Rating:  Summary: Oh... My... God... Anne does it again!! Review: About 1/2 way through "Vittorio the Vampire," I was already recommending the book to friends and family who have never read Anne Rice and, always seeing me with one or another of her books, ask that inevitable, "What is it about her? Should I read her?" Yes, everyone should read her stuff!! If you don't start with "Interview with the Vampire," which stands on its own as a classic even as it introduces The Vampire Chronicles, pick up "Vittorio" and have a taste. I really enjoyed this book... definitely one of the freshest and most captivating things she has done in quite awhile. The prose are incredibly vivid without getting tooooo wordy. The character of Vittorio is great. Part of me wants him to meet up later on with Lestat (or maybe Armand, since they were born in the same century), and part of me wants him to be left alone. I only wish Ursula and his connection with her might have been explored a bit further, to me it seemed he was more bewitched by her than in love with her. The angel storyline, without giving too much away, was simply great, a marvelous twist!! Something about this book makes me feel like Anne Rice has come full circle, whatever that means... I eagerly await whatever it is she chooses to do next. People who don't read her work tend to see Ms. Rice as only a writer of the supernatural, but her works are layers, unmasking not just vampires but contemplations on love, spirituality, and redemption. Read this book, it will engage you!
Rating:  Summary: A sure sign that the Vampire Chronicles have been sucked dry Review: I had hoped that Vittorio the Vampire would add a spark to my otherwise failing enthusiasm for Anne Rice's vampire novels. Unfortunately, I was greatly disappointed. The first part of the novel dragged on. Though I did enjoy the imagery and setting of Florence and Ms. Rice paints a very rich picture of the Italy of 500 years ago, the story really lacked. I could not develop a feeling for Vittorio. The rest of the story was simply not very interesting and the ending felt rushed and incompleter. More to the point, the story just felt out of place. In the beginning she mentions that Vittorio is aware of the other vampires but she mentions nothing about how the effects of what happened with Akasha could have effected him. He has brushes with the supernatural (vampires, angels) but the encounters are simply not very engrossing and feel more like a contrivance. As the book closes, I felt as if I had skipped forward 500 years without really knowing anything more about Vittorio. What happened to Ursula? How is he able to feed if he continues to see the auras of living humans? What about his angelic visions? I feel that it is time for Ms. Rice to move away from vampires, entirely. As the series drags on, the quality of the books declines.
Rating:  Summary: Vittorio's Review Review: I like that Vittorio isn't associated with the other vampires. It was nice to read the experiences of another vampire in his own corner of the world, where he is unaffected by the rest. However, while the premise is good, the tale itself is good, and start, middle, and finish are infinitely readable, I was not convinced of the love story. Someone else mentioned this in another review, and they hit it on the nose. There seems to be no chemistry there. Ursula just strikes me as a word that rhymes with "witch". I didn't like her character even a little bit, and cannot be convinced that she really loves this guy. Without that in place, then much is missing from the book.
Rating:  Summary: short but very enlightening Review: This book was all that a great novel should be. I cant really say it is my favorite book by Anne rice but its pretty far up there. The story it self was so original and different from her other vampire books. I found that book to be really sad. I cried my eyes out when vittorio's family was so brutally murdered by the vampires. Most of the characters in the book were well developed and seem so real, although I wasn't too crazy about Ursula. I though the book would be even better if vittorio had finished her off like he did the others. I think what really drew me to this book was how Ms. Rice described the city of Florence. Every thing was so richly detailed and described it truly seemed real. what really fascinated me was how she talked about Florence and architecture and art of the 15th century. There was a lot written about the great painter filippo lippi, his art and about his life. He is one of my favorite artist and I though it was extrodinery how she describe his art in words . I dont think any one but Anne Rice could have done that.
Rating:  Summary: Something Different, yet Familiar Review: One of thing the things that I have always loved about Ann Rice, is the way she paints(with words) the ancient world. I think that is the true fascinating character in all her novels. Oh yes, the vampires are great, but the setting make the story. That is never more evident than in Vittorio the Vampire. Italy comes more and more alive with every passing chapter. Vittorio is a Vampiric Romeo and Juliet. Love and hate, sensuality and pleasure: all of these things have been touched on by Ann Rice before. Yet the settings transform the characters in the novel into something new. I read many reviews that say that Ann Rice has run out of ideas and that the books now lack depth. I heartily disagree with all those people. After so many vampire novels, it is a credit to the author that she is able to keep an interest alive in the Vampire Chronicles. It's true that each novel deals with pain, love, loss, blood sucking. Yet, if you find that boring, couldn;t you say that life is boring as well? We face love, loss, pain (but not Bloodsucking!) over and over again in our lives. Does that mean that we have nothing new to offer? Vittorio the Vampire may be a classic Ann Rice Vampire, but he is also something new. The character has been given depth in his pain and love. The setting of Florence and the interwoven history only add to this marvelous book. I only wish that it was longer. Before anyone criticizes Ann Rice, I really think that they should take everything into consideration. Read this book without expecting anything, and you will recieve everything from it!
Rating:  Summary: What happened? Review: Strange story that was mildly interesting in the beginning and turns into a completely different one. I found myself scratching my head at the end, immensely confused.
Rating:  Summary: Wonderful! Review: A wonderful story by Anne again. It will take you maximum 4 hours to finish this book because it is suspenseful and you always want to read more. It was a great experience for me because I lived the book while reading.. Thank you Anne..
Rating:  Summary: i was disappointed Review: it was great in the beginning and i loved Vittorio, but then i was really disappointed in how the story turned out to be.. it ended real quickly and Vittorio's character was so weak and yuckie at the end.. and all through the novel i just wished he would kill Ursula..!!she deserved it.. and i was never really convinced of their love story
Rating:  Summary: Good Vampire Story Review: This is a good vampire story. Anne Rice is hot, so is Ursula, Vittorio's girlfriend. Gore, lust and a nice vampire; everything a good vampire should have. An even hipper update of Bram Stoker and Lafenu's tales in the old world. Modern gothic at its finest. See also Rice's Vampire Chronicles,. with her masterwork being Interview with the Vampire. With Rice we get all these cool, sexy vampires.
Rating:  Summary: Ambitious, that's about all Review: The story of Vittorio's turning in 15th century (Renaissance) Italy. Vittorio di Riniari's family is killed by a group of ruthless vampires, but he is "spared" by the beautiful Ursula, which as with all Anne Rice books pretty much sparks a love-hate relationship between Vittorio and Ursula. Of course, this all leads to Vittorio being hellbent on getting revenge as well. I admire Anne Rice wanting to write a different story that has nothing to do with Lestat and the gang, but this was just horrible. It seemed promising from the opening, but then fizzled and died into verbose trash that seemed to lose its focus as well as it's entertainment value. It's obvious that she was trying something new (as her writing was a lot wordier than usual), but she failed to impress me with this novel. There are other redeeming qualities for the novel, such as her accurate description of the time period, but other than this, this is a book that can be skipped and dismissed in my opinion. Ambitious, but that's about all it is.
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