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Louis de Point du Lac, a 200-year-old vampire tells his story to a nameless interviewer: how
he was made a vampire in 1791 in
New Orleans
by Lestat de Lioncourt, his live together with Lestat
and Claudia, their 5-year-old vampire daughter, their escape to Paris and the fateful meeting with the
400-year-old vampire Armand, owner of the 'Théâtre des Vampires' in Paris. He's not really happy and
constantly on a search for someone who can explain the reason for his existance to him.
The Queen of the Damned is the third installment of the Vampire Chronicles, which started
with 'Interview with the Vampire' and was followed by 'The Vampire Lestat'. The story is centered
around Akasha, the first vampire and
therefore the source of all vampires on earth, and Lestat, whom she has chosen as a companion
to 'save' humankind. One after another, all vampires known from the previous books (and some new
ones) are drawn into the story until they all come together in a dramatic finale.
We have waited an eternity for the story of Armand to be told. Finally, in the sixth volume of the
'Vampire Chronicles' it has happened. First hints of his past were mentioned in 'The Vampire Lestat',
the second part of the chronicles. But what has happened before that? And what happened at the
end of 'Memnoch, the Devil', the fifth part of the chronicles to Armand? Was he really dead,
forever?
Im siebten Teil der Vampir Chroniken (und hoffentlich noch immer nicht dem letzten) erzählt der schon bekannte 'Chronist' David Talbot die Geschichte von Merrick, einem Mitglied des farbigen Teils der Mayfair-Familie. Merrick ist eine Hexe mit aussergewöhnlichen Fähigkeiten und die Beschwörung von Geistern ist nur eine davon.
In the previous seven parts of the Vampire Chronicles we were told about Marius only by others: Lestat, Armand and Pandora talked about him several times because he influenced their lives enormously. Now its Marius turn to fill in the gaps which resulted of the subjective point of view of the other narrators.
In the first half "Blood and Gold" is more of a historical novel than a horror novel. The story is not so much marked by the fact that Marius is a vampire but by its setting in Ancient Rome from its golden times to its downfall and the rising of Constantinople. After that Marius goes to Venice and his time with Armand starts. Now its more of a vampire story again and it gets the necessary 'kick' out of it. This part is most interesting for everyone who has been to Venice and Florence before. When Marius talks about the painting of the Magi in the Medici chapel, which he recreates in his villa, its twice as interesting when you've been there and seen it. Th
at's some kind of location advantage for us Europeans (the other center of vampire-activity, New Orleans isn't even mentioned in this book).
Even though it's officially the ninth installment of the "Vampire Chronicles" it seems to be more of a reunion with old and long missed friends: the Mayfairs from the "Witching Hour". Lestat is literally listening to the life story of Quinn Blackwood but that is of no real importance for the story almost up to the end. One quickly forgets the fact because in Quinn's story Mona Mayfair, Rowan Mayfair, Michael Curry and the First Street Haus
play a central role. And not to forget Julian Mayfair. Not later than when he appears one vividly remembers the Mayfair-saga, smells the fragance of the Garden Districts and sees First Street House again with it's garden, Deirdre's porch and Lasher's oak.
This 10th chapter marks the end of the Vampire Chronicles. Anne Rice has lost her interest in Lestat, Louis and the Mayfairs and wants to pursue other topics. And maybe that's ok because all stories have been told. It would have been great if 'Blood Canticle' was as good a book as the Vampire and the Mayfair-Chonicles were in the beginning. But the story is just over. And one can't be really sad about it. Because as a fan one wants to remember the Chronicles as good as they were. And Ms. Rice just can't deliver that anymore.
In the closest combination of Vampire and Mayfair Chronicles Lestat and the Mayfairs meet again. Mona Mayfair, who was made into a vampire by Lestat in the previous part is looking for her daughter Morrigan, who vanished with the mysterious Ash in the third part of the Mayfair Chronicles ('Taltos'). Being immortal and completely healthy again there is nothing and no one who can keep her from her search. Lestat helps her and he meets Rowan Mayfair, a woman who may change his undead existance.
The story has some funny moments, e.g. when Maharet, the oldest vampire in existance, wants to convince Lestat that its easier to use eMail than telepathy to contact her.
