Gwen’s review of Blood Canticle (The Vampire Chronicles), by Anne Rice
Abridged Audio Book, read by Stephen Spinella

It’s been about four years since I read Anne Rice. I’ve read most of her Vampire Chronicles and this was my second Vampire Chronicles audio book. The first being Blood & Gold, which I loved. I admit to listening to all of this recording, and I couldn’t wait for my next commute to listen to more, but I didn’t care for the book. Being a girl, I’m used to my ambivalent opinions, but you may not be so let me explain.

Blood Canticle is a story about Lestat and two of his “blood children” – fellow vampires, who he keeps around because they’re young and adore him (think, Louis). It follows the Vampire/Witch novel, “Merrick” in story chronology. In this book, Lestat helps one of the Mayfairs find the Taltos and rids the world of some bad guys; all while falling in love – again. The Vampire Chronicles are interesting novels – paranormal sure, romance sort of. Lestat often feels and describes the most profound feelings like love and hate – Rice is a master at wrapping words around ethereal things. Her writing is first class and often so compelling you feel mesmerized.

What I liked:

* Stephen Spinella’s audio performance. It was nothing short of inspired. His script was apparently the abridged book re-written for a vocal performance, and it was well done. Mr. Spinella kept me from forgetting that it was Lestat narrating the book and still delivered a multi-layered performance (many characters, voices). It was fun to the extreme. It felt more like a conversation with Lestat, who is the first-person narrator of the book.

* Lestat. He’s mad, bad, morally ambiguous, and totally hot. Definitely my favorite of all of Rice’s characters – I am a sucker for the bad boys, though.

What I didn’t like:

* Rice’s MANY self-indulgent side trips into related (sort of) topics. Her mini-lectures on philosophy and religion are often my favorite parts of her novels; I mean – which of us hasn’t had a diverging thought or two in a conversation with a friend? Nevertheless, even with the abridgment, many of these bonus journeys seemed too contrived and narcissistic.

* General lack of drama. There was enough of a story to keep me going from one minor arc to the next. The overall story, however, was lacking. I didn’t know why I was there to begin with, or what I was left with at the end. Several plotlines from previous novels are resolved (what happened to the Taltos, some of the Mayfairs, etc.), but this novel didn’t seem to have much purpose. I kept waiting for the climax (so to speak).

I was disappointed in the book. Spinella’s excellent performance is enough of a reason to listen to it, but the novel itself seemed lacking. It was like eating cotton candy – good on the tongue, but without real substance. I can’t, in good conscience, recommend this book.

Grade: Story D, Audio A+