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Editorial Reviews From Publishers Weekly For her 25th fan-pleasing outing, Rice reunites some of her most popular creations and, for the first time since Memnoch the Devil (1995), lets the Vampire Lestat "write" the book. Taking up where last year's Blackwood Farm ended, the now-doppelganger-free Quinn Blackwood and Lestat save Quinn's true love, the witch Mona Mayfair, from certain death by making her an immortal. In his effort to attain sainthood, Lestat must deal with a lot of metaphysical angst. The opulent Blackwood estate and its spooky swamps, as well as New Orleans and a Caribbean isle, provide the settings for many elegant costume changes as the exquisite vampiric triumvirate gleefully suck several deserving victims dry and lay waste to dozens of a drug lord's minions. The vampirisation of young Mona, a true child of our times, gives Rice a dynamic new vampire personality with whom to play. Writing as if her blood-inked quill were afire, Rice seems truly possessed by her Brat Prince of darkness as she races through the story. She sometimes slights members of the vast supporting cast, both dead and alive, but neatly ties up all their loose ends. The complete unification of the Mayfair witch saga with that of the Vampire Chronicles provides either a befitting end or a new beginning for the Queen of the Vampires. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. From AudioFile The latest installment of the Vampire Chronicles continues where the last one left off. At Blackwood Farm the once evil vampire Lestat now effuses endless soliloquies on sainthood, delivered in a self-obsessed, simpering tone that makes his professed holiness all the more suspect. David Pittu projects both the self-absorption and detached narrative powers of Lestat in an effete tone that leaves no doubt as to the vampire's sincerity, or lack thereof. Pittu's portrayal of other male and female... read more --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition. Book Description Anne Rice continues her astonishing Vampire Chronicles in a new novel that begins where Blackwood Farm left off — and tells the story of Lestat’s quest for redemption, goodness, and the love of Rowan Mayfair. Welcome back to Blackwood Farm. Here are all of the brilliantly conceived characters that make up the two worlds of vampires and witches: Mona Mayfair, who’s come to the farm to die and is brought into the realm of the undead; her uncle, Julian Mayfair, guardian of the family, determined to forever torment Lestat for what he has done to Mona; Rowan Mayfair, brilliant neurosurgeon and witch, who finds herself dangerously drawn to the all-powerful Lestat; her husband, Michael Curry, hero of the Mayfair Chronicles, who seeks Lestat’s help with the temporary madness of his wife; Ash Templeton, a 5,000-year-old Taltos who has taken Mona’s child; and Patsy, the country-western singer, who returns to avenge her death at the hands of her son, Quinn Blackwood. Delightfully, at the book’s centre is the Vampire Lestat, once the epitome of evil, now pursuing the transformation set in motion with Memnoch the Devil. He struggles with his vampirism and yearns for goodness, purity and love, as he saves Patsy’s ghost from the dark realm of the Earthbound, uncovers the mystery of the Taltos and unselfishly decides the fate of his beloved Rowan Mayfair. A story of love and loyalty, of the search for passion and promise, Blood Canticle is Anne Rice at her finest.
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I'd call this one 'Anne Rice for people who don't really read Anne Rice.' It's a bit lighter fare than some of the others and it's quite playful in places. I for one enjoyed Lestat's opening diatribe chastising readers for not liking 'Memnoch' and found his recent discovery of 'lingo' amusing. I can't understand why so many readers were so violently upset over Lestat's linguistic change - I mean sure, maybe 'yo' and 'dude' and 'shove it' are a little behind the times, but that aside, do some of us have a problem with Lestat entering the 21st century? He is getting on to 300 years old, is he not? He's an immortal, is he not? Hadn't he better get used to the world changing? Hadn't the readers better get used to it too? It would NOT work for a character like Louis or Armand to be talking that way, but it works for Lestat - he is an always has been completely full of himself and I think that's a fine and funny way to keep things fresh. It was kind of strange to have Maharet communicating by email! That threw me for a loop but again, it is the 21st century. Missing from this book are some of the lengthy narrative descriptions - Anne Rice is a master of description and in many of her books this can go on for pages. While it can sometimes be a bit bogged down, I almost found myself missing it in 'Blood Canticle.' It was as if something had been abbreviated. The characters seemed somewhat abbreviated too - especially the Mayfairs. 'The Witching Hour' is my favorite Anne Rice and one of my favorites, period, and I was delighted with the idea of incorporating Mayfair with Vampire Chronicles. But after the lushness of 'The Witching Hour,' these characters return in 'Blood Canticle' somewhat diminished. I forgot Michael Curry was even in the room on several occasions - wouldn't even know he was there until he spoke some line of dialogue. The same went for Quinn, who also disappeared almost completely in this book. I liked him in 'Blackwood Farm' (and yes, I liked 'Blackwood Farm'!) but in 'Blood Canticle' he's rather reduced to a vehicle for shushing and comforting distraught females. Oncle Julien didn't seem quite himself either, although putting him in the book was throwing a great bone to the readers. I never really understood why it was Stella who appeared with him, of all the Mayfair witches to choose from, and it occurred to me that if you hadn't read 'The Witching Hour,' you'd have no idea who Stella was. The Rowan/Lestat thing made sense to me. They've both done some unspeakable things in their lives and they're both seeking redemption in some way. They each