| Title | : | Circus of the Damned (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #3) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0425201392 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780425201398 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 320 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1995 |
Circus of the Damned (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #3) Reviews
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Well, it's not going to be Anita. This girl is obsessed with her Nikes. Nikes are mentioned in this book so many times that if you played a drinking game with "Nike" as your word, you would be smashed by the halfway point of the book.
But, don't worry, she always color coordinates her Nikes with a sporty fanny pack. To look more fashionable, of course.
So, even though we want to picture Anita like this:
She is actually more like this:
So, in this book we have a pack of vampires murdering people. Anita ends up becoming a target for several powerful vampires who want to either kill her, bite her, or own her. She's total vampire bait. It must be all of the bright colors she wears. Vampires must get sick of everyone wearing black around them. It's like just because they are the undead doesn't mean they don't want a pop of color every once in a while.
Anita is also trying to date Richard because she thinks he is just some nice human guy - which once again shows her dumbness. She actually thinks that a guy who is constantly surrounded by werewolves and vampires, and who answers to the vampire king in an overly obedient way, is just a normal human? Riiiiight...
There is a lot of action in these books, which is fun, but I think I am getting to the point now where I am enjoying everyone trying to kill Anita more than anything else. She is annoying, bitchy, stupid, and confrontational. I think I would try to kill her myself if I met her. So, I guess I'm rooting for the bad guys. Really, all it would take to kill her is for some kind of Wile E Coyote scheme that includes exploding Nikes. It would work! Wile E could really use a win, too....poor guy.
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I am really enjoying my rereading of this series. Going back to the beginning of the series has reminded me why I continue to read along even though it has morphed into another beast entirely. These early books were so great because the men and the sex weren’t the focus of the entire freaking plot.
Here Anita is still working as an animator and an assistant to preternatural police force. Anita has a full plate, as usual, after a full night of corpse raising, she’s then hounded by members of “the vamp hater Church or somesuch” to give up the resting place of the Master of the City (Jean Claude), then a body turns up drained by what appears to be a rogue pack of vamps which leads her to The Circus of the Damned and into close proximity with vampire Jean Claude, a sexy vampire she’d rather avoid. He’s been trying to make her his human servant but she stubbornly refuses, even when it means putting her own life in jeopardy. There’s a whole lot of that “Ma petite I have marked you, you are mine” “I kill vampires, I don’t serve them” nonsense going on. She must train an apprentice animator, face down an angry lamia, crazed humans, out of control zombies and deal with a dangerous master vampire. It sounds exhausting but I have to hand it to Hamilton because I was never lost. We’re also introduced to Richard when he was still sweet and sexy and not quite so angry and rigid as he appears in the later novels..
Once again there is way too much focus on clothing (who cares) and the gun descriptions (snore). Personally, I am still not dying to discover what color Anita’s Nike swishes will be every other page and if the match her t shirt. I already know that she is not a girly-girl because it’s mentioned over and over. We all know Jean Claude has a preference for lacy floofy blouses and his own nipples. Do we need to be constantly reminded of this? It’s a little painful to read this stuff the second time around but the quick pacing and intriguing characters carry the book for me and I enjoyed the many plotlines here, none of which focus on sex I might add.
Despite a lame-ass villain and too much arguing from Anita, I enjoyed this as much as the previous two in the series. -
"Your questions will make something simple last all...day."
Just three books in, and already we can see a pattern forming. Dudes come to Anita to have her do something; she says, in no uncertain terms, "No". Dolph calls her to investigate a murder; it ends up being the weirdest, most unusual murder Anita has ever seen. Jean-Claude makes the moves on her; Anita tells him to F@#$ off. Anita does minor investigating, bad guys come out of the woodworks to try to kill her, Anita is rude and sarcastic to a bunch of people, and suddenly Anita is fighting off the Most Powerful *FILL*IN*THE*BLANK*.
This book is no different. Some Human First members want Anita to rat out Jean-Claude; she refuses. She is called to a murder scene; the victim has been bitten to death by 5 or more vampires. Back to Jean-Claude where she and he fight like cats and dogs. FIGHT SCENE! Then Anita is racing off to her "night job". FIGHT SCENE! Bad guys try to kill her, Anita stumbles onto some new vampires, and before you know it, the city is about to be turned upside down by a 1million year old vampire--the oldest EVAH.
