Supernatural soup

[rixte]

Patricia Briggs' Mercedes Thompson series falls neatly into this category as well and I enjoyed the first few books! I'm not sure how far I'll take the series before I stop but it's more fun with werewolves and fae

[basschick]

i write erotic fiction as part of my living, and every time i crack a new anita and we get to the first of many pointless sex scenes, my only thought is "i gave at the office" i miss the old guilty pleasure/obsidian butterfly days when anita still worked on cases and dolph and her old friends weren't complete pushy jerks!

some more to check out: kitty norville series, a couple of series by lilith saintcrow, the raine benares series by lisa shearin and the chronicles of elantra series by michelle sagara. i didn't love any of these, but they were entertaining for an evening. of them, i liked michelle sagara's best, but then i love her sun sword series as michelle west better - they just don't fit in this category.

Originally Posted by stustaff

Another recomendation for Kelley Armstrong!

The best author at the moment out of those listed above( I do enjoy them all)

As mentioned Anita Blake stuff was good but is getting a bit pointless now everything is solved by having an orgy!

[bmwvan]

You know, I have to agree with all who have voiced the opinion that the Anita Blake series, not to mention Merry Gentry, has too many sex scenes that are just too over the top. I never thought I would say I was bored reading sex scenes, but I am. I also wish Laurell would return to telling stories and drop the magical sex snake oil remedy for what ails ya. I am waiting for February for the publication of the new Mercedes Thompson story. Love those.

Basschick, you told us that you wrote erotic lit for a living. What's out there that we can enjoy, and have we been reading your stuff and didn't know it was you, or what? If you are willing to write and get published; plenty of us are willing to read!

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Very good book. The sequel is great too. Although I wouldn't really call them Supernatural, more a SciFi/Fantasy combo IMO.

I wouldn't call Tinker supernatural at all. As you mention, it's an SF/fantasy combo. In this case, a portal has opened near Pittsburgh connecting Faery with our reality, and the protagonist must cope with the issues involved.

Emma Bull explored similar territory in her novel _Finder_, set in an area where Elfland has impinged on our reality, and Bordertown is an area populated by both species, where both science and magic work...erratically, because the natural laws governing the place are confused and contradictory.

Patricia Keneally did a whole series called Celts in space, where both science and magic worked, and FTL starships guided by computers delivered naked, blue painted Fian warriors to battlefields where they went mano a mano against opponents while mages opposed each other with spells.

Kenneally made no effort to explain how it was possible, and some of her assumptions don't hold up under scrutiny, but she was a good enough story teller to mostly pull it off.
______
Dennis

[basschick]

if you're tired of anita's sex scenes, i don't think you'll enjoy what i write *lol* when i say erotica, i'm understating a bit - i write porn for various clients - blogs, model descriptions, site reviews and custom stories, and have 2 sets of stories that are sold to websites (1 set has been licensed over 600 times).

btw, no one under 18 can legally read what i write

Originally Posted by bmwvan

You know, I have to agree with all who have voiced the opinion that the Anita Blake series, not to mention Merry Gentry, has too many sex scenes that are just too over the top. I never thought I would say I was bored reading sex scenes, but I am. I also wish Laurell would return to telling stories and drop the magical sex snake oil remedy for what ails ya. I am waiting for February for the publication of the new Mercedes Thompson story. Love those.

Basschick, you told us that you wrote erotic lit for a living. What's out there that we can enjoy, and have we been reading your stuff and didn't know it was you, or what? If you are willing to write and get published; plenty of us are willing to read!

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by basschick

i write erotic fiction as part of my living, and every time i crack a new anita and we get to the first of many pointless sex scenes, my only thought is "i gave at the office" i miss the old guilty pleasure/obsidian butterfly days when anita still worked on cases and dolph and her old friends weren't complete pushy jerks!

Some years back, I read Anais Nin's _Delta of Venus_. It was erotica, written for a patron, who demanded more action and less character.

I think I felt the same way about it as you do about the current Anita Blake books. The patron's insistence on action leeched the stories, and they read like outline for the stories Nin wanted to write. They lacked the depth to make them any more than depictions of sex.

Most current erotica bores me. I have no objection to sex in a story, even hard core stuff. But sex doesn't stand alone. It happens in a context, and without a believable context and meaningful characters for things to happen between, the story fails as a story. In that sense, erotica is no different from any other literary form.