What's missing is the horror, the subtle thrill which was always so effective in the stories and for which one read Anne Rice. Because this element is missing almost completely one doesn't really know what the book is for. Why read Anne Rice when there's no horror?
The story of this third part of the Mayfair chronicles is described in detail in the cover text. After almost 2000 pages of Mayfair history this installment (until now) is a worthy finale of the family saga. What started as a family ghost (in 'The Witching Hour') and became a living being (in 'Lasher') now gets a history, others of his kind and a future. The circle has been closed.
A love-story in the SM-Scene, written by Ms. Rice in 1985 under the name of Anne Rampling. The pseudonym was used to not mislead the readers of the Vampire-Chonicles because "Exit to Eden" is pornography in its truest sense - at least in the first half of the novel.
Lisa is the founder of an exclusive club with only one motto - SM-sex in all its variations. She is successful, inventive and a very dominant woman - she's used to everything working out the way she plans and wants it.
The book really consists of two parts: SM-pornography in the first half, which takes place in The Club, and an intelligent love-story in the setting of New Orleans in the second half. Both are very interesting and captivating in each way. But in this separation also lies the problem of the book. Readers who want to read erotica won't find anything interesting in the second half. And who wants to read a love-story might be put off by the explicitness of the first part.
"In a darkened room a young man sits telling the macabre and eerie story of his life ... the story of a
vampire, gifted with eternal life, cursed with an exquisite craving for human blood."
The first part of the 'Vampire Chronicles' was first published 23 years ago (1976) and nobody would
have thought that the chronicles would expand into 6 volumes (as of May 99). It was Anne Rice's
first novel, not regarding some short stories she did before. She tells the story of the vampires Lestat,
Louis and Claudia for once not from the perspective of the hunters and victims, as it was common
until then, but from the vampires point of view. What it means to them to be immortal and to kill to
survive. That way Anne Rice has given a new face to the vampire genre ... and what a face that is.
After all,
the first lesson of a vampiric existance is 'to be powerful, beautiful and without regret'.
Anne Rice has succeeded in creating a whole new world in which vampires can live, love and
suffer. And it's so convincing that from then on all other vampire novels had to measure up against
it.
The 1994 movie version of the book with Tom Cruise as Lestat, Brad Pitt as Louis and Kirsten
Dunst as Claudia is (almost) perfect but it's definitely worth reading the book even if one already
knows the movie. And it should be read in the original English version because the German
translation doesn't even come close to Anne Rice's beautiful language.
[Dorothée Büttgen, May 99]
"A feat of mesmeric storytelling, a chilling entertainment, THE QUEEN OF THE DAMNED unleashes
Akasha, the Queen herself, who has risen from a six-thousand-year sleep to let loose the powers of
the night. Akasha has a marvelously devious plan do "save" mankind and destroy Lestat - in this
extraordinarily sensual novel of the complex, erotic, electrifying world of the undead."
More shoudn't be revealed except for the fact that I think it's the best volume of the 'Vampire
Chronicles' so far. But one should have read the first two volumes ('Interview with the Vampire'
and 'The Vampire Lestat') to fully understand the connections. Of course only in the original English
version!
[Dorothée Büttgen, May 99]
"In the latest installment of The Vampire Chronicles, Anne Rice summons up dazzling worlds to
bring us the story of Armand - eternally young, with the face of a Botticelli angel. Armand, who first
appeared in all his dark glory more than twenty years ago in the now-classic Interview with the
Vampire, the first of The Vampire Chronicles, the novel that established its author worldwide
as a magnificent storyteller and creator of magical realms.
Now, we go with Armand across the centuries to the Kiev Rus of his boyhood - a ruined city under
Mongol dominion - and to ancient Constantinople, where Tartar raiders sell him into slavery. And in
a magnificent palazzo in the Venice of the Renaissance we see him emotionally and intellectually
in thrall to the great vampire Marius, who masquerades among humankind as a mysterious, reclusive
painter and who will bestow upon Armand the gift of vampiric blood.
As the novel races to its climax, moving through scenes of luxury and elegance, of ambush, fire,
and devil worship to nineteenth-century Paris and today's New Orleans, we see its eternally
vulnerable and romantic hero forced to choose between his twilight immortality and the salvation
of his immortal soul."
