Rating: 
Summary: And another thing....
Review: A thought on this "conclusion" to the Cronicles--though this might offend. Did Anne's new religious bent get in her way to make the vampires straight prudes? First David (remember Carlos from ToBT with Merrick (and he turned out to be a child molester as well). Then Louis with that MarySue Merrick (So glad she's gone, but how does Louis feel?). Then Armand with Sybelle (of all vamps, Armand?). Now Lestat with that (impolite word here) Rowan. What gives? The Cronicles were goth favorites because of the adrogny (sp) factor. Also, why would a person like Lestat, with his love of being seen, clothing, etc like living in a Northern LA swamp? Has he turned into Louis and that is why Louis is not seen? Also, how does Petronia feel about her fledging bolting on her? And why would Kayhmen show up at Blackwood Farm for a visit? Is Daniel still insane and why did he get that way anyway? Just questions to ponder as you try to make your way through this swill of a book. Also, this is a Witches book, not a Vampire one, just so you know. (Maybe this was actually written by Anne's son--hmmm).
Rating: 
Summary: hmm..
Review: i haven't read Blood Canticle but i can't wait because i'm such a huge fan of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. I agree, Armand was just so so boring..i couldn't put myself to reading it. But wow..the reviews for Blood Canticle..i hope it isn't as bad as every one says it is. Though i would love to see Marius and Pandora back in.
Rating:
Summary: A cartoon between covers
Review: The Vampire Lestat wants to be good. In fact, true to form, he wants the whole enchilada--he wants to be a saint. But the road to sanctity is paved with distractions--new vampires to make,new victims to drain dry, and parallel Anne Rice mythologies to meld together. Yes, in this final Vampire Chronicle, the worlds of the Vampires and the Mayfair Witches are going to merge. How? Those who read BLACKWOOD FARM already have a clue--eager young newbie-vampire Quinn Blackwood is crazy-in-love with the youngest witch Mona Mayfair, but Mona's at death's door due to a wasting disease brought on by her giving birth to a Taltos-human daughter, which child was spirited away by a lone male Taltos to an uncertain fate 4 or 5 books ago.
Who? What? Where? Don't worry--newcomers will get all the backstory they need, because almost half of this relatively slender tome is taken up with the various characters getting together, squabbling, freaking out and providing Cliff Notes to everything that's going on. And when the plot does kick into gear, it zooms merrily along. Make Mona undead before she dies-- check. Drive Rowan Mayfair nuts--check. Exorcize a ghost at Blackwood Farm--check. Take off to a remote Caribbean island overrun by vicious drug lords holding the remaining Taltoses (Talti?) captive--check. In its final third, the novel becomes a Saturday morning cartoon featuring a seven-foot-tall, kitten-faced Taltos fembot in a leather miniskirt wielding automatic weapons, and Lestat bringing down a helicopter with fire-bursts. Either you'll buy this zaniness, or you won't, but it sure isn't boring.(Personally, my jaw dropped for about 25 pages.)
Is this a fitting coda to the Vampire Chronicles? Everyone is going to have a different opinion, though for my part I feel that Rice's ultimate responsibility is to her own vision, and she should end things as she sees fit without undue rancor on the part of her readers. I'm sure plenty will disagree--just look at some of the outraged reviews in this forum already--but debate on this issue could take up more volumes than Rice could hope to write in an Undead lifetime. Now THERE'S a scary thought.
Rating: 
Summary: Magnificent!
Review: Here we have our Lestat, come back into the world from Angels and Devils. And he comes with our beloved Quinn and Mona through the story as he redeems himself, continuing the evolution from The Brat Prince to Saint Lestat we've seen since Memnoch the Devil. Rice does it again with witty charecters, sensual settings, love, war, loyalty and trust. I couldn't stop until I'd finished then I read it again. The voice of our charecter becomes that of modern times, not the winded man of Paris, but a true Sam Spade for the times. From Julien to Patsy, to the Taltos themselves Lestat frees and assists as only he can. A thrilling novel worthy of The Vampire Chronicles!
Rating:
Summary: I couldn't put this one down.
Review: I finished this book in one night, unable to put it down, literally. There very well may be answers that are left to speculation as some have not so eloquently put it in earlier reviews, but so what? I know I personally need things to ponder to keep my Beloved fresh in my mind. If everything was neatly wrapped up, it would leave no hope, no faith, no wonder to the Vampire/Mayfair legacies. I was completely satified and drawn into all aspects of this piece of fine artwork. This is a piece of someone's mind we are reading here...And I have read about 25 pieces thus far...We should be past the point of criticising by now. It dissapoints me to read all the negative remarks about a book so interestingly written. It is a different approach to the books of past, but it is our Beloved Lestat, Mona and Quinn and it is wonderful to be within their embrace once again.
Rating:
Summary: Something lacking...
