My teenage heart quickened for just a moment
I got under the covers last night and finished the last 150 pages of Prince Lestat, and all in all, I'm glad to have read the book.
Trying not to spoil anything specific:
Silly as it may be to say, I'm glad Lestat finally grew up a bit and settled into himself. I'm glad Louis, too, found some closure. I'm glad Daniel wasn't out of his mind anymore. It always disappointed me that becoming a vampire in this world meant losing the love you felt as a human for the important people in your life, whether they were human or vampire, and that most vampires were loners, so to see both of those standards start to break down in this book was a comfort. There were charming moments, mostly involving Marius. (♥) And a little of the old magic, a little thrill when favorite characters convene in one place and interact, a little Mary Sue daydream in Rose, who sort of recapitulated Jesse's story, but it worked the first time, and sure enough it worked again.
(Honestly: Sexy scene where Lestat asks Marius to turn two beloved humans into vampires, and they're going over what kind of ceremony it should entail and in what room and at what time it should happen, who can watch and who can come in later to share their own blood, and Marius asks if Pandora can come along so they can trade off over and over, and the whole thing is just a stone's throw from being ritualistic sexual initiation, mm.)
& I'm glad the Voice turned out to be something consistent within the vampire/ghost/witch/spirit mythos and not something generally metaphysical or specifically Christian. Even though the whole resolution involved the latter. (The Voice appeared in a vision with a face like Jesus, suffering, and then Lestat sort of became Jesus. Again.) In a way, it was like seeing Anne Rice find peace, reflected in her favorite character and in the story, so that even though I personally don't share her beliefs nor am I interested in that sort of narrative mixing with my vampires, it felt comforting.
All of the above made it worthwhile. But it wasn't consistently enjoyable. Parts dragged. Different characters had to find out the same things from chapter to chapter before they gathered to discuss as a group. Several characters blended together and/or were not compelling. It seemed like she was setting up some twists, but they went nowhere. Wasted potential with Seth and Fareed, vampire physician-scientists. Huge medical ethics breach that no one seemed bothered by. Armand appeared in a lot of scenes but said and did basically nothing. The writing got sloppy or purple sometimes. Eye rolling at constant use of terminology like "Cloud Gift" and "Fire Gift."
And I'm not thrilled that-SPOILER?-the solution to the vampire population's problems was electing super special snowflake Lestat as a monarch who will reign from his own fancy court. He may have matured since the first few books, but he's going to chafe at being at everyone's beck and call. Well, either that, or he'll love it and then Gabrielle and Marius and whoever will have to smack him back down to size. Speaking of which, heh, I found it hard to believe Gabrielle didn't speak up when the council-of-sorts decided that no one should go off the grid anymore. It's also hard to believe this kumbaya united vampire tribe stuff will hold together very long.
Final opinion: If the series stopped here, it would be a decent conclusion. Unlike half the stuff she put in Blood and Gold and whatnot, it felt like this story really happened (in the Vampire Chronicles world). I'll almost certainly buy a copy when it comes out in paperback. And then skip many sections on re-read. :)
ETA for reference: Guardian review on the digital age angle; Nerdist; WaPo; PissedOffGeek on the science vs. faith theme
.
And now, the cooking done, it's back to vidding. Two vids in progress as of yesterday, two different sources, two different tones and styles. Helps to switch between them when feeling stuck or bored on one.
...Okay, after this. Aisha Tyler is on PBS watching someone cook octopus.
Trying not to spoil anything specific:
Silly as it may be to say, I'm glad Lestat finally grew up a bit and settled into himself. I'm glad Louis, too, found some closure. I'm glad Daniel wasn't out of his mind anymore. It always disappointed me that becoming a vampire in this world meant losing the love you felt as a human for the important people in your life, whether they were human or vampire, and that most vampires were loners, so to see both of those standards start to break down in this book was a comfort. There were charming moments, mostly involving Marius. (♥) And a little of the old magic, a little thrill when favorite characters convene in one place and interact, a little Mary Sue daydream in Rose, who sort of recapitulated Jesse's story, but it worked the first time, and sure enough it worked again.
(Honestly: Sexy scene where Lestat asks Marius to turn two beloved humans into vampires, and they're going over what kind of ceremony it should entail and in what room and at what time it should happen, who can watch and who can come in later to share their own blood, and Marius asks if Pandora can come along so they can trade off over and over, and the whole thing is just a stone's throw from being ritualistic sexual initiation, mm.)
& I'm glad the Voice turned out to be something consistent within the vampire/ghost/witch/spirit mythos and not something generally metaphysical or specifically Christian. Even though the whole resolution involved the latter. (The Voice appeared in a vision with a face like Jesus, suffering, and then Lestat sort of became Jesus. Again.) In a way, it was like seeing Anne Rice find peace, reflected in her favorite character and in the story, so that even though I personally don't share her beliefs nor am I interested in that sort of narrative mixing with my vampires, it felt comforting.
All of the above made it worthwhile. But it wasn't consistently enjoyable. Parts dragged. Different characters had to find out the same things from chapter to chapter before they gathered to discuss as a group. Several characters blended together and/or were not compelling. It seemed like she was setting up some twists, but they went nowhere. Wasted potential with Seth and Fareed, vampire physician-scientists. Huge medical ethics breach that no one seemed bothered by. Armand appeared in a lot of scenes but said and did basically nothing. The writing got sloppy or purple sometimes. Eye rolling at constant use of terminology like "Cloud Gift" and "Fire Gift."
And I'm not thrilled that-SPOILER?-the solution to the vampire population's problems was electing super special snowflake Lestat as a monarch who will reign from his own fancy court. He may have matured since the first few books, but he's going to chafe at being at everyone's beck and call. Well, either that, or he'll love it and then Gabrielle and Marius and whoever will have to smack him back down to size. Speaking of which, heh, I found it hard to believe Gabrielle didn't speak up when the council-of-sorts decided that no one should go off the grid anymore. It's also hard to believe this kumbaya united vampire tribe stuff will hold together very long.
Final opinion: If the series stopped here, it would be a decent conclusion. Unlike half the stuff she put in Blood and Gold and whatnot, it felt like this story really happened (in the Vampire Chronicles world). I'll almost certainly buy a copy when it comes out in paperback. And then skip many sections on re-read. :)
ETA for reference: Guardian review on the digital age angle; Nerdist; WaPo; PissedOffGeek on the science vs. faith theme
.
And now, the cooking done, it's back to vidding. Two vids in progress as of yesterday, two different sources, two different tones and styles. Helps to switch between them when feeling stuck or bored on one.
...Okay, after this. Aisha Tyler is on PBS watching someone cook octopus.