enable her to raise the dead, although she supports
herself by hunting down renegade vampires who
put themselves outside the protection of the law.
She is also caught up in an unusual romantic trian-
gle. On the one hand, she is drawn to the local
vampire lord, a seductive, mysterious, and mildly
abusive figure. At the same time, she is involved
with the leader of a pack of werewolves despite the
dangers this involves, often from female were-
wolves jealous of her influence. Both sides of her
romantic entanglements are mildly sadomasochis-
tic, although Hamilton generally manages to deal
with this potentially voluble subject in a restrained
and reasonably dignified fashion. Blake has an-
other problem that develops through the series, be-
cause her personality is not static and evolves with
each book. The more she involves herself with the
supernatural, the more she loses touch with her
own human nature, and she concludes eventually
that she is just as much a monster in some ways as
are the creatures she battles.
The Anita Blake series has extended to 12
volumes to date, the most recent being Incubus
Dreams(2004). Although it is theoretically possi-
ble to read them in any order, they are best read
chronologically, at least from the seventh title,
Burnt Offerings (1998), onward. In addition to
renegade vampires, she encounters zombies, en-
dangered trolls, a voodoo queen, serial killers, and
less-familiar monsters. The two best installments
are Blue Moon(1998) and The Obsidian Butterfly
(1999). The more recent novels contain more ex-
plicit erotic content than do the earlier ones, as
does a new series featuring a private detective who
is also heir to the throne of the fairies. The first
title was A Kiss of Shadows(2000) and the fifth will
be A Stroke of Midnight(2005). They are consider-
ably lighter in tone than the Anita Blake stories
despite some strong parallels.
Hancock, Niel (1941– )
Between 1977 and 1991 Niel Hancock wrote 14
novels, a singleton and three series, although all of
his work fits into a broader history of a single imag-
inary world. The first sequence, the Circle of Light,
includes Greyfax Grimwald (1977), Faragon
Fairingay(1977), Calix Stay(1977), and Squaring
the Circle(1977). Although originally marketed for
adults, they have the simplicity of plot and the
heavy use of animal characters that is typically
found in children’s fantasy. In the opening volume
a magician and his animal allies are called upon to
oppose the plans of a devious Dark Queen. They
complete the traditional quest to retrieve a magical
artifact that can be used against her, escape a num-
ber of pursuers, and eventually employ their prize
in the final successful battle against evil.
Hancock’s second sequence, the Wilderness of
Four, consists of Across the Far Mountain(1992),
The Plains of the Sea(1992), On the Boundaries of
Darkness(1992), and The Road to the Middle Islands
(1993). This series is actually set earlier in time,
the opening volume chronicling the rise of the
king of the bears, who becomes a prominent char-
acter in the Circle of Light books. A dwarf com-
pletes a quest and develops magical abilities in the
second volume, a young wizard learns humility and
the value of cooperation in the third, and a leader
emerges from among the otter people in the last.
The Windameir series includes The Fires of
Windameir(1984), The Sea of Silence(1987), A
Wanderer’s Return (1988), and Bridge of Dawn
(1989). Another evil force threatens humans and
animals alike, so a new generation of heroes an-
swers the call to battle. A young woman must be
rescued from a giant spider, a magic sword needs to
be retrieved and wielded, and a sorceress and her
dragons will have to be overcome to save the day.
Dragon Winter(1988), not part of any of the series,
nevertheless pits a group of animals against a magi-
cal enemy who can only be defeated if they learn
to cooperate. Hancock’s books were quietly suc-
cessful when they first appeared, perhaps because
they successfully straddle the gap between young
adult and adult fiction, and have remained surpris-
ingly popular ever since, even though Hancock has
produced no new fiction for well over a decade.Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
J. K. Rowling(1999)
The success of the first Harry Potter book, HARRY
POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE (1997),
might have proven to be just a fluke if J. K. Rowl-
ing had been unable to come up with an equally152 Hancock, Niel