Rating: 
Summary: about blood and gold
Review: Marius had always been my favorite character in the vampire chronocles. The wise roman, the optimist, and the true immortal who can adapt with any era. This book however ruined him for me ... he is an immortal whining, complaining about his experience in immortal life. This is so unlike the image I had of Marius in the previous books. However once you get past that "woe to me" theme ... Anne Rice continues to tell a good story. This book is a whole lot better than "the vampire armand (which i believe is the worst of the vampire chronicles)" but still not up to Rice's usual standard.
Rating:
Summary: Should have been called tarnished and rusty
Review: Anne Rice's style of writing is tedious and boringly repetitive. The characters, although described with an abundance of verbiage, are shallow, vain and conceited. Reading this novel was like wading through mollasses just to get to an ending that was a real let-down!
Rating: 
Summary: Deja Vampire?
Review: In "Blood and Gold," readers once again meet a modern-day vampire and then flash back to the past to discover their past. This time around it is the ancient vampire, Marius, who gets the biographical treatment from Anne Rice. Given his age and importance in vampire genealogy, Marius has made many appearances in past Rice novels. As other reviewers have noted, this leads to some retread over material covered earlier in the series. This is not necessarily a bad thing. We are given a new perspective (or is it revisionist history?) and also a refresher course for those of us who read the original stories many years ago. Overall, "Blood and Gold" is a slight improvement over more recent installments of "The Vampire Chronicles." While Marius clearly takes the crown as "king of vampire angst" in this volume, he is a much more bearable character than he was in "The Vampire Armand." Rice adds more pieces of the puzzle as Marius travels across Europe through the centuries and deals with the usual dysfunctional relationships with his fellow immortals. After the leisurely exploration of Marius' life, the ending seems a bit rushed. We are given a "Cliff Notes" recap of Marius' storyline from "The Vampire Lestat" and "Queen of the Damned" and then catapulted back to the present day for some vampire vigilante justice. Ultimately this is another mixed bag for Rice fans (those who have not read Rice should definitely not start here). With all the groundwork already established, it seems an impossible task for Rice to ever write a "Vampire Chronicles" that is equal in energy and excitement to the earlier installments. But not unlike her protagonists' thirst for blood, Rice aficionados' desire for new/more tales are likely never to be quenched.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing new...
Review: It seems like Anne Rice is no longer writing to entertain, but to indulge herself. How many novels are we going to have with erotic undertones and spews of the same old quickie "history lesson"? There is no plot or story, but lots of the same old hash of Anne trying to impress her readers with her lengthy descriptions of vampires who love literature, music, wine (just talking about it for a few pages, not actually drinking it), fine art, and homoeroticism? Not every person loves "cultured beauty" and thinks of people in terms of beauty and eroticism, not gender; nor should every vampire be the same! We are not reading to learn about art and culture of hundreds of years ago; that should further the plot as in "Lestat", not comprise it!
Ah, well, at least it actually talked about vampires some, unlike Merrick, which was "witches this, witches that..." Still, if readers want withces, read "Mayfair Witches", eroticism, "Sleeping Beauty", vampires ... well, it used to be the vampire chronicles, but instead of writing new books about different things, she tries to cram it all into a "Vampire Chronicles" book. You can't please 'em all with one book, Anne, stop trying!
Rating: 
Summary: Anne Rice's Finest
Review: I found this book to be the best out of all of the Vampire Chronicles. Mrs. Rice continues to intrigue the reader with the mysterious Marius. From the halls of Ancient Rome to modern day Europe, this book takes you on a breath-taking journey. The reader finally gets to know who the real Marius is, not just the legend from The Vampie Lestat.
Rating: 
Summary: When will Anne Rice start writing again?
Review: When will Anne Rice start writing again? In this book we are introduced to a new character in the beginning, (which could be interesting) but then the rest of the book is nothing more than pulling chapters from books already written, i.e. "Armand", "Pandora", "Queen of the Damned" While I was reading the book I started recognizing paragraphs word for word. I actually went to my collection thinking I already owned this book and read it long ago. She has taken whole chapters from other books and pieced them together to make this one, with the exception of the beginning and end. Could it be she wants to put something out there promoting the new movie "Queen of the Damned"? The ending was a quick and unintelligble finish to the new character, Thorne, introduced in the beginning. So sad. I've loved the Vampire saga up to this book, I'm sad to say my next Anne Rice book purchase will be scrutinized carefully to make sure I haven't already read it.
Rating:
Summary: Anne Rice at her best.
Review: This is perhaps her best story of all.
I bought it because I am captivated by all her Vampire Chronicals.
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 occured. 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. If you have not read any of her other Vampire novels then this is a good one to start with. As long as she writed books like this I will be a fan and eagerly buy her work.
Rating:
Summary: A good book, but not great
Review: First off,I enjoyed this book. But I am forced to admit that it's probably because I am a fan of Anne Rice and not because this book is particularly special or inventive. I am also forced to agree with those reviewers who have called it more of the same. If you're a fan as I am, you'll probably enjoy this book. There's a lot to like, but also a lot to lament, because there's really nothing new here. Maybe that's good, though--the Vampire Chronicles have entertained many of us for years. Just don't expect to be blown away. Chances are you won't be.
Rating:
Summary: How awful can a book get? Read Blood & Gold and find out!
Review: Now, I'm a big Anne Rice fan and I love the majority of her books but this has to be one of the worst books along with "Armand"! The book is basically "Queen of the Damned" and "Armand", "pandora" all in one, all over again. Why do we need a repeat of those books again? I really advise Anne (yes I know she'll never listen) to get an editor again for her books. I know she's against and stopped using one for her books years back but she really REALLY needs one desperately. If she wants her fans to stay interested then do us the favor and please get the stories back intact!
Rating:
Summary: I have a question...
Review: while I enjoyed this book a lot, as I have with all other books in the vampire chronicles, I have a question on my mind. Having read Pandora previously, I cannot help but find discrepancies between it and Blood and Gold. Like, in Pandora, her Indian lover was discribed as this evil dominating vampire, and yet in Blood and Gold, it seems that Pandora wants to stay with him and that she loves him, in fact we find out that she made him! What's going on? And Bianca was never mentioned in Pandora...Anyway things like that made my experience if reading this book a bit dissapointing...it made it less "real" you know? But all in all it is great book for all Riceans!
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