Rating: Summary: A bit wordy at times but entertaining overall Review: I thoroughly enjoyed reading "The Vampire Armand". Not much of his life was given to the readers in previous books, just crumb by crumb. Here the reader gets the whole enchilada, figuratively speaking. I must admit when I was reading how he was captured as a slave to be sold, that part of the book was a bit too lengthy and kinda bored me to tears. Armand led quite the hedonistic life with Marius, up until he was separated from his master by those rogue vampires. From the hedonistic life he had with Marius, Armand moves on to leading a coven of vampires whose beliefs do not coincide with what Marius installed in Armand's morals. And then we see Armand in modern day society from when he tried to set himself on fire after viewing the veil that God gave to Lestat to his new life with his two new companions Sybelle and Benji. Compelling for the most part but it could have used a little improvement I suppose.
Rating: Summary: In a rut Review: I have a message for Anne . . . why the obsession with homosexuality in the vampire books. we love your style, we love your themes.....but, i am 51 and my daughter is 30, we are both a little tired of the guy on guy stuff.
Rating: Summary: The last good one for a while. Review: This book was fantastic! We now know about Armand not by the way Louis, or Lestat thinks of him, but the real story! take my advice, read this then read the whole siries over (skipping Memnoch) and savor becuse after this the books take a sharp decline
Rating: Summary: Unveiled Review: First, let me say this novel is great!!! With it Anne Rice filled in all the blanks about what motivates Armand. From his previous appearance in "Interview" we see him as a selfish, lifeless (no pun intended) creature looking too infuse his boring existence with the aid of Louis. In the process he destoys Claudia and in turn extinguishes the one thing he needs and wants from Louis, love. In "Lestat" we see him as an evil frightening creature, not as evil as in Interview, but evil none the less, he is desperate to join up with Lestat and Gabriel. Again, he is searching for acceptance and love. Rice briefly lets us into his past through Lestat's mind reading. We learn bits and pieces about how he was made and by whom. Also we learn that he is really a wounded child. Kidnapped, raped, sold into slavery, and ? saved by Marius. Is he really evil? We are unsure at this point. When he appears in "Queen of the Damned," he a slightlty different character, a little more sure of himself, and learning the ways of the modern world through Daniel. He wants from Daniel the same thing he has always wanted, love. Daniel can't give this to him because Daniel has his own demons to contend with. Also Daniel's main interest in Armand is the possiblity that Armand will give him the dark gift. Which he finally does, and by doing so loses Daniel. I won't mention his role in "Memnoch the Devil," only to say that the "The Vampire Armand" begins where "Memnoch the Devil" left off. Finally, in "The Vampire Armand," we see the charecter as he truly is. He is not an evil creature, but a child who has been abused and misused trying too understand himself. Desperate for love, understanding, and true acceptance. Up untl this point the character had seemed the selfish and cruel one. But, alas he is not, it is everyone else who is cruel. Including Marius, another wonderful character that I hope Rice explores further. Marius, who seemed the "good guy type," had his kind moments with Armand, but he like Armand's kidnappers, Lestat, Louis and Daniel were all looking satisfy their own needs and take advantage of this sad insecure child. Just read between the lines and all becomes clear. I think Armand sums it up best when he tells David Talbot "Everyone would ravage a guilty cunning child!" Again, this novel is effective in filling in the blanks. I loved it, just as I love all the Vampire books by Anne Rice. Historically set in the renaissance, descriptive of the time period's clothing style, decorative furnishings and society norms. If you like vampires, history, art, and a good story that moves you, read this book. You won't be disappointed. On the other hand if you are offended by sexual situations, you probably won't like this novel. But then you are probably not an Anne Rice fan anyway.
Rating: Summary: Not what I thought at all Review: From the beginning of the Vampire Chronicles, I've loved the series. Lestat is amazing, and I'm hooked. However, I was very disappointed by this book. Personally, I'm biased. =) Lestat is my favorite, and I guess no other vampires measure up to him. That was my problem with Armand. I put the book down after reading half of it months ago, and I'm having the hardest time going to pick it up again. Being pleasured by little boys completely grossed me out, but I'm not leery to pick up another book if Lestat is the main character. Maybe I'll get into it again, maybe not. I can't wait to pick up Merrick, and I would gladly re-read previous books in the vampire chronicles. Anne Rice has never let me down with descriptions of where the vampires are, she is one of the best authors I have ever read.
Rating: Summary: Not worth the effort... Review: Rice crosses the border that separates enduring saga from unnecessary fluff. The prior novels in the Vampire Chronicles featured characters and events which keep you reading. Lestat and the others never stopped entertaining the reader, however much they dwelled upon the details of scenery, clothing and their interactions with the other characters.That's not the case with this book. Armand is simply a lesser, unimportant character whose own personal history lends very little to the overall storyline. Armand just isn't very interesting. Where Lestat's stories kept moving, Armand's tale flounders in too many descriptions of his own clothing, his wallowing in self-pity, his lack of real impact on the plotline. About halfway through the book I found myself grumbling about Armand's incessant "weeping" and bemoaning of his past. Where the books featuring Lestat always balanced character, detail and storyline, The Vampire Armand features a primary character who comes across as uninteresting, cowardly and clothing-obsessed. The book simply rides on the coattails of the previous, more interesting novels in the series. Rice has written far better than this and readers can skip this installment without missing much.
Rating: Summary: An opportunity wasted Review: Despite my misgivings after the fourth book in the cronicles I gave in and read this book. Unfortunately I wished that I hadn't or at least that I hadn't hope for more. This book is frankly boring it is over long in it descriptions of places, objects and things and too short excitement. After the wonderful Vampire LeStat this book is a disappointment. It waxes on and on about unimportants things for more pages than are necessary. It misses all the opportunities to become great, skipping over the vampires true nature in exchange for pretty words and descriptions of their surroundings. Vampires are truely soleless beings who are by their nature ruthless, evil and quite sexy. None of the vampires in this tale are any of these things, instead they are just shells not given the opportunity to develop truly vampire natures. Not recommended to LeStat fans.
Rating: Summary: Anne Rice is a goddess Review: Anne Rice's sixth installment in the vampire chronicles is a worthy addition. Where as the first one , Interview with a Vampire should never have been written. The indepth look at Armand and the trials and tribulations of his life gives his character more meaning and wants me to re-read things from a different perspective. An excellent book and hopefully she keeps the same trends on her next work.
Rating: Summary: simply astounding Review: Anne Rice has always been one of my favourite authors, and although my favourite character has always been Louis (not only because Brad Pitt played him), I found this book to be enthralling. There's no doubt about it, Anne Rice is a genius. She descibes all her characters such that you feel like you know them in side out; the way she depicts modern and new settings is fascinating. She's actually what inspired me to write even though I'm about as good at it as Britney Spears is at singing (conincidentaly if you're a Britney Spears fan I apologize. ) And if Anne Rice ever reads this (which I doubt) then I'd just like to say: thankyou thankyou thankyou! and help! Okay and I know everyone's entitled to their own opinion but if you didn't like the book (which makes you crazy) do you really have to write about how terrible it is and talk about how she can't write anymore? First of all she can write, better than almost everyone else I might add, and second don't critisize people when you can't do better yourself. If you haven't read this book you really should and all the other books in the Vampire Chronicles because to be frank their f**king good :) ym012@hotmail.com
Rating: Summary: Don't read this if you are in a Catholic School Review: Like every Ann Rice novel, it is very compelling and spellbinding. A mastermind of pure invention. I loved every moment and how it ended was great. A book that you cannot put down.
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