Merrick (2000) - Anne Rice - Book Review

Official Score = 3 Devils

Anne Rice's, 'Vampire Chronicles', have now taken us all over the world, and through out time, we have gotten to know characters from the two movies in a more deeper and personal level, and I don't know about you, but reading these novels, I have to say that I really enjoyed these novels a fair amount!

Now I hope that I have given you guys a fair and fun, and accurate depiction of what these books are all about, and I hope that at least with some of you, that you have been able to jump in to the series with as much interest as I had when I was still going through the novels... One of the reasons that I mention this is because this next review is for an installment in the series that is a little bit different, yet very fun!

I still don't get why this story was never turned in to a movie!

That is the crossover between, 'The Vampire Chronicles' and another of Anne Rice's famous novel series (a series that I am particularly surprised never made it to the big screen,) that being, 'The Mayfair Witches' series.

You see, this novel tells the story of how when Louis enlists the help of one of the Mayfair witches, (a family of witches, that have an old and illustrious history,) to try to resurrect his vampire daughter, 'Claudia', the novel dives in to the world of Merrick Mayfair (the witch that was summoned), but in the end, Merrick has an ulterior motive, and we will find out once and for all what happened to Louis's Vampire child!

Kirsten Dunst as, 'Claudia' and Brad Pitt as, 'Louis' in the movie that would make bring them together as vampiric father and daughter, as well as tear them apart!

In the end, this book is a lot of fun, and it does help arc Claudia's role in the series, but if you are looking for a strictly, 'Vampire Chronicles' novel... This one is not that... As a matter of fact, if you are strictly looking for a, 'Vampire Chronicles' novel, this is one that is only important in that context because it does finally allow us fans to put Claudia to rest... But if you are just looking for a fun story either way... This one is definitely one worth checking out!

Claudia... A Vampire Long Gone, But Never Forgotten

"Locked together in hatred. But I can't hate you Louis. Louis my love, I was mortal till you gave me your immortal kiss. You became my mother, and my father, and so I'm yours forever. But now it's time to end it, Louis. Now it's time to leave him."

- A quote from: Kirsten Dunst (Claudia) in: Interview With The Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)

Claudia... A devilish little Vampire girl that has stolen the hearts and minds of Vampire Chronicle fans for decades!

Alright for most of you, I imagine you guys probably have no idea who this is, (Considering the series that she is a part of has not seen any new additions in either the movie or book form for more then a few years now...)

Well that's fine, a little bit about her back story is this... (There is a book specifically devoted to Claudia's back story that I haven't read, but she plays a largely relevant role in, 'Interview With The Vampire' (1976)... So I can tell you what I know about her through this, as well as from the movie...)

Anyway, back in the 19th century, when Louis & Lestat (two of the more important characters in this story,) are having a particularly hard time, Lestat ends up going out in search of a companion to make their duo in to a trio... In comes, Claudia (their little Vampire child...)

 Louis (Played by: Brad Pitt ), Lestat (Played by: Tom Cruise) & Claudia (Played by: Kirsten Dunst) in 1994's big screen adaption of the novel, 'Interview With Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles'!

But as time went on, the Vampire, 'Threesome', became a Vampire, 'Twosome'... And the way that Lestat was disposed of being something that the Vampire community generally frowns upon... Well that led to her end in the first novel...

I hope that I haven't given to much away, and I will admit that i'm not giving her back story as much justice as it deserves... But this character was cut short... The way that Anne Rice wrote her character, was extremely... dare I say it... profound?

Yeah I said it... And even though I know profound is kind of a stretch for a character in a book, especially for a, 'Vampire'... but this little girl vampire along with Louis, helped keep that story going extremely well through out the time that she was in the book... And the movie... So much so that I would say some of the best moments of each was when she was in it in some capacity!

This little one certainly steals the show in the first of the, 'Vampire Chronicles'!

As a matter of fact, I almost felt like after her time in either the book or the movie was over, that at that point would be a good time for both to begin to wind down... And I think that, that is at least part of why both were so good! I mean there was still some more good reading and good watching in the movie form, but in the end, both wound down after Claudia's end quite nicely!

Kirsten Dunst as: 'Claudia', along with Brad Pitt as: 'Louis' & 'Tom Cruise' as: Lestat, in a scene from: Interview With The Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994):

The Vampire Armand (1998) - Anne Rice - Book Review

Official Score = 3 1/2 Devils[/caption]

Alright, so fortunately after the dud that was, 'The Tale Of The Body Thief', I imagine you guys probably were thinking that well this is it, right? Well fortunately Anne Rice came back with, 'Memnoch: The Devil' (1995), a book that brought, (in my opinion), the, 'Vampire Chronicles' back to prominence...  Well she didn't stop there!

She went ahead and did it... She actually made a book that even surpassed that one! She went and created: The Vampire Armand (1998)!

The Vampire Armand... A classic tale!

