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Mishalak Reviews: Incubus Dreams
Mar. 7th, 2005 08:38 pmOkay the last time I read a Laurell K. Hamilton novel I swore I wouldn't read another. But I heard from a friend it was better than the last couple and so here I am half way into Incubus Dreams which should be subtitled "Anita Blake does St. Louis". It works as unintentional comedy. If you're into polyamorous porn with supernatural elements as the excuse for the polyandry it will also work for you on that level, but there is no longer almost any hint whatsoever of the supernatural CSI the series seemed to be when it started out. Which is disappointing to me since that's what I want unless there's going to be more guys doing it in the book.
Now this may sound like damming with faint praise, but that's as good as it gets and this book deserves whatever gets heaped upon it. There are endless info dumps while Anita Blake is conflicted for page after page about having sex or whatever yet again. And I use info dump in the most pejorative sense of dead prose of the sort that a 4th grader uses to write about his summer vacation rather than in interesting (but endless) descriptions of a place, technology, or whatever. If it was just the boring pistons happening sex scenes (with excuses for it that would not be out of place in the silliest hentai) I could deal with that and just skip to the next bit. But it now seems that her novels have abandoned any pretense of having any plot or story to hold them together.
I also felt, once again, like when Hamilton sits down to write a new novel she asks, "What new power can we give to Anita Blake so she can take down yet another supernatural baddie?" She's like a power gamer without the restraint of having rules for her alter ego. Along with the 658 page length I'm calling this one of the worst novels allegedly by a professional yet published.
Yes it was so bad that I couldn't stand not being able to shout from my internet rooftop about how very bad it is.
What: Incubus Dreams by Laurell K. Hamilton
US$23.95 from Berkley Publishing Group
Who's it for: People into polyandrous erotica with supernatural creatures. Teenage boys.
Who won't like it: Everyone else. Good for freaking out parents.
Personally: Thumbs way down.
Now this may sound like damming with faint praise, but that's as good as it gets and this book deserves whatever gets heaped upon it. There are endless info dumps while Anita Blake is conflicted for page after page about having sex or whatever yet again. And I use info dump in the most pejorative sense of dead prose of the sort that a 4th grader uses to write about his summer vacation rather than in interesting (but endless) descriptions of a place, technology, or whatever. If it was just the boring pistons happening sex scenes (with excuses for it that would not be out of place in the silliest hentai) I could deal with that and just skip to the next bit. But it now seems that her novels have abandoned any pretense of having any plot or story to hold them together.
I also felt, once again, like when Hamilton sits down to write a new novel she asks, "What new power can we give to Anita Blake so she can take down yet another supernatural baddie?" She's like a power gamer without the restraint of having rules for her alter ego. Along with the 658 page length I'm calling this one of the worst novels allegedly by a professional yet published.
Yes it was so bad that I couldn't stand not being able to shout from my internet rooftop about how very bad it is.
What: Incubus Dreams by Laurell K. Hamilton
US$23.95 from Berkley Publishing Group
Who's it for: People into polyandrous erotica with supernatural creatures. Teenage boys.
Who won't like it: Everyone else. Good for freaking out parents.
Personally: Thumbs way down.