This is the last book in Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles published so far. Her latest offering in the story, Blood and Gold, is due to be published this year, and I can’t wait.
In the last Chronicle, we were told the story of Armand. Now, Anne brings us a new character, Merrick Mayfair. The story of the Mayfair’s has already been written by Anne in her books: The Witching Hour, Lasher, and Taltos. The Mayfair’s are a long line of voodoo witches, both coloured and white, from New Orleans. As Anne herself lives here, she knows much about the voodoo background.
In this book, Merrick Mayfair is placed into the hands of the Talamasca (an organisation dealing with psychic investigations) when she is 14 years old, on the wishes of her God Mother, Great Nannene. Here she is schooled and educated. She becomes friends with David Talbot (the 74 year old head of the organisation, before he became a vampire - Tale of the Body Thief).
Lestat still lays on his chapel floor, in a trance after his tour of Heaven and Hell with Memnoch (Memnoch the Devil).
Louis has asked David to approach Merrick, to ask her if she will raise the spirit of Claudia, the child vampire locked out in the sun by the Theatre of Vampires. All these years he has been thinking about her, and he wants to find out if she is at peace.
Merrick agrees, and it is done. Louis has also fallen in love with Merrick, and she with him.
The beginning and ending of the book are very exciting, but the middle piece became a little boring. The beginning tells us the story of Merrick, how she came to be in the Talamasca, her first meeting with David since he has been a vampire, and how he asks her for her help in raising Claudia’s spirit.
The middle part has David telling Louis the story of Merrick and her voodoo family. This is the bit that became boring in places. The ending is brilliant. What happens when Claudia’s spirit is raised? Does Merrick remain mortal? What happens between her and Louis?
Answering these questions for you would give away the great ending, but I will say that Lestat does arise from his trance.
Again, Anne gives us detailed descriptions of things and places, making pictures in the mind of the reader. This is the thing I like about her writing, that you can almost feel, hear and touch her descriptions.
As I said before, I can’t wait for her next Chronicle to be published. In the meantime, I will start to read some of her other books about the Mayfair Witches.
BCA Hardback Edition (307 pages)
CN 5737