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Summary: The Tale Of Marius - What I Expected and More!
Review: Before you read any more from me, I will repeat what I say to anyone who wants to read any book in the Vampire Chronicles: You MUST read them all, in order, or the story can tend to have holes in it. Remember, this is a Chronicle, and reading from the end or middle first is not going to be helpful.Having said that, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It had everything in it that I expected, but it also had more. The story of Marius; everyone knew that was what this book was all about. A few more details to fill in the gaps from the previous books. Perhaps to make it all a little more clear. What we get is that and much more. Not only is his story told here, but we also learn about the man. His fears and doubts, the lies he has been telling himself for 2000 years and the fears that he still has trouble verbalizing. Marius is an immortal who is every bit the human he was before he was taken to the Druid grove and made a blood drinker. Even 2000 years hasn't been able to remove his humanity. This is what I always suspected of Marius, but there was never any way to confirm it in either deeds or words. This is not to say that this is all there is in this book. The details that were missing from the story of Marius and Pandora, and Marius and Armand, are filled in here. There is never a true story about a relationship when only one side is heard. We now have Marius' side of the story, which makes some of the things that were confusing much clearer. We also have the proof of Marius' need for others, be they mortal or immortal. And the answer to the biggest tease from "The Vampire Armand" is a twist that I did not expect, and thoroughly enjoyed. Yes, there is no Lestat, no Louis, no David, but there are others who do not appear until the end, but this is the only place they could have appeared. Though some may call him inconsequential, the character Thorne is anything but. He is a vital and necessary character from start to finish. This is a story told in the first person, and for that to happen, there needs to be a story teller and a listener. Thorne, as the listener, is a perfect character.Without Thorne, there is no way for Marius to tell his story. And, in the most surprising ending of any of the books in the Chronicles, Thorne plays a most dramatic and important role. In summation, this is not the best book in the Chronicles, but it is far from the worst. I would recommend this to any fan of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. But as I said at the beginning, if you haven't read the whole series, a lot of this may be confusing.
Rating: 
Summary: horrendous
Review: Am I alone or does anyone else think Anne Rice has a problem remembering what her earlier characters have done? I remember that at the end of 'Armand' Marius and Santino are friends, walking around NY together. Yet here, Marius wants Santino dead for centuries-old offenses. What gives?
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Summary: This book (...)... and I'm not talking about the vampires
Review: Blood and Gold is a sad example of a writer who has lost touch with the characters that made her legendary. It should not even be labeled a vampire chronicle...its sub-title should be Anne's Rice needs more money than she already has and knows that her fans are dumb enoough to buy this book. It is just a rehashing of her older books with the expection of Ms. Rice trying to erase any of the homoerotic tendencies of her early works (ex. Marius' great love is now Pandora instead of Armand). The question must be asked why did Anne feel it necessary to invent another vampire, Thorne, instead of having Marius tell his story to David like everyone else has and why allow this upstart vampire to kill off a character that would have made a much more interesting book, the little-known about Santino? We can only pray that Ms. Rice goes back to her roots or that some lesser known author will step up to the plate. One star is an overstatement when it comes to this book!
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Summary: Whatever....
Review: I love Anne Rice. I love the Chronicles (though not nearly as much as the Mayfair Witches). Why didn't I love this book? As you've probably already read, because there's nothing new here. Readers of all the Chronicles know most of this information about Marius. And as I've never really been as fascinated by him as I have by Maharet, Mekare, Pandora, et al., this book seemed more like filler to the next chapter. I don't understand why Rice continually pens these love missives to her male alter-egos, when she's continually created vibrant and exciting FEMALE characters. Why was Pandora's volume so thin, when she's lived over 2000 years? She's Marius' age, she appears fleetingly in most of the other texts, but she only merits a novella instead of the full treatment? Where are the volumes on Maharet and Mekare? The twins are the oldest vampires still walking the earth, and they spent most of their 6000 years apart? THAT would make for some fascinating storytelling. The only reason to read Blood and Gold is to glean more about the Vampire Bianca, a fledgling of Marius's. As she is younger than Armand by only weeks, it stands to reason she was not destroyed by Akasha, and still walks. There's someone I'd like to read about. Since Rice has decided not to continue the Mayfair series, it sure would be nice if she could give us some anti-heroines to read about in their place.
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Summary: Beautifully written, but no shattering revelations.
