I don't understand (an AB post)

[mhalachai]

This is a post about the Anita Blake fandom. Just so you know ahead of time.

I made the mistake (yes, I'm considering it a mistake now) to sign on for the new Laurell K. Hamilton forums as I wanted to track the fanfic thread (There is an empty forum on the boards entitled "fanfic" and I was ever-so-curious as to what that was all about). I then started reading some of the other posts, and quickly remebered why I'm not on any AB communities on LJ or the like.

Why does one spend so much time trashing a book that one hates? Villifying a) the characters, b) the author and c) the people who read the books? I myself have grown away from series in the past, when the author goes in a direction I find annoying or 'wrong' in my mind... I move on.

So, gentle reader, I ask you these simple questions:

1 - Do you understand the vitriol among the "fans" against people who still like the books?
2 - Do you get why anyone would spend the energy slagging a book they profess to hate?
3 - Is there any place on the net where a discussion on the books are presnet in a pleasant and construtive format? I know I may have asked this before, but I seem to have forgotten.

Thanks.

Comments

Re: AB bashing

[watcher457.livejournal.com]

i disagree. not that people see it that way, because i'm sure they do, but i'm getting disappointed because of what has happened to the plots, not to anita, per se. it seems to me that the mystery and sensual, dangerous edge isn't there anymore. it has sex, but that's primarily all it's about. i think the plot gets lost in it.

that's why i'm disappointed. however, i do agree that people would look at it that way and that confuses me. if you're looking for morality and virtue, why are you trying to find it in a fantasy book series with werewolves and vampires and necromancers? bizarre.

Re: AB bashing

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

I think one of the things that is screwing up LKH's fanbase is she's basically changing genres. It used to be paranormal mysteries, and since NiC it's become paranormal romatice mysteries. (Well, romance or erotica, whatever you'd like).

I still like it b/c it's a growth of the characters and necessary to the plot choices that the author has made. I think that she's moving back to the mystery thing, she just needed to get over the hump that the ardeur introduced into the books.

Re: AB bashing

[watcher457.livejournal.com]

i hope so. i love the characters, but i'm despairing slightly. the mystery plots were part of what drew me in. i still like them, but my enthusiasm is wavering, which is part of the reason i'm waiting to see if edward returns soon. i think he's the perfect twist to shake things up. he hasn't been involved, and anita doesn't lust after him, so the ardeur means nothing. he'd be like a bucket of ice water to the entire thing.