'The Vampire Armand' answers to all those questions and above that gives a fantastic glimpse of
renaissance Venice. The storyline is brilliant up to the revelation of what really happened in New
York (see: Memnoch, the Devil). Armand's mortal live with the immortal Marius is a bit long in my
opinion, but when
he is made a vampire one knows again why Anne Rice writes the best vampire novels around. As
a fan you won't get around reading it in no time. Readers new to the chronicles should start at their
beginning (Interview with the Vampire). Those who have something against reading about the
relationship of a vampire to a 'little boy' will be irritated in part. And it's possible to debate about the
ending for hours. Maybe it's not the best part of the chronicles but it's definitely worth reading.
[Dorothée Büttgen, May 99]
"In her mesmerizing new novel, the author of The Vampire Chronicles and the saga of the Mayfair Witches demonstrates once again her gift for spellbinding storytelling and the creation of myth and magic. Here, in a magnificent tale of sorcery and the occult, she makes real for us a hitherto unexplored world of witchcraft.
At the center is the beautiful, unconquerable witch Merrick. [...] Her ancestors are the great Mayfair Witches, of whom she knows nothing - and from whom she inherits the power and the magical knowledge of a Circe.
Into this exotic realm comes David Talbot - hero, storyteller, adventurer, almost-mortal vampire, visitor from another dark realm. It is he who recountes Merrick's haunting tale - a tale that takes us from the New Orleans of past and present to the jungles of Guatemala, from the Maya ruins of a century ago to ancient civilizations not yet explored.
Anne Rice's richly told novel weaves an irresistible story of two worlds: the witches' world and the vampires' world, where magical powers and otherworldly fascinations are locked together in a dance of seduction, death, and rebirth."
Der Vampir Louis ist besessen von dem Gedanken, dass seine Tochter und große Liebe Claudia, die im ersten Teil der Vampir-Chroniken auf so tragische Weise zu Tode kam, noch immer keine Ruhe gefunden hat. Zusammen mit David sucht er Merrick auf, um ihre Fähigkeiten zu nutzen und so den Kontakt zu Claudia aufzunehmen. Mit tragischen Konsequenzen für alle Beteiligten.
David kennt Merrick aus früheren Zeiten, als er noch sterblich und ein alter Mann war, und er erzählt Louis von ihrem aufregenden und beinahe tödlichen Ausflug in den Dschungel Guatemalas, auf der Suche nach uralten Artefakten und den Geistern aus Merricks Vergangenheit. Kein Mensch kannte Merrick so gut wie David, aber Jahre später als Vampir muss er erkennen, dass er Merrick unterschätzt hat.
Um die Gründung einer Familie geht es letztendlich auch in 'Merrick'. Am Ende der spannenden Geschichte hat sich eine Gruppe (bzw. Familie) von Vampiren gebildet, von der man hoffentlich noch mehr hören wird.
[Dorothée Büttgen, November 00]
"The Vampire Chronicles continue with Anne Rice's spellbinding new novel, in which the great vampire Marius returns.
The golden-haired Marius, true Child of the Millennia, once mentor to The Vampire Lestat, always and forever the conscientious foe of the Evil Doer, reveals in his own intense yet intimate voice the secrets of his two-thousand-year existence.
Once a proud Senator in Imperial Rome, kidnapped and made a "blood god" by the Druids, Marius becomes the embittered protector of Akasha and Enkil, Queen and King of the Vampires, in whom the core of the supernatural race resides.
We follow him through his heartbreaking abandonment of the vampire Pandora. Through him we see the fall of pagan Rome to the Emperor Constantine and the horrific sack of the Eternal City itself at the hands of the Visigoths.
[...]
Moving from Rome to Florence, Venice, and Dresden, and to the English castle of the secret scholarly order of the Talamasca, the novel reaches its dramatic finale in our own time, deep in the jungle where Marius, having told his life story, seeks some measure of justice from the oldest vampires in the world."
