Blood Canticle (Vampire Chronicles) [Hardcover]

 

 

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Blood Canticle does not deliver. If you thought, as I did, that Blackwood Farm signaled the come back of the Anne Rice of old, you would be wrong. Blackwood Farm is a wonderful story, full of well-developed new characters as well as our old favorites. Blood Canticle, while having many of the same characters is not even close to the story of Blackwood Farm.

Lestat's narrative at the beginning is manic, but lacking in the energy or interest to fuel the mania. It's dull. I don't care about Lestat's redemption, especially when in the end he is the same Lestat. He chooses to be neither good or evil, he is still the Brat Prince. I found the ramblings concerning St. Joseph and the Pope to be boring and without any real point. There is no energy to this story, no cohesion.

Rice has turned her Mayfair's into pathetic creatures whose stories do not interest me. Michael is spineless. Rowan Mayfair has become a crazy pathetic weakling worse than any designee before her, including her own mother Deirdre. And Mona. Mona, my favorite Mayfair, has become a spineless brat of a vampire. That Mona even looks up to Lestat at all is unbelievable. Mona is power to be reckoned with, even more so than Lestat, and she cowers before him. I don't think so. Even worse is what she has done to Oncle Julien Mayfair. Julien's taunting of Lestat is the most entertaining aspect of this book, Julien is witty and the perfect tormentor for Lestat, but again Rice does not deliver. Julien is not wrathful enough towards Lestat, I mean Lestat has now turned two members of the Mayfair family and is considering a third, but Julien just taunts him with witty banter. Then Rice does the unthinkable and Lestat confronts and scares Julien. Julien cowers before him, and later Stella discloses that Julien is afraid of Lestat, Julien who has never been afraid of anyone or anything. With this novel Rice has ruined the Mayfairs.

The only interesting aspect of this book is Mona's confrontation with Lestat. She accuses him of making child vampires, alienating those he loves, of being selfish and arrogant. She calls him on the carpet for all that he has confessed to doing throughout the Vampire Chronicles. And rather than explore that Rice has Lestat flip out and storm off, completely abandoning what could have been the redeeming feature of this book, and later Mona apologizes for her conduct.

I have been an Anne Rice fan for a long time. I have read all her books, and this will be the last. I stuck with her through Blood and Gold and Merrick, and was rewarded with Blackwood Farm. Now I am going to say Farwell to Anne Rice, because if this book is any indication of where she is taking the Vampire Chronicles and the Mayfair Witches sagas I cannot bear the mediocrity.

Anne Rice has written some stinkers in her time -- "Memnoch the Devil," "Servant of the Bones" and "Violin" amongst them. But for sheer disappointment, it would be hard for her to top "Blood Canticle," the not-so-grand finale of her classic Vampire Chronicles series. It wraps up both the Vampire and Witch series not with a bang, but with a slow squeaky whimper.

The book actually starts with Lestat's fantasy about being a saint. Yes, Lestat now fantasizes about being like Saint Juan Diego and chatting with the Pope. This comes out of nowhere, and is merely an opportunity for Rice to tell us that we're all stupid shallow ingrates for not liking "Memnoch the Devil."

Then we switch off to where "Blackwood Farm" ended. The dying Mona Mayfair has come to Blackwood Farm to expire, but Lestat decides to make her into a vampire because.... well, otherwise Quinn will be sad. But while she's transforming, Rowan Mayfair arrives to pick up her young cousin and Lestat has to keep her from finding out what he's done. Also, Rowan and Lestat fall in love. Seriously.

Lestat takes the two younger vampires under his wing, and shows the newly powerful Mona how to maneuver the world as a vampire. But her new life also revives Mona's interest in her old one -- specifically in the Taltos child she bore some years before, which triggered the disease that almost killed her. So the trio sets out to find out if the Taltos are still around.

I'll be frank: "Blood Canticle" reads like fanfiction. Lestat falling in True Love with Rowan Mayfair? Lestat playing vampire dad to teen vampire lovers? Lestat's obsession with sainthood? Lestat having a midlife crisis (judging from his slang)? A thriller-like expedition to find the Taltos? This whole disaster sounds like a C-grade Vampire Chronicles fanfic!

Sadly, not even Rice's trademark lush, atmospheric writing can save this hokey mess of a plot -- her prose seems limp and colorless, like a stalk of wilting celery. She also seems to be trying to wrap the whole mess up as quickly as possible, since it's basically about Lestat being told where the Taltos are and a quick trip there. It seems like she's utterly tired of the Vampire Chronicles and just wants it over and done with.

She also seems to want the vampires themselves over and done with. Pretty much no beloved character except Lestat appear -- Maharet only communicates via email, Louis and Marius are only mentioned, and Rowan appears just so she can fall in Twilight-like instant love with Lestat. The only vampires who appear other than Lestat are... well, Quinn and Mona. Whee. So happy.

And Lestat does not resemble the wild, brilliant, charming vampire that appeared in the previous books. This guy seems more like a middle-aged rich guy who's having a midlife crisis -- using slang, hanging out with the "kids," getting a crush on a random woman, getting befuddled by technology, and so on.

"Blood Canticle" is a sad, shameful ending for what was once a wonderful (or at least decent) vampire series -- a damp, sputtering creature that drifts away from its own lack of substance. Just finish the series at "Queen of the Damned."

I found blood canticle enjoyable. Being an Anne Rice fan for years i was enchanted to find that she had mixed the world of the Mayfairs with that of the Vampires. It was only inevitable wasnt it. I found Lestat true to his grandizing plans only to end up the same. Always wanting to be more, but never wanting to change. I also enjoyed the whole Lestat Oncle Julian thing. I felt it was about time someone brought him down a peg. After all his mistakes he should learn not to meddle. I was also very pleased to see a resolution within the whole Taltos affair. If you have been keeping up with the Mayfair Chronicles you should be pleased to finally see an ending.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Tall Toes and Smoky-smoky
I am a big fan of Anne Rice, have read all her books, blah blah blah. The bottom line is Anne Rice is ending her Chronicles with this? At least that's what I heard. Read more

Published on Oct 11 2004 by ital_m_24

5.0 out of 5 stars SUPERB LISTENING
Thanks to the accomplished voice of David Pittu the latest in the list topping Vampire Chronicles from Anne Rice simmers with suspense. Read more

Published on Jan 24 2004 by Gail Cooke

5.0 out of 5 stars SUPERB LISTENING
Thanks to the accomplished voice of David Pittu the latest in the list topping Vampire Chronicles from Anne Rice simmers with suspense. Read more

Published on Jan 24 2004 by Gail Cooke

4.0 out of 5 stars Different
Well, I read all the reviews here before I even opened the book. I was sort of expecting the worse. I think the major thing is that Lestat has changed, he changed in the novel... Read more

Published on Jan 5 2004

2.0 out of 5 stars Not impressed
I believe this will go down as my least favorite of the Vampire Chronicles. How disappointing to find that the book held little interest to me after the first few chapters,... Read more

Published on Nov 2 2003

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