I'm rather torn about this book. There are actually things I like. Anita values her independence and free will and does NOT like Jean-Claude's stalker-ish behavior. The book is pretty fast-paced, and if you don't go in expecting Anita to do much investigating (pretty much everything just falls into her lap--how nice!), it's pretty exciting. It's also nice to have some action scenes, instead of many, many kissy-kissy scenes we see in vampire books. And, oddly enough, I actually LIKED Richard and Anita's cute meet (though I have heard tons about how THAT ends up...and it makes me sad :( ).
But there are oh, so many things that drives me nuts about these books.
1. Anita Blake. God, this is an unlikable woman! I can only take so much of this, "I am better than everyone else, even though I am ONLY 24 years old and have been in the business a whopping THREE years". Half the time, she sounds like a petulant child, bragging about how many toys (guns) she has and how well she can use them or telling someone to f@#$ off (and she does the latter A LOT). Or playing p!ssing games with the police (who should be fired for all the sexual harassment!). The other half of the time, she sounds like a 40 year old woman, coaching someone who is ONLY FOUR YEARS YOUNGER THAN HER and calling him "kiddo".
2. Action Scenes. Is it possible to have too many? When you forget what was going on and what the plot was, yes. This happened to me frequently. Why the big fight at Circus of the Damned with the Snake? Why did the vampires reveal themselves to Anita (when she had NO IDEA who they were before) at the cemetery with Larry? Why was Anita so easily duped into driving an hour into the boonies only to be chased into a cave where the vamps try to kill her? Isn't this supposed to be Anita, the most awesome, kick-@ss Vampire Hunter in the Mid-West?
3. Clothing. Every person has to have a run-down of what they are wearing. And not just once; no, we have to know what EVERYONE is wearing at any time. So when Anita changes, you hear about it. When Jean-Claude is on the scene, expect at least a paragraph or two on his frilly shirt.
4. CTRL+C -> CTRL+P. New "characters" have nearly the same description as old ones. St. Louis must have the highest population of beefy, muscular men who lift weights, because, I swear, it seemed not a page went by before Anita mentioned how muscular so-and-so was and how he must lift weights.
5. TMI. In case you were ever curious what exercise routine Anita and Ronnie do when they hit the gym, don't worry. LKH will let you know what machines they start at, who is best at what (Anita is better at arms, Ronnie with legs), and when they do cardio. Just what I open a Vampire novel to read. NOT.
6. Super-powered villains. For once, couldn't Anita just defeat a troup of vampires, instead of a showdown between her and the Most Awesome, 1 Million Year Old Vampire? What about a voodoo practitioner instead of The Best Voodoo Practitioner in Missouri? I have no idea how all these super powered beings keep coming to St. Louis (not the biggest city in the US) and just throw themselves in front of Anita's Browning.
Okay, so that was a lot of complaining. This book wasn't horrible. It was okay, it's just that after reading three Anita books in a row, I'm burned out. I think I need a break before I attempt to tackle Book 4 (if I want to at all--I am beginning to think this series is just not my cup of tea). Certainly not the worst out there, but I've read better too. -
Anita Blake to the rescue again???!!!
I'm afraid my love affair with Anita's badass ways may be coming to an end. Too much of a good thing I suppose.
It's kinda like when you have a crush on someone so everything they do is wonderful. But a few months into the relationship the actions you once loved start to annoy the crap out of you. I'm starting to feel that way towards Anita. I loved her bitchiness, no soft edges, tough as nails, I don't date vampires, I kill them attitude. But now I am getting annoyed with her inability to bend and be human. She calls herself a Christian but she is very judgmental of others.
Oh Anita!!! You are killing me with this cat and mouse game with Jean-Claude. Why do you hate him so much when it is obvious to everyone that he adores you!! I'm starting to question if you are capable of love.
Actually, Anita really pissed me off with her betrayal in this episode. I need for her to develop some level of softness. I'm just starting to see her character in a different light. -
“I could have made this pleasant, but now I think I want you to hurt. Look into my eyes, mortal, and despair.”