Now for those of you who don't remember the character, or have never heard of the character, Armand was a character that was first introduced in: Interview With The Vampire (1976), as a European Vampire, who is a potential would be new companion to the American Vampires, 'Louis', and, 'Claudia'... Of course like all great tragedies, this doesn't really occur...

Never the less, through the rest of the novels, he pops up from time to time, but other then that, he is not really seen... (I don't think he has a very sizable role in the second Vampire Chronicles movie...)

Either way, Anne Rice ended up doing a fascinating tale of the back story behind, 'Armand', that leads a rich tapestry of Armand's life, starting in Kiev, going through when he would meet, 'Marius' (One of the more powerful Vampires), and on up through out the ages!

"I wish mercy for any man."

- Marius, Quote from: The Vampire Armand.

In the end, I have found that when Anne Rice does these back story books of the various major players, they are very engrossing... So much so, that most of the time they are hard to put down... And this one is no different! If you are starting off the series with this book, then this one might not make a whole lot of sense... But if you have been following the series and are up to this one... Well I think you might find this one to be most fascinating!

Memnoch: The Devil (1995) - Anne Rice - Book Review

[caption id="attachment_325" align="alignright" width="263"] Official Score = 3 Devils[/caption]

You know over all I am going to say that Anne Rice's vampire novel series maybe one of the most prolific vampire novel series of all time... (That's right... I said, even more so then the god damn piece of shit, 'Twilight' series that helped destroy vampire movies for now!)

The reason why Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles are so good, is because even though each one has it's own individual and distinct story lines, they all paint an over all picture that spans centuries, that is enthralling, and will keep you on the edge of your seat, and your face stuck in a book for almost the entire time that you are reading the novels.

'Memnoch: The Devil' (1995) is definitely one of them!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="153"] A truly awesome novel![/caption]

This book I would say was almost directly inspired by Dante's legendary poem, 'The Divine Comedy', you see this novel tells of how Lestat is essentially taken off of Earth and offered a job by the devil who is calling himself, 'Memnoch'.

Now during this story it takes place as Memnoch is leading Lestat through the history of the war between heaven and hell (based on the warped perspective of Memnoch...)

During this time, Lestat, (who is watching with an observers eye), has to make his way out of the clutches of, 'Memnoch', and when he does so, he comes out of it feeling completely different, having witnessed certain religiously significant moments in history!

And when he finds out the truth of it all, this will drive Lestat in a direction in which he may never make it out of!

In the end, this book is freaking unbelievably awesome... A true comeback after the debacle of, 'The Tale Of The Body Thief'!

Tale Of The Body Thief (1992) - Anne Rice - Book Review

[caption id="attachment_322" align="alignright" width="258"] Official Score = 1 1/2 Devils[/caption]

Now I am forced to admit that there were a few duds in the, 'Vampire Chronicles'... Don't get me wrong, overall this series was a lot of fun... And if you are going through this series for the first time, then I think that if you like Vampire novels, then I think that you might really like this these...

Never the less, the latest one in the series that I thought that I would write here is probably about the lowest point in the series... That is, 'Tale Of The Body Thief'...

Don't get me wrong, I think the premise about a body thief that ends up stealing, 'Lestat's' body is an interesting premise, and in all truth, it was written well enough, I just found that I really could not get in to it.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="122"] A bland book for a great series![/caption]

Through most of the time that I was reading this novel, I was waiting for that moment where the hook grabs you and you kind of sink in to the world that Anne Rice has crafted so expertly... The problem is, is that I never did find it!

In the end, this may not be the best of the series... But stay with it, it gets good again!

Queen Of The Damned (1988) - Anne Rice - Book Review

[caption id="attachment_322" align="alignright" width="258"] Official Score = 1 1/2 Devils[/caption]

The truth is, is as a series, 'The Vampire Chronicles' is probably the most well rounded, thought up, entertaining and engrossing series I have seen to date that has been produced in the literary world, ever!

Almost one for one, just about every one of the novels that I have read from this series are not just entertaining, but engrossing and gave me the rare opportunity to actually root for the bad guy... (Because let's be honest, but a person, supernatural or not, who kills people, have always been or will always to some degree, an evil person!)

Unfortunately though, there is only one or two novels that are in this series that albeit were not bad... They were just boring as hell!

Unfortunately, 'Queen Of The Damned' (1988) is one of them!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="314"] Sad to report that this isn't one of the better books that Anne Rice has done...[/caption]

You see, this novel takes place not long after, 'The Vampire Lestat' and how these vampiric friends (the various loved ones, that have been introduced over the first 2 novels,)  and how after Lestat is taken by, 'Queem Akasha' to be her new consort, end up working to stop Akasha before she is able to kind of turn the world in to her own image of a sort of pseudo-sexual bizarre utopia!

In the end, where as this book is kind of dull (The concept of the story at first grabbed me, but the problem was, is that the story for this novel just was uninspiring to me!) One thing about this book that I did like is, how it explores the origins of vampirism in the world of, 'The Vampire Chronicles'.

