Danse Macabre (novel)

Danse Macabre is a horror/mystery/erotica novel by American writer Laurell K. Hamilton, the fourteenth book in the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series.

Danse Macabre is French for "Dance of Death". The phrase historically refers to a late medieval allegory of the universality of death, in which Death personified summons people to the world beyond the grave despite their objections. Originally a dramatic performance, in the centuries since it has been represented in art, poetry, and music. The modern superstition is simply that "Death" appears at midnight every year on Halloween. He calls forth the dead from their graves to dance for him while he plays his fiddle. The skeletons dance until the rooster crows at dawn, when they must return to their graves until the next year. Within the novel, "Danse Macabre" is the name of the vampire ballet company that performs during the course of the novel's events. It also refers to the general "vampire politics" that serve as the central conflict in the plot. Although "Danse Macabre" is also the name of a vampire themed nightclub owned by Jean Claude, the nightclub appears only briefly at the end of this novel.

Due to the small amount of time lapsed in this novel (the events last only a day), Anita is unable to resolve any of the plotlines left open in Incubus Dreams, and leaves several questions unresolved in this book as well. Although the epilogue to Incubus Dreams stated that Anita intended to investigate the Stevie Brown murder soon, the narration does not reveal whether Anita has made progress in her investigation. Danse Macabre does not reveal whether Gregory and Stephen have learned anything about why their father has reappeared, a plotline that was mentioned, but not resolved, in Cerulean Sins and Incubus Dreams. Anita mentions that Jean Claude has bound a few of Malcolm's vampires to his own service, but there is no apparent resolution of the threat presented by the remainder of his vampires, none of whom have sworn blood oaths to anyone. Anita does not appear to have made any progress on her hunt for Vittorio and his vampires. Although The Mother of Darkness continues to make threats, it remains to be seen when she will actually awake, or what will become of Belle Morte's challenge for council leadership. Anita has now promised to sleep with Thea's son in an attempt to raise his powers as a siren. Although Anita has sent Haven back to Chicago, she nevertheless needs to select a lion to match with her inner lioness, and any lion of sufficient power to match her may threaten Joseph's hold on his pride. Although Anita suspects she is now a pan were, she has not yet shifted form, and doesn't know if she will assume the form of a single animal, all the species with which she is infected, or none of them. In addition, blood tests show that Anita has an "unknown strain" of lycanthropy, which she has not yet identified. And there is a possibility that she got an additional one with the blood transfusion at the end of the book.

Danse Macabre features the following major characters. Anita Blake: Anita continues her acceptance of her supernatural powers and unusual lifestyle. In particular, Anita accepts that the ardeur may have shaped Micah's, Nathaniel's, and her personalities to make them more compatible partners for one another. Anita also seems only momentarily concerned by the discoveries that she may be a shape shifter or that her roles as a succubus and as Regina of the local were lion pride may require her to take on several new lovers. In her personal life, while she continues to resist the idea of permitting her lovers (other than Richard) to take female lovers in addition to her, Anita begins to accept the idea of her lovers taking other male lovers, particularly in the case of Jean Claude and Asher. Jean Claude: After several books in which he struggled to maintain his hold as Master of St. Louis, Jean Claude appears to have reached a position of relative comfort. He has now assembled a formidable group of master vampires, and, through Anita and Richard, enjoys good relations with most of the city's lycanthropes. Personally, his relationship with Asher is at its best in centuries, while Anita appears to have largely accepted her role as his human servant and embraced the ardeur. He and Anita block two challenges Augustine relatively easily and may have bent Augustine to their will by addicting him to their combined ardeur. Jean Claude's major remaining problems appear to be his relationship with Richard, who struggles against the idea of a closer political or personal relationship with Jean Claude, and the possibility of a challenge by the Vampire Council, the Mother of Darkness, or an alliance of other City Masters threatened by Jean Claude and Anita's rapidly growing power. Richard: Hamilton continues to develop Richard's relationships with Anita and Jean Claude and his acceptance of his own supernatural nature, although the development in each area continues to lag far behind Anita's parallel journey. As usual, Richard alternates violently between deep resentment of Anita and Jean Claude and acceptance of his relationship with each of them, but he appears to be accepting his relationships and his supernatural nature, albeit more slowly than Anita. Although he continues to resent both of them, and to search for a permanent girlfriend to replace Anita, Richard largely accepts that he is part of the triumvirate. While he continues to hope that Anita will "settle down" with him alone, he appears willing to accept his and Anita's sexual relationship until something better comes along. Jason: Jason has only a minor role in this novel, largely continuing to support his friends Anita and Nathaniel. In addition, he has apparently developed into one of Anita's occasional sex partners, and reports that he has "checked out" one of the visitors. Micah: Michah's role in this novel is also fairly minimal. Although Micah accompanies Anita for many of the events of the novel, his major plot contributions are as one of Anita's sex partners and as a focus for Richard's jealousy. Like Nathaniel, Micah is very supportive of whatever choice Anita makes when she believes she might be pregnant, and, like Nathaniel, Micah appears unconcerned by the possibility that the ardeur has shaped his personality to meet Anita's needs. Nathaniel: Danse Macabre shows Nathaniel's ongoing maturation. Either as a result of his growing older, his triumvirate with Anita and Damian, or both, Nathaniel has developed into a more mature and less needy person than in earlier novels. According to Anita, Nathaniel has grown taller, and we see him challenge Ronnie, Richard, and Anita's various suitors, an action that would be unthinkable when the character was first introduced. Asher: Danse Macabre heightens Asher's apparent role as representative of the darker sides of Anita's sexual awakening. Anita accepts that she has become addicted to the limitless pleasure that Asher can bring, and both Anita and Asher accept, for the first time, that Anita's love for Asher is real and not simply an artifact of her connection with Jean Claude. However, loving Asher comes with a price for Anita, both emotional, as she surrenders her self control more completely than she has with any of her other lovers, and physical, as Anita and Asher lose control under the force of their combined powers, nearly killing Anita. In addition, Asher continues to come into his own power as a master vampire, gaining the power to call hyenas and werehyenas. Damian: Damian continues to be one of the more passive of Anita's primary harem. His major roles in Danse Macabre seem to be appearing when Anita needs to share his self control and occasionally threatening to die unless Anita has sex to generate more power to sustain him.