- Alejandro
4th Listen: The end was awesomely brutal! I like to pretend Richard passed too.
3rd Listen: Edward makes everything better! Also I’m a big fan of the lamia, even if she did portend Anita the succubus. And Richard, jee-zusz Richard: “We were fighting and we hadn’t even had one date, that was a record ever for me.”
-Anita Blake on the subject of Richard
2nd Listen: Still a good time even if I do cringe at the introduction of Richard.
Oooh, bad guys coming at Anita from all sides. It was action packed, complicated, and I loved it!
This is Richard’s introduction, gorgeous pain in the ass. You get a taste of all the passionate battles to come.
Here are some of my castings:
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No le pongo 5 estrellas porque es lo que les he puesto a los dos anteriores leídos y me da vergüenza ser tan generoso, pero le podrían haber caído.
En realidad le falla un poco que el ritmo es demasiado vertiginoso y que los personajes son un poco tontorrones, pero la gozas con los diálogos irónicos y con el enganche que pillas.
Muy subjetivamente me cansa la súper-abundancia de tíos macizos descritos con embeleso por la autora, pero bueno, es perdonable Supongo.
Tercero de una saga que lleva creo que unos 20 títulos o más, pero que llegaron hasta este solo de los publicados en castellano. El resto pululan por la Red traducidos por esforzados fans.
Obviamente hay que leer los dos anteriores para apreciar las historias de este.
Resumen: simple pero muy recomendable para pasar un rato realmente divertido. -
Without a doubt, better than the first two. I really like Jean-Claud. He is the reason I am reading these books. I have never wanted a bad guy to get the girl before, it's fun. Anita was a bit disappointing. I'm beginning to wonder if Jean-Claud deserves better.
The swearing is excessive and redundant. And I realize that in a series you have to make each book a stand alone and therefore have to explain the same thing several times. But does it have to be word for word? There are literally paragraphs that are cut and pasted into each book. Would it be too much to ask for at least new wording.... a new angle on the info?? Something! -
I’m still enjoying the Anita Blake series, although I have to tell you, Anita does not seem like a 24 year old character to me. I think she would be much more believable as someone in her late 30’s or early 40’s considering how jaded she seems to be and how experienced she thinks she is.
I wonder if Hamilton got any money from Nike for product placement? It seems like she mentions the shoes by name at least once per chapter. Although I suppose I could say the same thing about 2-3 brands of gun….
In this installment, Anita learns:
1. Working two full time jobs will wear you out
2. When you meet a guy in a vampire’s house, there is very little chance that he’s normal
3. Vampires will always choose dramatic ways to fight each other
4. Snake-creatures are not her friends
5. Training new employees is twice as much work as it should be
6. Jean Claude has nipples. Honestly, she mentions it every time she sees him. -
For all the Anita Blake books - I started this series with my then friend, Meredith - she actually got me hooked that fateful summer of 2000 when I was living on her wooden floor in Brooklyn. We were both unemployed and bored and got hooked into this series. I loved Anita Blake because it was before I discovered the new genre - what I like to call "badass chicks who kick ass!" written in first person - and so she was all empowering and of course there were hot vampires and werewolves in it.
Unfortunately, Laurell K Hamilton doesn't have much taste in the way of clothing and mood...and sometimes I think she "tells" too much instead of "shows." I also think that somewhere down the line the editors decided to just give her cart blanche because she most definitely has cut and paste some paragraphs here and there from one book to another.
The other thing I find annoying is that Anita likes to pick fights for no reason and seems to have the little dog syndrome - always barking up at the big guns. And for some reason as the series goes on, the more sexual it gets and also the more ridiculous it gets. She has some interesting elements and some interesting characters and definitely isn't afraid to be violent - which I love. But then I got annoyed and moved on to other authors who still work with their editors!!! Needless to say, I stopped reading the series after Incubus Dreams. My fav of the series is Obsidian Butterfly. It has the least "retelling" and show boating.
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Anita and Richard, you can see the sparks but I am not totally convinced.
I know she is fighting her attraction to Jean-Claude because of what he is.
We find out there are bigger bad out there then even Anita knew and things get heated. I will tell you I am not a fan of snakes and this book has a lot of them.