As one of the oldest vampires Marius has survived the most drastic changes of his surroundings. He's witness to 2000 years of history which are responsible for the forming of his character and in part for his suffering. He moves from Rome to Constantinople, then to Florence, the Alpes, Venice and Dresden. Again and again he tries to share his life as protector of Akasha and Enkil with others but he fails. Either because of dangers from outside or because he himself is to blame. Therefore he is one of the most tragic characters of the Chronicles when he tries to submit his own interests to the good of others, but he receives no thanks, only pain.
The story needs a long time to get started but you can say that you've learned something afterwards. Even if thats not the reason for reading vampire-novels. The second half is much faster, more plot and less descriptions. The end of Marius story breaks your heart and at the end of the book eventual calls for revenge the reader experiences are satisfied. In my opinion its not as good as "Merrick" but definitely an important and enjoyable part of the Vampire Chronicles.
[Dorothée Büttgen, November 01]
"In her new novel, Anne Rice fuses her two uniquely seductive strains of narrative - her vampire legend and her lore of the Mayfair witches - to give us a world of classic Deep South luxury and ancestral secrets.
Welcome to Blackwood Farm: soaring white columns, spacious drawing rooms, sun-drenched gardens, and a dark strip of the dense Sugar Devil Swamp. This is the world of Quinn Blackwood, a brillinat young man haunted since birth by a mysterious doppelgänger, a spirit known as Goblin, a spirit from a dreamworld that Quinn can't escape and that prevents him from belonging anywhere. When Quinn is made a vampire, losing all that is rightfully his and gaining an unwanted immortality, his doppelgänger becomes even more vampiric and terrifying than Quinn himself.
As the novel moves backward and forward in time, from Quinn's boyhood on Blackwood Farm to present-days New Orleans, from ancient Pompeii to nineteenth-century Naples, Quinn seeks out the legendary Vampire Lestat in the hope of freeing himself from the specter that draws him inexorably back to Sugar Devil Swamp and the explosive secrets it holds."
Its fun to become acquainted again with the stories and members of this incredible family. They may have become a little bit strange because one hasn't met for such a long time. But that's over soon. One would like to hear every detail of their live since the last visit. But, of course, that's impossible because this is Quinn's and Goblin's story.
It's difficult to say what to think of Quinn. He's an incredibly spoiled child of an incredibly rich family, who has everthing he wants at his fingertips. He just never thought he'd get the Dark Gift and immortality with it. But he adapts easily, one has to admit.
Quinn's story is more of a ghost- than a vampire-story and therefore the book is to be taken with a pinch of salt if you're a vampire fan. Most of all Quinn delights in remembering the past and explaining youthful cockiness. But it's an Anne Rice novel, that's for sure. Maybe she should have added it to the Mayfair-saga instead of bringing Lestat into it. But he is needed for the ending and that's incredible!!! With three exclamation marks!!!
If one only knew if the ending keeps it's promise for the next novel. With "Merrick"
I also wished that the group of Louis, Lestat and Merrick will play a central part in the next novel. Unfortunately it was all in vain. With "Blackwood Farm" I can also only hope that the ending will provide the content for a new novel and won't disappear into thin air.
To sum it up: few vampires, many ghosts and lots of Mayfairs. A must for all fans of the family saga. Lestat fans may be a bit disappointed.
[Dorothée Büttgen, December 02]
"Anne Rice continues her astonishing Vampire Chronicles with the story of Lestat's passionate quest for redemption, goodness and the love of Rowan Mayfair.
Here are all the brilliantly conceived principal characters that make up Anne Rice's world of vampires and witches: Mona Mayfair, who's come to Blackwood Farm to die and is, instead, brought into the realm of the undead ... Rowan Mayfair, brilliant neurosurgeon and witch, who finds herself dangerously drawn to Lestat [...]. And here is the spirit of Julien Mayfair, guardian of the family, determined to torment Lestat eternally for what he has done to Mona ... the riddle of the five-thousand-year-old Taltos, involving Mona's child ... and, at the book's center, the Vampire Lestat, once the epitome of evil and now - following the transformation set in motion with Memnoch the Devil - struggling with his vampirism and yearning for goodness, purity and love as he contends with ghosts, legends, secrets and the mystery of the Taltos, and as he wrestles with the fate of his beloved Rowan Mayfair."
The search for Morrigan is quite thrilling and finally Lestat can use his supernatural powers again.
