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Incubus Dreams (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 12) By Laurell K. Hamilton ( Jove )
Release Date: 2005-09-27
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List Price: $7.99
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Product Description
Anita is pushed to her limits-both professionally and passionately-when she is called in on what appears to be a case involving a vampire serial killer preying on strippers.
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Amazon.com Review
As Incubus Dreams opens, Anita Blake may be America's most powerful vampire hunter and necromancer. So it's no surprise that the Regional Preternatural Crime Investigation Team seeks her assistance when a St. Louis stripper is murdered and the evidence points to unusual serial killers: a group of seven vampires. It appears a master vampire has gone rogue--and may prove too powerful for Anita Blake, even if she can gain help from not only her vampire consort, Master of the City Jean-Claude, but from the wereleopard king Micah, her other lover, and the alpha werewolf Richard, her bitter ex-lover. It would be an exaggeration to say that Laurell K. Hamilton's Incubus Dreams is just one sex scene after another. This twelth novel in her bestselling Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series presents a wedding, a murder, and a lot of relationship angst before getting down and dirty on page 89; and the sex scenes pause on page 377 to let the mystery plot resume. The series deftly blends elements of alternate history, horror, romance, erotica, and mystery, but anyone reading Incubus Dreams for the murder plot is going to be frustrated. However, Incubus Dreams is a considerably stronger and more interesting book than its talky predecessor, Cerulean Sins, and fans will enjoy the many new developments in Anita's complicated love life. --Cynthia Ward Amazon.com Exclusive Content Interview with the Vampire Writer
 With two bestselling series featuring supernatural heroines under her belt, one has to wonder if Laurell K. Hamilton is truly in touch with a world beyond ours. Hamilton spoke with Amazon.com about her work, her characters, and her plans for the future.
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 Spicy ( koret )
I have read a number of Anita Blake series. This is the only one I have ever REread. The sex scenes were off the wall, just what you would hope for with Werewolves & Vampires. What could be worse than tame vampire sex??? I loved that the relationship with Nathaniel finally took off. I look forward to more encounters between theme.
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 awful simly awful
I'm sorry, this novel was just horrible. I ended up skipping PAGES because it was so boring, redundant, or just dumb...
I definitely would never recommend this book. The writing is bland, confusing and all over the place. The characters seem to have no personality or chemistry. All Anita thinks about it sex, sex, sex. An all around waste of time.
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 A little too much sex in this book ( morningstar08 )
This is the 12th book in the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series. It is now October, so only a month or so has passed since the conclusion of the last book, Cerulean Sins.
Hamilton has received a lot of criticism from some fans for the direction her series takes (the ardeur/sex plotline) and away from the earlier books of crime-solving detective and vampire executioner (Anita is known as The Executioner, capital "E".LOL). I think it was inevitable the series would take a turn and change. For a character to remain static and unchanging, for the plot scenario to be the same for every book, that just gets boring (for instance, a series that I view in this light is Sue Grafton's Alphabet series where the heroine Kinsey has not changed in personality and she does the same thing over and over in each book). If Hamilton had kept to the old Anita and the earlier books, I'm sure there would have been complaints that there was no growth or development in Anita's character or the plot-line.
It just so happens that the direction Hamilton has taken was not up to the expectations some people may have had. I don't fault the author, us readers are only along for the ride and I for one am more than happy to read whatever Hamilton puts out!
Anyways, Anita in this book is a different Anita from the early books. Now she views vampires as more than a monster, where before she had no qualms about killing them and didn't really care about them as "people". As long as she had a warrant of execution, she had no remorse in executing them as that is her job. Everything about Anita has changed. She still struggles with the way her life has changed, but it's clear in this book that she's slowly accepting who she is. She has to as she can't go back to how life was before tying herself to Jean-Claude as his human servant.
While I still enjoy the series, I will admit that I think Hamilton went overboard on the sex in this book. There are at least 6 sex scenes in this book, and true to Hamilton's writing style, they are all graphic and descriptive.
The first 200 or so pages of this book was basically Anita emo-ing about having sex with one of her male friends, Nathaniel, and I thought it went on for a little too long. But, knowing the character of Anita, I knew that it was something that she would go over in her mind over and over again, stalling and coming back to the issue and work it over in her mind some more (hence, the 200 pages of emo-ing!). Anita has a hard time of giving in, she can't willingly "give" in without a fight. With Anita, there is always a fight whether mentally, emotionally, or physically. She's just one tough cookie, and not an easy person to get along with. Anita isn't unaware of her character flaws, in fact, she faces them and owns up to her flaws and I think that's one aspect of Anita I do like. She does given in eventually, and the flaws in Anita make the character more real and so despite any frustrations with the character I may have, I can still understand and relate because it's a human emotion she's feeling. She is only human (or partly human.heh).
However, despite how I felt there was a bit too much sex in this book, there were reasons behind every single one. Anita was either forced to feed the ardeur to help those she loves, or had to secure her power and those of her triumvirate Jean-Claude and Richard using the ardeur. Actually, all of the sex scenes depicted in Incubus Dreams are a result of something else happening, or a cause and initiator of another "something else" that happens. I won't go into more detail so not to spoil what happens.
