Customer Reviews

Nightshade Tavern (Obsidian Butterfly&Narcissus in Chains)

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"Nightshade Tavern" is the fourth hardcover collection of multiple Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novels by Laurell K. Hamilton. Previously we had "Club Vampyre," which collected "Guilty Pleasures," "The Laughing Corpse," and "Circus of the Damned"; "The Midnight Cafe" bought together "The Lunatic Cafe," "Bloody Bones," and "The Killing Dance"; while "Black Moon Inn" combined "Burnt Offerings" and Blue Moon" and constituted a shift in these reprints from 3-in-1 to 2-in-1, which is more to our liking. The two novels published together this time are the ninth and tenth in the Anita Blake series, "Obsidian Butterfly" and "Narcissus in Chains," and from the perspective of today, as we await the fourteenth novel in the series, it becomes clear that there is a significant break between the two novels included here. Suffice it to say that many fans of the series consider the first of these efforts to be the last great, or even really good, Anita Blake novel. Consequently, this might be as far as some readers will go, but they are certainly encouraged to progress to this point.

"Obsidian Butterfly" was the long-awaited Anita Blake novel in which Edward the Bounty Hunter finally calls in the favor our heroine owes him for his services back in "The Killing Dance." So Anita heads to New Mexico, where something is out ripping the bodies of some people apart while removing all the skin from others. Whatever type of monster this might be, it is something so bad that even Edward is spooked. Anita is spooked because Edwards, in his cover identity as "Ted," has a girlfriend who has two children. If all this was not troubling enough throw into the mix the two other backups Edward has enlisted, Olaf, the serial-rapist who keeps threatening Anita, and Bernardo, who keeps trying to hit on her, as does Ramirez, a local cop. Oh, and did I mention she has been celibate for months? This title around the title refers to both a bar and the English name of Itzpapalotl, the vampire Master of the City, which serves to indicate that whatever it is that is out there has something to do with Aztec mythology. One again, Anita Blake, vampire hunter/animator/necromancer has her hands full.

Laurell K. Hamilton is perhaps the finest writer of horror stories around as in book after book in this series she comes up with gruesome scenes that match the best you can find in Stephen King or Clive Barker. In "Obsidian Butterfly" this comes when the last of a group of flesh-eating zombies on a killing spree in a hospital makes its way into the nursery. The main problem with the Anita Blake series, as others have pointed out, is that there is a sense in which things keep repeating themselves as our heroine mouths off to the wrong people, complains about her love life, and keeps calling herself a monster as her personal body count continues to rise. However, the basic mystery here and all its various involved sub-plots are combined in a compelling narrative that overwhelms the problems with characterization. One thing I especially liked about this ninth novel in the series is that yet another unknown aspect of Anita's power did not make itself known at the key moment. In fact, given some of the climaxes of the previous volumes, there is a simple elegance to how our heroine dispatches the monster this time around. On balance, "Obsidian Butterfly" is one of the best novels in the series, ironically helped by the fact that Jean-Claude and Richard are, with minor exceptions, absent from the story.

When we got to "Narcissus in Chains," the tenth Anita Blake novel, is was impossible not to ambivalent about what was happening this time around. This one starts off like a typical Anita Blake novel with our heroine has been ignoring both Jean-Claude, the Master Vampire of St. Louis, and Richard, Ulfric of the local werewolf clan. So, once again, horror literature's most dysfunctional love triangle appears to be moving back to square one. But then we have an interesting twist. Usually Anita manifests another new dimension to her growing powers at the end of the novel, in term to help her out of the horrendous climatic confrontation where people she cares about are about to get killed by the new bad thing in town. However, this time around Anita is almost fatally injured in a fight. A weresnake is trying to rip her heart out of her chest when Gregory, one of her pard's wereleopards, forcible removes the attacker's hand. But in the process his claws something vital and now Anita is showing all the signs of preparing for a transformation in a wereleopard, which would make her a true Nimir-Ra. It looks like Anita might not have any choice about embracing the monster inside her (and we have to wonder what Edward would think of this development, especially given the events of the previous novel).

This time the title refers to a S&M Club run by a werehyena with a penchant for names from Greek mythology, is one of the faster paced Anita Blake novels. Basically Anita has to go through a series of rescue missions, such as saving Nathaniel from the sex club, Jean-Claude from jail, Gregory from the wrath of Richard's pack, Damian from being chained in a cross-covered coffin, and on and on and on. In addition to the possibility of turning into a lycanthrope, Anita has two additional complications. First, she had picked up Jean-Claude's "ardeur," which is basically a lust that goes well beyond sex. Second, she meets Micah Callah, who wants to be the Nimir-Raj of Anita's pard. The end result is that the unresolved love triangle has now been upped to at least a quadrangle, and that is before we even begin to figure out how Nathaniel and Asher fits into all this fun.

The sexuality of both the main character and the narrative had been building in recent novels, but I would make a conservative estimate that the amount of sex in "Narcissus in Chains" is easily double what we had in "Blue Moon" and "Obsidian Butterfly" combined. Hamilton has a hard time topping herself in each adventure in terms of horror and violence, so it is not surprising that she turns to other avenues. But even if Anita is becoming more comfortable with her sexuality and being nude among her pard, that does not mean the result of us are thoroughly enjoying the ride. The ending of "Narcissus in Chains" does turn out to be the traditional Anita-pulls-something-new-out-of-her-hat variety, along with what is becoming another cliche, the revelation of the villain's true identity. The problem is that at the conclusion of this novel we are encouraged to think that maybe, just maybe, Anita has finally resolved her relationship with Jean-Claude and Richard. But after reading the novels that follow this one it turns out Hamilton is just toying with us in that regard.

As any Laurell K. Hamilton fan knows, her stories are THE BEST. I realize that this book is a resale item from someone other than Amazon.com, but you do not need to pay $50! I bought mine from the Science Fiction Book Club last month (11/2005)for $14! $50 is an UNBELIEVABLE mark up for an item that is still in print!

The Anita Blake series doesn't fail to disappoint with these two books. I particularly love Obsidian Butterfly because I myself am rather partial to Edward aka Death. A whole story to revolve around this character made me ecstatic!!
I don't have to sell this book, because if you've read any of the Anita Blake series, you know what to expect. Funny banter, sexual tension, FANTASTIC battles and Anita pulling her gun at the drop of a hat.
I love this series!!

this series is fantastic! i can't wait until the next book comes out and this book has one of my favorites in it, obsidian butterfly! i recommend anyone to read this series!