookpage (Apr. 2002): 3. Kirkus Reviews 70 (Feb. 15, 2002): 219–20. Library Journal 127.7 (Apr. 15, 2002): 128. Library Journal 127.19 (2002): 116. Publishers Weekly 249 (Mar 4 2002): 61–62. Science Fiction Chronicle 23 (Apr 2002): 46. Hamilton, Laurell K. Seduced by Moonlight. New York: Ballantine Books, 2004. Review(s): Booklist 100.12 (2004): 1047. Kirkus Reviews 71 (Dec. 15, 2003): 1430. Library Journal 129.11 (2004): 108. Library Journal 129.3 (2004): 166. Hamilton, Laurell K. A Stroke of Midnight. New York: Ballantine Books, 2005. Review(s): Library Journal 131.12 (2006): 118–120. Publishers Weekly 252.15 (2005): 38–39. Reviewer’s Bookwatch (May 2005): (online)

Resources

155

Hamilton, Laurell K. Mistral’s Kiss. New York: Ballantine Books, 2006. Review(s): Entertainment Weekly 910 (2006): 100. Library Journal 132.6 (2007): 126–128. Publishers Weekly 253.43 (Oct 30 2006): 181 Hamilton, Laurell K. A Lick of Frost. New York: Ballantine Books, 2007. Review(s): Publishers Weekly 254.36 (2007): 45. Hamilton, Laurell K. Swallowing Darkness. New York: Ballantine Books, 2008. Review(s): Publishers Weekly 255.39 (2008): 63. Hamilton, Laurell K. Divine Misdemeanors. New York: Ballantine Books, 2009. Review(s): Booklist 106.8 (2009): 2. Booklist 106.14 (2010): 66.

Other Works Hamilton, Laurell K. “A Token for Celandine.” Memories and Visions. Sturgis, Susanna J., ed. Freedom: Crossing Press, 1989. Also appeared in Strange Candy. Hamilton, Laurell K. “House of Wizards.” Marion Zimmer Bradley Fantasy Magazine, Spring 1989. Also appeared in Strange Candy. Hamilton, Laurell K. “Stealing Souls.”—Spells of Wonder. Bradley, Marion Zimmer, ed. New York: DAW, 1989. Also appeared in Strange Candy. Hamilton, Laurell K. “Winterkill.” Sword and Sorceress, no. 7. Bradley, Marion Zimmer, ed. New York: DAW, 1990. Also appeared in Strange Candy. Hamilton, Laurell K. “The Curse Maker.” Dragon Magazine 165, 1991. Also appeared in Strange Candy. Hamilton, Laurell K. “Geese.” Sword and Sorceress, no. 8. Bradley, Marion Zimmer, ed. New York: DAW, 1991. Also appeared in Strange Candy.

156

Resources

Hamilton, Laurell K. Nightseer. New York: Roc, 1992.

Review(s): Locus 28 (Feb. 1992): 29–30. Locus 28 (Apr. 1992): 46. Hamilton, Laurell K. Nightshade. New York: Pocket Books, 1992.

Review(s): Kliatt Young Adult Paperback Guide 27 (May 1993): 16. Science Fiction Chronicle 14 (Feb. 1993): 33. Hamilton, Laurell K. Death of a Darklord. Ravenloft Books. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1995.

Review(s): Library Journal 120 (June 15, 1995): 98–99. Science Fiction Chronicle 16 (July 1995): 37. Hamilton, Laurell K. “A Clean Sweep.” Superheroes. Mainhardt, Ricia and John Varley. New York: Ace Books, 1996. Also appeared in Strange Candy. Hamilton, Laurell K. “Magic Like Heat Across My Skin.” Excerpt from Narcissus in Chains. Robb, J D, Susan Krinard, Maggie Shayne, and Laurell K. Hamilton. Out of This World. New York: Jove Books, 2001. 277–357. Hamilton, Laurell K. “Blood Upon My Lips.” Excerpt from Incubus Dreams. Cravings. Hamilton, Laurell K, MaryJanice Davidson, Eileen Wilks, and Rebecca York. New York: Berkley Pub, 2004. 1–85.

Review(s): Booklist v. 100 no. 21 (July 2004): 1828. Hamilton, Laurell K. “The Girl Who Was Infatuated with Death.” Bite. Hamilton, Laurell K, Charlaine Harris, MaryJanice Davidson, Angela Knight, and Vickie Taylor. New York: Jove Books, 2005. 1–32. Also appeared in Strange Candy.

Review(s): Library Journal v. 130 no. 1 (Jan. 2005): 104. Publishers Weekly v. 252 no. 1 (Jan. 3 2005): 42.

Resources

157

Hamilton, Laurell K. Strange Candy. New York: Berkley Books, 2006.

