Angel Time

by Anne Rice

This is the first book of the Songs of the Seraphim Series. Short synopsis here.

I found this book a bit slow to start and actually thought of not reading through to finish. But after the first 50 pages things did picked up a bit and I carried on all the way to the end. It is typical Anne Rice style, in the way she narrates the story. I can also draw strong similarity between the main character here Toby O'Dare and that of Lestat and the like in the Vampire Chronicles series. Though, I do feel that this story is so thinly veiled in material that it did feel very pedestrian. It did not have the layer upon layer of complexity that The Vampire Chronicles had. I guess it is very difficult to write to the high level that is that. Probably also the subject matter is not that familiar to Rice as this topic of angels and the historical context in which it is set. Well, I just felt it was not as rich as the Vampire Chronicles. Well, I will still give the second book a try, perhaps that would fare better. But I am going to read some other books for now.

Memnoch The Devil

by Anne Rice

This is the fifth book in the Vampire Chronicles. Short synopsis on wiki here.

To be honest, I don't know what to make of this book. It is decent. But the bulk of it can be considered taking vampires as the subject matter. It seems more a discussion of theology and evolution. And for that matter, it almost read like some simplified version of the Bible. It is very different to the previous book. Well, I can at least say the style of writing is still the same. Maybe that is just the way Anne Rice writes. Very, very descriptive. It could be painfully slow at times. At times, I even skip over details. Because really, I do not need to know the hue of the curtain. In real life I am not the type of person to go up to a piece of fabric and analyze, smell, touch, like the thing. So that is perhaps a personal preference thing. I tend to skip over these bits.

In terms of the overall plot of the Vampire Chronicles, it is flowing along quite well, and the character growth is good. But now everything has grown to such epic proportions, it is just very difficult to reduce it back to the previous scope of just vampires. It is as I have just been watching the whole Season 6 of Supernatural. The scope just is blown too big out of proportion that the story becomes generic and superficial. I would have enjoyed things more if things were kept at a more micro scale, and the details of the character relationships be described that way. Also, revealing everything of the known universe, that simply removes any mystery and wonder from the story. Again, I quote a movie I loved. The Matrix. If they left it at that it would have been wonderful, one would just imagine the rest. But they made the next two movies and that just killed everything. It became too superficial, generic. This is particularly true for horror and vampires. They are mysterious and dark creatures. This story sort of puts them in their place. I don't like vampires being put in their place, I like to NOT know, I like to guess and never know. Ah, it can't be undone anyways.

I think I will take a break from the Vampire Chronicles, the story telling style can be weary if one reads too much at once. It is like rich food. Even if you have the loveliest dished for a week, if it is the same thing, you will get sick of it. So it's time for a change for me. Need to return to my horror roots, and read up on more horror fiction.

The Tale of the Body Thief

by Anne Rice

This is the fourth book in The Vampire Chronicles. I skipped pass the 2nd and 3rd book because I read them before and after reading the 1st, Interview with the Vampire, it came back to my memory what the other 2 were about. So no harm just reading the fourth. The synopsis is quite long and you can read it here.

This book is still great. But after the first 3 books, there seems to be some limitation in scope now of the story. This is what I mean. The first book is set from 1790 to the present, second book from the 18th century, third book almost spanning from the beginning of the vampires. This book however is set entirely in the 20th century. So, I am wondering is it the case now that the story is written into a corner. Hopefully not. But I will read through the series and see where this story goes. I like my vampires old and ancient, spanning from ancient times to present. I don't like to read just modern day things. Also after Queen of the Damned, I don't know what kind of story can top that kind of epic. Reading on, Memnoch the Devil next. Book Five.

Interview With The Vampire

by Anne Rice

This is what I call the good kind of vampire, not like that Twilight nonsense. Here is a synopsis.

This book as the title suggest is an interview by a journalist with a vampire, in a dingy hotel room. The vampire has arranged this because he wants his story told. The story is as follows.

Louis de Pointe du Lac is a plantation owner in New Orleans, and his beloved younger brother has just died under very strange circumstances. After this, he struggles to get his life straight and goes to drinking and brawling. His life is going down the drain. Then one evening as he is doing this, a vampire takes him and turns him. This vampire is Lestat de Lioncourt. Louis, though he wanted to die after his brother's death did not want to be a vampire. So this story goes on about the early years of Louis as a vampire and his struggle with the life of a vampire.

Okay, my synopsis does not do the story justice really. I had a looked at the wikipedia summary and it's the length of a short story, so you know how complex and intricate it is. Firstly, about the writing. The first time I read this book several years ago, I found the story quite dry for the first 3 quarter of the books. And if you are not into vampires, this book will probably bore you to death. It goes into such painfully slow detail of their life. But if you DO love this genre, then Anne Rice is the gold standard. The details would then give such life and richness to this world of the undead. I still love this book, though it's the second time reading it it's still great.