annoyedI finished Anne Rice's Merrick today. It's one of her better books... That is.. it's the best out of the past 4 I've read! >:P She did some weird things to characters I loved. Anyone want spoilers? Ok.. well.. don't say I didn't warn you.
Lestat woke up again.. and this time he's staying awake. He doesn't break out of his stupor until the very end of the novel.... and he's a bit odd at first.. but I think he's back to his old self. She left things open for many more possible Lestat books in the future. She tried to kill Louis off... well.. I guess since she's the author, "tried" isn't really the word...
But.. Louis goes into the sun. Everyone expects there to be nothing left b/c he's so weak.. but there was enough left to have him revived with the help of Lestat, David Talbot, and Merrick. The entire novel is basically a Merrick-Talbot story.. it's pretty nice.. but after this, I'm not really certain I like Talbot's character as much as I used to. Merrick is a Mayfair witch, but from a different line than the white Mayfairs the Witching Hour fans know and love. Personally, I found The Witching Hour slow and boring as hell. I got halfway through (Quite an accomplishment, I might add.. 600 pgs thru a 1200 page novel...) and had to toss it aside.. drove me nuts.. too much sex, weirdness, and not much plot that I can remember. A freind once jokingly said that his brother made him read the whole thing by saying "No, really.. it gets better" knowing full well that it never does.. lol. In any case... I think Merrick does a pretty good job on standing apart from the Mayfair trilogy. I think it belongs with the vampire chronicles, b/c it wouldn't make a whole heck of a lot of sense if you don't have the background on the vampire characters.. but I suppose there are things that I'm missing from not reading the Mayfair trilogy. I figure...I know most everything I need to from the Vampire Chronicles.. I don't know anything about the death of Aaron Lightner, really.. and that's a bit sad.. b/c I liked his character... So I may pick up the Witching Hour, Lasher, and Taltos if I ever feel the need for another Rice novel anytime soon. I mean.. I might as well.. right? Oh.. more spoilers... And you know that she's been toying with this idea for a while from the other books... Louis finally partakes of some of the stronger blood. Yes.. after he tried to kill himself, he's revived by Lestat.. (Kind of silly scene, really.. but I won't go into it's absurdities) .. and comes out looking as white as Lestat and as powerful. She hasn't really written much about how it's possibly changed him as a person, but he now appears to be much bolder and a lot less mopey. Lestat makes a funny comment about how Louis doesn't have to be the bane of the "coven" anymore.. or somthing to that effect.. and the whole thing was really rather odd and silly. I hope she's done with Claudia now, though.. She died in the first book.. and you've been practically hearing about her ghost ever since.. and it basically drove Louis mad. I just really don't think that any of it has the FEEL of the older books. It's like I'm reading a fanfic.. which is kind of sad, b/c I heard that Anne Rice absolutely DETESTS fanfics about her characters. Ah well.. I could rant on this forever...
Blood and Gold, a new Rice novel (and from what I've seen so far.. probably another book in the "New tales of the Vampires" set) comes out this month. My main bitch is that paperbacks take too damn long to come out.. not to mention that the damn things cost nearly 8 bucks now... so I might get this one in hardcover (Hell.. I have half of them in HC anyway..)
Ah well.. another day, another rant.
Oh.. Buck-Tick's Gessekai is now my theme song.
