Narcissus in Chains by Laurell K. Hamilton

2025 Reread Review
There are spoilers contained in this review.

Narcissus in Chains was a lot easier to get through than the last couple of Anita Blake novels. I pretty much attribute this to the inclusion of characters I actually care about and not ones I hate... though there is plenty of Richard's nonsense here as well. There is also a good deal of world-building here. More explaining of how the lycanthropes and vampires work, given different circumstances, most of which, honestly, are objectively horrifying.

The joining of the Marks was cool and all but… Micah!!!! Micah’s here! I really like Micah. I like that he's willing to be whatever Anita needs with little to no qualms about it. He's also quite patient with her, actually explaining things as they come up (for the most part anyway). I don't remember how I originally felt about Micah, but I am fairly certain he was a breath of fresh air after Richard. I also quite like the inclusion of Merle. He's the first in a long line of bodyguard characters I'm fairly attached to. He also brings a certain air of "elder statesman" to the mix, especially in those moments where I'm reminded that Anita's still in her 20s...

Narcissus being like “I would like to participate in community decision making but not be in the community and also get literal people in return for it” made me want to hit him. Seriously, dude. Get well over yourself. I feel like this really comes back to bite him in the butt as it's the rats and wolves that come to his aid in the end. Ya know, the community he doesn't actually want to be a part of. That said, these lycanthrope politics sure are a bitch. Like, all of it. I do kind of like that each "species" has their own internal politics, but having to "watch" Anita navigate more than one is... insane, honestly.

Nathaniel pre-relationship is adorable. It’s very cute how Anita already thinks “silence with Nathaniel was one of the most relaxing sounds of my day.” Awwwwww… I just wanna cuddle them together. Narcissus in Chains is really the book where Nathaniel comes more into his own. He's still not quite the person he's going to be, but you can see the scaffolding, essentially.

This is definitely when Dolph jumped off the deep end for me. Projecting onto Anita is really not fair. The stuff at Anita’s house is also well out of line. Her personal life is none of his business, especially when he’s supposed to be there in a professional capacity. I very much dislike Dolph in this book. I think we're kind of meant to. He was a father-figure for Anita in the first few books and I honestly feel like this "fall from grace," as it were, is par for the course in father figures. Either they don't like some aspect of the hero's life and check out or they end up dying. Dolph is clearly the former and crashes out a bit spectacularly. Oh, speaking of which, I dunno who needs to hear this but... Your children do NOT owe you grandchildren. Period. Be disappointed all you want, but don't act like Dolph and see it as the end of the world. Yeesh.

Ah yes, the ardeur bane of my not-spicy-loving-anymore existence. I literally skim and skip those scenes. Skim because Hamilton has a habit of mixing character development into them. For example: a sudden introduction of Belle Morte as a character. I mean, she’s been talked about before but hasn’t been “on screen” before now. Can’t just skip that, now can we? I also don’t really like the ardeur due to the questionable consent it causes. Anita has issues around it in this book where she, herself is concerned, though that will grow to include other characters later. It’s not always handled well, if memory serves.

Oh yes, Damian exists. Didn’t even think about Damian in this whole “finding yourself” thing you did, huh, Anita? And now it’s all “gimmie my vampire NOW.” You got yourself all cozy with the leopards but left Damian completely out in the cold. Wtf even, ma’am. And dude, Jean-Claude is also to blame in this. Should have fucking reminded her that Damian was hers when she dealt with a goddamn crime scene involving him. Wtf even, sir. Ya’ll both suck. Honestly, I like being able to both love and hate my protagonists, so this was actually quite nice in terms of character building. Anita does have a lot going on, very much highlighted here, not just with Damian, but with the "power creep." Anita’s rapid power-progression is also something I have mixed feeling about. It’s a wonder this woman ends up being able to lead any kind of normal-ish life, with that much power being thrust upon her, no pun intended. Anita really did need that “come to Jesus” moment she had with Jean-Claude. Can’t just shirk your responsibilities, especially when they come with metaphysical ties and consequences you don’t like.

Okay, time for the "Richard Sucks" corner. Richard is SUCH an asshole here. Leave Anita the fuck alone about her life decisions. You dumped her, as is repeatedly pointed out. Circumstances have changed and you weren’t included because why would you be? Fuck ALL THE WAY OFF. Just cuz you hate yourself doesn’t mean you get to take that out on everyone else. Add to that the ending where he literally almost gets them all killed... No. Not allowed. Fuck ALL THE WAY OFF again. Even if it just meant the Triumvirate was going to be taken out, I would be fairly pissed, but Anita makes a point of it being the entire damn pack at that point. That's hundreds of people and, Ulfric or not, you don't get to make that kind of decision. I will say he probably didn't realize it would have been the entire pack, but still... therapy needs to happen sooner rather than later.

