|
|
|
|
|
|
Cerulean Sins (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Book 11)
written by Laurell K. Hamilton
Studio : Jove
by Jove
Release Date : 2004-08-31
Publisher : Jove
Released : 2004-08-31
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780515136814
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 394 reviews)
List Price : $7.99
Our Price : $4.00
|
|
| |
|
Product Description |
|
Once a sworn enemy of all monsters, Anita is now the human consort of both Master Vampire Jean Claude and leopard shapeshifter Micah. When a centuries-old vampire hits St. Louis, Anita finds herself needing all the dark forces her passion can muster to save the ones she loves. |
| |
|
Americancivilwar.com Review |
|
Laurell K. Hamilton's legions of eager fans will be pleased to see Cerulean Sins), the eleventh novel in her Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series, which is set on an alternate Earth where magic works and vampires and werewolves are real. When a sinister stranger tries to hire the magically potent Anita Blake to raise the dead, she finds herself embroiled in the search for a vicious, supernatural serial killer, and also in the clandestine international politics of the vampires. And as she becomes more deeply enmeshed in cruel plots and counterplots, her tangled personal life only becomes more demanding, more wrenching, and more erotically fraught. With ten previous books in the Anita Blake series, Cerulean Sins is not the place to start. Though author Hamilton artfully reveals the backstory in small doses, the numerous returning characters and the complex history will overwhelm most newcomers (and even the most devoted fans may find that the backfilling slows the pace). Also, the characters frequently stand around talking and psychoanalyzing one another, which makes for static stretches unlikely to hold a new reader's attention. Newcomers should start with the first book, Guilty Pleasures. --Cynthia Ward |
| |
|
| |
|
Another book, another step in the evolution of Anita. |
As with all the books in this series, the character of Anita Blake is a fascinating character and what really makes the series work. As always in the more recent books in the series, the character of Anita moves farther and farther away from the character who we met in the initial few books, at least on the surface; that evolution is what makes some people love this story and the few that have come before it, and others hate them. But she's still Anita, and still enjoyable to spend some time with, even if some of her attitudes have changed markedly from what they once were. (Of course, it doesn't hurt that her attitudes are becoming MORE, rather than less, like mine; I'm sure that the objections are mostly coming from people for whom that isn't true.) In this book, we even see that she's learning to play vampire politics when necessary; she still hates it, but she's demonstrating a remarkable talent for it when necessary.
The one thing that keeps me from giving this book five stars is that it is noticeably less well proofread than the previous entries in the series; there were more typos and sloppy mistakes in the first third of this book than there were in the first ten books of the series put together. (After the 1/3 point, the problem mostly cleared up.) Things like using "breath" instead of "breathe", "bare" instead of "bear", "calvary" insteadof "cavalry". There were several misplaced commas, too, one notable example of which being "Until somewhere in the middle of it all, I begged, Asher to enter me, take me." There were other examples almost as bad that I didn't note down. I know Laurell is capable of better than this, because the first ten books of the series were ALMOST flawless in this regard; I have to assume that her publisher/editor fell down on the job. But it still detracts a bit from the book; I can't give 5 stars to anything with this many sloppy mistakes. |
| |
|
One of my favorites in the series |
This is the 11th book in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series. A few months have passed since the conclusion of the previous book, Narcissus in Chains, and it's the beginning of September.
There is a lot going on in this book, unlike the last book, Anita does some necromancy and crime-solving with the local police unit that solves supernatural crimes involving vampires and shapeshifters (called RPIT, Regional Preternatural Investigation Team). Not only does Anita have to juggle trying to track down a possible serial killer with the local police, she has to deal with the vampire entourage sent to St. Louis by Jean-Claude's maker, Belle Morte. It appears that Anita has caught Belle's interest and she sends her cronies to check her out, surprising everyone with the unexpected early visit. Not to mention another new, mysterious vampire that is wakening that makes Belle Morte look like an innocent baby. On top of that, Anita has some assassin/spy goons interested in her and she has to figure out what exactly their motives are in following her.
I really enjoyed this book and it's one of my favorites in the series because IMO Hamilton was able to strike a better balance between the sex scenes and the crime-solving aspect of the series. In later books, there is less of the detective/sleuth and more of the ardeur/sex plot line. I can't say that was unexpected change because in Cerulean Sins, Anita even admits she is tired of all the blood, death, and carnage she sees at all the supernatural crime scenes she assists the police with. It's taken its toll on Anita where it's clear she needs a "break", so in that regard I can understand why the next few books touches little upon crime scenes and Anita helping the police and more on vampire and shapeshifter intrigues and politics, not to mention the ardeur/sex plot lines. (Note: the latest Anita Blake book, not yet published, appears to be swinging back in the other direction, all I know about the latest book is Anita is called in to help the police in Las Vegas catch a serial killer that seems to have interest in Anita so I really look forward to this book in the series).
