Rating: 
Summary: B&G is alright, but nothing to screem about...
Review: 1st and foremost, this was not one of Anne Rice's most thrilling novels.
Ever since "Vampire Lestat" I always enjoyed reading about Marius a nd his adventures, but now I see him as a whinny, me-me kind of entity.
To me this book just went on and on with out an ending. And when it finally finished, I just kept asking myself; huh, I don't get it! I read the ending many times, and it just didn't jive.
Rating: 
Summary: Anne is back!
Review: If you have been a faithful reader of Mrs. Rice' Vampire chronicles & felt, as I did, that you were somewhat shamelessly abused as she forced us - the readers - to struggled with her through her own personal crisis of religious faith, then fear no more. ANN IS BACK! In full & glorious bloom. She writes with the same lovely artistry & purity as she wrote Interview & Lestat.
Blood and Gold is one of the best in the series. Well at least in the top four. If she frightened you off with the dreadfully vapid & didactic Memnoch or the almost worse, & definitely more religiously pedantic, Vittorio all I can say is, for this one book at least, it's safe to come back to feast on dark blood. And I recommend that you don't cheat yourself out of this finely woven & beautifully colored epic.
Rating: 
Summary: A Bit Better...
Review: I have to admit, this book is better than Merrick (which I thought was the worst of the Vampire Chronicles so far), but really, that's not saying all that much. I agree that we've heard this story before, not only in Lestat's adventures, but in Armand's and Pandora's as well. It's the same old trodden-on territory, and its boring. It seems more like a history lesson than an entertaining novel. And Marius, who before had struck me as such a self-reliant, wise and enduring character, seems to do nothing but mope all the way through his immortal adventures, moaning about the immense burden of his responsibility. Also, he can't seem to function without a companion, first Pandora, then Armand, then Bianca. He seems the ultimate Ally McBeal of the vampires. There are a lot of character inconsistences, Pandora, who is supposed to be so strong and remote is a blubbering weakling and Mael is made to seem like some fantatically childish fool. Daniel, came as a disappointment, he's seems not much more than a zombie. also, why all this sudden hatred for Mael and Santino? It was never really hinted at before. The introduction of the new character Thorne is never really justified and doesn't really seem necessary, although the insight into Mekare and Marahet is slightly interesting. The end seems barely intelligable. I tell you, i read the last bit like three times and it still didn't seem to mesh. Another thing was that annoying new terminology! Cloud Gift? Where the hell did they all come from? It was jsut distracting and annoying. If the rumours that Anne refuses tohave her work edited are true, i think that's arrogant and sad. Surely every writer, no matter how seasoned their earlier works may have been, should seek to better learn and understand their craft, there is always room for improvement. With that said, I will continue to lovingly re-read Anne's earlier works which never fail to get me, and also to read any new books she may choose to write, but I do hope she get's her passion back soon, because she seems to be losing it.
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.
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