I don’t think I internalized (or even realized) how much of these books took place while people were incredibly sleep deprived. There are at least 2-3 major altercations and decision-making moments that happen while Anita's had little to no sleep... over, like, 3 days.

Complete side-tangent: I wonder what weredogs look like. What dog breed do they more resemble? How did we end up with weredogs when real dogs came from domesticated wolves? Or are these an African Wild Dogs kind of situation? I have many questions about this.

Finally, I am not entirely sure how to feel about Chimera. It’s an interesting way to do Dissociative Identity Disorder, I guess. It's honestly a very comic book interpretation of DID. Each personality has its own physicality, even in human form... which is weird and I'm really not sure how that even makes sense, but SOD, I guess. I do kind of like the panwere concept. It does set up a bit of stuff for the tigers later… and Anita… and others.

Overall, I really enjoyed Narcissus in Chains. It's a thick book filled with thick topics that actually manages to work pretty well. I am definitely looking forward to the rest of the series, now that a couple of my favorites have entered the arena. 

Favorite Lines

"That made him smile. 'Yes, those that hoard their power are often insecure.'" - Merle

"Sometimes no matter how hard you try, you can't save everyone." - Micah Callahan

     "We looked at each other in the darkened kitchen. She raised her coffee mug. I'd given her the one with a tiny knight and a large dragon that said, 'No guts, no glory.'

     Lillian said, 'Down with zealots.'

     I raised my own mug in the air. It was the baby penguin mug, still a favorite. 'Down with zealots.'" - Dr. Lillian & Anita Blake

"The only true happiness, Richard, lies in knowing who you are -- what you are -- and making peace with it." - Anita Blake

"On important stuff, your word is great, but when it comes to primping, you have no sense of time." - Anita Blake 

 

Just One More Thing

I don't know how many of you have heard about Audible's BS around paying authors, but it's actual BS. I am not the person to explain it, that would be Daniel Greene over on YouTube. LINK to explanation. However, I can share the link to the Change.org petition to try and stop them screwing over authors... so here ya go: LINK. 

The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan

So, the second book of The Wheel of Time was, in all honesty, better toward the beginning and the end than it was in the middle. I was very close to just DNFing the entire thing while Rand, Loial, and Hurin were in that alternate universe with “Selene.” I knew things were going to get better —almost had to — so I stuck with it.

This is the part where I remind my readers that I did watch the Amazon adaptation because I’m about to reference it. I think the adaptation leaving out the whole middle part of this book was a good decision, just given what we got in the show. I cannot speak to whether or not losing the stuff with the Portal Stones was ultimately a good thing, but since the show ended without it being an issue… good on the show for going a different way with “Selene” and Rand’s meeting.

I don’t really have any thoughts on the book, so here’s what I liked. The Seanchan stuff. World-Building is my jam and I largely thought the way their society was so different was neat. As much as the damanae stuff is ultimately gross, I enjoyed it as well. Having an entirely different way of dealing with channelers makes complete sense. I also enjoyed Rand as the reluctant Dragon. Not entirely pleased he was as whiny about it as he was, but it made complete sense given all the weight behind both The Dragon and all the false ones. Elayne, Egwaine, Nynaeve, and Min were delightful. 

Favorite Lines

"The best of men are not much better than housebroken." Nynaeve paused, and added half to herself, "But then, the best of them are worth the trouble of housebreaking." - Nynaeve al'Meara

"But men often mistake revenge and killing for justice. They seldom have the stomach for justice." - Nynaeve al'Meara 

Obsidian Butterfly by Laurell K. Hamilton

Well that reread only took a month... almost. Honestly, there are parts of this book I really dig and parts of this book I want to throw into a fire, starting with Olaf. I remembered very little of this book outside of Olaf, Bernardo, Donna, Becca, and Peter being introduced... and basically what happened to Peter. But that's was pretty much it.

I really enjoyed the world-building, again. Seeing how Hamilton imagines surviving Aztecs would punish the Spaniards responsible for the destruction and genocide of their people was gross and yet interesting. Honestly, the whole way Itzpapalotl runs her court is quite horrifying from several standpoints, even just beyond the usual vampire shenanigans. I did enjoy the difference between Itzapapalol's vampire-ness and what we've been getting from the European vampires. I liked getting to see Edward outside of how Anita has encountered him up until this point. I loved the Quetzecoatl dragon mashup being a thing, even if the circumstances of its introduction were also gross. Obsidian Butterfly was honestly the goriest of the Anita Blake books so far. I'm very glad my brain doesn't super visualize this stuff cuz... ew.