So in the end, if you have been following this series, I would say read this one as well... It may not be the best of the series, but if you miss this one, then I truly think you will be missing a truly important piece of the overall story!

One Vs. The Other: Anne Rice Vs. Bram Stoker

So welcome back to an all new installment of the series that got started in the earliest days of Hellinspace, the who is better segment... Or at this point, just One Vs. The Other to find out which one you think is better...

[caption id="attachment_2127" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Bram Stoker and Anne Rice, both genre defining prolific artists that helped craft the modern vampire novel![/caption]

And in this latest round it is, Bram Stoker Vs. Anne Rice, both writers, both writers of prolific, genre defining Vampire novels, and both have had their Vampire novels made in to movies... So the question is, Anne Rice Vs. Bram Stoker...

As for Bram Stoker, I will say this, his work on, 'Dracula' truly blazed a trail that has lead to not just the modern vampire novel, but also set the stage for what the Vampire fiction world in just about all it's forms still follow today, and the novel it's self was an amazing read that for me personally took the novel in a different direction... One that I truly believe may have inspired, 'Stephen King' when he was writing, 'Carrie' (1976)!

Now as for really the primary bad points, and one of them really doesn't involve him, but more his work... And these are 2 fold... 1. Even though he wrote other works of fiction in his day, they were all eclipsed by, 'Dracula' and have lost their importance in literary history... And 2: When the first adaptation of Dracula was in the beginning stages of being made, Stoker's widow fought so vehemently against the movie being made, that F.W. Murnau tried to get around it, and the world almost lost a true classic in the movie, Nosferatu (1922)... Fortunately it turns out a print was found decades later and the movie now enjoys international celebrity!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="325"] Bram Stoker, a man who live on through, 'Dracula' forever![/caption]

And now for, Anne Rice... Well the truth is, is her work on, 'The Vampire Chronicles' went on for many decades, and all in all, mostly great novels, the truth is, is her works beyond, 'The Vampire Chronicles' will live on pretty nicely in the other novels that she has written, including: Exit To Eden (a novel that was also made in to a movie,), the, 'Lives Of The Mayfair Witches' series, etc... And the fact that there has been rumors that one of the characters from, 'The Vampire Chronicles' may make a modern day appearance... (That series ended about a decade ago, with the release of the novel, 'Blood Canticle'.) Also her novels are so popular that at least one point, fans from all over the world would flock to her place in New Orleans decked out to look like Vampires from her novels!

Really the main problem that I have with her and her work, is that some how the studios just butchered 2 of her novels when they tried to make an amalgamation of the 2 novels for the movie, Queen Of The Damned (2002)!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Anne Rice, a truly brilliant writer![/caption]

In the end, I am going to have to give the title to Anne Rice... In the end Bram Stoker started the trend, but in the end I think Anne Rice modernized it.... What do you think?

The Vampire Lestat (1985) - Anne Rice - Book Review

[caption id="attachment_385" align="alignright" width="353"] Official Score = 2 Devils[/caption]

You ever hear the old term, 'The Book is always better then the movie?' well for the most part I have always found that to be true, I mean I have found a few exceptions to this, but for the most part I have found this to be quite true....

I mean I don't particularly blame Hollywood for that... In all honesty, for Hollywood to truly recapture the brilliance that an author puts in to a 500 or even thousand page novel, you would need a movie that is several hours long (which I think maybe part of the reason why, 'The Stand' is such an awesome movie... But even that movie barely scratches the surface of what made Stephen King's original novel so awesome...)

You might be wondering why I mention this, well before Aaliyah (Romeo Must Die) passed away she did the movie, Queen Of The Damned (2002), a movie which is loosely based on the book of the same name by, 'Anne Rice'... Well the truth is, is that I think at least part of the reason why this movie did not do as well as it should have is because rather the writers of the movie know it or not, I suspect that they took certain liberties with the movie and used at least some of this book as an inspiration for the movie!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] In the movie, 'Queen Of The Damned' (which takes elements from the book, 'The Vampire Lestat'), Lestat is played by, 'Stewart Townsend', and, 'Akasha' is played by: 'Aaliyah'![/caption]

You see, in, 'Interview With The Vampire' the story was told from the point of view of, 'Louis' as he relates to a writer about his history and the history of those he loved the most... Well this novel essentially relates Lestat's past (Lestat being the maker of, 'Louis') and how Lestat starts off as the son of an impoverished aristocrat in 17th Century France, all the way to his own attempt to let the rest of the world know about Vampire's, and the Vampire he would become in modern day New Orleans!

Now in all truth I am a huge fan of this series, and am sorry to have to give this book 2 Devils, because in all truth, this novel is a lot of fun, but in  the end it just lacked that way that, 'Interview With The Vampire' as well as the rest of the novels had of sucking you in and keeping you motivated!

But it is most assuredly worth a read, and if you get a chance you might find the same thing as well!