Overall I enjoyed the book and I am looking forward to seeing where this story is going to take us.
Again I am a fan of the narration I like the voices she uses. -
Creepy, funny, very brutal - I am enjoying this series immensely. But the slow burn is killing me.
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I also thought the premise of Anita Blake was pretty cool. She's an Animator, see? She raises zombies for a living. And vampires are legal citizens. Eventually, she's supposed to get involved with both a vampire and a werewolf. I say eventually cause even though I thought this was a central theme of the books, I've read 2 and a half of them and there have been nary a creature-of-the-night and vampire hunter smoochie. I take that back. There was one, but it was one of those contrived "fake kiss so the cops think we're just a couple, but ooo, did you feel the attraction anyway" snogs.
And I am over both the Sweet Valley Syndrome* and the Too Cool for School Because I Am NOT GIRLY, Dammit themes. Yeah, yeah, Anita, you had to go buy a dress to sneak into the vampire freak party because you are Not Girly and therefore did not own a black dress. Fine, fine, that pink shirt in your closet must have been a gift because "the thought that I had actually spent money on anything pink was more than I could bear." And the whole making fun of wedding dresses and bridesmaids' dresses? Yes, we know, Anita. Stop rolling your eyes so damned much, we get that you are NOT GIRLY. Over it.
* Yes, I read Sweet Valley Twins and Sweet Valley High books once upon a time. And though the books are a series, each one is written so that if it's your first foray into Sweet Valley, you get the paragraph description of how the girls are a perfect size 6 and they have matching gold lavalieres and Jessica is the wild one and Elizabeth is the book worm, yadda, yadda, yadda. -
Okay, I made it to book 3. Why? I'm not sure. It's like eating potato chips. I don't really like them, but the bag is there so I keep on eating them. . . .
This is so over-the-top and silly. But I kept on turning the pages. Had to see just who she was going to blow away with her gun(s) or stab with her knives.
One small woman, all those ancient vampires. And no one can kill this woman? Really?
Sigh. Against my better judgement, on to book 4. . . .I'm opening another bag. -
Typos! So many typos.
And don't even get me started on how annoying Anita Blake is. There were so many times I wanted to fling this book across the room because she did yet another stupid thing. There were so many "Seriously! WTF" moments, in fact there were just too many.
And what's with her obsession with Nikes and bad clothes? Has this woman got absolutely no fashion sense?
And then of course there's the nipples. Nipples everywhere!
How is this a best seller? -
I'm always amazed at how different the beginning of this series is from the end. Anita has changed/grown a lot. I always find it strange when I re-read the beginning that Anita ever hated Jean-Claude or preferred Richard.
I'm also always amazed at Anita's ability to get into trouble and injured. I'm amazed she hasn't died yet.
I also really like seeing her learning her necromancy power and teaching others how to raise the dead. I think that's really cool.
I also find it amazing that there is a million year old vampire! OMG!
Edit:
So still a huge disconnect for me from the beginning to the later chapters. I will probably never get used to it. Also probably because it takes me so bloody long to read all the books in this series.
Anita certainly attracts trouble. The snake thing. The two master vampires. I wonder why being a necromancer makes her so special to the undead and other monsters?
Larry was a nice addition to the book. I know we will see more of him later but it's cool to see him at the beginning. I'm not 100% sure I like him right now. Just too confident. lol.
So a million old vampire is really weird. I know there is at least one older but he must be in the top 5?
I'm still amazed that Anita was able to kill him. I mean he was a million freaking years old and she just staked him? Like how? Seems a bit of a plot hole if you read later in the series. -
I'm tapping out. I can't understand how anyone could be motivated enough to continue this series. This book reinforces all the things that bugged me about the first two and manages to drum up some new irks at the same time.
Anita is awful. I long for the day when authors can write independent, strong women without making them into raging assholes. I checked myself and thought whether or not her behavior would be more acceptable if she were a man, but no. Insulting others is not a form of wit. It doesn't matter if you feel a twinge of guilt afterward; no matter how much you feel you need to prove yourself, you don't have to belittle others. Constantly mentioning how skilled you are, how many guns you have, and stressing that anything pink or dressy is disgusting to you is annoying to me and not proof that you're strong. If you hate pink, you hate pink (I do), but consistently distancing yourself from anything remotely girly seems a bit much. It comes across as insecure.