Review(s): Library Journal 131.17 (2006): 57. Publishers Weekly 253.32 (Aug. 14 2006): 181. Hamilton, L. K. “Those Who Seek Forgiveness.” The Living Dead, ed. John Joseph Adams. San Francisco: Night Shade Books, 2008. 202–210.

Review(s): Library Journal 133.17 (Oct 15 2008): 62. Publishers Weekly 255.39 (Sept 29 2008): 63. Hamilton, Laurell K. “Can He Bake a Cherry Pie.” Never After. Hamilton, Laurell K, Yasmine Galenorn, Marjorie M. Liu, and Sharon Shinn. New York: Jove Books, 2009. 2–35.

Graphic Novels Hamilton, Laurell K. Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: The First Death. New York, NY: Marvel Publishing, 2007. Hamilton, Laurell K., Stacie Ritchie, Jess Ruffner-Booth, and Brett Booth. Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures, vol. 1. New York: Marvel Pub, 2007.

Review(s): Library Journal 132.19 (2007): 45. Hamilton, Laurell K., Jess Ruffner-Booth, Brett Booth, and Ronald Lim. Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures, vol. 2. New York, N.Y: Marvel Publishing, 2008. Hamilton, Laurell K., Jess Ruffner-Booth, Ronald Lim, June Chung, and Bill Tortolini. Anita Blake: The Laughing Corpse: Book One: Animator. New York: Marvel Publishing, 2009. Hamilton, Laurell K., Jess Ruffner-Booth, Ronald Lim, Joel Sequin, Laura Villari, and Bill Tortolini. Anita Blake: The Laughing Corpse: Book Two: Necromancer. New York: Marvel Worldwide, 2010. Hamilton, Laurell K., Jess Ruffner-Booth, and Ronald Lim. Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, the Laughing Corpse: Book Three: Executioner. New York: Marvel Enterprises, 2010.

158

Resources

Hamilton, Laurell K., Jess Ruffner-Booth, and Ronald Lim. Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Circus of the Damned: Book One: The Charmer. New York: Marvel Enterprises, 2011.

Biographical Resources Bolhafner, J. Stephen. “St. Louisan Writes About the Vampire Hunter Next Door.” St. Louis Post–Dispatch, Oct. 10, 2001. ProQuest Newsstand, ProQuest. Dorr, Dave. “Lunatics and Lycanthropes: Laurell K. Hamilton, Author of Nine Books on Vampires and Werewolves, Sinks Her Teeth into St. Louis.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch (pre-1997 Fulltext). Feb. 22, 1996. ProQuest Newsstand, ProQuest. Hamilton, Laurell K. “Laurell.” http://www.laurellkhamilton.org/Laurell.html. “Laurell K. Hamilton.” Authors & Artists for Young Adults. Vol. 46. Detroit: Gale Group, 2002. “Laurell K. Hamilton.” Contemporary Authors Online. Gale, 2010. “Laurell K. Hamilton.” Newsmakers. The People Behind Today’s Headlines. 2008, Issue 2. Detroit: Gale, Cengage Learning, 2008. “Laurell K. Hamilton.” Who’s Who in America. 62nd edition, 2008. New Providence: NJ: Marquis Who’s Who, 2007. “Laurell K. Hamilton.” Who’s Who of American Women. 26th edition, 2007. New Providence, NJ: Marquis Who’s Who, 2006. “Laurell K. Hamilton Interview, Horror Author.” FlamesRising.com. June 20, 2006. Stein, Sharman. “Vampires and Werewolves and Witches—Oh, My! How a Nice St. Louis Girl Got All Caught Up in the Macabre and Developed a Cult Following.” Chicago Tribune (pre-1997 Fulltext) Oct. 31, 1996. Chicago Tribune, ProQuest.

Articles Crosby, Janice C. “Hamilton, Laurell K. (1963–).” In Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy, vol. 2. Ed. Robin A. Reid. Westport: Greenwood, 2009, 155–156. Fletcher, Danielle R. “Precocious Girls and Ambiguous Boys: Vampires and Sexual Identity in Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake Vampire Hunter and Nancy A. Collins Midnight Blue.” Master’s Thesis, University of Northern British Columbia, 2002. Guran, Paula, and Jeff Zaleski. “Playing with Plenty of Imaginary Toys.” Publishers Weekly 250.12 (2003): 63. Hamilton, Laurell K., and Leah Wilson, eds. Ardeur: 14 Writers on the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series. Dallas: Benbella Books, 2010. Hoffman, Ingrid. “Romancing the Vampire: The Lives and Loves of Two Vampire Slayers: Anita and Buffy.” Refractory: A Journal of Entertainment Media, 8, 2005.

