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Critic's Corner
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In "Blood Canticle" Rice welcomes her readers back to Blackwood Farm. Rice says this is the end, the completion of her Vampire Chronicles. Is it? Only time will tell. For now she picks up where "Blackwood Farm" left off, and allows Lestat to complete what he began. "I want to be a saint. I want to save souls by the millions. I want to do good far and wide. I want to fight evil! I want my life-sized statue in every church. I'm talking six feet tall, blond hair, blue eyes—. "Wait a second. Do you know who I am? I'm thinking maybe you've never heard of me. Well, if that's the case, allow me to introduce myself, which I absolutely crave doing at the beginning of every one of my books. "I'm the Vampire Lestat, the most potent and lovable vampire ever created, a supernatural knockout, two hundred years old but fixed forever in the form of a twenty-year-old male with features and figure you'd die for—and just might . . ." When I read that opening my first thought was, you want to be what? A Saint? Readers who know Lestat know one thing for certain, his "want" is impossible. This dazzling vampire is a magnet for evil, not angels. Rice brings together the wonderfully conceived characters that make up the two worlds of vampires and witches. There's Mona Mayfair, who's come to Blackwood Farm to die and is brought into the realm of the undead. Horrid uncle Julian Mayfair, guardian of the family, determined to haunt Lestat for what he has done to Mona. The beautiful Rowan Mayfair, neurosurgeon, head of Mayfair Medical Center and witch, who is finally able to admit her love for Lestat. Then there is Michael Curry, Rowan's most interesting husband, along with a few other characters I found most astonishing. The Taltos make up a large part of the story in a fantastic way. I found the fate of Morrigan (Mona's stolen daughter) and her Ash Templeton an intriguing part of the plot. Their Taltos children Oberon, Lorkyn, and Miravelle will take readers to another world and state of being. Stirling, the English Scholar and Talamasca saint adds his own flavor of mystery to the tale as does evil Silas and his part in a horrible betrayal. At first read, I hated Lestat's new vernacular. He's just too modern, too forced in his speech to be our beloved brat Prince, yet somehow Rice manages to show that this speech pattern is simply a part of Lestat's evolving into something different. What? That's a surprise, but you may be sure it isn't a saint. We must also remember that Lestat's actual words have only been used in four of the previous nine books. In "Blood Canticle" we are seeing a Lestat who is learning from the example of Marius, and learning to fit in with the times he is currently living. Stay with the book during the first confusing pages and you'll find Rice has not lost her touch. The style of the story is new. Lestat is certainly different. Some of the friends we've come to love, like Louis, Armand and Marius are missing, but this becomes only a minor problem as the tale unfolds. At one point in the story, Mona questions Lestat as to why he published the Vampire Chronicles. He replied. "An age-old form of public confession . . . Goes back to ancient Egypt. A book goes forth quietly into the world, labeled fiction, to be perused, pondered, passed from one to another, perhaps put aside for the future, to perish if unwanted, to endure if valued . . ." So it is with the vampire Lestat. You'll see how he has grown into the times. You may not like this ending, many do not. You may find it at cross purposes with your own imaginings of how these chronicles should end. If so, then may I suggest you lay the book aside and read it again on another day. Anne Rice has poured her heart and soul into her work and it's not been in vain. "The Blood Canticle" does sing, but its song is one impatient readers may not understand. Copyright January 2, 2004 Patricia Ann Jones, all rights reserved
Jones is a published writer and book reviewer for Tulsa World newspaper. To comment on this review you may email pattij777@aol.com |
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Blood
Canticle: The Vampire Chronicles
