from Natasha Fondren is a writer and musician. She lives on the road in a little camper, moving from place to place as her restless spirit calls, with her four cats and husband. Her adventures can be read at natashafondren.com.
On the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series
The Domestication of a Vampire Executioner
By Natasha Fondren
23 Comments
Anita Blake is a monster killer, a sometimes murderer, a once-in-awhile torturer. She’s an executioner of vampires—the shortest executioner of vampires in the United States—but don’t let that fool you: Anita Blake has the highest kill count of any vampire executioner in the nation, possibly the world. And that’s just counting the legal kills.
She’s not exactly someone you want to take home and introduce to your mother, someone you imagine making dinner, walking the dog, or dropping the kids off at soccer practice. She’s been called a sociopath, a zombie queen, and coffin bait. She’s a necromancer, a master vampire (somehow without really being a vampire), a succubus, and the human servant of the Master of the City.
She is not your girl next door.
And she doesn’t want to be. She never has. At the beginning of the series, Anita prefers coming home to an empty apartment when she’s done raising the dead for the night. It’s quiet there: peaceful and private. She can wash off the goat’s blood and the zombie goo with a hot shower, cuddle with her stuffed penguin, enjoy having a kitchen she doesn’t cook in—a kitchen no one cooks in.
Her ideal pets? Fish. As she says: “You don’t walk them, pick up after them, or have to housebreak them. Clean the tank occasionally, feed them, and they don’t give a damn how many hours of overtime you work” (The Laughing Corpse).
No one knows what happens to the pet fish. They disappear in later books. They never …
23 Comments On "The Domestication of a Vampire Executioner"
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at 12:19 pm
Great essay! I have read one of the books, but wasn’t really interested. This makes me truly think twice about my decision to not try another one. If Anita Blake is truly as wild a monster as she seems here, then we really don’t want that domestication, do we?
at 12:51 pm
That’s a good point, Kebbi! Her life is pretty darn stressful, and her power comes with tons of responsibility. Although, Micah and Nathaniel and Jean-Claude might make me think it’s all worth it, LOL!
at 12:44 pm
An excellent exploration into Anita’s psyche, with some wonderful insights into the screwed up way that extremely complex character’s brain works.
She’s commitment-phobic on every possible level. She shoulda been a man.
Jeri
at 12:55 pm
Jeri, yes! She often seems more like the traditional role of a husband than the traditional role of a wife, for sure! I think she even makes that comment, at one point. She’s improved on the commitment-phobic thing. Well, at least she’s responsibility-obsessed, so it sort of balances out, maybe? LOL!
at 12:58 pm
Wow – this is a fantastic and thorough write up. Really gives me a feel for the story. Thanks!
at 6:50 pm
Thanks, Lisa! *blushes* Her series a great series, really. One of my favorites!
at 10:04 pm
Very fantastic comprehensible writeup of anita blake’s more than complicated life.This really shows whats best for anita’s future in the series.This is perfect for fans like me that admire the anita blake series more than any other series.
at 11:17 pm
Becca, “more than complicated” is sure a good way to describe her life, LOL! I’m a big fan of the series, too (obviously, lol!). Definitely one of my favorites!
at 10:20 pm
I have to say that Laurell is my favorite author! I have read everything that she has written and love all of it! Anita is by far my favorite series that she does. The men in her life are amazing! Nathaniel teaches everyone that it is ok to love and be loved! If you haven’t read the series, you need to! I can’t put them down!!!!
at 11:18 pm
Amanda, I’ve never been able to decide which series I love more. You are so right: they are amazing. I’m with you on Nathaniel. I sure have a soft spot in my heart for him. (*blush*)
at 11:11 pm
I have a special place in my heart ffom the time I spent with all these characters in LK’s Anita Blake novels. Its nice to hear that the beauty of Anita’s relationships with her men is not lost on others. In a world were such terrible things can happen, love is so important no matter who you share it with. Wouldn’t we all be so lucky to have the love of so many strong generous men as Anita does. I know I am holding out for at least one!
at 11:21 pm
Alia, you are so right about love. It is beautiful, isn’t it? I’ve heard people complain about her relationships with men, but I agree: it’s beautiful. Love always is.
I hope you find one, Alia!
at 11:16 pm
It is wonderful to see another Anita Blake fan take such pains to lay out the full history of her growth. The amazing thing here is that Anita fails to accept this growth but for small increments. Those around her are the ones who move forward but she remains incapable of allowing time and emotional involvement to completely take her. My thought is that she will lose what makes her special. If she deigns to allow mundane situations into her world (I know, HA!), Anita will cease to be “The Executioner”. She will melt into another strangely connected, complicated American fairy-tale. I applaud Laurell for keeping Anita detached despite the increasing number of attachments in her life.
You ROCK!
at 11:18 pm
Natasha- I have yet to read Skin Trade so, for me, Anita is still in the dark ages. I only skimmed your survey on this most recent book so that there is not a spoiler for me to resent…LOL!
at 11:24 pm
No worries, Stacy! I hadn’t yet read Skin Trade when I wrote this essay.
