Pandora

Rating:
Summary: IT'S A GIRL!!!
Review: At last; a leading female vampire.

I have read every Anne Rice ever published (from vampires to witches to mummies, ghosts and even the erotica) but I have never seen a female lead (other than in the erotica). Of course their were a few females with large roles throughout the books (especially in the Mayfairs) but this is the first time that an entire book has been deticated to the life of a female character. Im not saying that Mrs. Rice can't right well as a male character because she has made the fact that she can very clear but she does things with Pandora that she could not have done with a male character.
The story of Pandora, although tragically short, is a masterful piece of work. Teeling her life all the way from childhood to present day. With the exception of Marius, not many of the vampires we all know and love are mentioned. Some might say that this is bad thing but I like it. I was getting tired of the same old male characters with the same old problems but then came Pandora. What a tale. Mrs. Rice's world of the vampires has always been accented by the great ancient worlds of Rome and Egypt, as well as the new worlds of New Orleans and San Francisco. Anne Rice is one of the best writers ever, in my opinion. I would compare her with Mary Shelly but Anne is better. Her characters are inventive and not contained within the rules of gender, which is a nice change from a lot of other books.
All in all, Pandora is great. FIVE STARS does not even begin to show how great this book. I would go on but I've not the time.

GREAT WORK!!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful story
Review: Ah Pandora. What an enchanting story. The vampire love of Marius, but not that horrid typcial "romance" love. A deep, stronger love, a bond. The beautiful roman settings make this book one I never wanted to end. An absolute wonderful book.

Rating:
Summary: Finally, a female vampire who is not stereotyped...
Review: Perfect novel for those new to Anne Rice. It requires little knowledge of the previous novels since this book started a new series. Set in ancient Italy, Anne Rice restores it's former glory to the point the reader feels they are there with Pandora and Marius. This book touches many human emotions of love and loss experienced through the heart of a woman. If this is your first Anne Rice novel, you'll find yourself reading the others to find out more about the backgrounds of the other characters. Absolutely loved this book.

Rating:
Summary: One of Rice's Best
Review: I've read all of Rice's Vampire Novels and Pandora is my second favorite (The Vampire Lestat being my favorite). Pandora recounts her story of how she became a vampire to another immortal (who has a story of his own to tell). She begins at the beginning where she grew up in Rome and how she came to meet and fall in love with Marius (another immortal). Later in life she has to flee Rome for her life because of politics her father is mixed up in. The rest of the story is about how she came to establish her life in Anitoch, meet Marius again, and her life as a vampire thereafter.

Some people say you can read this novel as a stand alone, but I must recommend that you atleast read the Blood and Gold and the Vampire Armand (both gives you a little background or some of the characters mentioned in the story).

Rating:
Summary: A Roman Vampire
Review: It was a matter of time before Anne takes a shot at Pandora, the often mentioned mysterious vampire and lover of Marius. The story was again wonderfully rich in its descriptive narration building towards a climax which failed to come.

However, the building up of the climax, by itself, was worth reading the book. What was unsatisfactory was the motivations behind the quarrel between Marius and Pandora, which ultimately separated them for centuries. I wanted to know why Pandora did not pursue Akasha's request for her to start the religion. I wanted to know how and why, in Marius' absence she sought the companion of the Asian vampire, despite her display of strength and character. Was it a moment of weakness?

In the end, I became more interested in the history of the Roman Empire which was the background to the story. Pandora was a sad and lost vampire. I was just as sad and lost in this story.

Rating:
Summary: Dreams if Death.
Review: Aparantly, Anne has sent one of her immortal children out on a never-ending quest. To gather all the stories of the myriad blood-drinkers scattered all over the world. This framework is brilliant, because it fits so well with the character of David. Once a scholar, always a scholar.

But this not Davids story, after all, but Pandoras, and she writes it in her own words. We learn of her life in ancient Rome, daughter of a senator, a brilliant mind in her own right, an intelect. We see her early fascination for the still-mortal Marius de Romanus, whom we know from "The vampire Lestat", and other books.

