In Print: Blood Canticle by Anne Rice

Why do I do this to myself? I keep reading these horrible Anne Rice books in hopes that she might work some magic and come up with another good story.

Alas, I was sorely let down. I did have high hopes. After reading Blood and Gold and Pandora, I hoped that this might head in another direction. No. Anne Rice was convinced that she MUST combine her two big storylines, the Vampire Chronicles and The Mayfair Witches. Merrick, the first attempt, was decent. But Rice dug in a little more in Blackwood Farm, which was a terrible book. And finally, the last installment in the Vampire Chronicles, The Blood Canticle is largely a book about those Mayfair Witches that Rice is determined to jam down our throats.

Here's the skinny, this book is a direct follow up to Blackwood Farm. Mona is made a vampire. From there it's all downhill. This book is nothing more than a collection of long drown out disjointed ideas. Lestat is jabbering about wanting to become a saint, all the while using young people slang, which is really from a generation or two ago. When was the last time you heard anyone say that anything was "heavy" in a conversation? It was contrived, and reaching. You could do little else but hate all the characters other than Lestat. You just waited for this super anti-hero to finally DO something. It never really happened. Rice just pounded out several hundred paged to scam a couple quick bucks off of the fans.

In the past, I'm sure, you've noticed my diatribes about these horrible books. So why do I hang in there and keep reading them? I read a review that this was supposed to be the final book in the vampire series. While several of the books were very boring, and others were revolting, I was prepared to read the entire series after having read Memnoch the Devil. That ONE book was good enough to carry the entire series.

But I was misled!

The Blood Canticle is NOT the final book, or doesn't seem to be. I read a review that this is the end for Lestat, but it's not. He didn't die. His soul didn't depart for any eternal reward. NOTHING. Another rip. And it was a battle to get through it, no less. Those last hundred pages were as difficult as building my very own ziggurat in my back yard.

So, I say this book was a bore and NOT worth reading. The Mayfairs are ALL annoying. We see a kinder, gentler Lestat consumed with Saint Juan Diego and wants to be a Saint himself. Plus Rice throws in an absurd race of creatures who are born adult sized called Toltecs. Terrible writing. Terrible to read. Do yourself a favor, steer clear of yet another sloppy mess of a Rice creation.

My single consolation is that I got it in hard cover, new, for $3 with shipping. That should've been a sign right there.