Resources

159

Holland-Toll, Linda J. “Harder than Nails, Harder than Spade: Anita Blake as ‘The Tough Guy’ Detective.” Journal of American Culture, 27.2 (2004): 175–189. Jensen, Jeff, et al. “Hungry for Vampires.” Entertainment Weekly 1059 (2009): 23–28. Kelso, Sylvia. “The Feminist and the Vampire: Constructing Postmodern Bodies.” Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, 8.4 (1997): 472–87. Kelso, Sylvia. “The Postmodern Uncanny; or, Establishing Uncertainty.” Paradoxa 3.3/4 (1997): 456–70. Kessler, Angela and Warren Lapine. “Laurell K. Hamilton Interview.” Chronicle 25.8 (No. 239) (Sept. 2003): 14, 32–34. “Laurell K. Hamilton: Death and Sex.” Locus: The Newspaper of the Science Fiction Field 45.3 (2000): 5. McCarty, Michael. “Seduced by Moonlight: An Interview with Laurell K. Hamilton.” In More Giants of the Genre. Holicong: Wildside Press, 2005. 20–26. McCarty, Michael. “Seduced by Moonlight: Laurell K. Hamilton.” Modern Mythmakers: Interviews with Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers and Filmmakers.” Ed. Michael McCarty. 67–76. Jefferson: McFarland, 2008. Miller, Laura. “Real Men HAVE Fangs.” Wall Street Journal—Eastern Edition. (Oct. 31, 2008): W1+. Pearl, Nancy, and Patricia Altner. “Bloody Good Reads: Vampire Tales with Bite.” Library Journal 130.17 (2005): 96. Rafferty, T. “Shelley’s Daughters.” The New York Times Book Review. 113.43 (Oct. 26, 2008): 12–13. Richards, M. “Bring Out Your Undead: The Children of Lestat.” Publishers Weekly 253. 23 (June 5 2006): 22–4. Schindler, D. T. “Laurell K. Hamilton: Underworld Seductress.” Publishers Weekly 251, 38 (Sept. 20, 2004): 42. Schneider, Maria. “Genre Bender.” Writer’s Digest 88 (April 2008): 44. Siegel, Carol. “Female Heterosexual Sadism: The Final Feminist Taboo in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series.” ThirdWave Feminism and Television: Jane Puts It in a Box. London, England: Tauris, 2007. 56–90. Wong, Joansandy M. “Constructing Reality from Fantasy in The Wheel of Time and Anita Blake.” Master’s Thesis, Baylor University, 2004.

This page intentionally left blank

INDEX

“Can He Bake a Cherry Pie?” (Hamilton), 88 A Caress of Twilight (Hamilton), 67–69; critical reception, 124 Carmilla (Le Fanu), 18, 132 Celtic mythology, 12 Cerulean Sins (Hamilton), 47–48; critical reception, 124 Church of Eternal Life, 30, 40–41, 49, 50–51, 54, 93 Circus of the Damned (Hamilton), 32–33; critical reception, 120; graphic novel, 106 “A Clean Sweep” (Hamilton), 87 “The Cursemaker” (Hamilton), 87

Acevedo, Mario, 142–43 Addison v. Clark, 5, 85, 95 Adrian, Lara, 145–46 Anita Blake (character), 5–6, 10, 11–12, 27–28, 29, 85, 88; in graphic novels, 107 Anti-fans, 110, 126 Ardeur, 45, 47, 51, 52, 53 Armstrong, Kelley, 137–38 Banks, L. A., 139–40 Black Dagger Brotherhood novels, 143–44 Blood Noir (Hamilton), 55–57, 103; critical reception, 123 Blood Ties, 25, 138–39 Bloody Bones (Hamilton), 34–36; critical reception, 120 Blue Moon (Hamilton), 41–42; critical reception, 121 Briggs, Patricia, 140 Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 14, 23 Bullet (Hamilton), 60–61; critical reception, 124 Burnt Offerings (Hamilton), 40–41; critical reception, 121 Butcher, Jim, 141

Danse Macabre (Hamilton), 52–54; critical reception, 123 Dark Shadows, 20–21 Darkhunter novels, 144–45 Death of a Darklord (Hamilton), 79, 82–83 Detective genre, 9–10 Divine Misdemeanors (Hamilton), 7, 76–77; critical reception, 125 161