There is a small scene of Anita using her necromancy powers, and I thought it was a good scene. Anita's necromancy has also increased in strength and the scene describing her raising a zombie from the grave was very cool. I always like seeing Anita use her necromancy powers in action, so it's always a plus in my book to have some page time devoted to it. Anita also is involved in a police investigation involving a group of vampire serial killers on the loose in St. Louis and again, she kicks butt being The Executioner, which is another aspect of Anita I like reading about. You, the reader, get inside Anita's head as she zeroes in on her kill and the detailed description Hamilton gives about Anita's thoughts and emotions during those times....you really see it all in your mind's eye as if you're right there with her.
As it's been repeated several times in the last few books since Anita gained the power of seduction/sex (the ardeur), Jean-Claude's vampire powers are based in physical touch as he has the power of an incubus and feeds off lust, sex, and seduction. So I can see why Hamilton went this direction in her series (as Jean-Claude has always had a mysterious, sensual power about him since the first book).
I can't presume to know where Hamilton is going with all of this, but I can get an idea and I think that's part of the fun of this series. Wondering where Hamilton will go next and what else will be in store for Anita and her gang of vampires and shapeshifters. So while this isn't her best book, IMO, I still enjoyed reading about Anita's world and all the characters that populate her world.
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(3.5 stars) A bit much, but still deserves a tip of the hat
This one was good, but not as good as the other books in the series so far. I liked the new development of the second triumvirate with Nathaniel and Damian (Though I admit I got annoyed that the publishers misspelled the word "triumvirate" throughout; you'd think that they'd put a little time and effort into editing a novel from an author as successful and prominent as Hamilton), and I like the new character Requiem, and I like the added complications of the London vampires losing their master and the arrival of Wicked and Truth and the flaws in Malcolm's Church of Eternal Life and the mysterious vampire villain, scarred worse than Asher, and the increase in power of the original triumvirate. All of those were interesting, and they all made me want to read the rest of the books immediately, right now, so I can find out what happens -- except I know Hamilton's still writing these books, so there's no way for me to learn everything that will happen. Both good and bad, that.
The sex was a bit much. Not that it was too dirty -- I liked the scenes, I liked the way Hamilton described it, I was very happy to see Anita coming to terms with her own preferences, and also to see Richard taking a step toward real reconciliation with Anita and his place in the triumvirate and so on -- but only because there was so much of it. It took up too much of the book. I saw the need for all of it, between the ardeur and the need for more power to fuel the new triumvirate, but I wish there could have been another way to handle the problem, so there could have been more of a focus on the non-bedroom action. But this has never been a series that has shied away from graphic description; Hamilton never does a fade at the climax of an important moment, ending a chapter and then skipping ahead a few hours. It's one of the things I like about this series; it gives it weight and drama, as the gritty, tough moments are all taken seriously. When Anita kills someone, we get to experience every second, every reaction, every thought and feeling she has about it, even the negative ones -- and the scene when she executes a vampire with her pistol is a prime example of that. When Anita has sex with someone, it's the same thing, and it keeps the sexual elements -- which are truly integral pieces of the story, rather than cheap thrills added to cover up weak parts of the plot -- from becoming boring or tawdry. These are important experiences for Anita, and so they should be equally important to the book and the reader, and I'm glad that Hamilton was able to face them squarely and write them as honestly as she writes everything else. Myself, I'd have been blushing and giggling way too much to pull this off, so I have to tip my hat to her for doing what I couldn't.
I'm just glad I get to read it.
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Is this the same series??? ( walt0373 )
After reading all these reviews, I though it was a mistake... the book couldn't be THAT bad!
well, I was wrong. What happened to the plot... suspense... the wonder? The only thing I was left wondering is who is left that Anita can have sex with?
I felt the need to read it because I've every other book in the series, so I guess you can read it if you want to waste your time. But please don't spend money on it...
EVERY situation Anita was in she had sex... maybe not "American" sex, but it's sex. And I don't mean ohhh sexy erotica sex, I mean I'm uncomfortable reading this sex. I think 95-98% of the situations Anita was in ended in some sort of sex/feeding. NOTHING could be simple... walking down the street was complicated. Having sex was complicated! Who, what, where, when, how, what does it mean... what does it means!?!? I wanted to rip pages out!!!
Please, Ms. Hamilton, explain in detail what everyone is wearing down to their unseen underwear. Please, Ms. Hamilton, explain Anita's every thought about everything even though it all contradicts. Please, Ms. Hamilton, tell me about Anita and how her powers keep growing and growing. I feel she has to reach God status in maybe two more books. In the other books she gained one, maybe two, more "powers". I think every time she had sex she got a new power in the books. I can't even count that on two hands.
The only thing I can give credit to, is that some of the characters know Anita is a dummy. So, obviously Hamilton knows Anita is a dummy (she could fix this...). These characters stand up to Anita and tell her to shut up and think like a normal person.
It's just too bad she (Anita and Hamilton!) don't really listen.
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