Rating: 
Summary: I'm hopeful for this author's future.
Review: I think Christopher Rice shows some promise. I gather that he is published earlier than he should have been because of his mother. In fairness, the book did grab me and I read it quickly. It is spectacularly uneven. As other reviews have noted, some of the writing is immature and clumsy and truly does remind one of a fairly promising student in a high school creative writing class. At other times, Rice turns out some fine pages, or at least, paragraphs. I don't mean to presume, but I do think as I read this that Rice over-identifies with the main character and has far too much emotional investment in the story. Just about every major character has sex with this guy, or abuses him, or has sex with him AND abuses him. One gets the impression that we are getting way too much of the author's fantasies here. We need good books about the struggles of young gay people, this one is spoiled by undeveloped writing, neglectful editing, and too much personal ax-grinding.
Rating: 
Summary: intense and deep
Review: I am in love with this book. You can't help but to read more and more. Some books I read have a slow beginning and it drags for a good 200 pages but " A Density of Souls " grabs you from the start. The mystery and erotism of the book keeps me interested. The characters each has there own little personal hell which anyone human can relate to and I'm pretty sure after you've read about each character and how they deal with the world you can find someone in there that you can relate to in some way or another. I am straight and religious but I don't find this book disgusting at all. As a matter of fact this book opens my mind to male/male relationships and how difficult it is to deal with(not that I agree to them).
But basically what I am saying is that you can't go wrong with this book. It will make you laugh, cry and think about your own humanity in the process. It's beautifully written and I can't wait 'till Christopher Rice next book comes out in Feb/2002
Rating:
Summary: Incredible
Review: This book is simply hypnotic... I couldn't put it down. It is beautifully written, eloquent and intelligent. I recommend this book to everyone who loves a good mystery tinged with eroticism.
Rating:
Summary: a passionate, awesome, book
Review: Usually the first book is the best it's the one you always remember.....i cant wait to see if his other books are up to the copetition with this outstanding phenomanuon.... He knows how to make a fantastic piece of work, without the use of supernatural powers that his mom used.
Rating:
Summary: A Dark, Beautiful Story...
Review: I won't go into the plot, you can read about that elsewhere. I thought this book was amazing! I think that Christopher Rice is a much better writer than his mother has ever been!
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad for a first novel
Review: Ok, the big uproar about this book is that people think it was only published because his mother is Anne Rice. It's probably true. How many people get published that young? Anyway, who cares? It's a decent novel and people should just shut up about his mother. I'm also not gonna compare him to her in this review. Another thing people just can't seem to shut up about is that they think the main character, Stephen, is Christopher Rice. I can't help but think that people say this because he is gay. I don't really care if it's true. Many other writers do the same thing and Stephen is developed well enough that it doesn't matter. Now that I've cleared that up here's the actual review. I liked this book. It's not the best book I've ever read but it's far above average. Christopher Rice's style is descriptive with out getting stale and it has just a touch of gothic. I also liked most of the characters. Usually in books that switch POVs there are a few characters that bore me to tears but I didn't really have that with this book. A few of them could have been developed a little better though. The plot was also interesting enough to hold my interest through out the whole book but it can be a bit jumbled in places. There were also a few typos. If he used an editor they need to get smacked. My favorite scene is when Stephen's boyfriend breaks up with him because Stephen didn't share his dots with him when they went to see a move. So then Stephen buys a huge box of dots and leaves them on his door. There are more dramatic scenes in the book but that one is just so funny and cute I can't help loving it. Overall this is a good first novel. Christopher has all the makings of a great writer. His skills just need to be polished a bit. Slash (male/male or female/female sexual relations. In this case male/male) fans should enjoy this book a lot. If you aren't a slash fan you might not like it too much but it is still worth reading. I'm defiantly going to buy his new novel when it comes out in February. Hopefully it'll be even better than this one.
Rating:
Summary: Like mother like son
Review: i havne't read any ann rice novels, but they get alot of good reviews. i can only think that chris got it from her. this book is really awesome. i didnt' know what to expect really, but i like reading young authors, so i decided to buy this book and i was not dissapointed. this book was great and i definatly recomend it to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Depressing Drama!
Review: It would be too easy to bash this book; Christopher Rice's first effort is a melodramatic mess of a novel. Although he captures mood and atmosphere excellently I just couldn't believe in the characters and what was happening. I must admit I am not a follower of Gothic novels which I think Mr. Rice is trying to duplicate here. (Leave the scary stuff to your Mom, Chris) Question: Is everyone in New Oreleans gay and/or a drunk? Hopefully Mr. Rice's sophomore effort will be more promising.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Reading
Review: For a first-timer, I thought it was beautifully written. I'm a huge Anne Rice fan, so I figured I would give her son a shot. He certainly has his mother's gift for words, & does give her a run for her money, as far as I'm concerned. Some of it was a LITTLE over the top, yes, but otherwise I thought it was wonderful. I cannot wait to read "The Snow Garden".
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining, yet surreal
Review: A Density of Souls, written by Christopher Rice, is a coming of age story focused around four high school students. Stephen, Meredith, Greg, and Brandon grew up in New Orleans as best friends until high school started. The friendship splits after Stephen's sexual incident with the group the summer before entering Cannon High. From then on, Stephen is a sensitive freshman who is afraid of his homosexuality, and is ostracized by his former friends. The narrative is then guided by juvenile emotions and displays of cruelty.
After two mysterious deaths the story line jumps ahead 5 years. The friends are brought back together to discover the truth about the murders and the characters themselves.
Rice uses 3rd person omniscient point of view to tell the story. He uses detailed descriptions of the character's thoughts and feelings to bring them to life for the reader. Rice also incorporates imagery to effectively introduce to setting. A Density of Souls is mainly based on the theme of betrayal. Stephen, the protagonist, deals with betrayal of his supposed friends through most of the novel.
I cannot compare the plot of this book to any other books I've read. Rice portrays the high school scene in a graphic and tragic way. Son of the events in the story seemed forced and unnatural. While the book was entertaining and held my interest, I didn't feel a major connection with the characters or the story itself. I would recommend this book to someone who is looking for a different type of read. Be aware that the book can entertain, or greatly offend its reader.
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