Rating: 
Summary: One of Rice's best books...
Review: This one of those books that just captivated you. It wasn't as good as Interview, of Queen, or even Tale of the Body Thief. But, I love the fact of bringing Claudia back. She is my fave, and I always wanted some justice done to her character just once more. I had to skip the parts where David was describing his young years with Merrick, only because I found it useless to the plot. I also wanted to get to the seance part. By the end, I felt as if David, Louis, Merrick, and of course, Lestat, were sitting right next to me reading the final fiction words of David. But, I'm only 14, so I always fantasize that the gang of vampires really exsist, and that Anne Rice is just a fake name. Overall, Merrick, is a fantastic book, but not deserving of 5 stars because the whole piece about David with Merrick in the old days. VAMPIRES EXSIST!
Rating: 
Summary: Ick
Review: This is the absolute worst book I've ever read! I don't even know where to start with listing all that is bad about it! The title character is as dull as she is annoying and the tie in with the Mayfair witches is just a lame publicity stunt. All of the returning characters are twisted till they are unrecognizable. David is turned from a refined British gentleman who just happens to be gay to a perverted molester of little girls. Lestst (yes he is in the book) seemed in character at first but that didn't last long. He was way too accepting of events. If any of this stuff had happened around the real Lestat he would have thrown a big temper tantrum and started incinerating things. I don't want to reveal too much about Claudia but I will say that something happens with her that will forever taint Interview With the Vampire And worst of all is Louis. I'm not buying him and Merrick as a couple to say the least. However, there are a few things that I enjoyed about this book. Very few. My favorite part of the book is when Louis is telling David about the daguerreotype that was taken of Claudia before she died. That scene just rang true for me. A few of the other Louis/David scenes had merit too...... just not much. Avoid this books at all costs!!
Rating: 
Summary: She can do much better
Review: I feel that Anne Rice is a great writer, but frankly this is not one of her greatest books. Her creativity was not at its peak since the ending, for anyone who has read all or most of the Vampire Chronicles, was so predictable. Frankly, I was a little bored and had to put the book down for a moment as David rambled on about Merrick's life with the Talamasca. The book really has no point , and was quite disappointing. Mixing mayfair witches and vampires was not a good combination and should be kept separate. I am not saying that the book was completely atrocious, and I do recommend it for anyone who is interested in the people David once knew and loved in his mortal years.
Rating:
Summary: Worlds So Different, Yet So Alike..
Review: In the story of myth and magic, Anne Rice brings alive a world of witchcraft with this tale of sorcery and the occult. You will actually start believing that this world of witchcraft exists, that magic is not only a myth, but a world in which you can enter without stopping to be an abnormal and rare creature. However, the beautiful, and unconquerable witch called Merrick, is known as the center of this magical world. She captures many hearts with her beauty, but her heart belongs only to sorcery, and to one man. Merrick descends from gene de couleur libres, a society in New Orleans involved in voodoo, which reigned Africa and France,- the black and the white, combined. In the story comes David Talbot, a hero, storyteller, and adventurer, and almost a mortal vampire who loves Merrick. However, the debate is in between the white and the black. Merrick is a black sorceress, and david a white vampire. Although the two love each other, and are intermingled in a single society, marriage and relations other than companions of the world of sorcery is not accepted. Merrick and David must choose love or the world of magic and supernatural powers, a world that defines them. Yet, in the world of magic, there are no differences that should separate them regardint their race. Yet, sorcery and magic is not to be intermingled with love and sentimental feelings. It is David Talbot, who has known Merrick all his life and loved her all his life who, today, recounts the tale of Merrick: his past. He takes us to the most beautiful and exotic places in the world: where the story takes place, from past and present New Orleans to the jungles of Guatemala, and to Mayan Ruins which were not yet discovered or explored in the age of civilization to which we travel by way of imagination, which the author helps such vivid description.
David and Merrick's world are combined in the two secret lovers, which give the reader a beautiful sensation of seduction, and the contradictory worlds of death and rebirth. This tale is about the combination of contradictory worlds, which are the same, yet, different. Africans and French- black and white- intermingled in a world which has no differences: a magical world. A magical world which we, humans and mortals, could make on our own, a world of love and understanding, where there is no misery for death, but happiness for rebirth and second chance opportunities.
