Rating: 
Summary: It's okay to admit disappointment.
Review: Yes, they're hers but she gave them to us and I have the right to be disappointed. Any artist that abruptly changes something good that they've already created- the fans have a right to react. It's unhealthy to believe that any human being is infallible. You can be loyal to someone and still admit they have faults. Don't be afraid to speak up, you have voices, and you have the right to have an opinion other than absolute love for everything someone has done simply out of blind loyalty for what had once been glorious. Yes, Anne Rice is an artist. Yes, she's a genius but let's face it, kids, once she signed that fifteen million dollar contract that got her pushing two or three books out a year she dropped the ball. I'm an Anne Rice fan but I'm not afraid to say she made a mistake. Okay! She made a mistake. It's all right. It's not the end of the world. You're allowed to dislike something an artist creates. You can like a dozen movies by one director but if one doesn't sit right with you, that's okay. It's okay to admit she's wrong. I am a fan of Anne Rice. I adore the first three vampire chronicles (the trilogy as someone else once called it). But I'm not afraid to admit she's dropped the ball here.
Rating:
Summary: It's not him...
Review: About the protagonist in this particular piece of Rician fiction, it's not him. It's very simply not him... That's all I can really say about it.
Rating:
Summary: Calling this maturing? You should be ashamed!
Review: The vampires were a metaphor for human struggle, emotion and questioning. It wasn't literally about vampirism. And now we have to deal with a religious tangent from a undead rock star who is certain that the catholic church is absolutely right and infallible and the world is full of sin? Where's all the talk of goodness from The Vampire Lestat? Where's the questioning? Where's the searching and angst? Tell me the angst is still there and I'll be forced to ask you to define angst because then I'd think you
wouldn't know the meaning of the word. Don't you see, you make Lestat absolutely sure, and you make sexism okay, he says religion and state should not be separated (can we say Taliban?) yet in the old books Lestat had repeatedly said that it would be great if no one has to die
in the name of God and then tell people that maturing means you stop questioning the world around them, now THAT is a bad example. That is not maturing, it's giving up. It takes away some of the humanness of the character that now
he's certain what the fabric of the universe is made of. It makes the books superficial if there's nothing left to doubt or question. Because being human is to struggle and question, it's no certainty, it's not blind faith. It's life, it's questions, it's facing contradictions and corruption.
But now Lestat has lost faith in the goodness of humanity, that secular innocence that he went on about in The Vampire Lestat novel that drew me in. To stop rebelling isn't maturing, it's surrendering. To be mature
does not mean to give up. You can be very mature and still question the world around you and not denounce others for being provocative when you're A WALKING CORPSE THAT FEED'S ON BLOOD!!!!! This book makes me sick to my stomach when pitted against ANY other vampire chronicle because it's simply not Lestat. If you recall that Blackwood Farm takes place a night before it, he's literally changed this drastically
over night.
You can call this change but Anne Rice should be ashamed of herself in calling it maturing. Don't spit in my face and call it rain.
I didn't love the blond hair or the fangs. I loved the personality and now it's not there. There's no trace of him. Yes, people change over time but fundamentally who you are deep down inside, the person you're meant to be, that never goes way. To quote Lestat himself, "We never change, we just become more of who we're meant to be." And this creature in Blood Canticle is not apparent in any novel before it. Lestat was a part of Anne Rice, a reflection of Stan Rice. And if that part wasn't there anymore she simply should not have used the name. If that part of herself has been changed or replaced she should have used a new character to express these views instead of going 180 on a James Dean type of character and turn him into George W. Bush.
I never felt this passionately about disliking a book in my life. And I THOUGHT I disliked Memnoch the Devil. I could not hate this book so much if I did not love The Vampire Lestat with all of my heart and still do. If I had nothing to pit it against I would say it's just a Catholic right wing
propaganda book and think nothing of it because there are dozens upon dozens of books like that. But if you stand it against The Vampire Lestat and then say this is the same character but he's 'maturing' that concept of maturity scares the Hell out of me. And I'm an adult. If I ever mature like that I want someone to put a gun to my head and pull the trigger, please...