When you can't root for the main character, the plot is fill-in-the-blank, and the writing isn't as witty as it tries to be, there's no point in reading. I was really hoping I'd like this series (20+ published books sounds amazing), but I won't be going on. -
3.5
A band of rogue masters has come to town and are out in the streets killing people. Anita Blake will have to decide who she is loyal to in this action packed, fast paced novel.
I reread this book, and while I remembered quite a few of the plot points, I still enjoyed the book. Anita Blake is still a kick butt necromancer who happens to execute vampires along with helping the police regional preternatural crimes unit. With all of this going on she still finds time to date, which is the one aspect of this book that I do not like. Richard makes numerous comments about her line of work and how it is unsafe and I feel as a character Anita would have acted differently than she does and would not have put up with it.
Other than that this book was a fun reread and I enjoyed being back in this world. -
I'm Anita Blake, I'm the most powerful Animator around, I'm actually a necromancer, but I pretend I'm not. Because all people who raise the dead are evil, but not me. I only feed people to zombies when they are bad. I'm 24 with a college degree that I use when helping the cops, except things that I should know I don't because its icky. Also I am the scariest thing ever. Vampires have a name for me because at 24 and while earning my degree I killed so many of them they fear me. And only I can deal with monsters, no one else is as good as me. And I will tell them.
Yeah, I just can not buy her as a legit character. And vampires are suppose to be these creatures that survive centuries and accrue power and followers, but all lose control around Blake and need her. Yeah, real quality writing there. -
So Anita Blake meets another master vampire, Oliver, and has to save Jean Claude. She's forced to drink vampire blood and she gets one step closer to becoming Jean Claude's human. She also has another love interest, Richard, but will he be able to stand her line of work?
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things are started to heat up...drama here i come!!
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Circus of the Damned did not scare me or grossed me out as much as Guilty Pleasures or The Laughing Corpse. I also didn't like it as much as the last two books of the series.
Jean-Claude is turning Anita's life into one hell of a big mess; Anita is firstly baited by a vampire Master called Alejandro, who controls a pack of rabid vampires who have chewing up people and leaving them on the cemetery. Alejandro wishes to know who is the Vampire Master controlling the city of St.Louis, and his where he rests daily.
Secondly, there's a pre-historical vampire master, who is millions of years old, a miniature of a man, with a monkey-like face called Oliver. He also wants to know who the vampire master of the city is.
Anita is aware that she and Jean-Claude are both lusting for each other, but she tries not to get that lust get in the way - I have to say that I admire her resistance, she isn't even tempted with immortality or super strength, which she can have, if she only allows Jean-Claude to give two more marks to complete the human-slave/vampire master bond.
Reasons why I didn't like Circus of the Damned as much as the two last books:
- less action-packed;
- a lot of characters getting on my nerves.
I'm still really intrigued by Edward, I was happy to see him again, even if the circumstances weren't the best, but hey, we're talking about Edward right? If Edward is around it means that shit is about to get down.
Still, the drama between Anita and Jean-Claude is beginning to be infuriating.
Jean-Claude is always determined to seduce her, and she is stubborn as usual. I hope that after this book they either end up ripping each others' clothes off or simply ending their flirting, and they continue their paths separately. I believe I won't be able to handle this on and off thing anymore.
Larry is a new character who is introduced in this book, furthermore, he was also the one who peeved me the most. He is a new animator, he hasn't even finish college, and he certainly has never had a brush with death before. Larry's experience with vampire hunting, raising zombies from their graves is zero, the lad is as innocent as they come, not good for the kind of job he has, and definitely not good in terms of survival. If I were Anita I would've slapped him a couple of times, Larry really got on my nerves, as all he was good for was being a distraction. Helpless as a lamb.