162

Index

Dracula (Stoker), 3, 13, 19, 19–20, 21, 132; Hammer Films version, 20 Dresden Files novels, 141 “The Edge of the Sea” (Hamilton), 86 Elrod, P. N., 141–42 Edward (character), 28–30 Faery, 14, 35, 63 Fan fiction, 113–16 Fan videos, 117 Fans, 126 Fansites, 111–12 The First Death (Hamilton), 106 Flirt (Hamilton), 6, 7, 59–60; critical reception, 124 Forever Knight, 22–23 Frost, Jeaniene, 136 “Geese” (Hamilton), 87 “The Girl Who Was Infatuated with Death”(Hamilton), 88 Graphic novel, 105 Green, Chris Marie, 139 Green, Jonathon, 7, 116 Guilty Pleasures (Hamilton), 4–5, 13, 28–30; critical reception, 120; graphic novel, 25, 104, 105, 113 Hamilton, Laurell K., blog, 109–10; childhood, 1–2; education, 3–4; divorce, 6–7; website, 109–10 The Harlequin (Hamilton), 54–55, 95; critical reception, 123 Harris, Charlaine, 24, 26, 136–37 Harrison, Kim, 134–35 “Here Be Dragons” (Hamilton), 87

The Historian (Kostova), 25, 133 Horror genre, 10–11 “House of Wizards” (Hamilton), 87 Howard, Robert E., 2 Huff, Tanya, 138–39 Humans Against Vampires, 30, 32, 93 Humans First, 30, 93 Huston, Charlie, 142 I Am Legend (Matheson), 20 Incubus Dreams (Hamilton), 49–51, 85, 102, 103; critical reception, 122, 127 Interview with the Vampire (Rice), 3, 13, 21, 133; film, 23 Jean-Claude (character), 11, 29 The Killing Dance (Hamilton), 37–39; critical reception, 121 Kindred: the Embraced, 23 A Kiss of Shadows (Hamilton), 6, 63–67; critical reception, 124 Kostova, Elizabeth, 25, 133 The Laughing Corpse (Hamilton), 30–32, 102, 105; critical reception, 120; graphic novel, 106 Le Fanu, Joseph Sheridan, 18, 132 A Lick of Frost (Hamilton), 73–74; critical reception, 125 The Lost Boys, 22 The Lunatic Cafe´ (Hamilton), 33–34; critical reception, 120 “A Lust of Cupids” (Hamilton), 86 Marmee Noir (character), 52, 53, 54, 55, 61 Matheson, Richard, 20

Index

Merry Gentry (character), 6, 12, 14, 63, 65 Meyer, Stephenie, 24–25 Micah (Hamilton), 51–52; critical reception, 122 Mistral’s Kiss (Hamilton), 71–73; critical reception, 125 Moonlight, 25 Narcissus in Chains (Hamilton), 6, 45–47, 85, 94; critical reception, 122 Nightseer (Hamilton), 4, 79–80, 85, 87; critical reception, 119 Nightshade (Hamilton), 4, 79, 80–82; critical reception, 119 Obsidian Butterfly (Hamilton), 13, 43–44, 113; critical reception, 121 Online role-playing 116 Polidori, John, 17–18, 132 Rardin, Jennifer, 135–36 Ravenloft, 79, 82–83 Rice, Anne, 3, 13, 21, 133 Richard Zeeman (character), 6, 11, 29, 95 Romance genre, 11–12 Saint Germain novels, 22, 133 “A Scarcity of Lake Monsters” (Hamilton), 86 Seduced by Moonlight (Hamilton), 69–70, 104; critical reception, 124 “Selling Houses” (Hamilton), 87, 92 Sex and sexuality, 96–98 Skin Trade (Hamilton), 13, 57–59, 94, 112; critical reception, 123

163

Southern Vampire novels, 24, 26, 136–37 St. Louis, 4, 91–92 Star Trek: The Next Generation 79, 80–82, 119 Strange Candy (Hamilton), 85–88, 92 A Stroke of Midnight (Hamilton), 70–71; critical reception, 124–25 Swallowing Darkness (Hamilton), 74–75, 112; critical reception, 125 “Those Who Seek Forgiveness” (Hamilton), 85 “A Token for Celandine” (Hamilton), 87 True Blood, 26, 136–37 Twilight Saga, 24–25 Urban fantasy, 13 Vampire Diaries, 26 Vampire: the Masquerade, 22 Vampires, 3, 12–13, 16–26, 103–4; civil rights, 95; disease, 95–96; and homosexuality, 93–94; as minority, 92, 93; vampire mythos in Hamilton, 38 “The Vampyre” (Polidori), 17–18, 132 Vaughan, Carrie, 137 Ward, J. R., 143–44 Werewolves, 2, 92, 95–96 Whedon, Joss, 23 “Winterkill” (Hamilton), 87–88 Women/feminism, 98 Yarbro, Chelsea Quinn, 22, 133 YouTube, 116–17

This page intentionally left blank

About the Author CANDACE R. BENEFIEL is an associate professor at the Texas A&M University Libraries in College Station, Texas. Ms. Benefiel has been writing and publishing on vampire literature for 15 years in such journals as the Wilson Library Bulletin and the Journal of Popular Culture.