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing for me but I think she's had enough
Review: Like most writing reviews, I've read and enjoyed them all. I'm a particular fan of well researched historical novels so I completely devoured "The Witching Hour". The Vampire novels are great escapist fantasy for me and I value them for that. After reading "Blackwood Farm" I couldn't help but feel that at some point, maybe about halfway through, Ms Rice had just "had enough" and decided to complete the book in summary fashion. Major chunks of time seemed to be covered in a paragraph or two. I felt like the last half of the book should have been at least twice as long. "Blood Canticle" was disappointing for me because I felt that way through the entire book. Oh, the story line was OK - not particularly gripping or anything. It's been a while since I read the Mayfair books but I don't remember disliking Rowan as much as I did in this book. Quin seemed pretty irrelevant - I'm not quite sure why he was introduced in the first place. If this was it for both the Vampire Chronicles and the Mayfair Witches, I don't think the introduction of Quin did much to pull them together. I would much rather have had some closure on already introduced characters. When you consider the cast of Vampires, Mayfairs, Talamasca, etc., it would seem there was more than enough to work with to tie it all together without the Quin/Mona relationship - which, really, got pretty nauseating. If there is more to come I really hope the Rowan/Lestat relationship isn't presented like Quin/Mona - though the last scene where Rowan comes to Lestat seemed to indicate that it might. Through both books I really had a hard time with that presentation - very "stick your finger down your throat", overly melodramatic yuck. The whole Carribean drug smuggler line seemed pretty uninspired. The final explanation as to what Taltos really were seemed empty and contradictory as well. They couldn't really survive yet they had for thousands of years - peaceful simpletons yet some are treacherous murderous, some are brilliant and some are idiots. Mainly, though, I just felt all the way through that the book was in a "rush to get it over with" - like the second half of Blackwood Farm. I really missed the depth of plot. Still, I read it in an evening as I knew I would and enjoyed it for what it was - I just wish there had been much more. I certainly couldn't do any better and, if this was really it, a heartfelt thank you to Ms Rice for providing me with tremendous enjoyment over the years. I'm sorry to see such epic fantasy end, particulary sort of limping out like this. I expect it will be a long time before anything comparable comes along again.
Rating:
Summary: Huh?
Review: I have read every book that Anne Rice has written, and after reading this book I have come to one conclusion: Anne Rice did NOT write this book! There is no way she wrote it. Her style, which comes out profoundly in her writing was not present in this book. I was wondering if I was reading the right novel, or a story told over AOL messenger half the time. The overuse of "dude" and "yo" and "cool" throughout the book, then changing the name of the nurse at the beginning (wasn't necessary at all), and the overuse of punctuation!!!!!!!!!!!!!<----like that...It just did not seem like her at all. Not only that but it was crawling with typos. Obvious ones!!! Overall, I gave this story three stars because I did like the story. I was just confused and wondering who the real author was.
Rating: 
Summary: Blood Canticle Bombs
Review: Blood Canticle does not deliver. If you thought, as I did, that Blackwood Farm signaled the come back of the Anne Rice of old, you would be wrong. Blackwood Farm is a wonderful story, full of well-developed new characters as well as our old favorites. Blood Canticle, while having many of the same characters is not even close to the story of Blackwood Farm. Lestat's narrative at the beginning is manic, but lacking in the energy or interest to fuel the mania. It's dull. I don't care about Lestat's redemption, especially when in the end he is the same Lestat. He chooses to be neither good or evil, he is still the Brat Prince. I found the ramblings concerning St. Joseph and the Pope to be boring and without any real point. There is no energy to this story, no cohesion. Rice has turned her Mayfair's into pathetic creatures whose stories do not interest me. Michael is spineless. Rowan Mayfair has become a crazy pathetic weakling worse than any designee before her, including her own mother Deirdre. And Mona. Mona, my favorite Mayfair, has become a spineless brat of a vampire. That Mona even looks up to Lestat at all is unbelievable. Mona is power to be reckoned with, even more so than Lestat, and she cowers before him. I don't think so. Even worse is what she has done to Oncle Julien Mayfair. Julien's taunting of Lestat is the most entertaining aspect of this book, Julien is witty and the perfect tormentor for Lestat, but again Rice does not deliver. Julien is not wrathful enough towards Lestat, I mean Lestat has now turned two members of the Mayfair family and is considering a third, but Julien just taunts him with witty banter. Then Rice does the unthinkable and Lestat confronts and scares Julien. Julien cowers before him, and later Stella discloses that Julien is afraid of Lestat, Julien who has never been afraid of anyone or anything. With this novel Rice has ruined the Mayfairs. The only interesting aspect of this book is Mona's confrontation with Lestat. She accuses him of making child vampires, alienating those he loves, of being selfish and arrogant. She calls him on the carpet for all that he has confessed to doing throughout the Vampire Chronicles. And rather than explore that Rice has Lestat flip out and storm off, completely abandoning what could have been the redeeming feature of this book, and later Mona apologizes for her conduct. I have been an Anne Rice fan for a long time. I have read all her books, and this will be the last. I stuck with her through Blood and Gold and Merrick, and was rewarded with Blackwood Farm. Now I am going to say Farwell to Anne Rice, because if this book is any indication of where she is taking the Vampire Chronicles and the Mayfair Witches sagas I cannot bear the mediocrity.
