Rating: 
Summary: Density is heavy with Cliches
Review: As a mystery it works, but like I wrote it is so heavy with unvbelieveable Anne Rice cliches.. ie everbodys gay, incest, and spanish moss. I liked it despite these things. I anticipate Chris Rice will come into his own style in the future. That i cannot wait for.
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Summary: Mesmerizing First Attempt
Review: Anyone who thinks that Christopher Rice writes like his famous mom should just stop at that thought. In his own unique way, and with skillful maturity, Mr. Rice has written a smooth, absorbing novel. I was entranced from start to finish, the story and characters held their own and I found it hard not to phone up friends and convince them to buy a hardcover book for once. Suffice it to say, despite Mr. Rices youth, he writes as one who has "an old soul". I look forward to your second novel.
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Summary: Picture Dawson's Creek Mixed With Murder
Review: It's a great book. Stylistically, it's like every other murder-mystery. It does, however, have a striking way of relating to life...whether you are homosexual, heterosexual, or otherwise inclined. I suggest this book to everyone, and everyone I have suggested it to loved it. The plot can be hoky, the characters a bit static, and the ending, though a slight surprise, may be a bit too "clean" for the more literarily inclined, but either way, I LIKED IT!
Rating:
Summary: A devastating story
Review: It is now 4:30 in the morning and I have not slept because I could not put down A Density of Souls. The first twenty pages I had to force myself to fight through the extremely flowery metaphors and a confusing tangle of characters; immediately after that I was hooked and finished the novel within 30 hours. The one thing that Rice gets right besides his evocotive description of New Orleans is the creation of his protagonist, Stephen who is the most compelling characters in recent memory. I think my infatuation with this story comes from the way I relate to this gay boy and later man. The other characters seem bland and incomplete in comparison. Why a five star review then? I have not stayed up all night to read a book in years - and felt such devastation when it ended.
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Summary: A young man on the rise...
Review: Finally, an author has captured the intensity, passion, fear, loathing, and bewilderment we all experience during those adolescent years. I am not even finished with the book and I find myself going throughout my day with it tucked under my arm no matter where I am at in case I might have a few extra minutes to read more. Rice develops the characters with blunt, intimate details and he maintains fresh dialogue with hauntingly reminiscent events between characters. I applaud his venture from beneath his mothers shadow into the literay world.
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Summary: Inevitable and hugely disappointing!
Review: It's inevitable that the progeny of talented horror/erotica writer Anne Rice would try his hand at writing, considering the reputation and formidable empire that his mother has built with her work. It seems almost as inevitable that her child would attempt to mimic her eloquent style and considerable story-telling talent. What else could follow but the literary comparisons that spring up with the frequency of weeds in a summer garden. In "A Density of Souls", Christopher Rice sets out to tell the story of four school friends who live through a summer forming the strong bonds of youth and innocence. Come Fall, though, as they enter the halls of high school, those bonds are strongly tested when the friends separate and form new alliances and friendships, not always to the benefit of themselves or others. At the center of this story is Stephen, labeled "the sensitive one" (read gay) who is about to wander into the dark realm of his own sexuality, at the expense of his friends, and quite possibly, his entire world. The following pages are filled with predictable and clumsy attempts at justifying the action the characters are doomed to take. Without the superb eloquence or skill that should be his heritage, Rice drags the reader through a messy and often confusing story, bringing everything to a cacophonous and unsatisfying end. One can only imagine the reasons why such a book would be allowed publication (string-pulling, anyone?) or allowed to bypass editors without massive revisions or rewrites to make it at least seem as if the author had some idea of what he were doing. Although there are some passable moments in the story which bring about a glimmer of salvation for the reader (perhaps it WOULD turn out to be a good read after all!), the majority of this book would have been better off left on some computer disk, and stored away in the hopes that its author would forget about it.
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Summary: A Southern Gothic Offering
Review: This novel incorporates any and all elements one envisions as stereotypically southern gothic: adultery, murder, rape, incest, homosexuality, betrayal, intrigue. While the book is readable and interesting this myriad assortment doesn't necessarily make the best combination. Reflecting on them, the combination almost seems forced. After reading the NY Times review, I was interested its description of a complex novel of nemesis following adolescent betrayal and brutalization by former childhood friends. However, while the symbolism is often well developed and interesting, the plot isn't plausible, and the reliance on stereotypes diminishes the reader's sympathy for the characters and undermines the plot. The aesthetically sensitive central character Stephen, with magnetic eyes, continually and excessively breaks into tears. The one culturally sensitive football player ends up being a closeted gay man and a GQ jock who attends Princeton ends up "switching teams" only after which he displays humanity. The straight football players are all simplisitically depicted as brutal and barbaric. The array of disfunctional characters all have access to scads of money but no one seems to work. While the symbolism and metaphors in the gotterdammerung denouement (excuse the mixed metaphor) which have been woven throughtout the novel are interesting, it crams in too much fantastic and implausible action, including a quasi crucifixion in the midst of a Noah's ark type calamity (you can even read in some Sodom and Gommorah symbolism) in the effort to have a profound conclusion. A good first novel, however, it would have benefitted from some further development, particularly at the conclusion. One imagines that Mr. Rice's future efforts will be better.
Rating:
Summary: A must-read for everyone: straight or gay
Review: Christopher Rice's first publishing is phenomenal. His writing is very inviting and leaves a lot of conclusions and pictures for the reader to draw in his own mind. Charater development is paced and is in-depth. The story is very enrapturing: there are turns and twists to the story, but they're very well thought out and make a lot of sense. I was on the edge of my seat and at the end of the book I just kept reading and verbalizing "Oh my God" after each paragraph because it just kept getting better and better! This book is a must-read. I certainly can't wait for Chris' second book. Even better, it would be nice if Chris developed an entire series around these characters!
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Summary: First book! I hope he writes more.
Review: Great book. I had a little trouble following it until I got used to his writing style. I plan to read it a second time right away. It's nice to see a good book with a gay theme become so popular.
Rating:
Summary: amazing
Review: a density of souls was an amazing book..because it was christopher rice's first...and because of the development of the plot and characters...if you thought it was going to be the story of four teenagers growing up together in new orleans (how many times have we seen plots like that) you would be amazed at the twists and turns that this novel took...
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