Gee, this cover made highschool fun.

Earlier today, a friend of mine posted a link to this webpage that has reviews of several of Laurell K. Hamilton’s books; namely her Anita Blake series. It was nice to know that I wasn’t alone in my opinions of the series, but it was definitely a depressing reminder.

I remember I discovered the series by accident and also accidentally ended up purchasing and reading the fourth book first. (I’m always on the lookout for a good supernatural read, and the back copy caught my interest.) Even without all of the background on the characters I probably should have had, I devoured the book in one evening. I immediately went back for more and worked my way up to book eight.

The descent into the sickness of the author seemed sudden, but when I really took a look back, I realized that it had always been slowly edging that way. The first couple of books were pretty chaste, the following ones added a little sex as the character’s relationships evolved and grew, then a little more and then BAM, the bus dropped us off at Sex Ville. The character I had started to respect as a strong, uncompromising female was suddenly the sex-toy of every supernatural critter she came across.

There have been eight more books since I halted my reading (I stopped after Narcissus in Chains), and from everything I’ve read they only get more screwed up. I honestly should have stopped at Obsidian Butterfly, which was an altogether disgusting novel.

A couple of years ago I actually went to a Comic Con panel featuring Laurell K. Hamilton. Her reasoning for this change in tone across the series is that when she began it she was going through a tough relationship break. When she found someone new and was apparently having fantastic sex (too much information), the tone shifted. I can understand that, but I still don’t see exactly how awesome sex translates to her character banging everything she comes across. If anything, I think it would have meant a shift towards her character being in one really fantastic relationship instead of becoming the whore of the underworld.

Beyond becoming simply too disgusting for me to want to read, there’s the issue of her Anita Blake character becoming ridiculously overpowered. Seriously. Check the Wikipedia article and read just what powers this woman now has. I’m all for unique characters with interesting abilities, but there comes a point where they are no longer interesting or even relatable. It also seemed that at last glance she had all the best parts of the powers and very little of the downsides and consequences. She’s supposedly infected with at least half a dozen lycanthropic strains at this point, yet she shifts into none of them. Give me a break.

Every character I’d cared about has been pretty mucked up beyond recognition by this stage of the series. If I wanted to read smut, I’d buy smut, which brings me to my final point. I don’t know who made the decision to change the book covers, but whoever you are, you suck. I started reading the series around mid-highschool, and at the time the covers were pretty innocuous. Shortly after that I ended up with half-naked women on the front which resulted in strange looks from classmates and teachers. I was left to defend myself and assure everyone I wasn’t reading porn, but I’m not sure if anyone believed me. It was bad enough that the title of the first book was Guilt Pleasures without having a naked, purple-lit torso with rose petals gracing the front.

Today is a double review of the first two books in the Hunger Games trilogy (The Hunger Games and Catching Fire). Written by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games tells the tale of a bleak future world called Panem where a ruling body called the Capitol reigns supreme over the 12 poor districts surrounding it. At one point in their history the original 13 districts had banded together to take down their cruel overlords only to be left defeated and broken and the 13th district was obliterated completely. As a further indignity and reminder of how futile resistance is, each district must give up two randomly selected tributes to engage in a fight to the death in a yearly tournament called the Hunger Games. As if this wasn’t bad enough, the tributes are children from the ages of 14 to 18.

The books are written in first person from the viewpoint of a young tribute from District 12 named Katniss. When the name of her little sister, Prim, is called during the tribute selection, she volunteers to take her place. While she is a strong and resourceful girl, she fully expects to die during the games. However, she finds a lot more than she expected and comes to realize that maybe she can survive after all.

In reading The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, I got a lot more than I expected. Not only are the books fairly well written, but they are the very definition of “page-turner”. Every time I thought I’d found a good place to stop reading for a while, I found myself instantly sucked in to the next chapter.

Collins also succeeds in writing up an interesting and mostly likable cast of characters. She does fall in to creating a love triangle with her lead; but unlike most where the boys are polar opposites, both are very appealing. It’s nearly impossible to choose who you want Katniss to fall in love with. There’s Gale who has been her friend for years and will fight to the death for what he believes in. Then there’s Peeta who has the gift of words and is exceptionally kind. Both boys love her deeply and would do anything for her.

As for Katniss herself, she was a character I felt I could relate to. She’s surly and never backs down from a fight. As noted by the character, she is far from being a girly-girl. Unlike some other female leads in young adult books, she doesn’t flounce around with the boys who love her. She’s not sure what she wants, and so she doesn’t promise more than she can give. The character is flawed, but those flaws are what makes her perfect and real.

The world in the books is dark, and at times, painful to read about. There have been many other stories that explore similar dystopian futures, but not all of them make their point so well. The people who live in the Capitol have everything and see the “games” purely as entertainment. It is the only life they know, so they think little of the children’s lives who are wasted year after year. Those living in the districts know almost nothing but constant hunger and poverty. What’s the most scary about this world is that under the right circumstances it could someday become our future.

If you’re not one of those adults that thinks young adult fiction is below you, I recommend giving the series a try. For all the misery explored in Panem one thing remains constant; the human spirit. There is always hope.

(The Hunger Games book 3 releases this August.)

Not much out there gets my attention about a book more than a good word about it from Stephen King. On the subject of the upcoming book A Dark Matter by Peter Straub, he had this to say:

“Peter Straub’s new novel is a terrifying story of innocents-high school students in the turbulent sixties-who stumble into horrors far beyond their understanding. A Dark Matter is populated with vivid, sympathetic characters, and driven by terrors both human and supernatural. It’s the kind of book that’s impossible to put down once it has been picked up. It kept me reading far into the night. Straub builds otherworldly terror without ever losing touch with his attractive cast of youngsters, who age beautifully. Put this one high on your list.”

If you’re still not convinced that this is worth checking out, why not take a look at the new book trailer:

For those of you looking to score a copy, you’re in luck. Drop by the official Peter Straub Facebook page and post about the scariest thing in your town. The best story will win one lucky person a signed first edition copy of the novel. (Though all I’d have to do is post about living in LA and I’ve got you all beat.)

Good luck!