Rating: 
Summary: Such great beginnings, but no intrigue
Review: The first two thirds of the book are very satisfying and interesting to read. Unfortunately, the last third of the book I kept hoping for some intrigue, some plot twist, anything to make this book more than one that leads into another.As a book by itself it is really not that spectacular compared to the previous Anne Rice novels. This book, while satiating some apatite for the Vampire universe, doesn't give you the feast you might desire
Rating:
Summary: A Brisk, Entertaining Read but definately a "Lite" Chronicle
Review: Merrick, the latest in the Anne Rice "Vampire Chronicles", introduces the Mayfair witch clan to the world of Lestat, Louis and David Talbot. This was a well woven story and very entertaining but not up to the standard of the early chronicles (Interview with a Vampire/The Vampire Lestat). Having read The Witching Hour, Lasher and Taltos, I was well acquainted with the Mayfair witches and their rich history. Merrick is an intriguing character but I was hoping to find a deeper plot with more embellishment of her "powers". It seems to me that Merrick was written in the same vein as Rice's more recent Vampire Stories (Armand, Pandora, Vittorio). These books are imaginative and entertaining. However, they are not as compelling or full-bodied as the first four Vampire Chronicles and they merely provide background for these earlier chronicles. I think for the next release I'll wait for the paperback version .....
Rating: 
Summary: A Setup for the Next Sequel
Review: I love Anne Rice and, after finishing her latest novel, I have officially read every word that she has ever published. Merrick is a wonderful addition to her Chronicles (Vampire or Witch). As usual Rice is meticulous in describing the scene, the characters, building suspense, and drawing the reader into the plot. Following her somewhat rambling plot, is sometimes a challenge, but a challenge worth the effort for this reaader. Yes, I loved the book, and yes I was disappointed when it ended, as I usually am. My one criticism is the same one I frequently have with her novels. Rice seems to reach a point when she tires of the story, or maybe she realizes she has her requisite 300 pages, so she just ends it. Her ending for Merrick seemed contrived, convenient, and most unlikely.
Rating:
Summary: Average
Review: While I eagerly ran to get this book, thinking both Claudia and Louis would play large roles in it, I was soon to discover I was wrong. Instead I find the starring role being played by Merrick Mayfair. And while I expected her to play a large part in it, I wanted to see the characters I have come to love more. Instead, I find myself with this horrendously boring Merrick, whom I have learned to hate with a passion. While all in all this was a good book, and I do recommend it to all of The Vampire Chronicle fans, don't let your hopes be too high. You'll find her earlier works were much better.
Rating: 
Summary: A return to brilliance.
Review: It is wonderful find find this author has not lost the ability to hopelessly hook the reader within one paragraph. A haunting and hypnotic tale, Merrick breathes new life into a series that was losing momentum. Brava!
Rating: 
Summary: VC fans beware!
Review: One star is too many for this book. Only a person completely indifferent to the characters of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles would be able to stomach this drivel. Perhaps if the characterization had been better, or at all present, I wouldn't have wasted my money on something I'll dread to ever look at in the future. Her writing only becomes more and more eccentrique, as though with fame and ego inflation comes a disregard for her own creations. Lestat is portrayed as little more than a vampiric waterfountain, ordered hither and yon to give blood (as though being comatose for the past 2 - 3 books left a boundless supply of blood in his *vampiric* body). The gist of the story is about Merrick, who drinks more than she should and is an utterly boring, self-serving character whom everyone thinks is a godsend. Lack of development, plot holes galore, and less cash in your pocket are the only things left for a reader who purchases this book. May result in nausea and resentment for diehard Lestat, David, and/or Louis fans.
