I just finished it the other night and found it strangely unsatisfying. Part of the pleasure of an Anne Rice vampire novel is its lush and well-remarked upon overwrought language and sometime archaic style (which I think is deliberate, so I don’t understand this crictism).
But anyway, this is told from the point of view of the now-vampire David Talbot and picks up pretty much where Tale of the Body Thief left off. Body Thief is one of my favorites … it’s funny, exciting, quasi-erotic, disgusting: everything you want in your basic vampire.
But this one, ugh. Dry and forced, it feels. Was she trying to find a voice for David, as she has done so well with Lestat? If so, she failed miserably, for I saw him as even less of a personality than what emerged in Body Thief.
Also, I was bugged by what appeared to be an attempt at political correctness. Merrick is an “octoroon” and steeped in voodoo and other magic. Fine, fine. Good choice for subject material. But the way Rice went to such pains to distance her from the “uptown” Mayfairs while at the same type make a case for Merrick’s deep and laudable roots … I don’t know. I don’t think it worked, whatever she was going for. It seemed like she was being PC and subtly putting down black folk at the same time.
Also, daggit, the thing just wasn’t riveting and other-worldly, two of her trademarks (at least for this reader). I found that I could go two whole days without reading it and not suffer at all. Usually I suffer if I’m not with a book in my hands at every free moment, ya know.
Anyone else have thoughts?
I’ve always liked the historical fiction elements more in Anne Rice novels. For some reason I’ve always felt her vampires to be the weakest elements. If they’re not performing comic book mock-heroics, they yammering out lines of trite dialogue at each other.
I had the impression that this book was written mainly as a setup for later stories. The way the Talamasca acted at the end of the book and what happened to Louis both seemed more important to the next book than to “Merrick” itself. Now we just have to hope the next one will be worth it.
There isn’t a ‘next one’ yet, is there?
Well, I think the basic problem is with the character of Merrick – or more accurately, the problem is that the plot is structured to make her the central character when what we’re really interested in his Louis’ attempt to contact the ghost of Claudia. Merrick is really just a plot device; she should be a mysterious walk-on cameo character who raises the ghost of Claudia. But if that were the case, Rice would have had a 100-page novella, not a 300-page novel.
If you want my full-length opinion, you can read it here: http://www.thescriptanalyst.com/page515678.htm
Steve Biodrowski
http://www.thescriptanalyst.com
Excellent review, ScriptAnalyst! Precisely the analysis I was looking for! I agree with your points wholeheartedly. I hadn’t thought about her inability to have effective female leads, but now that you mention it, Violin is the only book of hers that I put aside. After reading a few chapters, then sneaking a peek at the jacket synopis (which I try not to do, ever) I saw that the whole thing was going to be more of the same. I’m glad to hear that I didn’t waste the energy reading the whole thing, since you point out it came to such a silly conclusion.
While I’m at it, I was rather disappointed at the ultimate conclusion of the whole Mayfair saga. It seems as though she started out with one idea, and then the Taltos mythology came to her somewhere along the line, so she marched off into that direction. What is later revealed didn’t seem to mesh with my memory of the spirit character who haunted the family for so long (I didn’t go back and re-read to compare). What I’ve always liked about Rice is her mythology was always so well thought out and concise. It seemed to me she strayed from a full vision with the Mayfair books. I did think The Witching Hour was truly frightening in many respects, particularly the main character’s power over life and death, and her profession as a doctor.
Anyway, I’m so glad you popped into this thread with your review! 
Always happy to contribute to the dialogue!
And yes, the later Mayfair Witches books did seem to stray from the original concept. I think the Taltos are the least interesting of her preturnatural characters. THE WITCHING HOUR is a fascinating book. LASHER is an interesting follow-up, even though it seems somewhat contradictory. But TALTOS did not make a good impression on me at all.