see the goodness in the other and they're drawn to one who sees their goodness. However, I found their teenager-like encounter at the base of the oak tree unnecessary. This thing existed in the book on a much loftier, almost metaphysical plane until that happened and I was a bit grossed out. The whole Taltos thing was rushed and needed more explanation for readers who haven't read the Mayfair books. I totally understood what was going on because I have, but I imagine that someone who hadn't wouldn't cotton at all to the Taltos business, and some of the reviews I've read here are obviously by readers who haven't read 'Taltos,' 'Lasher,' or 'Witching Hour.' Those three books are the perfect example of suspension of disbelief and they are great. I did feel sad at the end knowing that this is the last of the Vampire Chronicles because for all these years I've been reading them, but I suppose we can all just use our imaginations from here on out and hope that Anne Rice will continue writing, even if it's something completely different. Subject matter aside, she is an excellent writer and while I don't necessarily love each and every one of her books, I'll always continue to read them. I'm shocked by some of the mean-spirited reviews I've read here. Everyone's entitled to their opinion and that's why this is a great website, but to be so destructive in attacking Anne Rice only deters people who have never read any of her books, and now never might. No, it's not 'The Witching Hour' or 'Interview with the Vampire' or 'The Vampire Lestat', but 'Blood Canticle' is fun. It's a good time reading it. It's entertaining and it's good escapism. What else are you looking for if you just want to enjoy yourself with a book? Sure, I would have loved to see Louis but it looks like
Louis has moved on with his life so more power to him and let the rest
of us take his example.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
I was deeply disappointed, as it seems were a lot of other readers, by Rice's previous effort, Blackwood Farm. I thought the first chapter in this one, pretty much apologizing for some of her weaker novels, was a unique approach. Overall, this was a much better effort than we've seen from Rice for quite a while. I'm still not enamored with her efforts to bring her plotlines together, but this was an enjoyable--if fairly lightweight--read. Was this review helpful to you?
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0 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
You all seem to want to compare the Blood Canticle with previous Vampire Chronicles and Mayfair Witches novels. "It's too fast paced, it's lacking description". Yes it is fast paced - great read isn't it? What you all seem to be forgetting is that the Vampire Chronicles are written by several different "authors" who themselves have different styles. Lestat himself has had several lifetimes worth of fantastic supernatural experiences - is it any wonder his outlook (and therefore is focus when recounting a story) will change. Who says Lestat is not growing or developing - the very fact that the Blood Canticle is again different to previous books is evidence that he is. Enjoy the evolution for what it is, and stop trying to be too analytical and clever for your own good - read with an open mind and you shall see. For new readers to the Anne Rice series, this is a great book. Period. It is fast paced and full of action, and wonderfully entertaining throughout. Other reviewers have complained that the characters here are not as well defined as they appear in other books. This takes nothing away from this story - all characters here are perfectly represented as they need to be for this tale, as they appear in the eyes of the writer and lead player, Lestat. This is the book of a story as told by him, as he sees it. It is not a narrative from a non-existant third person perspective - it has bias and feeling. There can be no better example of this than by going back to the first two books in the Vampire Chronicles, whereby the same story is told through the eyes of Louis, in Interview with a Vampire, and through the eyes of Lestat, in The Vampire Lestat. I think many "reviewers" here have forgotten this point, or indeed missed it altogether. New readers, read this book! If you can wait, read it last - after you have read all of Anne's previous books. They will entertain you, inspire you, provoke thought - this list could go on for ever, but most of all, you'll want to read more of these fascinating characters. The different styles of writing in this series tells us as much about the story teller character as the words themselves, and this approach is in my opinion a true stroke of genius. Get involved, you'll be glad you did. Nay-sayers tend to be far more vocal when criticising the works of art produced by others, so perhaps this opinion of mine may help redress the balance. And to Anne Rice herself, the very fact that so many people buy your books should tell you how much we all love them. Ignore the extremely small minority who criticise, it's simply their opinion and they are entitled to it. Try this - walk down the shopping mall and study all of the people there. Would you value and take to heart the intellectual and creative opinion of ALL of the people you see? Perhaps you would - if so you are a better person than I am, but you know what I'm saying. Besides, you can't please all the people all the time, but I think you please millions compared to the few dozen you don't - and those are not bad odds. Nothing would please me more than to see new Anne Rice novels flying into the bookstores, so I can build my collection further with stories of these wonderful rich characters you have created. Thank you for all you have written for us so far, please don't give up on us yet. Perhaps "The Vampire Mona" should be written in old Shakespearean English - that'd really give people something to complain about! Was this review helpful to you?
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Certainly not her best work, December 1, 2003
The Vampire Chronicles continues as good as ever, September 10, 2004
