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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
5 stars, 5 Jun 2010
curled up in my bed with my new book, not exactly looking forward to it, but knowing it was better than nothing. But once I started, I couldn't stop, and finished it sometime around 4 am the next morning. I can't explain how I could suddenly be completely sucked in to this world, but when I got home, I raided my friend's collection of Vampire Chronicle books.
I've read them all, except Interview. That confuses many people, but I just can't get into it. All four main characters - Louis, Lestat, Claudia and Daniel - appear in other books, I'm familiar with the plot points, and don't think it's necessary. I just really don't think it's a very good book. I much prefer the characters' appearances in the other books.
I've loved many of the other selections in the series, but none quite as much as I love Blood and Gold. For me, it's the true last contribution to the Vampire Chronicles, even though two or three more books were published. (Those stories were Mayfair Witches crossovers, and I did enjoy them very much.) It's Marius' story, and he and Armand are by far my favorite of the characters (followed closely by Lestat, who also plays a big role in Marius' story). Marius is very close to being the oldest vampire of the group, so his maturity and authority are to be expected. However, his immaturity and childishness are surprising elements, and those unforeseen qualities are some the reasons he is so interesting to read about. I've read it three times so far, and if I could give it another star, I would
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
a bit of a disappointment, 31 Dec 2002
I bought this as a treat to read on holiday. I enjoyed the book, in that it passed the time, but it seemed to me to lack 'zip' and pace, and much of the prose was, frankly, overly flabby and plodding. (How many times in one book can you use the device of repeating an introductory clause with a slightly different ending three times over ?) Also, there was vey little in the way of new plot introduced here - rather, there was a re-warming of much that was known from other parts of the chronicles. The dialogue seemed unconvincing at times too ... sorry, to be so negative, as I have thrilled to Rice's prose in the past, but the sparkle seems to have worn a bit thin here. Still, if you've read the other books in the chronicles seies you'll probably want to read this - if you haven't, might I suggest that you start elsewhere ?
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Anne Rice at her best, 29 Mar 2005
This is perhaps her best story of all. I bought it because I am captivated by all her Vampire Chronicles. I did not expect it to be anywhere near her best because I realised it would cover old ground explored in her earlier books. But she covered it so well. She made what was ground covered before new ground from Marius's perspective. Rather than him being a supporting character he was the main character and you got to see his true feelings on what occurred. The book is a tragedy in many ways and brings out many emotions in the reader. It is spell binding. It is a love story and it is a action book. It makes you fall in love with the characters and the places they go. She has always been an expert at bringing out the emotions in her readers and she does to with great skill in this novel, the scene where he meets Pandora again after so many centuries but must let her go is heartbreaking. I started off loving Marius as a character in her earlier books, then as she wrote more books coming to dislike him, but reading this has made me once again come to admire and respect and have empathy for this character. He shall now always be one of my favourites of all her characters. If you have not read any of her other Vampire novels then this is a good one to start with. As long as she writes books like this I will be a fan and eagerly buy her work.
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