Pandora

Rating:
Summary: Very Interesting
Review: After reading some of the other reviews I felt compelled to write my own review. Granted, I too would've enjoyed reading more about her life as a vampire, however, I thought the book was quite good (especially on the heels of Servant of the Bones and Violin). She seems to be getting back into her "old form" which got me so interested in her work in the first place!! I didn't find it at all boring as some have stated!! It was very historical, which I thought was wonderful. I enjoyed hearing about Pandora's life, her transformation and a little about her vampire life. And I'm sure we'll hear about her more in books to come! Definitely a good read!

Rating:
Summary: And I thought the Vampire Chronicles were exhausted
Review: Well, there I was, looking through the bookshop, and I see "PANDORA". Another tale from the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice.

I really thought, that with her excellent commentary, imagery and passion of the previous books, that the Vampire stories which would follow would be repetition of similar situations in different times (and lets face it, humans have not fundamentally changed all that much over the last millenia - still insecure and paranoid) with very similar results. In all honesty, I did not expect to enjoy this book as much as the excellent "Vampire Lestat".

I was WRONG! An incredible book! Pandora's experiences before the Dark Gift make up most of this story, and lay the foundataions for the character which grow into an immense tale of passion, life, death, betrayal and immortality.

If you enjoyed ANY of the previous Vampire Chronicles (and personnaly I have enjoyed them ALL), then PANDORA is the book for you. Lets just hope that David continues collecting the tales of the Old Vampires and that more novels fly from Rice's fingertips!!

Rating:
Summary: Too Much and Not Enough
Review: Anne Rice spends too much time developing the background characters and not enough time with Marius and Pandora. It is very interesting to read for the historical references, but for someone like me who just wanted to read a good Anne Rice vampire book it is disappointing. Too much time was spent talking about her life before she became a vampire. But it was still worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Way to go! Pandora lifts Rice back to recognition!
Review: Pandora is great return to the characters and story lines where Rice excells! The book caught my attention immediately was read in only a day. Pandora is a very interesting woman, well ahead of her time, that tells the story of her life before and after becoming a vampire. The story is interesting and moves along at a realistic pace. I recommend this book to Rice fans and non-fans alike. Congrats Ms. Rice! You have returned to the form that your fans love!

Rating:
Summary: What to say, what to say?
Review: Well, I'm torn between noting that this one was *much* better than expected, considering the declining quality of her most recent books (let's face it: _Taltos_, _Memnoch_, _Servant of the Bones_, and _Violin_ were all snore-o-ramas - I couldn't even force myself to wade through SotB and Violin, and bear in mind that I read _The Witching Hour_ in one day), and whining that it still lacked. You would think that a successful, experienced writer could come up with a fresh plot, for one thing - I am *really* sick of the "new or formerly-neglected character spends 300 pages blathering on about their life story" format - it worked in _Interview With the Vampire_, it worked in _The Vampire Lestat_, but by now it's getting a little old. And you'd also think someone with as much money as Anne could afford a few fact checkers...I keep wondering how her editors missed the fact that Pandora suddenly went from being a 1,000-year-old Greek to a 2,000-year-old Roman. And, as a writer, I find it incredibly offensive that she could create such wonderful characters as Lestat, Louis, and Armand and then mistreat them and neglect them without even bothering to tie up the loose ends or mention why they're not around. *And* if I have to hear *one more vampire* whining about how horrible it is to feed on humans, I will get violent. What, it's evil to even nibble on a human, but perfectly okay to off stray cats in droves? *Somebody* needs a morality check.

Ahem. Anyway. The good stuff. I loved all of the bits with Marius - he has long been my mother's favorite vampire, and now I'm starting to see why. I was getting sick of seeing him portrayed as the stereotypical Elder Vampire Father Figure. Flavius is a great character. And I like the fact that, for once, Anne has come up with a female character who both appears for more than five pages *and* does not make you want to smack her. That's all I can really think of. Of course, I'm still looking forward to _Armand_ - the little "hint" on the next-to-last page was cheezy and typical, but unfortunately, it worked. I hope she'll manage to do better with him. -Twilight

Rating:
Summary: We love them so much, at least make it worth our while!
Review: Come on Anne! We've waited for tales of the Vampires after Lestat decided to check out (and you know as well as I do that he's coming back, he's made you enough money for a revival) but you tease us with Pandora! One of the ancients, yet she's only worth a paltry 353 pages?! She's over 2000 years old, shouldn't her story span at least that long? Nice imagery, good dialog, MUCH to short!

Rating:
Summary: Could have been better.
Review: This book was a dissapointment. I expected much more from Anne Rice. She can be an excellent writer when she chooses to be.

First and for most, the novel was boring. I expected to read a book about vampires. Instead, this book was about an uninteresting, dull, uncharismatic women. Pandora is nowhere near as interesting as Akasha. The character of Pandora does not possess any of the passions or idiosyncroties that Louis or Lestat possessed.

Very little of the book focuses on Pandora's vampire existence. This novel lacked the tremendous, very subtle details of description and historical account that Rice is known for.

Did I hate the novel? No, I did not hate the book. I just didn't get anything out of it and I did not see the point in reading it.

I strongly recommend the first five books of the vampire chronicles. They are all excellent and very entertaining. Each of those novels has its own unique qualities that makes them worth reading.

Hopefully, The Vampire Armand will be better than Pandora. I suggest that Rice's readers skip Pandora and wait for Armand.

Rating:
Summary: Extreamely good
Review: This is definitely one of her better novels, it more than makes up for Memnoch the Devil, and is probably the best book in the series thus far. The characters are introduced creatively, and are well developed. Pandora's reactions to various events through out the book are believable but not predictable. Exceptionally written.

Rating:
Summary: Pandora one of the best yet!!!
Review: This book brings to light a new view point of the cronicals. It inspires readers who havent read all the books to enjoy the art ful skill of Anne. i Really Dont want to spoil it. but it tells of a 2000 year old vampire and her story Written to David (from tells of the body theif) about her life and to the modern now so i advise all to read it. Also Check out Anne's new Book Violen, and the newest V.C. Armond.

Rating:
Summary: Wake me when it's over, please.
Review: Pandora was a snooze. I dozed off to my history professor as a kid, and here I am dozing off on the train to Anne Rice. This might be a fabulous book for insomniacs, however. The writing was strained, and we didn't really get into any *meaty* action. It was a tad tense as to how she would dispatch Lucius and the zealous vampires that showed up at her home, but the rest of it seemed to be plodding along Roman history. In fact - it moved about as fast as Flavius and his ivory leg. And why does everything she writes along the vampire line have to do with someone writing something down? Interview was a telling of Louis's story, and this is Pandora relating her life to David. Let's live life in the present, Anne, and just flashback occasionally to the past. More writing like the Mayfair witch trilogy might restore my faith.