But the single characters have changed so much in the meantime that they are hardly recognizable from previous books. Rowan is an unsympathetic ice-queen, Michael Curry seems like a faithful puppy who stayed with Rowan out of love and habit, but who asks himself more often if its the right thing to do. Mona is cute but unnerving and Lestat eccentricities are so grossly exaggerated that his characteristical charme doesn't come through anymore.
As a fan one cannot leave the book alone but to be honest one could skip it and read the first three Vampire Chronicles again instead. But I can understand if you have to see it for yourself. I did the same.
Adieu Lestat.
[Dorothée Büttgen, February 04]
"Meet Mr. Ash, quiet-spoken, tall, unfailingly kind - sole survivor of an ancient species, the Taltos - thriving among humankind as he has always done, now the head of a great corporate empire. As the novel opens, he is stunned to learn from an old and mysterious friend that another Taltos has been seen - in the very same Scottish glen where centuries ago, long before the coming of the Romans, Ash ruled his clan.
At once he is propelled into the world of Rowan Mayfair, and into the mysteries of the Mayfair family - the New Orleans dynasty of witches forever besieged by ghosts, spirits, and the dizzying powers of his own species - a family intimately involved with the heritage of the Taltos, a family of unique, brilliant, and troubled souls struggling as they have for centuries to use both science and magic in their battle for greatness, even survival.
At the heart of the novel is the Talamasca, a secular order of psychic scholars, the only organization in existence which may understand Ash, his Taltos past, and the dilemma of the Mayfair witches.
The story of the Mayfair family continues, moving from London to Donnelaith, Scotland, to New Orleans, back and forth through time - from the origins of the Taltos and their mythic Lost Land to the moral crises of the present day."
The history of the Taltos alternates with the history of the Mayfairs, especially Mona Mayfair, a 13-year-old powerful witch who has been chosen to be the designee of the family legacy. Mona has to deal with a lot of difficulties: to accept a heritage which she can't fully comprehend; to deal with the well-meaning family; to try to get a wild cousin as a trusted companion and finally to savely bear the child which she has conceived by the husband of her favourite 'aunt' and to deal with the suspicion that this baby won't be human. But Mona wouldn't be one of the most interesting and smartest Mayfairs if she couldn't deal with that.
It's also notable that the novel describes the atmosphere of New Orleans and First Street House in such a wonderful and lively way that you seem to leave some good old relatives behind. The open end lets you hope that Anne Rice will one day continue the story of Ashlar, Morrigan, Mona, Rowan and Michael.
[Dorothée Büttgen, August 00]
"Mysterious, elegant, sparkling in the Caribbean sun, pulsating in the velvet nights: the lights never go out, the champagne never stops flowing and the rich and beautiful play tantalising games of dominance and submission in a thousand satin-lined bedrooms. This is Eden, where the lash of desire meets the silken bonds of love.
Lisa is the Perfectionist, the mastermind, mistress of the exquisite subtleties of the bound and the free. Elliot is the Client, burned-out, reckless to explore the uncharted waters of the forbidden.
In their explosive meeting, as the thin line between pain and pleasure, lust and love begins to blur, they discover the most dangerous secret of all - that Eden is the state of the heart and the mind where the age-old power of innocence and love can still be recaptured."
Elliott is a war-photographer who has survived some extreme experiences in war-zones and who wants to experience something new. He signes on to The Club as a slave for two years - for good money, but almost without a chance to get out of the contract if he decides otherwise. He leaves everything for this: his job, his family, even his clothes. Because he will start the job (together with 120 other new slaves) completely naked.
When Lisa and Elliott meet, nothing goes according to plan. Lisa "kidnaps" Elliott to New Orleans and in long nights and endless talks they come closer to each other than they would have expected.
I liked it that it wasn't just about sex, but that the characters in the book have a story and a motivation; that they know what they are goint to do. And the love-story is quite beautiful especially with the extra ingredient of New Orleans local flavour. Only an author who truly loves the city is able to describe it that way, and you're able to see every restaurant and street in front of you. In the end the first part lacks some love and the second part lacks some sex. Then it would have been the right mix.
[Dorothée Büttgen, June 03]
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