I really, really hate Olaf. I think originally, it was kind of like "yeah, okay, interesting character I guess. He'll probably get killed off the next time he meets Anita..." Spoiler: He doesn't and I hate him. I hate that he's still around 21 books later. I'll just leave those thoughts there cuz... yeah. They don't run much deeper.

I did enjoy the deeper building of Edward's character. I don't really have anything to say about how that's going, but character growth is a good thing.

Honestly, Obsidian Butterfly just felt unnecessarily long. I get that Anita's trying to figure herself out and needed someone much more grounded in the "normal" stuff -- like Ramirez -- to bounce her weird crap off of. It just seemed to take forever. Maybe that's due to the fact it took me about a month to reread this, but I dunno. 

Favorite Lines

"When you spend all your time worrying that the devil is right behind you, eventually you start seeing him whether he's there or not." - Anita Blake

"That's the problem with psychic shit and magic. Sometimes it's not very helpful." - Anita Blake

"If you love someone, then your freedom is curtailed. If you love someone, you give up much of your privacy. If you love someone, then you are no longer merely one person but half of a couple. To think or behave any other way is to risk losing that love." - Leonora Evans

"Only you decide how far gone you are, Anita. Only you can decide how far you'll go." - Edward

"Most of us start off soft," he said, "but you can't stay that way, not and survive." - Edward

In Other News

I am super close (one pet away) from finishing my "Ivy Buns" Project on OviPets. This project has taken me approximately 7 months. They are a companion project to my "Harley Buns." 

Strange Candy by Laurell K. Hamilton

My review is broken into pieces following each individual story in the order I read them in. I only read the three stories pertaining to the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series.

“Selling Houses”: Honestly, just a whatever little story.

“Those Who Seek Forgiveness”: Nicely gorey. I saw the ending coming when Carla showed up in white. But, ya know, otherwise solid.

“The Girl Who Was Infatuated With Death”: Much “eeehhhh” from my end. This was short, sweet, and full of “Jean-Claude’s irresistible.” I did kind of like that the ethics of turning someone into a vampire before cancer could ravage their body was touched on... barely.

Blue Moon by Laurell K. Hamilton

So... this is probably the second or third time I've read Blue Moon, though I'm betting it's only the second. I only remembered bitty bits of this book: Jason and Anita getting the vampire-goo off Jason in the shower and Richard's mom's finger getting cut off. The rest was completely pushed out of my mind. Bound to happen with a series that's so long, has so many characters, has so much metaphysics, and so much personal drama to work through. I think much of those last two gets reiterated throughout the series, as there is a need to explain and re-explain just WTF is going on. So I remembered the details of what Anita discovers here, even if I didn't remember the original context.

Ho-boy, that context. I've been rereading these books rather piece-meal lately, so it's very easy to a) drop the book when I'm frustrated and b) make the story last longer. Definitely not the best when reading through frustrating bits, to be honest. And again, the fricking Richard drama frustrates me to no end. I was about halfway through this time and had decided I was going to DNF and just move on, mainly due to the Richard drama. I'm vaguely glad I didn't end up doing that, but it was a very close thing. I was incredibly displeased with Richard's whole stance about being in jail, given what he was in jail for... yes, you definitely need a lawyer if you're falsely accused of rape. Being innocent does not just automatically mean a lawyer is not necessary. Even in cases not involving rape. Get a damn lawyer and don't be an ass to them or the person who hired them for you. Then, of course, there's the continuing relationship drama... I don't think I've ever wanted to punch a character so much in my life. Every time Richard can get in any sort of dig, he goes for it. Like, sir, shut up.

The thing that really, really broke me, though, the thing that was the nail in the DNF coffin, was the pair of humans being able to mostly sneak up on Anita and Jason through a forest apparently teeming with lycanthropes. Nope. Just no. Those two would have been at the very least redirected elsewhere before they ever got close enough for Jason to smell them. Ugh. But I pushed on and was brought to the second piece of SOD madness: Christian Holy Relics BS. This was a piece of this plot I was ridiculously glad to have forgotten. It doesn't even feel like it should be a part of this universe. I get how it obviously is, with Christianity being a thing and all, but it just doesn't feel like it meshes with the rest of the Anita Blake mythos. I just about DNF'd again at the mere mention of it.

Now, there were parts of this book I liked. I like the world-building stuff. Gimmie the troll stuff all day. That was neat. I said the last time trolls were mentioned that I didn't think they really got mentioned again... I was wrong, but now I'm pretty sure in reiterating that statement. I also liked the Damian stuff. I obviously forgot that he goes through it here. Poor Damian. I did appreciate the lore-drop we got from him about Jean-Claude. Poor Nathaniel as well. Our sweet sexy cinnamon roll just cannot catch a break in this book. I also teared up at Jason and Anita's pact to save Richard's mom. Jason and Anita's friendship really blossoms here and that moment felt very earned.

