I was very disappointed in the book. It was an average adventure tale, reminding me of a Trevanian novel. How does Hannibal go from the Genius Avenging Wesley Crusher to serious sicko? “Have you ever seen blood on your naked skin by moonlight, Will? One needs a certain amount of privacy for that.”
Harris doesn’t care about Lecter anymore. It’s all about the money, or maybe it’s about sticking it to fans who keep wanting more of a character when there’s nothing left to say.
Why the insult to Trevanian? I like Trevanian. He had style and wit, his books are fun, and he didn’t take himself too seriously. Have you read the books he wrote as Nicholas Seare?
I didn’t read Hannibal Rising. I did read a chapter on line and was surprised at its suckiness.
I intended no insult; his heroes are super human, or in the case of the Western (the title escapes me) super wierd.
Do I take it that you didn’t like Hannibal? I enjoyed it immensley. There is a Penrodesque change of antagonist to protagonist, but that happens, as Penrod discovered.
Hannibal Rising as I said, is just a good adventure novel. My first thought is that there was no inspiration, and he just did it for money. But Harris is so good. There is a forward to an edition of Red Dragon where he describes living alone in some cabin in a field writing, literally running with feral dogs he fed at night. It’s a shame.
I read Hannibal and liked it. Not as much as Red Dragon and Silence, but I liked it. Even when Harris doesn’t take the story where I want it to go, I’ve always enjoyed the journey.
Which is why the little bit of Hannibal Rising was such a disappointment. It read like fan fiction.
Which came first with Rising? The screenplay or the novel? Maybe that’s the problem.
I think we can all agree that Wesley Crusher would have been a more well-liked character if he killed a bunch of people.
I believe Harris also worked on the script.
It was the Japanese aspect that reminded me of Trevanian. Why was it there?
Harris may have given up after the film Hannibal. The ending differed enough from the novel that it surely ends the series.
I think the biggest problem is that Harris has wimped out.
No really, starting with “Hannibal,” he’s wussed out and turned Lecter into a virtual good guy who only kills people who are much worse than he is (billionaire child molestors, Nazi war criminals, sexual harrassers).
He’s afraid to let Lecter be evil.
Well, if they really, really deserved it, sure. Starting with himself.
I read it, too and was severely disappointed by it. There was just no character development. It’s advertised as the book that shows you how Hannibal became the serial killer that he was, but it’s all shallow surface stuff. There is absolutely no insight into the inner working of his mind to show how he got from point a to point b. And in the end, it’s really just a revenge story with no indication that everything that happened to him thrust him to what was to become his “lifestyle.”
It’s also very poorly written and confusing.
One point that I’m wondering about; I’ll put it in a spoiler box because the whole plot may turn on it :
Were we supposed to believe that Hannibal actually did join eating his sister or what that something his victim just told him to torture him with. It’s never really explained in the book and Harris never hinges his plot on that although it would explain how his mind finally snapped.
In “Hannibal” it’s implied to the point of certainty that he killed the previous museum curator so the position would open up. He also killed the gypsy who was just trying to mug him, as well as the cop who was trying to capture him. None of those qualify as “much worse than he is”, even if he had to kill the cop to keep his freedom.
And he particularly enjoyed it. Ine wonders if he kept the promise made to the policeman. I would think so. 
Good points. Earlier, he’d killed the police officers guarding him and, it is implied, the EMTs who were caring for the guy they thought was a wounded police officer, in Silence of the Lambs. Plus a U.S. Census worker who was just doing his job (fava beans, a nice Chianti, etc.). I don’t think he has always been the Killer of Only Those Worse Than Himself.
Oh no. He progresses from Red Dragon; He asks Will Graham in the interview “Tell me, Will, how did you catch me?” “You are insane.” His question implying, I believe that Graham is also insane, but channels it and deals with it. But I digress. Lecter develops from Bat Shit Insane in Red Dragon killing for fun to Mind Over Killer Pigs in Hannibal and antagonist becomes protagonist.
I think Hannibal Rising should join the list of Star Trek V and Battle Star Galactic With Flying Motorcycles. Entertainment that never existed.
What promise was that? I forget.
If he told Lecter whether or not he talked to the FBI, Lecter would not eat his wife.