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Merrick (The Vampire Chronicles #7)

3.65 of 5 stars 3.65 · rating details · 22,137 ratings · 297 reviews

In this mesmerizing new novel, Anne Rice demonstrates once again her gift for spellbinding storytelling and the creation of myth and magic, as she weaves together two of her most compelling worlds: those of the Vampire Chronicles and the Mayfair witches.

Paperback, 370 pages

Published October 2nd 2001 by Ballantine Books (first published January 1st 2000)

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The Best of Anne Rice

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Feb 07, 2013 Al rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In her mesmerizing new novel, the author of The Vampire Chronicles and the saga of the Mayfair Witches demonstrates once again her gift for spellbinding storytelling and the creation of myth and magic. Here, in a magnificent tale of sorcery and the occult, she makes real for us a hitherto unexplored world of witchcraft. At the center is the beautiful, unconquerable witch Merrick. She is a descendant of the gens de couleur libres, a society of New Orleans octoroons and quadroons steeped in the lo...more

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Aug 09, 2011 Wendie Collins added it

There are two books in the vampire series I hold higher than the others; Merrick and Queen of the Damned. The story of Merrick and David is a great addition and brings David alive as one of the vampire family. What a wonderful addition to the family we get in Merrick as well. She is so seductive and intense. I love the idea of her and hope that she appears again in future books. I also love the story of David in this book. Davids mortal years are explained in this story and his history with the...more

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Apr 27, 2013 Kathryn rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, sci-fi-fantasy, horror

I remember when this book came out, shortly after I'd read "The Vampire Armand". There was a development in the end of that book that promised to be really interesting. Then I picked up "Merrick" and read the first two pages and found out that the "interesting development" had been set right back to zero. I put the book down in disgust and didn't read another new Anne Rice story for twelve years. It's probably unfair to blame that entirely on two pages; I'd kinda been losing interest in Anne Ric...more I remember when this book came out, shortly after I'd read "The Vampire Armand". There was a development in the end of that book that promised to be really interesting. Then I picked up "Merrick" and read the first two pages and found out that the "interesting development" had been set right back to zero. I put the book down in disgust and didn't read another new Anne Rice story for twelve years. It's probably unfair to blame that entirely on two pages; I'd kinda been losing interest in Anne Rice ever since reading the gigantic "Meh" that is "Vittorio the Vampire". But it ticks me off any time an author makes a plot development and then seems to decide, "Oh, that might make things more complicated than I'd wanted. Never mind."

However, unread books by authors who's works I've REALLY enjoyed feel like a challenge to me. I've thumbed through a few of the books she's released since (the vampire ones, can't seem to get an interest in her more overtly religious works), and caught wind of another development that promised to be really interesting. And it involves the Mayfair witches, which was what "Merrick" was supposed to be tied to. So what the heck, why not pick the book up and try again?

The result? It was okay. There are vampires that I've loved reading about, like Armand, and Marius, and Pandora. And of course I'm always going to want to know more about interesting characters like Maharet ("Queen of the Damned" is hands-down my favorite Anne Rice book, and Maharet is a big reason why), who's stories feel like they have more to tell. David...doesn't really fall into either category. Blame it on the fact that I gave up on "The Tale of the Body Thief" after I was spoiled for the end by several people who were really and truly disgusted with how Lestat behaved, so I never made it through a good part of David's story. The fact that he was gay when alive? Not terribly unusual for Anne Rice's characters, but the mention of it seemed about a subtle as a phone book upside the head. And really? About as interesting. But to THEN go into detail about how much he LOVED Merrick, and truly and passionately desired her, both as a mortal man of seventy and a vampire? Yeah, not very convincing. The story kind of wanders about from the present to the past, has a big focus on Rice's usual daydream about taking someone who's been living in poverty and then give them the kind of life that only a LOT of money can buy. Then there's a big magic scene, and some attempts at a sort of movie-of-the-week, "This time, there's no going back, for ANYONE", which doesn't pack as big of a punch when the biggest change happens with someone we've only known for four-fifths of a book. All in all I'm glad I read this, finally, and I may pick up the next few in the series to find out what happens when the Mayfair witches run into the vampires. Or I may re-read "The Witching Hour" and stop just before the point where Rowan really pisses me off. That would probably be a better idea...(less)

