I don't understand (an AB post)

[mhalachaiswords]

This is a post about the Anita Blake fandom. Just so you know ahead of time

Comments

AB bashing

[anonymous]

Questions one and two can be combined really

Re: AB bashing

[mhalachaiswords]

It comes down to morality and sex.

Extremely good points. Thank you for posting.

Re: AB bashing

[watcher457]

i disagree. not that people see it that way, because i'm sure they do, but i'm getting disappointed because of what has happened to the plots, not to anita, per se. it seems to me that the mystery and sensual, dangerous edge isn't there anymore. it has sex, but that's primarily all it's about. i think the plot gets lost in it.

that's why i'm disappointed. however, i do agree that people would look at it that way and that confuses me. if you're looking for morality and virtue, why are you trying to find it in a fantasy book series with werewolves and vampires and necromancers? bizarre.

Re: AB bashing

[mhalachaiswords]

I think one of the things that is screwing up LKH's fanbase is she's basically changing genres. It used to be paranormal mysteries, and since NiC it's become paranormal romatice mysteries. (Well, romance or erotica, whatever you'd like).

I still like it b/c it's a growth of the characters and necessary to the plot choices that the author has made. I think that she's moving back to the mystery thing, she just needed to get over the hump that the ardeur introduced into the books.

[mlady_rebecca]

I think it makes peope feel self-righteous to rail against things that the general populace would dislike. It makes them feel like "good" people. I don't honestly think it's for anything other than "hey look at me I'm such a good person and these books are naughty".

I can understand that attitude, in general, not that I support or like it. But I don't see where a person like that would ever be drawn into a series like "Anita Blake" in the first place. Did they put this filter over Anita and re-imagine her as some holy crusader ridding the world of the "monsters"? An illusion like that would only stretch to "Circus of the Damned" at the latest.

[sabriel_0405]

I think the anonymous post captured much of the issue. It scares people that Anita could have changed so much. Though, honestly, what happened was obvious from Guilty Pleasures. Not necessarily the extent, but for me, the sexual tension was taut in the first book. By the time I finished Killing Dance, it was like a storm had broken and I could breathe again

I'm long-winded tonight.

[mhalachaiswords]

The people who don't understand the direction of the books, also think that Anita was happy in the early books and the truth was she was miserable. She had a few close girlfriends but she was lonely and angry with everyone and everything. When baiting your boss is the highlight of the day, you don't really have a life. She saw death and brutality thanks to her police consultanting role. And then she fell in with the monsters and discovered.... They don't treat her like a freak. They aren't afraid of her. (Well, they are but that's because if she says she'll kill them, she will.) They welcome her.I think this is the key point to the entire series (or maybe I'm getting maudlin in my old age). In the series, Anita began thinking that monsters are monsters and there is no saving them, only killing them. Through her time with the monsters, becoming their friends, their protector, she realizes that what they *are* isn't what makes them a monster, it's what they choose to do

[crasi]

Anonymous hit it right on the nose. I could understand the vitrol if the changes in the character were a recent thing, but it's been about 4 years. Frustration over wasted time and money should have ended by now. Personally, I haven't read anything by LKH since NIC came out. I bought NIC in hardcover, and could not force myself to finish. My sole exposure to the series is the crossover fiction that it has inspired.

[mhalachaiswords]

Anita Blake crossover fic? I think I've heard something about that... :P

Thanks for commenting.

[watcher457]

hello. i've recently been introduced to your story, inevitable, and i fell in love, so i'm avidly waiting for the next part, lol. in response to your questions

[mhalachaiswords]

but there is no reason to raise hackles against someone for liking the books

Exactly. I think this is what confuses me the most, the attacks on people who express a like for the books and for the characters.

When I get a bunch of positive AB places, I'll post them :)