Servant of the Bones

Rating:
Summary: Them bones, them bones, them gold bones...
Review: Anne Rice boldly goes where she's gone before in "Servant of the Bones," a flaccid deviation from her Vampire Chronicles. Rice's plot has some raw promise, but it's quickly squandered by the dull characters and meandering, bizarre plot. It would take all of a genii's power to give some life to this story.

A genii arrives at a man's house one night, and relates the story of his life (and afterlife), and a weird tale it is too. Azriel was a young Jewish boy in Babylon, who had the unusual gift of being able to talk to the god Marduk. He permitted himself to be turned into a living gold statue, a human sacrifice for the sake of the Jews -- but things go horribly wrong when an old witch curses and murders him. Now he is no longer human, but a powerful spirit that isn't an angel or a demon.

Azriel spends centuries sleeping inside his own gold-encrusted bones, occasionally getting woken up to do something for his masters. Then he's suddenly out and about -- and there's no master. He witnesses the murder of a young girl, who recognizes him as "the Servant of the Bones." The angry Azriel is determined to unravel the mystery of why the girl was murdered.

"Servant of the Bones" follows the format of the Vampire Chronicles: an incredibly attractive immortal relates his life story to a listener (who, oddly enough, never seems to need the bathroom during the long oral bio). But the grandeur and richness of her other writings is missing here.

Rice seems to be aware that her plot is too short and thin to be an entire novel. So she stretches it with lots of filler -- current events (no Bill-Clinton worship, please), her late husband's incomprehensible poetry, and endless descriptions of Azriel's skin, hair and eyes. Her usually colorful, sensuous prose is weirdly lifeless and dull here. And the plot is glacially slow.

Most strangely of all, Rice starts playing fast and loose with religion and history. And devout followers of Judaism will probably be grinding their teeth: the faithful are shown as self-righteous, slobbering fanatics, while the hero worships other gods and shares prostitutes with his dad. She bangs readers over the head with her assertions that there were many versions of the Old Testament. And Rice tries to bring Azriel to the present by a story-line about terrorists, murder and a cult, but the present-day story-line feels tacked-on. It's like a supernatural Bond flick.

But it doesn't exactly help that Azriel is not a terribly interesting character at all. Over the centuries he never develops a personality, and his actions seem pretty random. Why is he so besotted with Esther? We never know. The villain is cookie-cutter, and most of the supporting characters (including the narrator) are utterly forgettable.

This story is a complete misfire for Rice, and a bewildering squandering of her considerable talents. Her dull characters and weird views on Old Testament history are only a few of the problems in the turgid, colorless "Servant of the Bones."

Rating:
Summary: Them bones, them bones, them gold bones...
Review: Anne Rice boldly goes where she's gone before in "Servant of the Bones," a flaccid deviation from her Vampire Chronicles. Rice's plot has some raw promise, but it's quickly squandered by the dull characters and meandering, bizarre plot. It would take all of a genii's power to give some life to this story.

A genii arrives at a man's house one night, and relates the story of his life (and afterlife), and a weird tale it is too. Azriel was a young Jewish boy in Babylon, who had the unusual gift of being able to talk to the god Marduk. He permitted himself to be turned into a living gold statue, a human sacrifice for the sake of the Jews -- but things go horribly wrong when an old witch curses and murders him. Now he is no longer human, but a powerful spirit that isn't an angel or a demon.

Azriel spends centuries sleeping inside his own gold-encrusted bones, occasionally getting woken up to do something for his masters. Then he's suddenly out and about -- and there's no master. He witnesses the murder of a young girl, who recognizes him as "the Servant of the Bones." The angry Azriel is determined to unravel the mystery of why the girl was murdered.

"Servant of the Bones" follows the format of the Vampire Chronicles: an incredibly attractive immortal relates his life story to a listener (who, oddly enough, never seems to need the bathroom during the long oral bio). But the grandeur and richness of her other writings is missing here.

Rice seems to be aware that her plot is too short and thin to be an entire novel. So she stretches it with lots of filler -- current events (no Bill-Clinton worship, please), her late husband's incomprehensible poetry, and endless descriptions of Azriel's skin, hair and eyes. Her usually colorful, sensuous prose is weirdly lifeless and dull here. And the plot is glacially slow.

Most strangely of all, Rice starts playing fast and loose with religion and history. And devout followers of Judaism will probably be grinding their teeth: the faithful are shown as self-righteous, slobbering fanatics, while the hero worships other gods and shares prostitutes with his dad. She bangs readers over the head with her assertions that there were many versions of the Old Testament. And Rice tries to bring Azriel to the present by a story-line about terrorists, murder and a cult, but the present-day story-line feels tacked-on. It's like a supernatural Bond flick.

But it doesn't exactly help that Azriel is not a terribly interesting character at all. Over the centuries he never develops a personality, and his actions seem pretty random. Why is he so besotted with Esther? We never know. The villain is cookie-cutter, and most of the supporting characters (including the narrator) are utterly forgettable.

This story is a complete misfire for Rice, and a bewildering squandering of her considerable talents. Her dull characters and weird views on Old Testament history are only a few of the problems in the turgid, colorless "Servant of the Bones."

