Rating: 
Summary: Like an Old Friend Returning
Review: I'll admit, I had grown bored with Anne Rice. Her last few have certainly lacked the wild originality and imagination of her earlier novels. Violin and Servant of the Bones were awful, Memnoch the Devil, Lasher and Taltos, ridiculous, Armand, repetitive and boring. Merrick is a good book, probably because it's a smaller book. Less time to play around with the grand IDEAS. It has characters instead of caricatures, themes that speak for themselves. It's a novel, not a diatribe. Merrick Mayfair is an attractive character, David Talbott, an attractive hero. His fears and regrets are reasonable. The plot is solid. I had determined quite a while ago that I would stop buying Anne Rice in hardcover, and I haven't yet picked up Blood and Gold, but after this, I'm hopeful...
Rating: 
Summary: It was okay, but...
Review: I found myself not liking Merrick very much (which is too bad, because the book IS named after her). I just thought Merrick was too conniving. I did not really the ending, it was too strange. I can't really say much about it without giving it away, but to me it did not seem realistic. I did not like how Louis was portrayed, either. He seemed too...lame, for lack of a better word. This book certainly doesn't rate with the earlier books in the series.
Rating: 
Summary: If there was a the choice of no stars...
Review: For the first time, I'm ashamed to be reading an Anne Rice book.She filled me up with the fantastic tales of Interveiw, Lestat and The Queen, didn't read the Body Theif or Memnoch, she kept me looking and searching with Pandora, Viterrio and than low and behold Armand! Than this... I even bought it in hardcover, stared at it began to read it, put it on the shelf. Six months later I crawled away from the cess pit of card board cut outs. If Rice had wanted to write why didn't she just publish it on-line? IT would have saved me [money]...(I live in Australia)and I could have turned from it. At least her new one, Blood and Gold is decent.
Rating:
Summary: Great mixture of two ¿obscure¿ themes...
Review: Great mixture of two "obscure" themes: vampirism and the Spirit World. Rice does a good job doing her research, apparently she had good advise (or read some good books) on Candomble and Voodoo.
Rating:
Summary: jonas421
Review: I've read all the Vampire Chronicles and Merrick is a great addition. It brought back Louis, Lestat, and Claudia. Along with adding depth to David Talbot, and introducing the new and wonderful Merrick. I've not read any of the Mayfair witch stories and don't really intend to. Merrick stands on her own, and is a welcome addition to the New Orleans coven.
Rating: 
Summary: A complete spell
Review: A magnificent tale of fantasy and mistery. The touch of black history is it's pages was completelly spellbinding. The sensual image of Merrick was in my mind through every page, every word. And the re-introduction of Louis as one of the main characters, not a secondary, was what really caught my attention. Finally, an answer to the mistery of why Jesse Reeves found the items that once belong to Claudia, finally a possible ending or maybe a new begining for Claudia. This novel, is the reason why Anne Rice can be categorize as one of the best contemporary writers for my generation.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: One of her best!!! I especially love the twist involving Louis!
Rating: 
Summary: Lets rename it"I Love Louis."
Review: I got this book out of the library because I had heard it contained elements from both the mayfair witches and the vampire chronicals. I thought it must be good.
For the most part it was very good. I loved the atmosphere, and most of the characters. But, I had some major objections... For example, the charecter of merrick WAS a cardboard prop-up. She seemed to be a bit of a brat too, the way she intentionally seduced louis and dumped david. I also hate how she almost kills louis, and yet no-one hates her for it. And then the author has the nerve to tell us it was predestined. ...there are only so many times in a book you can say that she likes to drink rum.
Furthermore, if Lestat isn't going to be concious for most of the book, why bring him in at all? For most of the book he's in la-la land, and when he does snap out of it, he, for some reason beyond me, fails to kill merrick for what he did to louis.
But overall I like it. I think it needs a different name though, How bout, "I Love Louis"?
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Rehashing of all our Favorite Vampires!
Review: I cannot tell you how eager I was to read this book! However, I forced myself to wait until I had read at least some of the Mayfair Witch Series, and brought myself up to date in the Vampire Chronicles. Well, Rice fans, it was well worth the wait!
Merrick Mayfair is an endearing character, and she was so well written that she seemed almost flesh and blood (pun intended) to me! Merrick captures our imaginations, and our hearts, as does the lure of her romance with sweet David.
I, for one, was especially interested in this book, for it promised to bring Louis back into the spotlight, instead of merely being a character for Lestat to lean on. And, as promised, dear Louis is back, and so is Claudia (more or less)...an exciting closure to Interview With The Vampire.
For those of us who have followed the Vampire Chronicles with interest, this book was a wonderful crossing of roads, so to speak, for not only was Louis brought out of the shadows, but near the end, Lestat awakens, making one hope that in the future, Anne will write more of our favorite Brat Prince.
I cannot think of many faults in this book, except for the back-story on Merrick. While it was interesting, to say the least, it might have been better presented near the beginning, instead of interupting the action which had begun to build. Personally, I feel that if Rice had told us Merrick's story in the very beginning, then set off with David and Merrick in the café, the action in the book would have been more fluid, and thereby more exciting!
But, for what it is, it is a wonderful book that sets up the Vampire Chronicles for life! I only hope that Ms. Rice will feel the urge that we as her readers do, to write more of Lestat, Louis, and the new fledgling, Merrick!
Rating:
Summary: What's not to love?
Review: This book has been worth the wait and more. Not since "The Queen of the Damned" has Anne Rice written a more intriguing story. I could not put this book down! It introduces a fresh new character to the story giving the Chronicles a youthful kick, after all, most of the VC characters are two hundred years old and older. I also loved the mixing of the Mayfair Witches saga (another favorite of mine) with the Chronicles which now adds new complexity and new dimensions to the stories we're already familiar with. The story keeps on building, from the beginning it keeps you on your toes until it comes to a most pleasantly surprising cliffhanger. This is a must read for any VC fan and I don't hesitate recommending it to those who are not yet familiar with the other books. I think that it would be easy for anyone to follow, whether your familiar with the Chronicles or this is your first book of the series. The fact that Ms. Rice spends a lot of time explaining the past helps new readers become familiar with old plots and therefore, be able to follow along with the new story while explaining otherwise missing pieces of an ever-growing puzzle to her older fans. Thank you Ms. Rice!
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