Laurell K Hamilton

I've been reading my way through Laurell K Hamilton's books lately. I have to say I find them quite more-ish, kinda like chips. They're not hearty, meaty reads -- and I certainly wouldn't rate them as wholesome! -- but they're certainly very readable, with characters you want to read more about, and an interesting world. But I wouldn't recommend them to teenagers. In fact, while my nearly-18 year old and I gobble them up, we hide them from his just-turned-15 brother.

Why? The answer's pretty simple: sex. Now, while I think American culture has become far too sexualized for the well-being of the young, I'm not one of those who think keeping teenagers ignorant of the facts of life will stop them thinking about it. In fact, I think we're rather absurd in the way we censor nudity and mild sexual behavior while freely allowing gross violence on our screens. And I've been quite pleased to see sex enter the fantasy genre, which used to be unnaturally free of it.

Having said that, I think erotica should be labeled as such. And I don't really think it's fair to start a series that's a standard urban fantasy, private detective with werewolves and vampires type book, and then, after ten or so books, have so much sex -- involving multiple partners and multiple orifices -- that you've moved into a completely different genre from where you started.

So, okay, I'm not recommending this to teenagers. And I hope Hamilton is going to scale back the sexual content, that in some of her recent books has grown to ridiculous proportions. But, having said that, I do enjoy her books, and I will continue to follow her characters, to see what happens to them. Because for me, books are all about character, and what makes Hamilton's books so interesting -- and superior to so many PI books out there -- is following the progression of her characters.

Particularly Anita Blake. If you went straight from the first book to the latest (the 15th I think), you would be completely bewildered how Anita changed from that person to the one she has become. But if you read all the intervening books, you can watch it happen. Which is great, and I look forward to one day reading them all in order. And meanwhile, I look forward to the next, in both series.

Laurell K Hamilton is the author of two series: Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter -- set in a modern-day world in which vampires, lycanthropes (were-animals of many persuasions), trolls, etc are legally recognized -- and Merry Gentry, Faerie Princess -- set in a modern-day world in which faerie are legally recognized (I have to say, I was initially put off reading this series because of the whole "fairy princess" thing, but the faerie culture, as portrayed here, is even more interesting than the vampire and lycanthrope cultures that Hamilton describes. Which is the other thing I really like about Hamilton's books -- the way she's really thought about these cultures.)