Rating:
Summary: More of the same from Rice
Review: Anne Rice continues to be one of the most frustrating bestselling authors to read. Two stars is being very charitable for this work, maybe her worst since _The Mummy_ or the colossally bad _Queen of the Damned_. This novel finds Azriel, the titular Servant of the Bones, relating his story to a biographer, a la Rice's first novel, Interview with the Vampire. The form is completely ridiculous, with the entire novel being encompassed in quotation marks. The book is rife with poor writing, and Rice seems to be on a quest to contradict herself as much as possible. It's full of muddled, meaningless prose, expressing sentiments such as, "he yearned to be free, yet was drawn ever closer" etc, etc, etc. The dialogue is as stilted as ever, and the plot clearly just a rehashing of the ideas that she used in the Vampire Chronicles. The most disappointing aspect of all this is that this could have been an interesting novel (something that I would not say about everything Rice has written). You'd think that maybe a genii would have some interesting things to say, but instead we get a ludicrous plot about an incredibly powerful cult that wants to destroy the world. If you've seen it once, you've seen it a hundred times.

Skip it.

Rating:
Summary: Another wonderful story
Review: Anne Rice has yet to write a book that I haven't adored. Regardless of those few "cool" people in the world that think hating a famous author makes them look intelligent, they are crazy. This story is about a young boy, thrust into becoming a man far too early, and becoming something much worse. I couldn't stop reading it.

Rating:
Summary: Only through death can true human need be shown
Review: Anne Rice's novel Servant of the Bones is a magnificent book that shows all of humanity's wishes and desires through, well, the death of a young Sumerian boy who is murdered in the most horrific of ways. He is trapped in the world of limbo, and is a slave to any who can bacon him; until one day he is awakened with no master and a girl that calls out his name, Azreil, in the last moments of her life. The mystery behind this young girls death and Azriel's true purpose in this world is revealed to the reader in a wonderfully dark and cold tale told by Azriel to a well-known professor.
If you like tales of ancient cultures, you will love this book. If you like Anne Rice's writing, you will love this book (since it is far different from her normal novals). If you hate Anne Rice's writing, you will love this book. If you like Neil Gaiman, you will love this novel. And, finally, if you like to read stories with demons and angles, good verses evil, ying and yang, you will love this book.

Rating:
Summary: A Fascinating New Twist
Review: Don't read this book if you are looking for a Vampire caper involving Lestat and his friends. This is about Azriel and his transformation into the Servant of the Bones. The story is actually in 2 parts. The first part about Azriel's past life in Babylon and the second part about Azriel's present situation. I found the first part to be more enjoyable due to Anne's lively and vivid description of Babylon. The 2nd part of the story about Azriel's present lacks drama and pace. The story could have been better if Azriel's past with his many masters had been fleshed out in detail.

Rating:
Summary: just can't......
Review: I just can't get into this book. I'm trying, because Rice is one of my favourite author. What's wrong with me,? I read the chronicles in neat succession, I was dissapointed with Violin and then Rice completely redeemed herself with 'Feast...'. I don't get how this ghost guy (thing) can just walk into this guy's cabin and the old guy is not even shocked or anything he just acts all normal! i'm waiting for the Black death to happen, I get nauseous when the bones are mentioned! Ok, i'll try again, but another thing, why are all the male characters half bisexuals in her books! (its' true!) off to read now!

Rating:
Summary: A Fascinating New Twist
Review: I just finsihed reading this wonderful book by Anne Rice. For some reason I am a devoted fan but I never got around to reading this book until now. I love Azriel the Genie. He is an tantalizing, alluring figure.I found the beginning of the tale with the "author" Jonathan taping Azriel's richly detailed tale of ancient Babylonia fascinating.
After reading every one of Anne's Vampire and Witch stories I found a different type of supernatural character very refreshing. I also realized how timely the idea of Gregory Belkin's mastermind plot of mass destuction is during these times of terrorism. Leave it to Anne Rice to tell such a tale.

Rating:
Summary: Really enjoyed this trip into her world.
Review: I must admit that I have been a long time fan of the Vampire books. I haven't read a lot of other things by Rice, I tried the first book of the Witches and just didn't care enough. I did read the Mummy, and enjoyed it. Then came this one. It fell into my lap by accident and I really thought "Oh goodie, another Rice book...." Not thrilled. But then I started reading. I don't understand how anyone could say the first part of the book lagged at all. I was captured from the first page. I am still reading it and enjoying every moment of it. As with the Vampire books, the homoeroticism is rich in this title. Az is of course beautiful to behold, affectionate to the point of erotic, and her eye for detail spends time on the dark hairs on both his arms and his chest. How could I not love this book? The story itself is rich in emotion and the plot has, thus far, gone along with a clippers pace. I would love to see more of this Angel of Might in future books. As I would also love to see The Mummy again sometime soon. His mention in QUeen Of The Damned was just simply not enough!! Thank you Anne.

Rating:
Summary: Bone Chilling...
Review: I say bone chilling not because it falls in the horror genre, but it is a soulful tale of a tenacious and lost man once in Babylon that became a spirit and god in his time. Battling both love and hate, Azriel (servant of the bones) takes us on his journey with his perspective of life - or the lack of.

I do not recommend this book to those that don't have a fantastical, philosophical and/or curious mind. The characters are built superbly, the storyline a page turner, and all around thought provoking! If you like this book, you'll love Memnoch the Devil by Anne Rice.