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Jul 23, 2012 Cydalima rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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Jun 07, 2010 Stephanie Orban rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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Jun 07, 2010 Stephanie Orban rated it 2 of 5 stars

It's definitely not one of Rice's best and in hindsight, it's even a toss-up as to why this book was written, other than more royalties for Rice, because it doesn't add anything valuable to the overall plot of the Vampire Chronicles. Much of the book delves into reminiscing about the past and the last three hundred pages or so, it finally tried to lurch into action and falls flat on its face, like a flan in a cupboard.

You don't feel for the main characters either - all of the known characters ac...more

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Mar 14, 2009 Gregory Spiker rated it 2 of 5 stars

Disappointing, truly. First, almost nothing actually happens within the present timeline in which the book is written. It's a string of stories told over a glass of rum. As a result, it reads like a "best-of clips" episode of a sit com (and is about as interesting).

You get to hear all about Oncle Vervain, Cold Sandra, Great Nannane, and Oncle Julien. This could have been interesting, but because Rice never managed to make me care about any of these characters before plunging into these droning s...more Disappointing, truly. First, almost nothing actually happens within the present timeline in which the book is written. It's a string of stories told over a glass of rum. As a result, it reads like a "best-of clips" episode of a sit com (and is about as interesting).

You get to hear all about Oncle Vervain, Cold Sandra, Great Nannane, and Oncle Julien. This could have been interesting, but because Rice never managed to make me care about any of these characters before plunging into these droning stories, it came across like an old drunk woman you've met at the bus stop telling you her life story for no reason known to you.

The premise of this book held so much potential, but Anne Rice has managed to realize absolutely none of it. The most powerful witch known to the Talamasca being made into a vampire by the most powerful vampire in the realm? Sounds brilliant, right? Well, none of the things that spring to mind with that description come to fruition in Merrick. It's emphasized repeatedly and in many ways how powerful a witch Merrick is; but she never really does anything much more than reading minds (a trick which even the weakest vampires could achieve with the Mind Gift).

That aside, it's heralded as the "blending of the stories of the mayfairs and the vampires," but neither story is really present in this book. Have you noticed that some lists show Merrick in the Vampire Chronicles, and some lists do not? That's because this novel is of absolutely no consequence to the saga. In fact, while Merrick is technically related to the Mayfairs you've come to know before this book, she makes it a point not to involve herself with them, so hers is an entirely different story, really.

And once again, Rice falls into purple prose (surprised?). You get countless descriptions of her imbibing of rum, of the texture of the fabric on her bodice, of her breasts and hair; and suddenly you realize you must backtrack to remember what's going on in the story.

That said, I'd advise you to skip this book and move on to Blood and Gold (which is well worth the read). As I've said, none of the proceedings of this book are of any consequence, so skipping this book will not diminish your understanding of future installments.(less)

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Oct 18, 2012 Kevin Redmond rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was of the same high caliber I've come to expect of the series. It is well constructed and I've grown quite fond of Ms. Rice's writing style. This novel brings the reader to a closer knowledge of David, and through David to the new character of Merrick (obviously). Both are welcome additions to the series, I think. Unfortunately... I feel kind of bad for Louis as a character, and by that I mean I feel bad for the character because I grew to like him even less in this installment. I alw...more

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Dec 01, 2009 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Lisa by: Jade

