Fantasy Annotation

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Fantasy Annotation



Guilty Pleasures, by Laurell K. Hamilton

Author: Laurell K. Hamilton

Title: Guilty Pleasures

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Publication: Date: 1993

Number of Pages: 266 pages/10 hours in audiobook version

Geographical Setting: St. Louis Missouri

Time Period: Contemporary/1990s

Series (If applicable): Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter

Plot Summary: Anita Blake, the protagonist, is a German and Mexican vampire hunter and animator (necromancer of a sort) dubbed “The Executioner.” She is very fond of her Browning gun and not so fond of vampires and lycanthropes. Guilty Pleasures is the debut of twenty-something book long series. Early in the story, Anita encounters Jean-Claude, a somewhat morally grey character who manipulates her into getting involved with the “big bad” of the book, a very old vampire named Nikolaos, who appears to be a twelve year old girl. Someone has been killing vampires in St. Louis and the powerful ones, like Jean-Claude and Nikolaos want to know why. Anita has no choice but to go along with this plan, otherwise a dear friend of hers would be killed. Naturally, the story ends with a big fight between Anita and Nikolaos and this formula continues for the entire series, with its very large cast increasing exponentially. Though the series is now known for being very erotic, the early books are more traditional mystery novels with a fantasy twist.

Content warnings: Gore, blood, guns, threats/attempts of sexual violence, general violence

Subject Headings: Urban Fantasy, Vampires, Vampire Slayers, Murder Investigations, Female Protagonist

Appeals:
 
Erotic – Though the early books in the series aren’t sexually explicit, there is a lot of sexual tension. People who make it a half-dozen books into the series and are pleased with the turn towards paranormal fantasy with a heavy dose of erotica would be happy with books similar to that.

Fast Paced – Hamilton’s gritty storytelling takes the reader on a wild ride. The first third of the book take place in a single evening, over three or so hours. Characters are introduced rapidly, but they are all distinct enough it’s easy to tell them apart, because Hamilton doesn’t fall into the “everyone is beautiful” trope.

Compelling – As already mentioned, the characters are all distinctive, with the opening scene describing a newly turned vampire as a sort of weasel-like guy with bad fashion sense, who is kind of a jerk. All of the characters have distinct personalities, with Anita being a devout Christian who kills vampires and raises the dead (for a good cause, of course). The child vampire villain was also a nice touch. It makes the reader want to know what is going to happen to them.

Intricately-Plotted: All of the many characters have a purpose, which is unusual. A rookie author mistake is to put too many characters without each having a purpose to the plot. All of these people are important to the story, from the friend used as bait, to the vampire hell-bent on retribution for his disfigurement, to the odd and sociopathic (as described by Anita) vampire hunter colleague.

Three terms that best describe this book:Violent, sexy, high stakes (pun intended)

Similar Authors and Works

Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors


1. The Vampire Gallery: A Who's Who of the Undead, by J. Gordon Melton (Vampire Encyclopedia with pictures)

2. Vampires, Burial, and Death: Folklore and Reality, by Paul Barber (History of the concept of vampirism and vampires).

3. Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Comics (Vampire nonfiction that isn’t rife with conspiracy theories or entirely too intellectual are hard to come by).

Relevant Fiction Works and Authors

1. Dark Lover, by J.R. Ward, Black Dagger Brotherhood (Fast Paced, Steamy, Violent) 
 

 
2. Moon Called, by Patricia Briggs, Mercy Thompson series (Fast Paced) 
 
 

3. Kushiel’s Dart, by Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel’s Legacy (Intricately Plotted, Erotic) 
 
 

Here's a fun quiz!

https://bookriot.com/literary-vampire-quiz/ 


Sources



Novelist Pages

Goodreads Pages

The Vampire Gallery: A Who's Who of the Undead. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/784219.The_Vampire_Gallery

Vampires, Burial, and Death: Folklore and Reality. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/715512.Vampires_Burial_and_Death

Images

Comments

  1. Erin CataldiMarch 30, 2023 at 8:24 AM

    Great annotation! I first read this back in high school and I've re-read it a few times - I really need to finish the whole series already though! Full points and excellent readalikes!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Katie Reads BooksApril 2, 2023 at 5:53 PM

      My best friend loves it and it's her favorite series! She's towards the end of it now, I think 26 out of 29 books currently out.

      Delete

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