Is anyone out there a laurell k hamilton fan?  I've read most of her vampire series and just love her way of writing. The last book i've read by her was Blue Moon. I discovered her by accident.. Just wondering what anyone thinks of her writing?

I've read her first three books and enjoyed them. From what I understand, after about book 5 or 6 of the Anita Blake series, her books kind of devolve (or evolve, depending on your perspective) into soft-core porn. I actually am planning on reading her whole series and am hoping I will like her newer stuff, even if it is light on story and heavy on sex. It's a change of pace from what I'm used to reading so I'll give it a shot. I don't think her writing style is anything special but her stories are interesting and fun.

The one thing that I love about Anita Blake are her terrible fashion choices. She always seems to be wearing 1) a Bolero jacket, 2) Nike High Tops, 3) an oversized t-shirt, 4) bicycle shorts. Ugh! I laughed out loud when she showed up at the Circus of the Damned wearing a giant Halloween sweater with a pumpkin design on it. A friend of mine swears that Anita wears a FANNY PACK in a later book. A fanny pack?!!! Anita is supposed to be sexy! Anita's closet sounds like my junior high wardrobe. It always gives me a chuckle when reading the books. :P

I just finished Obsidian Butterfly which I thought was great.  I haven't found the books to be too heavy on sex yet.  I think book 9 10 (oops!) may change that.

I never got the impression Anita is suppose to be sexy.

btw, the series (imo) is crap now.

I agree that the first several books in the series are simply terriffic, but also that they become more and more porn-y and for me, my enjoyment lessened with each outing as the sex themes became more and more the primary thrust (pardon the pun) of the series.

I found the first six or eight books are quite stellar, before losing my interest for the mentioned reasons.

I love the first three books from the Anita Blake set. I started to read them six or seven years ago and you can tell that they have evolved into something different then what was there in the beginning. I have to say that I haven’t been thrilled with her resent books because of how the universe has changed. I feel sometime if you read the newest book and the first couple its almost two different people writing but that doesn’t stop me from getting the new one every time they come out.

I was crazy addicted to them, when I first discovered them.   Bought 'em and read them one after the other, at first.   Then, later in the series, I lost interest.     I think the last one I read was Narcissus in Chains.   I bought Micah, but never read it.    Eventually they lost their place on my keeper shelf, and I posted all of them here.    Once, I tried to revisit Laurell K., and tried to read the one, with short stories....Strange Candy?   I couldn't get   through the first one.   I've moved on.   I'm done.  

I totally agree the first 3 books were awesome and after that they were just so heavy on sex that i completely lost interest.

Loved the Anita Series...didn't care for the Meredith Gentry series though.

My fav has to be Obsidian Butterfly. It gripped me and kept me reading til it was done. I think it took me about 3-4 hours to read almost 600 pages. I think that is about book 10. And yes, it does get much more sexual after that book it seems. I think Danse Macabre was one of the worst... but after having read the series, and knowing where Anita gets her "powers" and where Jean Claude gets his...did anyone really think that the storyline would stay nonsexual?

omitting the sex parts, the rest of the story is still has a plot. and I think the ultimate goal was to see how far Anita developed along with her newfound powers.

P.S. it's not for everyone

I've made it up through book 13 (Micah). I still love them.

Yes, it seems there is more & more sex with each book, but since she didn't just slap you in the face with it in book one, I'm okay with it. It's like you had the first X number of books to "get to know each other" and logically progressed from kissing, to petting, to sex. *lol* does that make sense? I also think Hamilton has enough story/plot, character development, action (and violence) included to be able to carry the book, so it isn't just porn imho. Every good action movie has to have a little sex thrown in, right?

Plus, vampires are by nature very sexy (again, imho) - I don't think I would have been able to resist Jean-Claude nearly as long as Anita did. And I think it just shows that she's not just The Executioner, a killing machine, she's also a woman with very human emotions and desires.

And I think she does wear a fanny pack in one of the books when she's out running. Since jogging clothes have no pockets, and she can't very well wear a leather jacket while she runs however many miles - she needs somewhere to keep her gun!! :)

I have read the entire series (twice!) and really loved getting to know the characters. Does anybody have any suggestions for authors that have a similar writing style? Authors that I have found to enjoy are Kelly Armstrong, Christine Feehan, Sherrilyn Kenyon (the first ones in her series) and Lori Foster. Please give me some ideas for more great reads. Thanks.

I love Laurell K Hamilton, and her characters Anita Blake and Meridith Gentry. They are auto-buys for me. I do agree that the first half od the books in the Anita Blake series are much better than what she's been producing lately, but I am hopeful that we'll see a return to the zombie-raising vampire-slaying, myster-solving Anita of old.

As far as additional authors I'd suggest for Hamilton lovers, try: Ilona Andrews (Kate Daniels series); Kim Harrison (The Hallows series); Jeaniene Frost (Night Huntress series); Patricia Briggs (Mercy Thompson series); and can't forget Charlaine Harris (Southern Vampire Mysteries).

Laurrell K. Hamilton is my favorite author! That was a tough competition, i haven't had a real, single one favorite author since elementry school - I have about 50 favorites - but Laurrell clears the bar with a clean jump.
  I love both series. the fartehr along they go, the more I love them.
From a writing standpoint, I am blown away that she can write in two completely different sci-fi worlds at the same time - how do you DO that?
  I love her short stories - esp. the ones that are set in one of her two worlds but with whole different charectars. But the other ones too. She wows me with every thing she writes. She is amazing.
  I like the sex in the books. It is an integreal part of the story and I love the way it works in. I know that erotica usually goes on PBS super, super fast, but, imo, Hamilton is not Erotica. It is real stories with a real plot and a lot of sex. It is awesome. Kind of like the Kushiel series in that way, in that it is a really good plot, and the sex happens to be part of that.
  As to read alikes, I don't quite know what to tell you. On her website, when she was much newer and it was a much smaller site, her author links page was basicly her writing group. Now one of her links is to her writing group:
www.sff.net/people/Marella/

Here is her whole author's link page:

www.laurellkhamilton.org/Links/LinksPageNew.html#Otherauthors

I have been meaning to try some other ones in her writing group for years but haven't gotten around to it. But, I do love the Kushiel series:

www.paperbackswap.com/book/details/9780312872380-Kushiels+Dart+Kushiels+Legacy+Bk+1

Which does not have any paranormal in it, and is set in an alternate Earth, at around the middle ages. 

I would recommend Keri Arthur.  Full Moon Rising is the first book in the Riley Jensen Guardian series.  Hot stuff! lol  I read the first LKH and loved it, but haven't been into the second yet - though I own it.  I kind of got hooked on Kim Harrisons Rachel Morgan series.  Love them.  So when I finish, I'll pick up Laurel again.