Book/DVD Guzzler Recommends:

These are reviews of Movies, Books and sometimes Music Albums. They might seem ridiculously positive, but these are works that I think everyone should read/see/listen to.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Title: Merrick
Author: Anne Rice
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Pages: 370

I just finished reading Merrick by Anne Rice. It is book 7 of the Vampire Chronicles. This book brings the readers the introduction of a new character, the return of a beloved old character and, of course, in true Anne Rice style, the eternal torment of the undead.

This book is written by David Talbot. You can kind of tell that by the word use and the style of the sentences. Lestat always used fancy words and complex sentences. This showed his old-fashioned nature. I prefer Lestat's writings. David's writing style is a bit more accessible but still very beautiful.

The story starts out with Merrick, a young woman who comes from a long line of powerful witches, and David sitting in café talking about the old days and Louis' plan. Louis wants to bring back the spirit of his beloved Claudia. He wants to see her once more and see if she is in a good place. The only person capable of conjuring up spirits is Merrick. Merrick is an old friend of Davids, whom he met through the Talamasca.

After this encounter David tells the story of Merrick to Louis. He feels he has to know more about Merrick' past, before Louis can make a real decision about the spell they are about to do. The story is mostly about family members and the distinction between "White Mayfairs" and "Coloured Mayfairs". Merrick, herself, could "pass for white". David tells in great detail about how he met her for the first time and what kind of plans the Talamasca, the secret order (for those who have no idea what the Talamasca is), had for her. A couple of family members of Merrick also appear: Her mother, Cold Sandra, and her sister Honey in the Sunshine disappeared and she lived with her godmother Great Nananne, who taught her everything she needed to know about magick and religion.

The story of Merrick takes up the most part of the book and is too complex to actually summarize here. Nothing much happens in the book. It is mostly David talking about Merrick and his love for her. Then the final part of the book is about Louis and his wish to see Claudia once more. If the spell works I won't tell here. Go pick it up and read it for yourself.

I, myself, have mixed feelings about this book. The other novels of the Chronicles have been a bit more action-packed and this seemed to be more about introducing Merrick. Even though, the some of the other novels have been about a character's past (Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Armand etc) they always seemed a bit more faster paced than this one. It seems like Anne had less to tell in this novel than she did in the previous ones. Still, It shows classic Anne Rice writing. A great eye for detail. The way she describes people, vampires, houses, gardens, whatever is almost passionate. They really come alive for you and even a person, whose imagination isn't that great can see what is happening with their 'Inner Eye'. I give this book a 7/10. And that is the lowest that I have ever given an Anne Rice novel.

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