I agree! Laurell K. Hamilton does rock!
at 11:19 pm
I really enjoy finding others that love the Anita Blake series as much as I do. I have read a few reviews from readers who dislike the intense and increasing sexuality of the books, but I don’t think that they understand that the sex is a vehicle for intimacy and self-acceptance. I love your take on the series.
at 11:27 pm
Thank you, Joscelyn! I admit that at first, I was thrown by how the series changed, but I’ve come to realize that it’s perfect and beautiful and true to the characters. Great point about the “sex is a vehicle for intimacy and self-acceptance.” I love that! So true!
at 12:33 am
Wow, this was VERY well written. I wanted to be in bed an hour ago but couldn’t stop reading! (Okay, it didn’t take me a whole hour to read it, I got up and got water and I have two 10 week old kittens tearing my apartment to shreds, but you know….) I did want to finish it before going to bed though. I thought it was very insightful – I’ve long been a fan of Nathaniel’s and couldn’t quite put my finger on why I’d be so attached and I think you hit it right on the head. He lets her just be herself and he’s loving and supportive of her BECAUSE of who she is and not DESPITE it. His love has the purity of a child’s but without the icky paedophilia twist she was initially trying to pin on it. I just love him to pieces and I love that he is coming into his own in these later books. Not quite so submissive and better able to take care of himself. And it wasn’t just the Nathaniel points, either. Speaking strictly from a fan standpoint, you were right spot on with all of it. She does seem to react much better to people who need her protection initially, much moreso than people who are trying to protect HER. May the gods help them. Sheesh. She is a strong, independent woman but she sure can be a pain in the ass sometimes. -=laugh=- Very nice work.
at 10:22 am
Awww, Ms. Andey, you made my morning! I’m a big fan of Nathaniel, too. I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am a little surprised that everyone else seems to connect with Nathaniel, too. He is special: submissive and strong. I totally agree with that quote of Anita. I could keep reading the series through the loss of any other character, but most likely not the loss of Nathaniel.
at 10:54 am
I enjoyed your intriguing and well written essay on the domestication of Anita Blake. Now I find myself thinking the series might also signify another kind of domestication, that of the writer’s relationship to her own writing process and to her material. After all, Anita raises the dead, not much different than Hamilton wresting ideas from the far reaches of her mind and then giving them life on the page. The only way a writer can make them real is through intimacy with the characters she creates, and acceptance of them. She must nurture them to bring them alive for herself and ultimately the reader. At first, Anita, much like Hamilton, her creator, may have been leery and tentative. She knew she had talent to attract and raise the dead, but she didn’t want to get too close, fearing commitment and responsibility. As the series developed the author delved headlong into the world she had crafted in order to discover the truth of the work. It can be hell facing your progeny every day with all their foibles and their beasts threatening to emerge, but when the author does there are sure to be ecstatic moments, when the writer knows she’s produced a great story. Perhaps the Ardeur stands for an author’s passion to write and the heady intoxication of being published. To succeed the author must let her guard down, but with cultivation and domestication, she can control the beast to gain full mastery over her novels.
As soon as I finish Skin Trade (I’m in the middle of it) I’m going to purchase “Ardeur” for my e book reader. Keep writing!
at 12:38 pm
Thanks, Annalee! I never thought of that. I remember Neil Gaiman once said that the last person you want to ask about their writing process is the writer, because we have terrible and selective memories about it. The whole process is a bit of a mystery to me, no matter how many times I go through it. I don’t know Laurell K. Hamilton’s writing process, but that’s a really neat theory. I wonder!
I hope you enjoy Ardeur, Annalee! There are several different and conflicting takes on the Ardeur in the other essays, so it should be a fascinating read for you! The Ardeur is such a fascinating component of the series.
at 3:53 pm
I can’t help but wonder how one accepts Anita’s “domestication” while faced with her continued obstinate refusal to put any of her men’s needs before her own. JC has asked Anita to stop picking up strays. She comes back with a new man every single book (and in Skin Trade, that “new man” was a boy of 16). In the original version, Anita’s first encounter with Micah was written as near-rape with Anita saying “No” more than once (later versions have been re-written and tamed down a bit). Nate is an abused subordinate who is so unable to say “no” to anyone that he almost died from some BD/SM play. And Richard was written off as being too monstrous for Anita although she is the one who has committed human sacrifice and raised an entire graveyard of zombies with the power she gained not once but twice.
at 7:05 pm
Did Jean-Claude ask her to stop picking up strays? With those words? Hilarious, TK! I love Jean-Claude.
I don’t recall a rape-feel to her first scene with Micah. Interesting. Have you read the later books? I’m remembering a couple scenes where Anita is pleased because Nathaniel *does* say “no” to her. When I read the series (three times, lol), I got the impression that she worked very hard to empower Nathaniel, and in fact encouraged it from the very beginning of their relationship.