Rating:
Summary: Let Lestat sleep for a hundred years
Review: this book is really just a recap of the Mayfair Witches including the Taltos.its not a bad read.its not great by any means,but it does move along fast and doesnt get to confusing.the storyline involving the druglords is kinda off center; but hey, at least it wasnt expected.personally iam glad that ANNE is retiring Lestat.he has become a comic book hero/villan that i can barely tolerate.i miss Louis.but alas i suppose Louis wont be visiting us anytime soon.Anne says she will be going in a new direction soon and im very excited about that.she needs a break from the series that have tied her down.im hoping that she will try a couple of mystery novels -with or without supernatural leanings.a sequel to RAMSES would also be appreciated.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as bad as all that, people!
Review: I've read all of Anne Rice's books over the years. And this isn't the worst by far. In fact, I thought that it was a rather jaunty read! It moved quickly (unlike some of the witch books), with little extraneous content. I especially appreciated the fun she had with LeStat's character. I like his narrative voice. I think that Rice has allowed him to grow and evolve in an interesting and I believe plausible way. Why wouldn't an ageless vampire find spirituality? What else is he supposed to do with his time? Wouldn't shopping, acquisition and general mayhem get a little old after a while? I would think that discovering the meaning of his own life would be a logical consequence of immortality. It was a fun read. Nothing too demanding. Just fun.
Rating:
Summary: ...vampire catholicism...say good bye...
Review: ...its no longer about being an Outsider but being a good Catholic[even Memnoch could rebel]Lestat/Armand & Marius can confess their sin & guilt but it only looked good on Louis...those 3 vampires--L & A & M are so flat now she should have left Lestat shattered & that would be better----to me---her obnoxious god & jesus forces away the Hindu/the Buddhist/the Bright[atheisist]& pagan readers/not to mention the goth/spooky kids out there....in her-god has a box & has made our vampires stupid/saints---who know not freedom-nor liberation/but guilt & the story falls into a mess after that/this is not for you or me but only the good vampire catholic only---for us we have her/his 1st books & that is it/ & we say good bye to the Undead hero of our dreams...may the devil's road bring you back you us someday...
Rating:
Summary: I'm not finished yet, but....
Review: There is something I feel is "off" about this boook. I started with Blackwood Farm, then worked my way through Armand, Memnoch, Blood & Gold, Tale of The Body Thief, Queen of the Damned,The Vampire Lestat..I am not sure what it is, but something tells me it's our hero, LeStat. He seems petty, trite, and comical. I dont know. I feel a bit wishy about this so far. Mona doesnt seem right either, more like a trashy teen gone wild, which she always sorta was, but at least she had a better vocabulary ! Will revise this when I finish. I guess the other books held more mystery & history.
12/1/03...okay I have been finsihed this book for a couple weeks now. I will say, to quote the author from Pandora: " If you so cling to reason,then in the passage of time reason may fail you,and when it does you may find yourself taking refuge in madness" I think Ms. Rice has done exactly this. Why ? She has totally destroyed the characters that we, her readers have loved. Sorry, this book was a disappointment.
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