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Once again Goodreads is refusing to post my review so I'm posting it here instead...
My feelings were torn as to whether or not give this four or five stars. In many ways this particular novel has earned the five stars. It’s a beautiful book about one of Anne Rice’s most darkly beautiful characters; one I keep seeing in many a favorite manga or anime character, “the frosty child” to quote from this story’s pages. I’ve seen Armand in many a Caravaggio, many a Guido Reni, a representation of St. Sebastian. He’s as eternal as these paintings; conveying a sensuous beauty mixed with innocence, a ruthlessness mixed with tenderness. He inspires carnal desire yet he’s profoundly spiritual in his detatchment from all things worldly. In many ways this story eclipses Pandora’s for passion and sheer heat, bringing both in fleshy relief in a more creative way than depicted in more traditional sex scenes. Marius’s painting described in Queen of the Damned; The Temptation of Amadeo is transformed into a tale in these pages, a tale of how Amadeo was tempted by the seductive immortality, embodied by the commanding, yet loving figure of Marius and his opulent unlife in Venice. First Amadeo was drawn into its luxury, later Marius’s blood-drenched world. Entering that world enabled Amadeo to remember Andrei, the divinely gifted child he once was, one with monks choosing a life of spiritual suffering, at odds with the father he adored whom was a lot like Lestat. Entering Marius’s world brought Amadeo into the orbit of the Children of Darkness who destroyed that world and Amadeo with it. Armand was reborn to darkness from the ashes under the loving, twisted guidance of Santino and Alessandra with a slight change to the canon, yet one which made perfect sense for the developing character of Armand within these pages.
The change that didn’t make sense regarded Claudia. The revelation about her was dropped into the story within warning, no hints leading up to it except perhaps a dream Lestat had in The Vampire Lestat and that’s a stretch. This part had Armand behaving in a manner which felt wildly out of character with the rest of what was being developed in this book and what he’s shown throughout the series. He showed an interest in something he’s never shown any interest in before unless you count his antics with the microwave in Queen of the Damned. It contradicts the canon so sharply, it begs a story in its own rights, not a confession dropped in the middle of this narrative. The way it was dropped made me seriously consider dropping the rating of this book to four stars.
In the end I didn’t. My love for the rest of the novel was too great. Sybelle and Benji were well-rounded, interesting additions to the cast. I was disappointed things didn’t work out for Armand and Daniel, but that was no surprise, no great contradiction to what had been established. The revelations about Daniel, Lestat, and Louis all felt like snapshots of Armand’s own broken heart, a desperate attempt to connect with a changing world in spite of his own eternally youthful face and body along with an unchanging nature. Armand’s moments with Lestat were among some of the most beautiful and powerful I’ve read in the series and an important epilogue to Memnoch the Devil. Armand’s snarky yet sympathetic portrayal of the other vampires made me laugh out loud, particularly the ones of Lestat and Gabrielle. Armand and Gabrielle shared a wonderful moment which felt like Part 2 of their philosophical smackdown in The Vampire Lestat. I’m a bit bewildered by Armand’s crush on Pandora but it didn’t feel as jarring and out of nowhere as Armand’s revelation about Claudia. The contempt and the confessions of love regarding Lestat, Louis, and the vampires at the theatre in Paris were both touching and great fun, fleshing out Armand a bit more along with his past selves of Amadeo and Andrei.
In the end I gave this book five stars. I erred on the side of love; love for Amadeo and Marius’s sizzling passion, young, hot flesh meeting the cool marble beauty of classical times in a unique and gorgeously described place and time; love for the Vampire Armand himself and all he represents. Over the years I’ve come to realize Armand is my favorite character in this series, except perhaps for Marius. God may reject Armand but I will not.
My feelings were torn as to whether or not give this four or five stars. In many ways this particular novel has earned the five stars. It’s a beautiful book about one of Anne Rice’s most darkly beautiful characters; one I keep seeing in many a favorite manga or anime character, “the frosty child” to quote from this story’s pages. I’ve seen Armand in many a Caravaggio, many a Guido Reni, a representation of St. Sebastian. He’s as eternal as these paintings; conveying a sensuous beauty mixed with innocence, a ruthlessness mixed with tenderness. He inspires carnal desire yet he’s profoundly spiritual in his detatchment from all things worldly. In many ways this story eclipses Pandora’s for passion and sheer heat, bringing both in fleshy relief in a more creative way than depicted in more traditional sex scenes. Marius’s painting described in Queen of the Damned; The Temptation of Amadeo is transformed into a tale in these pages, a tale of how Amadeo was tempted by the seductive immortality, embodied by the commanding, yet loving figure of Marius and his opulent unlife in Venice. First Amadeo was drawn into its luxury, later Marius’s blood-drenched world. Entering that world enabled Amadeo to remember Andrei, the divinely gifted child he once was, one with monks choosing a life of spiritual suffering, at odds with the father he adored whom was a lot like Lestat. Entering Marius’s world brought Amadeo into the orbit of the Children of Darkness who destroyed that world and Amadeo with it. Armand was reborn to darkness from the ashes under the loving, twisted guidance of Santino and Alessandra with a slight change to the canon, yet one which made perfect sense for the developing character of Armand within these pages.
The change that didn’t make sense regarded Claudia. The revelation about her was dropped into the story within warning, no hints leading up to it except perhaps a dream Lestat had in The Vampire Lestat and that’s a stretch. This part had Armand behaving in a manner which felt wildly out of character with the rest of what was being developed in this book and what he’s shown throughout the series. He showed an interest in something he’s never shown any interest in before unless you count his antics with the microwave in Queen of the Damned. It contradicts the canon so sharply, it begs a story in its own rights, not a confession dropped in the middle of this narrative. The way it was dropped made me seriously consider dropping the rating of this book to four stars.
In the end I didn’t. My love for the rest of the novel was too great. Sybelle and Benji were well-rounded, interesting additions to the cast. I was disappointed things didn’t work out for Armand and Daniel, but that was no surprise, no great contradiction to what had been established. The revelations about Daniel, Lestat, and Louis all felt like snapshots of Armand’s own broken heart, a desperate attempt to connect with a changing world in spite of his own eternally youthful face and body along with an unchanging nature. Armand’s moments with Lestat were among some of the most beautiful and powerful I’ve read in the series and an important epilogue to Memnoch the Devil. Armand’s snarky yet sympathetic portrayal of the other vampires made me laugh out loud, particularly the ones of Lestat and Gabrielle. Armand and Gabrielle shared a wonderful moment which felt like Part 2 of their philosophical smackdown in The Vampire Lestat. I’m a bit bewildered by Armand’s crush on Pandora but it didn’t feel as jarring and out of nowhere as Armand’s revelation about Claudia. The contempt and the confessions of love regarding Lestat, Louis, and the vampires at the theatre in Paris were both touching and great fun, fleshing out Armand a bit more along with his past selves of Amadeo and Andrei.
In the end I gave this book five stars. I erred on the side of love; love for Amadeo and Marius’s sizzling passion, young, hot flesh meeting the cool marble beauty of classical times in a unique and gorgeously described place and time; love for the Vampire Armand himself and all he represents. Over the years I’ve come to realize Armand is my favorite character in this series, except perhaps for Marius. God may reject Armand but I will not.