But yeah... the rest of Blue Moon... just didn't like it. The police storyline was just largely annoying, especially given the backstory on that. The werewolf stuff... meh. The vampire stuff... I was annoyed that Colin had apparently forgotten then whole thing about not killing or harming Human Servants... which does come back to bite him in the butt... but yeah, ultimately just annoying.

I'm ultimately not sure if the decision to not DNF was worth it, even given my favorite moments happened after that initial decision... Blue Moon is ultimately forgettable. Yes, it establishes some shit, but... pretty much all of it is reiterated later in the series so if/when I do another Anita Blake reread, I'll probably skip Blue Moon. 

Favorite Lines

"Compassion is not weakness," Richard said. "Only those without compassion think otherwise."

"Real wolves didn't do this shit. Only people could take a nice, sane animal and screw it up this badly." - Anita Blake

"I'll tell you the real horrible truth, Anita. No matter what you do or how bad you feel about it, life just goes on. Life doesn't give a fuck that you're sorry or upset or deranged or tormented. Life just goes on, and you gotta go on with it, or sit in the middle of the road and feel sorry for yourself. And I don't see you doing that." - Jason Schuyler

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

Full disclosure: I did watch “The Wheel of Time” Amazon Prime adaptation before reading this book. I was very aware of the story beats that were the same and those that differed due to the adaptation itself and the difficulties during filming.

All that said, I did enjoy The Eye of the World. It is quite dense and honestly, at times, felt as though it should have been broken up into smaller books. The world feels very rich and lived-in, which I very much enjoyed. There were definitely times where the amount of characters felt overwhelming and detrimental to things like pacing.

I really don’t have a lot to say about The Eye of the World. It was good enough as a first outing to keep me reading further. I’m looking forward to seeing how the rest of the series pans out. 
 

Favorite Lines

"People don't always think of behave the way you might believe they would." - Tam al'Thor

"Gray hairs don't mean our brains have curdled," - Tam al'Thor

"Anything can be a weapon, if the man or woman who holds it has the nerve and will to make it so." - Lan Mandragoran

"I am not a cheese for slicing." - Thom Merrilin 

Arceus Adventures: Effing Arceus

On this, the final day of my vacation, I FINALLY finished the last Mission in Pokemon Legends: Arceus. My Pokedex is now complete (as far as catching the 'mons). I feel accomplished. It only took me an whole 3 YEARS to finish this thing.

Okay, so, this story actually starts with having to finish the "Incarnate Forces of Hisui" Request line. I've been working on that on and off for a few weeks. Earlier this week, I spent a good couple of hours getting frustrated chasing Enamorus around the Crimson Mirelands. So. Many. Smoke Bombs. There's no cover in the portion of the Mirelands Enamorus is running around in. None. Well... a rock or two. But that's nowhere near enough. So you gotta stealthily chase her around, dodging her tornadoes if/when she spots you and the aggressive Pokemon that inevitably attack you while you're trying to be stealthy. Such. A. Pain.

Or so I thought...

Jeebus Christ was that last Mission a pain in the butt. "The Deified Pokemon" first requires you to finish your Pokedex. Enamorus was the last Pokemon I needed, so that was a frustrating few hours of nonsense... and a couple days between that frustration and this one.

At the top of Mt. Coronet lies the Temple of Sinnoh, where you play the Azure Flute to summon Arceus. You are then transported to the Hall of Origin to begin a grueling battle with Arceus. Much running and dodging, rolling around over and over while attempting to throw balms at the dang Pokemon. OMG I threw my Switch 2 at the couch at least twice during this. Took a good 3-5 hours (I can't remember exactly when I started) of this.

Oh, and the one time I attempted to get my Boyfriend to help out. Boyfriend plays a lot more games than I do, so I figured he could maybe so some of this involved gameplay. I was halfway through Arceus' "Fury Bar" or whatever. I told him what the controls were, and let him go. He could not figure out the controls, kept bitching at me about "remapping" them... like dude, it's the final boss fight, I'm not just gonna remap the controls, even if I could. He then... restarted the battle instead of continuing it after blacking out. I about strangled him. It had taken sooooo long to get to that point... I was so mad.

Another hour or so after this incident, I kept dying just as the last "throw a Pokemon" command popped up on the screen. Because of course that pops up and Arceus' attacks are still going. And then I would die immediately.

But I finally did it! I honestly thought I'd died again. I swear I got hit by an attack just when the "Fury Bar" went to zero... but no. It was time for Arceus to tell me I'd done a good job collecting all the Pokemon and give a piece of himself (itself?) to me.

So yay! I did it!

Now to leisurely complete the rest of the Pokedex... all the attacks and catching and stuff... until Legends: Z-A comes out.