Anyways, you get to see a bit of early Anita, the book opens up with her taking a client to raise a zombie and then Anita going to her next zombie appointment where you get a brief scene of her using her necromancy powers. For those who are uncomfortable with detailed descriptions of blood, gore, and sex this book has all three in abundance.
For instance, at one crime scene a man is found nailed to the wall, another where a woman is found in her bed with only her head intact, the rest of her body "exploded" with all the bits and pieces everywhere, a third crime scene described in a bathroom looking like someone just had a fun bloodbath with blood covering almost everything and the floor literally swimming in blood. If that sounds very disturbing, it is and the author does a much better job than me detailing the scene. Did such a good job in fact that I could very much see the image in my head.heh.
Oh, another scene that may make some people squeamish, there is a group sex scene between Anita, Jean-Claude, and Asher. Yah, it wasn't too bad compared to later ones, but those who like more mainstream horror/urban fantasy will probably not like this book or the later books.
Now, I did have some annoyances with this book, and that had to do with the main character herself, Anita Blake. Anita is a very hard person to like, and since the series is told from first person POV you really get inside Anita's head. There are a few scenes where I thought she was being a total "B" and wanted to slap her.
Despite those few annoyances I'm still able to enjoy this series a lot. (really, if you're going to read and enjoy this series you have to be able to take reading about Anita's personality quirks...control-freak, anger issues, intimacy issues, relationship issues...basically she's very flawed). But, she is a kicka** character and doesn't put up with crap from anyone and that's one thing I love about the character. She's very practical and straightforward, she can only take so much crap from others before she just goes, "Look, hate to say this, but can we do this now!?" There are also humorous moments in the book, Anita can be really dry and sarcastic and it's really funny.
Overall, a pretty good book. Nice balance between the ardeur/sex plot-line and the crime-solving plot-line, with a few other side vampire plot-lines added in for good measure. |
| |
|
Not the 'downfall of the series'. |
This book was good. I enjoyed it throughly. I've already read past this, and this book is definitely not the 'downfall of the series'. This one is good. Incubus Dreams and thereafter are really, really disappointing.
I love that Anita finally starts to see that her annoying stubbornness isn't only annoying to constantly read, but that it hurts the characters in the book. She finally swallows some of her anger, and it's really refreshing. Asher and Jean-Claude also finally show some backbone and stand up to her. I wish I could say we're finally seeing a new, stronger side to Anita - but after this book there is no plot to see character development. This could have been the first book in a great turn of the series. Instead, it's the end of a great series, and the start of an erotica series.
|
| |
|
I'm not sure I like Anita Blake anymore |
I am not a prude by any means and I love a good book. The first books in this series were good books (although Anita Blake was not always very easy to like). The last couple of books are nothing more than a most unlikable character having sex with anything that moves, and somethings that don't move! In one day she had sex every two hours and with complete strangers. And the descriptions are so graphic, they just are not nice to read. They just go on and on and on. Enough already!
I enjoy the other characters, however it is difficult to read when she is just plain mean to the people who love her. |
| |
|
A Great Addition to the Anita Blake Series |
I've read this series from book 1 (Guilty Pleasures) and have loved each book. Anita has become such a complex character and her supporting cast members are enigmatic and beautifully created. Yes, the books are much different than they were in the first few installments, but I don't believe that to be a bad thing.
Cerulean Sins carries on with a character introduced in the previous book (Narcissus in Chains). This character is Belle Morte, the vampire who turned Anita's boyfriend, Jean Claude, into a vampire. She also created Asher, Jean Claude's second in command. Both men are former lovers of Belle Morte. She is insulted (to put it mildly) that both Jean Claude and Asher chose to leave her, as she considers herself the most desirable woman/vampire in the world. Thus, she sends her second in command vampire to "visit" Jean Claude's territory. The troubles that this visit causes are the central plot in the story (and there's definitely a couple surprises). There is also a sub-plot involving a series of murders that Anita helps to solve.
Some readers of the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter books believe the series has gone downhill since Anita began engaging in sex with multiple partners as a result of a condition passed on to her from Jean Claude. This condition (called the arduer) causes the person to experience intense sexual desire until "fed". I don't believe this is a problem in the books, or just an excuse for Anita to have sex. I think this condition represents the only thing Anita has found that she can't yet control or kill. It's something she has to face head-on and must be patient with until she learns control. In the books leading up to Narcissus in Chains, where Anita first learns she has the arduer, there are references to her reliance on guns to control situations. I think the arduer is to teach Anita that guns won't solve all her problems. Plus, she's not having sex with random people on the streets and, considering the length of the book, I didn't feel there were too many sex scenes in this book. I never felt like I wanted to just get past the sex and get on to the plot, as I do with some books.
I think the Anita Blake series is still going strong and Laurell K. Hamilton continues to add new elements of surprise. |
| |
|
|
|