Shelves: 2009

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Apr 02, 2009 Daniel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Not having read any reviews of this book it came as a splendid surprise to have some of the old characters back. David Talbot was always one of my favorites. To learn about his experience with magic and to have him introduce such a provocative and mystical witch was fascinating and quite a departure from the Rice that we know. She is no passive dabbler in mind-reading. Unlike the Mayfair Witches of First Street, the exotic Merrick is a priestess of ceremonial magic, a spirit conjurer of the high...more

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Apr 11, 2013 Joshua Gross rated it 4 of 5 stars

I haven't kept up with Anne Rice's books very consecutively, so for some reason I thought this was kind of like a one shot vampire book about some vampire we haven't heard of yet that really didn't have much to do with anything, so I was surprised when i learned it was about a Mayfair witch and decided to read it. I love anything to do with the Mayfairs. But it was also continuing the story of David Talbot, Louis, and Lestat. I didn't realize this was a direct book in the vampire series. I had...more

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Aug 05, 2009 Mazel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Parente pauvre du clan des Maufair, issue d'une branche afro-américaine de la famille, descendante des sorcières blanches qu'elle connaissait à peine, Merrick était venue voir, vingt ans plus tôt, le Talamasca, s'aventurant dans la maison mère de Louisiane pour dire : " J'ai entendu parler de vous et j'ai besoin de votre aide.

Je vois des choses, Je sais parler avec les morts. " Or justement, aujourd'hui, quelqu'un a désespérément besoin de ce talent particulier : Louis de Pointe du Lac, qui som...more

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May 07, 2009 Elisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is my second favorite Anne Rice "Vampire Chronicles" novel and something of a guilty pleasure. I don't think, as a novel, it's a particularly strong offering in meaning or execution. If you want, as I did, a bit of (admittedly) florid local New Orleans color, this is one of Rice's more enjoyable offerings.

This is a review, not only of the novel, but of this abridged audio edition read by Derek Jacobi. The book -- rich on sensual description and low on plot -- doesn't suffer from the abridgm...more

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Aug 13, 2010 Andrew rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, horror

Not a terrible book but not a terribly good one neither...to be honest since Memnoch the Devil with it's paradise lost type stylings the series seems to have lazily become embroiled in origins and back stories to circumstance rather than moving apace as say books such as Queen of the Damned or the tale of the body thief did.
I haven't read any of the Mayfair Witches saga to be honest and maybe i may view this book as more essential if I had that grounding as this is the book that marrys Rices two...more

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May 05, 2011 Marie rated it 2 of 5 stars

It was SO exciting to hear that the vampires and the witches were going to come together...then nothing. A quick paragraph about how Merrick never knew the rest of the Mayfairs and then la la la. Written for an audience she assumed hadn't bothered with the witch trilogy, which was such a cop out.

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Dec 26, 2011 Synergy rated it 1 of 5 stars

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Nov 04, 2009 Larzipan rated it 4 of 5 stars

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Apr 12, 2012 Ana Maria rated it 2 of 5 stars

I just never cared about any of the characters. I spent a significant part of the beginning trying to ignore the face that everything and anything with "African blood" was exotic. I really wanted to LOVE Merrick, but the vision of her through David's eyes as the "exotic other" left me cold and uninterested. I just finished revisiting The Queen of the Damned before I got into Merrick so I was primed and ready to continue connecting with Louie and David, but this book fell flat. I don't fully unde...more

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Aug 11, 2011 Jason Gusman rated it 3 of 5 stars

Anne pumped some life in the series for me with the 7th installment of her Vampire Chronicles. This book marks the merger of her vampire books and her Mayfair family books. Louis seeks the help of an exotic Mayfair woman who is lives in the swamps of Louisiana. This branch of the family tree is the bonafide Mayfair blacksheep family. But Merrick doesn't walk the same path as her immediate family and she possesses abilities none of the others could imagine. She trades helping Louis get rid of the...more