Despite not having liked Circus if the Damned as much as the previous books, I still loved it so very much. I'll have to keep on reading xD
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I enjoyed the first two books in the series but this one didn't work for me. I'm deducting a full star from my rating because Jean-Claude sucks (you SUCK Jean-Claude). He dresses like a reject from "Purple Rain" and seems to need to attend a few seminars on the nature of consent and yet Anita thinks she might love him a little. Or something. Whatever. Their "relationship" has always been the weakest part of the three books I've read so far (and yes, I know the author switches from UF to erotica a few more books down the line so I guess I'm in for more disappointment.) Richard seems interesting though.
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I've read 4 books in this series, and I enjoy the entertainment value of them. They are just fun! I love Jean-Claude. The narrator does a great job on his voice, as well as with the other characters. I always love a good narrator. I also like the MC, Anita. She is, for the most part, humorous. Sometimes the dialog feels forced and causes some eye rolling, but for the most part it keeps me interested. As long as I can say that and mean it, I'll keep reading more in this series.
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Cerca de Hallowen es la epoca mas ajetreada para Reanimator INC, debe realizar al menos 5 reanimaciones por noche durante todos los dias del mes, y cuando la policia la llama por un crimen sobrenatural y todas las pistas llevan a un grupo de vampiros, sus ocupadas noches se van a volver todavia mas ocupadas.
Ahora tiene que enfrentar al vampiro jefe de San Luis, evitar que el grupo de "Humanos para Siempre" la asesine, lograr quitarse de encima un vampiro ancestral e intentar tener una cita normal con un profesor universitario.
Los ultimos meses no han sido faciles, pero pareciera que lo "facil" en su vida llego a su fin, tendra que aprender a utilizar unas habilidades que no conocia, entrenar a un nuevo reanimador, e intentar llevar una vida normal.
Ahora que conocemos un poco mas el personaje, podemos ver muchas de las caracteristicas de la prota con bastante frecuencia, pero tambien vemos que el autor esta intentando colocar al personaje con su lado mas humano, haciendole cargar culpas, tener esperanzas y sobre todo creer en que su vida puede volver a ser normal.
Me recuerda mucho otra serie de vampiros escritas en esa epoca, una epoca donde no existia la comunicacion inmediata, y las computadoras no eran faciles de trasportar. Quizas por eso me esta gustando esta serie, me recuerda muchas otras lecturas de esa epoca, donde los personajes eran diferentes, pero no menos reales y donde la sociedad apenas estaba comenzando a entender muchas de las cosas diferentes que pueden existir.
En fin, continuare con la serie, esperando que el autor logre llevar la saga hasta un buen final -
I liked it...I didn't love it.
This novel didn't have a lot of slow moments , events happened bang bang bang which for me was good. I don't think I could have handled Anita if she was given enough alone or downtime then I would have had to deal with her mind. And honestly at this stage in the game, 3 books in is only early but I'm not a big fan of the character. Or the characters.
The story over all is interesting, and the actions scenes are attention holding. I'm hoping as time goes on the characters develop better and become more likable.
Also holy dated....driving around to find a payphone..."gag me with a spoon"... oh the good ol'days..
Edited to say I just noticed the first 2 books I gave 4 stars...I hope the drop in stars isn't going to be a start in the decline of this series...if so that is a shame as it's such a long one.
Will I read on?
Yes....I did buy a nice chunk of these like 13 years ago...new at that...besides it's a long series, Anita has to get better right?? -
I'm gonna give this one five stars even though it did kind of annoy me at times. I'm pretty easygoing with my five stars, though. It entertained me, and I still love the story, so five stars it is. I get a little tired of Anita's stubbornness. There were several times when I was listening to it, and the line from Interview with a Vampire kept going through my mind. I could picture Lestat saying, "Oh, Louis, Louis. Still whining, Louis," because sometimes Anita just never stops! I get it. Anita has morals that she refuses to budge on. She doesn't want to be owned by a vampire, yadda, yadda, yadda. It's still a good story, and I'm going on to the next one, so I guess it doesn't annoy me that much! :)
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Still love it
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Amazing book, every scene was a pretzel of details wound up in a spring of potential energy that was soon to be released. In effect the telling overwhelmed me, it was just too, too
much. There were also many memorable quotes and actually much philosophy expressed that I will have to go back and digest. The viewpoints expressed established a world I am not sure I want to travel as it may damage my ideas of right and wrong beyond any chance of redemption.