Rating: 
Summary: Louis fans will cry
Review: Those who love Louis for his flaws will cry. As with Memnoch the Devil and The Vampire Armand, the characters have the same name and the same looks but not the same soul. I didn't know these vampires. They were strangers to me. Anne did a complete 180-degree turn around on several key facets of Louis' personality. It was heartbreaking. The poor Beautiful One. New readers may like it, but those of us who loved Louis from the beginning weep. Also, this story should be told by Louis, not David. So much wasn't described because David wasn't there to witness it. He only heard about it after the fact. Therefore, much of the really important stuff happens "off-screen" and the reader misses out. If you are a fan of the romantic, sensual vampire, maybe it is time to move to Poppy C. Brite or T.Isilwath.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: Merrick was a interesting read, especially the last few chapters...Am anxious to see what will become of Lestat and the Talamasca. Did anyone else notice any conection between the ruins and Mekare???(Just a thought).
Rating:
Summary: A STRONG HEROINE, ANOTHER THIN BOOK
Review: I love Anne Rice novels, I really do. I buy them the day they are released, and devour them immediately. But.....is it really worth publishing two per year, as the intent has been, to tell such undeveloped stories? Merrick is the latest edition to the Vampire Novels already lined up on my bookshelves. I love the stories. But to weave so many plotlines into this book, and not develop them, or explore them, when the book ends with July, 99 as a finish date for this story? Over a year ago, and it is scarecely 300 pages long? Where are the glorious Anne Rice novels of old, Cry to Heaven, the Witching Hour, the Vampire Lestat. And it is not even a question of quantity versus quality, the ideas are wonderful, the developement is just not there any longer. Merrick is Anne Rice's strongest heroine to date, definitely. I hope future novels will feature her again. This story is really wonderful, just not what it could be. And did anyone else notice on page 145 she refers to Matthew as Michael? Am I just a picky virgo??? Rice fans will love this, it is really good work, and worth the read. But please Anne-tell your publishers to pound sand, take a year, and write something up to what you used to give us, I miss it.
Rating:
Summary: A valentine to her fans
Review: Anne Rice's latest novel is a valentine: to her fans, to her most-loved characters, and to the city of New Orleans. Those who know well the stories she has spun of vampires and witches in the old city will delight in the revelations and convergences of this book. Here are Lestat and Louis, whom we first met in _Interview with the Vampire_; here is a new member of the Mayfair witch family, first introduced in _The Witching Hour_; here too are the _gens de coleur libre_, a community of free people of color in nineteenth century New Orleans, about whom Rice wrote in _Feast of All Saints_. Here too is David Talbot, the novel's narrator and a central character. Talbot, originally a member of the Talamasca, the secret order that has observed Rice's characters from afar, was transformed from an oberserver to a participant in _The Tale of the Body Thief_, here continues to pursue his personal pilgrimage of discovery. Merrick, who gives her name to the book, links the tales of the Mayfair witches to the chronicles of the vampires. She brings to Rice's rich collection of supernatural practices the wisdom and lore of the New Orleans voodoo tradition. As always, Rice brings to this material a thoughtful and carefully researched perspective, one that is respectful of the syncretic religion of Voodoo. Yet one never feels as though one is lost in some documentary, even in the sections of the novel that take us into the jungles of Central America. Always, Rice the storyteller has us under her spell. I found this to be one of the most satisfying of Rice's books in a while, in part because the narrative isn't as sprawling and overwhelming as in some of her longer books. Here her focus is on a few characters, most of whom we already know and care about. The book revels in its New Orleans setting, its "drowsy beauty." Not since her early novels has the city seemed so alive and seductive. From the old streets of the French Quarter to the ancestral home of Merrick's family, from the dusty rooms of St. Elizabeth's orphanage uptown to the wild beauty of St. Louis No. 1 cemetary, the city is alive with the richness of life and the watchful presence of the spirits of the past. This is a story of love and loyalty, both of which are tested and redefined through the actions of its characters. A climactic scene in the courtyard of the vampires' Rue Royale townhouse is as moving as anything Rice has written. At the novel's end, events have changed the lives of the four central characters, changes that will be played out in future novels from the rich imagination of Anne Rice. Rice's fans will buy this book. (Indeed, as of this writing, it's #1 on Amazon.com.) They may find, as I have, more richness and fulfillment than they hoped for.
|