Rating:
Summary: The straw that broke the camel's back
Review: I am a huge fan of the first three books of the Vampire Chronicals who has up to this point read everything penned by Anne Rice. However, after about 40 pages of this book, I have finally given up on her and her incredibly annoying writing style.I suffered through the other tales of the Mayfair Witches, though only because I was curious about Lasher and by the end of "Taltos" I swore off reading anything except Vampire stories. I was hoping beyond hope that this infusion of the Vampires into the world of the Witches would somehow improve the characters and mute her excessive use of detail; forgetting that with the exception of "The Vampire Armand", her new Vampire Chronicles ("Pandora" & "Vitorio") have been disappointments as well. My suggestion: avoid the witches, read "Interview...", "Lestat", and "Queen of the Damned", then STOP. Reread as necessary.
Rating:
Summary: More Louis! Less David!
Review: ... I was looking forward to the story of Merrick, a distant biracial cousin of the famous Mayfair Witches, who practices voudoun. I was looking forward to Louis's quest for the ghost of Claudia--but then I've always liked Louis. In this book, in fact, a lot of ineresting things happen to Louis--the Claudia thing, a new love, and a complete change of heart about how much vampiric power he wants. (I'll try not to commit a spoiler by telling any more details than that.) In other words, lots of character development. So, my major gripe with this book is that it isn't told from Louis's point of view, but David Talbot's. See, David has had a crush on Merrick since she was a teenager seeking refuge with the Talamasca. And while some of the interaction between David and Merrick is interesting, I would have preferred to cut a few of the chapters describing the infatuation, making room for more Louis-stuff. Fascinating things go on in this book--but we are only spectators.
Rating:
Summary: Anne Does It Again
Review: As with all of Anne's Vampire Chronicles and her Mayfair Witches. she has done it again. She has a story to tell and she does it very well. A must for any vampire or witch fan.
Rating:
Summary: An okay read.
Review: Like many of the books in the Vampire Chronicles ("Interview With The Vampire", "Pandora", The Vampire Armand") the majority of the plot is flashback/backhistory for the purpose of character development. And as with Louis in "Interview", the title character is well worth developing, a fascinating character (although I must say I was disappointed by her actions near the end of the book; they didn't seem to be in character as it was established in the rest of the story.) But there is very little current plot, although more than in any of the others mentioned earlier. Far, far less, say, than in "The Vampire Lestat", "Queen of the Damned", "Tale of the Body Thief" or "Memnoch the Devil". Less than 100 pages out of 370 are devoted to things that ARE happening, rather than recounting things that happened years ago (that admittedly have much bearing on what is happening now, but still...). Also, the writing (or at least, the proofreading) is sloppier than I remember it being in any previous installations of this series; ignoring the "...the sky grew ever more lighter" on pages 254-255, which is the kind of error I've come to accept as inevitable (if annoying) in modern mass-market paperbacks, Rice can't seem to keep track of her own characters' names. Several times, she refers to a character who she's introduced as "Matthew" as "Michael". Perhaps she changed her mind on the name in mid-writing, and failed to ferret them all out with the edit function on her word processing program. But this sort of sloppiness is really inexcusable in a writer of Rice's stature; it suggests to me that she's getting sloppy, and coasting on her laurels. This book was definitely more interesting than "Pandora" or "Armand", and didn't actively annoy me as much as "Tale of the Body Thief" (a rant for a different day) but is less interesting than any other books in the series. If you're a big fan of the series, obviously, you don't need me to tell you that you want to read it. But if you're lukewarm to the series, it's a little below the average.
Rating:
Summary: ...
Review: I liked the book, it did what i want from a book; it took me to a whole different world.
I like the way Mrs Rice writes and I'm a big fan off New Orleans and I think she at least tried to give a spin at the vampire chronicles..
And yes, Merricks character may not have been fully developed but thats o.k..I have a feeling she will turn up in other novels..
I can't wait
Rating: 
Summary: Sensuous, Bewitching, and down right Wicked!!!!
Review: ... After reading Merrick with the same passion and vigor that I have "torn into" Anne's other works...." I want some more " I absoulutely love the character of Merrick. I want to know more about her....how deeply tied to the beloved Mayfair family she is.....and I want her to become involved with the likes of Rowan and Mona in the future. I was in tears at the end when Lestat FINALLY woke up from his coma like state. The descriptions of the Voodoo rituals were, from what information on the subject I have, very authentic. The evil and malice shown by Claudia, a character I never liked, made me dislike her even more. And of course...the events surrounding Louis near the end were shocking as well..but of course Lestat saved his beloved! My one and ONLY complaint of this book is....Merrick shouldn't have been made a Vampire. I liked her as a Witch..didn't care for her much once she had the Dark Gift.
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