The amazing thing about Rice's books is that if she describes an historical period, she does not present us a pretty-picture that can only be percieved in retrospect. We see history in a way that those living in it might have done, present and real.

The thing I miss is that the story cuts of as soon as Pandoras life in Rome is over. I would have liked too see a bit more of her life between leaving Marius and showing up at Maharets house.

As with all Anne's books, read them in order. If you begin here you will miss a lot, although this is one book that might stand on its own, if you ignore the little details that dont make sense that way.

Its not as good as "Interview with the Vampire" and "the Vampire Lestat", but its still a worthy read. Go ahead, enjoy yourself. And beware of the shadows. . .

Rating:
Summary: As bad as it gets.
Review: Oh Dear, Oh Dear, what has happened to Anne Rice. This one was so bad, (I had it on audio) that I took it out of the player and ran over it with my car and tried to forget that I had ever heard it. Please come back Anne.

Rating:
Summary: New tales of Vampires, but not Independant
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was well written, fluent, and had a wonderful storyline. The main character, Pandora, was eloquent and convincing. She had me transported straight away to the Roman Empire 15 B.C.

Pandora is a joy to read. It is easy to read, and is not overly exhausting with adjectives and description, but still manages to bring in small details about the surroundings to make the story come to life.

I would suggest, however, not to read this book without reading the Vampire Chronicles. Many times, I found Pandora referring to events and people in other books which I knew nothing about. I read Interview with the Vampire many years ago, when it really was out of my depth, so although I had a basic understanding of things, I didn't have the entire history. Althugh these are New Tales of Vampires, they (of course) do not create a brand new storyline all of their own, which is inevitable, as of course, all Vampires came from the same source.

All in All, this was a very worthwhile book, and I recommend it to any Anne Rice fan, particularly if they are looking for a lighter weekend read. Not that it's filled with fun and games, but it is something easily finishable in a couple of days. I would warn a reader new to Anne Rice not to begin with this book, but instead wait until you can read the Vampire Chronicles - or at least the first two or three - before reading this one.

Rating:
Summary: That's all!?
Review: I feel that I have done this book a great favor by giving it 4 stars frankly it should have been 3, possibly a 2. The book was a great book overall, it told a story that any true Anne Rice fan has been waiting for. Having high expectations, I read though the book, absorbing every drop. But when I got to the ending, I was more shocked than disappointed. "That's all?" I thought to myself as I read the last pages. Now any person who has read the vampire chronicles knows that Pandora is a vampire that is atleast 2000 years old. So why is it that we only hear about the first 200 years of it ? The ending sounded hurried and rushed,only breezing over the rest of her 1,800 years,something I did not expect from a great writer like Anne Rice. Frankly, I feel that if she can write a whole encyclopedia on the lives of the Mayfair witches, she can atleast do Pandora some justice.

Rating:
Summary: My review on Pandora
Review: Anne Rice's Pandora is one of the greatest books i have yet to read.The story mainly took place in Rome and Antioch.Lyida is a roman. She was the daughter of a Senator in Rome. She also had many brothers and is the only daughter. Her youngest brother betrayed her family causing most of them to die. The only one to get away luckily was Lyida. Her father set up a saftey with an old friend to ensure her protection. They moved her to Antioch and she had to change her name to Pandora. while she was in Antioch she had horrorible dreams of blood drinkers and gods. She couldnt keep them to herself any longer so she went to Isis's temple and told the priest amd priestess of them. They knew someone who knew of these dreams and asked her to tell him. This man shall you call him a man was Marius. Pandora knew him from her childhood he was a friend of her fathers. A vampire Akbar was after Pandora. He grabed her in Marius's home and drank of her blood. her presious warm blood he drank almost all of her blood leaving her to be very weak. Marius as he is also a vampire loved her so much that he in turn made her immortal. You must read this book to find out what else laid in turn of this adventure and romantic love between Marius and Pandora. This book was amazing and i think it is one of Rice's best books.