Strange Candy

There were some good stories and some not so great stories.

Okay where to start, if you are one of those readers who loved the early Anita Blake series, but are not so impressed with the last few to get released then you will probably love this book. I think I loved every one of these stories except the last one, which I had already read in another short story anotholgy book a few years back. I hope LKH has more old stories tucked away somewhere.

I have all but given up on the so called "Vampire Hunter" books (there is no hunting only sex), but this book was why I first started reading her work in the first place. She can weave a great story, and leave the reader on the edge of their seat waiting for more. Everyone changes as time goes on, and I can appreciate that but they say when you are lost look to your roots. Maybe there is hope for Anita yet. No sex, just wonderful short stories that prove Hamilton can do it.

She can write and excellent story (stories) without burying it in endless creative sex. These stories are a collection of various places in her very creative worlds. No Merry Gentry story but two Anita stories an early one and a more evolved later one. And some stories from the world of Nightseer. Ms Hamilton has a very good grasp of how short stories work and an excellent ability to make them pop. The pacing is totally different. The difference between a sketch and a painting. She does it well. Now if we could just get her to do this with the Anita novels: more story, less paint.

The first 6 Anita Blake books and the Merry Gentry books, I loved. The last few AB books that have come out, I felt like Hamilton was cruising - they were a great disappointment. I loved this book. The characters, the stories, the imagination, it's all here. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope that Hamilton continues to share her short stories with us and, hopefully, she'll go back to her roots and return Anita Blake to us as the Animator and Vampire Executioner we know and love, without all the "filler" and wasted pages.

I have given up on the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novels and am hanging on a very thin thread with the Merry Gentry series because those serials are not what they used to be. However, I heard that this book contained short stories written years ago, in the beginning of Laurell K. Hamilton's career as a writer. And so, I decided to give it a whirl by checking it out of the library. (I am still in the "live and learn" mentality when it comes to buying books by this author.) I was pleasantly surprised with this compilation. Strange Candy contains various pre-published and never-before-published short stories that will satisfy your craving for dark and sensual gothic/fantasy tales. I loved the dark language in the stories and this book has reaffirmed my opinion that Hamilton has one of the best imaginations and ability to create great story development and flawless characterization I have read. I loved the stories, especially "Stealing Souls," "Selling Houses" (which is set in the Anitaverse, but without Anita or other recurring characters), and "A Token for Celandine." But my big favorites are the following three: "Those Who Seek Forgiveness," which is the very first Anita Blake story. Those who love Anita's earlier installments will enjoy this one. However, do not expect Jean-Claude or any of the other recurring characters to appear, for this is Anita Blake long before the Anitaverse was created. "A Lust of Cupids" is the shortest of them all and also the cutest. It was nice to read a more lighthearted short story and this one made me smile. My absolute favorite in the collection is "The Edge of the Sea." This is the story of a merman serial killer, one who seduces women and then kills them. This one is truly brilliant and I wish Hamilton would write an Anita Blake novel with a central plot similar to this one (that is if she ever goes back to writing books with an actual plot in them). Now that she's introduced merpeople in her series she might as well do something useful with them. All in all, Strange Candy is a wonderful and surprising treat. I almost regret not having bought it. If only this once beloved author would go back to the storytelling that had once characterized her and made her successful I'd be a very happy camper. In the meantime, I have her old Anita Blake novels to reread and enjoy. I may give Mistral's Kiss a whirl and hope it'll be something along the same lines of this book, but I'm not holding my breath.