Review: In Ms. Rice's latest installment in the Vampire Chronicles, Marius tells his story. _Blood and Gold_ is beautifully written, but adds little more than details to Ms. Rice's vampire universe. Parts of Marius' life have been told in other volumes of the Chronicles, but Ms. Rice manages to avoid too much repetition. About 80 pages of the book is devoted to events previously recounted in _The Vampire Armand_, but the rest is either greatly expanded from previous tellings, or completely new. All of it is written is Ms Rice's distinctive style. As a reader, I shared Marius' love of his ancient cities, beautiful art, and his mortal and immortal companions. Unfortunately, the biggest problem with the novel is that it is really just backstory. None of the events Marius describes are particularly important to Ms. Rice's world. The themes that made her earlier Chronicles so compelling - the discovery of vampiric nature and origins, the suspense and danger in Akasha's plans for conquest - are sadly absent. As they must be, for those stories have been told. Even the introduction of a new character - the mysterious Thorne, an ancient vampire whose origins are linked to Maharet herself - was not enough to infuse the series with some new blood. What little we hear of his history, while tantalizing, is quickly forgotten as Marius takes center stage. Thorne's sudden dramatic role at the very end of the novel would have had more impact had we known more about his past. If you have read _Pandora_, _The Vampire Armand_, and _Vittorio the Vampire_, then this novel will hold few surprises for you, in content, style or author's intent. _Blood and Gold_ is every bit as good as Ms. Rice's more recent novels in this series, but it suffers from the same lack of new insights into the creatures she's created.
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Summary: The art critic
Review: Anne Rice finally sheds some light on the mysterious Marius. His tale is long and dramatic as expected. This book separates itself from the other Vampire Chronicles (excluding Pandora) due to Marius having a belief system that predates Christianity(obviously). The typical philosophical arguements presented in Anne Rices work are painted differently here, due to Marius arriving in the world as a "pagan". He has no need or care for heaven or (...) (which is a pleasant change, although I miss (...) bells).
Descriptions are as usual magnificent, and her ability to breathe life into fictional charachters is as usual better than the rest.
One point however, if you're not familiar with renaissance art this might not be the book for you, however if you are at least little familiar you'll probably enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Back to Basics
Review: Hooray! I'm not sure if my reading style has changed or if Anne Rice has returned to her formerly, very readable format, but this new vampire book was a delightful read. The characters are well-drawn and sympathetic. Marius' story fills in many of the gaps left from the previous books, particularly about Armand and his beginnings. Having been disillusioned by the last couple of books, I have returned to the fold, and I'm happy to be here.
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Summary: Where is Lestat?
Review: I can't tell you how anxious I was to read Anne Rice's newest book. Although I am interested in the lives of each vampire, something is missing. That being Lestat, and the old Anne Rice we love and adore. The excitment is missing. We need the Brat Prince back in all his glory and adventure. Although I forced myself to read this book, some parts were good, on the whole it was boring. I refuse to give up on Anne Rice, and look foward to the next book with much enthusiasm, but I pray it is the Anne Rice of old.
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Summary: What, Did She Have An Editor Breathing Down Her Neck?
Review: I trust Anne Rice as an author, so I kept reading. When I finished this book, I was mad as could be, and I think Ms. Rice should give me my money back--I have already read this book. It exists in the form of The Vampire Lestat, Queen of The Damned, Pandora and The Vampire Armand. What's worse is that she sets it up as though some interesting and new truth may be brought to light by using the new character, Thorne, as basically a device (and not an especially clever one) to rehash old stories in far less interesting form than she put them originally. Liberally applied throughout the book is the phrase, "As followers of these chronicles will recall..." Uh-huh. Sure do, I replied in my mind's voice. And if I want to re-read your earlier books, I'll go to the book shelf and take them out for this express purpose. The only thing I can figure is that the writing of this particular piece was driven not by Rice's extraordinarily passionate imagination and literary madness from whence has come the many lush and luxuriant tales that we have come to treasure, but rather by a corporate shill insisting that a new Vampire Chronicle be "brought to market". I found this book chilling, and for all the wrong reasons.
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Summary: Yet ANOTHER vampire biography?
Review: Those who rushed to the bookstore on the day of its release find that the rush was over once the pages started to turn. Rice introduces a new vampire buried in a veritable coffin of ice, 'Thorn.' He makes a brief appearance at the beginning of the book and then only shows up toward the end when dear reader is pretty close to being glad that the story is just about over. Rice picks up the story of the vampire that we have heard so little about, 'Marius.' He makes brief and somewhat complicated appearances in earlier Rice vampire chronicles, but she never chooses to fully tell us what he is all about and where he came from. Rice ingeniously weaves the story with other books in her series, treading carefully through one of her more explicit historical vampire accounts, 'The Vampire Armand' and brings us to a point in history that explains the role of Marius in the overall hierarchy of vampires. She introduces us to a few other flashy, lavish and short-lived new vampires, but by the end of the book, dear reader feels like he has just read another cheap historical account of a fictional character, not an exciting story of the adventures of those who roam the night and destroy only the evil at heart. Those who choose to read this book in spite of my cautions are advised to read ALL of the previous vampire chronicles before beginning this one. To skip this introduction will leave the reader feeling very confused and disoriented, much like a vampire on the first night the dark gift courses through his cold, dead veins.
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