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Feb 22, 2010 Evelyn rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

this a book i've wanted to read for years but refused to buy at full price after wasting my money on some of the other crappy side stories the author has written. Got it for a $1 at the 2nd hand bookstore and it wasn't that bad - it was pretty good actually! i quite enjoyed it - fairly good plot and character development and the return of some of my fave characters from previous Rice stories made everything come together nicely... the final seance was incredibly! technically i'd give it 3.5 star...more

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Mar 02, 2010 Tamcamry rated it 1 of 5 stars

• This book was another in the almost formulaic vampire novels Anne Rice has done. A different character is introduced. There’s all sorts of intrigue involving this character. All the vampires involved swear up and down that they would never do harm to the new character, and that more than anything they would never give the Dark Gift to the new character. Then somehow, some treachery happens, and the new character becomes a vampire. I understand that Rice wants to connect the two major sagas she...more

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Apr 30, 2013 Joey rated it 2 of 5 stars

I am not sure what happened to my relationship as a reader w/ Anne Rice. I don't know if I read so many of her novels between the ages of 19-27 that I simply burned myself out(this has happened with other authors, however I was able to return to reading those authors recently and this is not the case with Anne), or if her novels appealed to something w/in that simply evolved into something else or is not there anymore. Trying to read her now is like going back to a house where you once lived or...more

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Feb 05, 2013 Brittany Massey rated it 4 of 5 stars

The secretive, seductive world Anne Rice has created never ceases to captivate me. She gives ideas that the earth is filled with magical wonders and wonderful hidden creatures. It is a beautiful world, coupled with beautiful writing. I am spellbound by this series.

Louis and Lestat are very close to my heart. I was exited with Claudia's appearance but once her vengeful spirit made itself known, I felt for poor Louis. Merrick is charming although I feel her part now has been played and I dont exp...more

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Jun 30, 2012 Peter Molnar rated it 4 of 5 stars

Once again Anne Rice has proven that nobody working in the vampire-genre today does it better. In this installment of the Vampire Chronicles, the reader is introduced to her finest and most complex character yet, Merrick Mayfair, who is one of the line in the Mayfair Witch family which is another creation of Rice's. The interplay between her world of witches and her world of the undead is fascinating and the culmination of this interaction closes the novel in a way that is as foreseeable as it i...more

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Jul 29, 2010 Tricia Perdigon rated it 4 of 5 stars

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Apr 25, 2013 Elizabetha Souvré rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: nobody.. really

Shelves: 2013, awful-capuccino-ate-it-or-the-saga, disappointing, dull-and-predictable, ghosts, i-expected-more, liz-and-capuccino-book-challenges, paranormal-sobrenatural, worse-than-the-last-1-in-the-saga

Decepcionante ... 548 hojas perdidas.
(Reseña pendiente)

Y "Crepúsculo" no era lo peor que se ha escrito sobre vampiros

Recuerdo cuando allá por el 2008, tomando un certamen a los de primero de licenciatura como flamante ayudante universitaria, me acomodé en el asiento del profesor y me puse a leer "Sangre y oro". El pavor que sentí al leer que el magnífico y soberbio Marius, un patricio romano con mezcla bárbara con más de dos milenios de existencia, se maquillaba por las noches para ir a bailar...more Decepcionante ... 548 hojas perdidas.
(Reseña pendiente)