But I wish I could read the stories Nin wanted to write.
______
Dennis

[bmwvan]

basschick, I have no problem reading sex scenes, haven't had since I learned how to read! I just think Laurell K. is running over the same ground without advancing the storyline. I want to see more development of Anita/Richard/Jean Claude's relationship(s) and to see if Anita will interact with The Mother of All Darkness more, etc. I want Dolph to calm down and use Anita to solve cases again and stuff like that. In the Merry Gentry line, time will have to move forward again, won't it? Give me some story to go with my sex.

I don't think I could read your stuff. I'm so far over 18, I think I'm back under it again!

[stustaff]

Agreed I enjoy the sex scenes in Laurells books but I dont like the book to be JUST sex scenes. and the characters have become very 2 dimensional.
They used to be action/detective oriented with some great sex scenes, now they are sex oriented with the occasional argument and the odd page of story beetween a chapter of sex scene.

I have actually questioned whether someone else is now writing them! the style is so different

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by stustaff

Agreed I enjoy the sex scenes in Laurells books but I dont like the book to be JUST sex scenes. and the characters have become very 2 dimensional.
They used to be action/detective oriented with some great sex scenes, now they are sex oriented with the occasional argument and the odd page of story beetween a chapter of sex scene.

I have actually questioned whether someone else is now writing them! the style is so different

The change in Hamilton's style maps to the change in her life. The older books were written while still married to her first husband. The newer books have been produced since she divorced and re-married, and husband two is reportedly a younger guy, seriously into kink.

I haven't followed the series, but I've seen reports that the latest are moving back toward the former style. Perhaps Hamilton is regaining her balance.
______
Dennis

[basschick]

they aren't - there's a tiny tiny hint of the old stuff, but that's all - the constant never-ending sex and big supernatural stuff is almost all there is, and it's too bad - anita started out with a multifacted world - her job, relationship with the police and with bert and the rest of the animators inc crew, her neighbors, edward, various vampires, friends and foes plus plenty of background - family, the college guy who dumped her, her mother's death - that's all gone, too. she used to go jogging, she had 2 human buddies. what made anita good for me is that she existed in a version of our real world, but with realistic amounts of supernatural stuff woven in in a realistic way.

i miss that.

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

haven't followed the series, but I've seen reports that the latest are moving back toward the former style. Perhaps Hamilton is regaining her balance.
______
Dennis

[rixte]

Originally Posted by basschick

they aren't - there's a tiny tiny hint of the old stuff, but that's all - the constant never-ending sex and big supernatural stuff is almost all there is, and it's too bad - anita started out with a multifacted world - her job, relationship with the police and with bert and the rest of the animators inc crew, her neighbors, edward, various vampires, friends and foes plus plenty of background - family, the college guy who dumped her, her mother's death - that's all gone, too. she used to go jogging, she had 2 human buddies. what made anita good for me is that she existed in a version of our real world, but with realistic amounts of supernatural stuff woven in in a realistic way.

i miss that.

I think you described my feelings on this perfectly. I loved the first books but now they've lost all the magic and charm and depth and just - well, they bore me! Biggest sin of all

[slayda]

I'm not usually a reader of the supernatural soup type but an author & series I have enjoyed is "Dead on My Feet" (The Halflife Chronicles) by Wm. Mark Simmons.

It is IMO different from the typical vampire stories (this according to my daughter who reads a lot of that). She also like this series. Simmons has an ironic sense of humor that I like and is a good story teller which is my main criteria for books I like.

You can find his stories on www.Baen.com in a variety of ebook formats.

[IceHand]

Originally Posted by slayda

I'm not usually a reader of the supernatural soup type but an author & series I have enjoyed is "Dead on My Feet" (The Halflife Chronicles) by Wm. Mark Simmons.

"Dead on My Feet" is actually the second book of the series. "One Foot in the Grave" is the first. And yes, I've read all of the four books and enjoyed them.

[daffy4u]

I have to stop reading these threads because of course I have to surf on over to Amazon and buy the books (or at least sample them). I can't read EVERYTHING!

[Xenophon]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

[...] I can't read EVERYTHING!

But... but... Why not? I mean, doesn't everybody read EVERYTHING!!?

Xenophon

(running for cover from the incoming explosions...)