Has anyone read the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series?

Question

I have just started to read books in the supernatural fantast genre. I really like the Kim Harrison series (Dead Witch Walking...) and I have been intrigued by the Laurell K Hamilton Anita Blake books. Are they much like the Kim Harrison books? Are they too vampire detailed? I don't know much about vampire lore or anything. What were your general opinions on the series?

Answer 1

I've read the entire series. I have not read Kim Harrison. The Anita Blake books start off mostly about Anita kicking *** on vampires and other baddies. But then the series becomes focused on Anita and her sex life. The further into her series you get the more 'heated' her books become. If you go to Laurell K. Hamilton's website you can read excerpts from her books. The last few books have been as sexually explicit as the first few books were blood and gore explicit. But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy them. In fact, I read the first 12 books in the series in a week because they kept me interested. Her books are written in first person, completely from Anita Blake's point of view. They are more focused on Anita's life as a vampire slayer and necromancer. Her job is raising the dead.

You might like Christine Feehan and her Carpathian series. Those are more romance oriented, but it does have a fairly developed history on the Carpathians. A race of immortals that are very similar to vampires, but aren't. Vampires are Carpathians that basically have gone to the dark side and can't ever come back.

Maggie Shayne has her twilight series that is basically vampire romance. The problem with her series, in my opinion, are how formulaic they appear. Every vampire has the same problems to overcome - etc, etc. At least that's how it felt to me.

Answer 2

Kim Harrison is a really good author also but I love Laurell. The Rachel Morgan series is like anita blake series in a way but the anita one has more werewolf and vampire stuff than the rachael one which is more based on witch and demon stuff. Depending on whether or not you know a lot or stuff about vampires and lycranthropes the anita series might confuse you

Answer 3

I've never read the Kim Harrison series, but the Anita Blake series is pretty good. It's a little more erotica like in some sections, but overall entertainment value of the series is pretty high in my opinion.

Answer 4

I've read both series. There were some similiarities with the earlier AB books, but they have changed quite a bit, perhaps starting with Blue Moon.

I think if you like the Kim Harrison's you will like the AB's.

The vampires are not a whole lot different between them.

The BIG difference with the AB's is sex. Sex, sex and more sex. I've forgotten the progression of the series, but by whatever book came after Blue Moon, LKH had pretty much done away with plots altogether, and it's all just one sex scene after another.

Don't get me wrong - I love that. But if you don't, there are still quite a few of hers you can enjoy before it gets to that point.

Answer 5

My Mom has gotten me onto the Anita Blake series, but I haven't read Kim Harrison. I think my mom has though and she siad they were similar.

If you're interested in some more supernatural fantasy, there's a series by a guy named Jim Butcher about a crime solving wizard in modern day Chicago named Harry Dresden. The first one's called Storm Front.

Answer 6

Very sexually oriented. If you're not into that, don't read them.

I've never read Kim Harrison, so I can't compare, but the Anita Blake novels are vampire and were-animal community focused, with an emphasis on how sexual roles are played out within these groups. Animal instinct, lust, hunger, etc.