October 2, 2000
Talbot, a vampire familiar to Rice readers, though now inhabiting a different body, relates this eerie tale about an "octoroon of exceptional beauty" named Merrick, a Mayfair witch with whom he has been obsessed for an eternity. The narrative weaves through time--from present-day New Orleans, to Talbot's first meeting with Merrick, to an adventure they shared years ago in the jungles of Guatemala. Flashbacks aside, this story focuses on Talbot's attempt to convince Merrick to use her voodoo magic to conjure up the vampire daughter of his friend and fellow vampire Louis. Fans will recognize characters from past books, including Louis and Lestat. Rice offers a haunting look at the separate but equally intriguing worlds of witches and vampires united here through Merrick's witchcraft on Talbot's behalf. Jacobi's reading of the tale is spellbinding. His refined British tone--with the slightest trace of a classic Transylvanian accent--fits Talbot's character perfectly, and he flavors the narrative with verve and mystery accordingly. Simultaneous release with the Knopf hardcover (Forecasts, Aug. 14).
June 1, 2000
Witches and vampires collide in Rice's latest, which stars the beautiful Merrick, descendent of a New Orleans society of octoroons and quadroons. Merrick learns that her ancestors are the Great Mayfair witches from ordinary-guy vampire David Talbot.
Copyright 2000 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
July 1, 2000
Midway through the Oz series, Frank Baum bogs down. The characters palaver a lot, traipse down roads of brick and other stuff, experience a few humdrum happenings, and gather at the end to feed, all without the ghost of a good plot putting in an appearance. Perhaps Rice is in similar doldrums in her series set in New Orleans and other venues that are Ozlike in their imperviousness to real-world events and personalities and are inhabited by people who, like Oz's, never age and die. Of course, those people are un-Ozlike vampires, and, okay, some other important characters do age and die, despite being powerful, un-Ozlike witches. But this installment of Rice's vampires-and-witches saga is as tepid as "The Road to Oz." Vampire David Talbot looks up witch Merrick Mayfield to get her to raise the spirit of a little-girl bloodsucker whose demise tortures conscience-stricken fellow vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac. Two-thirds of the book later, they have not yet begun to try to retrieve the wee mosquito's shade. Instead, they are stumbling through Guatemala in a flashback, looking for pre-Olmec temple treasures left behind by an earlier expedition of Merrick's and presumably unplundered by Indy Jones types. Yawn, yawn. In the end, David and his master, the vampire Lestat, have to enlist Merrick in their ranks for her own good, after which she and David, at least, feed. Baum got his spirits back for the last Oz books he wrote. May Rice's revive, too. ((Reviewed July 2000))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)
October 16, 2000
The 22nd novel from the dazzlingly popular vampire chronicler (The Vampire Lestat, The Witching Hour, etc.) brings her familiar undead characters into New Orleans's underworld of witches, and then to the jungles of Central America. Charismatic, biracial Merrick Mayfair comes from a New Orleans caste bound up with traditions of voodoo; she's also descended from the powerful Mayfair witch clan. Once a supernatural detective, now a vampire himself, narrator David Talbot took care of Merrick when she was in her teens, but hasn't seen her in years. Rice-watchers will remember Talbot and the Mayfairs, and also the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac and the girl Claudia, who now torments Louis from the afterworld. When Louis asks Talbot to raise Claudia's ghost, Talbot pleads with Merrick to use her rare talents--and to revisit the past they share. Can Merrick really conjure the dead? Should she? What of the unspoken erotic charge between Talbot and Merrick? What secrets lie in the magical artifacts Merrick will have to find, and then to wield? And what do they have to do with her dead parents? This volume merges several long-running plots; the first chapters sag with the weight of their exposition, and the prose seems overheated even for Rice. Vampire fans will no doubt plunge on, however; soon enough, Merrick must revisit the Guatemalan rainforest, where she traveled as a young girl, to locate a secret treasure trove of ominous ancient runes. Displaying her imaginative talents for atmosphere and suspense, Rice creates a riveting scene that shows Merrick's awesome magic at work. A potent cameo from the vampire Lestat, with whom the fabled series began, leaves hints of more dark tales to come. 750,000 first printing; BOMC and Science Fiction Book Club main selections; Literary Guild selection; QPB alternate; Doubleday Book Club featured alternate.
September 1, 2000
Replete with witchcraft and Gothic intrigue, as well as theological sentiments and a tale of the Guatemalan jungles, this seventh substantial installment in Rice's popular "Vampire Chronicles" series continues the fascination with vampires and their darkly romantic lives. Narrated once again by the fledgling David Talbot, the book introduces Merrick, a potent witch with the usual irresistible charms, who aids David in a request involving a desperate Louis--a request that climaxes in disaster and alters Louis profoundly. Although an intimate account, with its focus on Lestat, Louis, and David and their interaction with Merrick, this volume (like much of Rice's recent work) lacks the resonance and vivid passion of her earlier writings (Cry to Heaven, The Feast of All Saints). These beloved vampires have grown so much more distant and unapproachable. However, Lestat's revival is a welcome ember, and a plot twist involving the Talamasca ensures the continuation of the "Chronicles" and sparks hope for a return of the old flair. Owing to inevitable demand, Merrick is a required purchase. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/00.]--Ann Kim, "Library Journal"
Copyright 2000 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.