There’s no easy to way to admit this, so I’m just going to come out and say it… I’m a vampire fan. Yes, I love them, I love True Blood, I love Stoker’s Dracula, I even managed to suffer my way through all four Twilight novels with only minimal gasps of horror at the literary abomination it really is.
I don’t know what it is that has taken over the world right now, but the vamps are in in a big way. Pretty sure it all comes down to everyone’s dark desire to be dominated and stolen away from their boring everyday lives.
Anyway, I’ve been searching for new vamp blood, and decided to give Laurell K Hamilton a go – ie the creator of suppoesdly amazingly stupendous slayer Anita Blake. BIG disappointment. Granted, I started halfway through the series at Circus of the Damned, but I should have been able to pick things up pretty easy. And I would have, if the woman had ever heard of an editor. If I ever met a book that needed the Red Pen any more than this one, I must have blocked out the horror because I don’t remember it. It was incomprehensible in many areas, had gaping plot holes, obvious spelling mistakes and grammatical errors (in a published manuscript!) and clicheed characters. Most of the time I just fully could not understand what was going on. And I’m not THAT stupid. Above all, Anita Blake is ridiculously self-absorbed, and there was totally not enough sex. Oh come on, you’re all thinking it, I just said it.
Read it if you want spine-ripping horror and unexplained plot-destroying zombie raising. This is not the Edward you know and love. You have been warned.
In the interests of research, of course, I’ll be on the lookout for much better vamp tramps from now on..
I”m not terribly interested in the current vampire craze although I admit to having read a fair bit into the history of vampirism. I think the thing that really fascinates us, apart from pure escapism which is truly refreshing and even needed at times, is the whole idea of immortality. I think that many of us secretly envy the vampire his (or her) ability to relive their lives many times. The idea of having a second chance – to right the wrongs of our past – is pretty appealing to most people I’m sure. Anyway, there’s no shame in just burrowing into something a bit outlandish and romantic as a way of fleeing the mundane. Not much different really from devotees of mystery novels. So read on dear lady and enjoy.
The Twilight series definitely needed some editing. Love the series, but couldn’t stop noticing all the mistakes. Really bugged me at one point cos I believe that published books should all be properly edited. No exception. Well, other than intentional bad writing. But that’s just my opinion.