Review: The thing about Anne Rice is that when she gets it right (Vampire Chronicle 1-3, The Witching Hour), her books are extraordinary. That it makes it all the more disappointing when she gets it wrong, as she does with Body Thief, Memnoch, Taltos, and , Blood Canticle. The biggest disapppointment is the language of the story -- Ms. Rice has (sometimes), a wonderful gift for language, but her lush and elegant prose is compleletly missing from this latest effort. The story itself is weak, and previously engaging characters are either missing, or curiously lacking in personality. I hadn't read her books in a while, but happened to pick up Blackwood Farm, and was intrigued by Quinn and reminded why I liked Anne Rice in the first place. I went back and read Merrick, and was eager to see where the story would now go. Unfortunately, it doesn't go anywhere. As this is the consulsion of two series, I wanted to know what happened to old favorites like Louis, and was keen to see more of Quinn and my old favorites Rowan, Michael. Unfortunately, Louis isn't mentioned, Quinn is reduced to the role of lovesick puppy/useless sidekick, and Rowan and Michael, and even Lestat feel like one-dimensional and flat caricatures, rather than fully-devloped characters. Lestat and Mona are also less sympathateic and engaging that they have been in previous books. And not that believability is the hallmark of an Anne Rice novel, but the Taltos meets the drug lords storyline seemed was a bit much to swallow even when you suspend belief as you turn the first page. All in all, an unsatisfying conculstion to two storylines that both began with so much promise.
Rating: 
Summary: WHy?!?
Review: I'm a real fan of the chronicles, but this one sucked ass. ALL he did was talk about how he wanted to be a saint, saint Lestat blagh blagh and hes all skytzo. He says things like 'dude,man,gotcha,whatever,gimme,totally',this is set right after Merrick's death. So he now has acquired this whole new line of speech in just days... He talks like some kid they picked up on the street,is this the LESTAT WE HAVE COME TO LOVE? NO!!!!
and Where IS EVERYBODY ELSE?! Just quinn, mona and him, no other vamps. There's NO CONCLUSION, and ooh yeah put michale on list of people in the family Mona's screwed. All of Quinns dead realitives have gone on to the 'other side'(except his mom *shudder*) now he cant screw any of his dead realitives ::sigh::, oddly enough, he now dresses Mona(girlfriend) up as his Aunt Queen (dead) and has her wear her clothes and shoes... If you've read the chronicles, dont get this one, if you havent you will be confused like hell. Sadly this is the LAST one too. Watch FOX make it into a movie...
Rating:
Summary: Not her best, but a decent stab at putting Lestat to bed
Review: I've read most of the other reviews here, and while I agree that Anne seems to struggle in this book for the gift she had tapped into in her early works, I don't think that this book should be discarded wholesale. Yes, it reads more as a jaunt than a journey, but the melding of the Mayfair Witches, the Taltos, the Talamasca and our favorite Brat Prince is cohesive. Anne's gift for storytelling is not lost. Anne's ability to match the pace and vernacular of her prose to the personality of each character has not been left behind. I get a sense of resignation here. Maybe Anne was ready to hang up the Vampire Chronicles before Tale of the Body Thief, but has been responding to the clamoring of fans unwilling to give up the indomitable Lestat. Did she make her fans happy? Perhaps some. I am a Rice devotee. I'd probably read her grocery lists (in hardcover, no less) and love them. So here, I enjoyed the story and the familiar Rice tropes. But also, I got the feeling that Anne may have achieved, in Canticle, a catharsis of sorts, exorcising these characters from her system so that her next effort will have the fresh and feverish feel of Interview. To those who claim that their beloved Brat Prince is gone in this book, replaced by a genuflecting whiner, I'd like to point out that the take I get on Lestat is that he's always ready for the Next Best Thing to come along. His current obsession with sainthood is just another "thing" that he'll cling to with great passion until something more captivating crosses his path. He's true to form in his verbal combat with Mona, his bent for fashion, his dining on only the Evil Doer and his desire for companionship of both the human and vampiric ilk. He's the same ol' Lestat underneath his latest "enchantment du jour" and I love him, now and forever. So thank you, Anne...for (maybe) sending Lestat out into the sunset (and not the sunrise...would he have survived a second trip?) at a jaunty clip. If I see him again, great! If I don't, then I'm already anxiously anticipating what/whoever you send our way next!
Rating:
Summary: An uninspired summary of old works with a few twists
Review: For Starters...I love Anne Rice. Her world has kept me entertained for over 10 years. However, "Tale of the Body Thief" was not what i'd call up to snuff but still a great diversionary novel of the Vampire Chronicles. Blood Canticle is in the same vein. It ties some loose ends together and opens up some future possibilities but very little else.
What I like the least is that Lestat now has cynical sense of humor. Futhermore....the Taltos thing is contradictory. The Taltos race was almost wiped out by humankind because of their passivity but in this novel the Taltos betray one another and muder themselves and humans. Not exactly what I would call a passive species. Read the book. There is some minimal interesting storytelling going on. I now anxiously await Ms. Rice's next book to see if she can still deliver the goods. I think she can even though this book seems like it was written by an Anne Rice imnposter.
Rating:
Summary: Excuse me?
Review: I have read all her books. And Ms. Rice is human so not all her books are going to be good. And besides I have read so many books I know already what is good and what is not so good. And this novel sadly is not. By the way I have a Phd, so I do understand her books.
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