Y "Crepúsculo" no era lo peor que se ha escrito sobre vampiros

Recuerdo cuando allá por el 2008, tomando un certamen a los de primero de licenciatura como flamante ayudante universitaria, me acomodé en el asiento del profesor y me puse a leer "Sangre y oro". El pavor que sentí al leer que el magnífico y soberbio Marius, un patricio romano con mezcla bárbara con más de dos milenios de existencia, se maquillaba por las noches para ir a bailar/cazar a una disco, mató todo mi amor por Anne Rice y hizo que me arrepintiera amargamente de haber comprado TODOS los libros de su Saga vampirica. Acto seguido, los sepulté en las sombras para no recordar el horror que sentí antes los vampiros con base de maquillaje y, probablemente, delineador de ojos.
Desenterré "Merrick" , pues necesitaba un libro para un reto y porque llevaba "mirándome" hacia bastante tiempo desde mi pequeña biblioteca . Decidí darle una oportunidad y me sedujo que fuera un cruce de su serie de vampiros con las de las Brujas de Mayfair.
¿Qué tan malo podía ser?
Respuesta: mucho más de lo que yo creía.
Fue una lectura lenta y torturante, plagada de,millones detalles innecesarios y a veces desagradables, sin un trama real y con exageraciones tales como incluir en su trama leyendas , excavaciones y artefactos mayas que ,obviamente, tiene un poder "relacionado" con el "don oscuro". ¿Todo para qué? sólo para que Lestat despertara de su sueño de "blanca nieves", Louis dejara de ser el personaje adorable y semi-humano que tanto me gustaba y se estableciera un nuevo aquelarre, "tan bueno" como aquel del cual formara parte Claudia, ... y para, nuevamente, dejar abierta la historia, a fin de que su creadora siga recreándose en si misma, escribiendo más y más detallitos superfluos de su decadente mundo.
Sin duda un libro olvidable y prescindible, sin brillo ni maestría, redactado perfectamente (eso hay que destacarlo ... algo bueno debe haber tenido ya que lo terminé y no fue a parar a la Pancita de Capuccino, mi gato) con el fin de explotar la franquicia hasta la saciedad.

¡Ah! y ODIE que Merrique, un nombre de ascendencia francesa, se haya "GRINGUIZADO" y quedado en Merrick...Destesto el utilitarismo intelectual que ello conlleva.

1 de 5 estrellas
0 de 7 castilllos... ¡Huye de este libro! ¡no lo leas!

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Mar 10, 2011 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars

In the latest tale of the Vampires, Louis is consumed by an obsession to call the spirit of Claudia, so David seeks out a member of the Talamasca who might be capable of doing so. Even though we have not heard of her before, David shares a long history with Merrick, which he relates to us here. They even go on a trek through the South American Rainforest!
This book seems more like a bridge between two tales than a story that can stand alone. One must be completely familiar with the characters and...more

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Mar 21, 2013 Jody Austin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Merrick Mayfair is a decendent of Julian Mayfair, the only known male witch of the Mayfair line. A woman of mixed blood, she easily passes for white. She has recently met up with David Talbot, but is not surprised that he is now a vampire in a younger body for she, too, is a member of the Talamasca, brought in due to her skills in witchcraft and voodoo. David Talbot knows Merrick. He has something of a history with this gifted young woman. His purpose for seeing her is to ask her to use her gift...more

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Nov 09, 2011 Alberto Kennedy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Loved this book! Again Anne Rice spirited me off to the past then the present with the simplicity of a summer breeze. I enjoyed the chcaracters and the expert way she writes in third person without losing the reader or the establish momentum of the story. I love the plot, the research of Candomble and Voodoo that she has done and character development that she works like a spell that it seems by the middle of the book that you have spent years with the characters your reading about! I love the w...more

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Jul 28, 2011 Jane rated it 5 of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this book on its base value of a satisfying Anne Rice vampire story crossed with the ever intriguing Mayfair witch clan.

I thought that this book was beautifully written as are all the Rice books that I have read and it left me with an appetite to keep reading the novel.

That being said however the main plot for the story (regarding the Claudia séance) is rather short and is bulked out only with the character David Talbot's memories of Merrick throughout her career in the Tala...more

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About Anne Rice

Anne Rice (born Howard Allen Frances O'Brien) is a best-selling American author of gothic, supernatural, historical, erotica, and later religious themed books. Best known for The Vampire Chronicles, her prevailing thematical focus is on love, death, immortality, existentialism, and the human condition. She was married to poet Stan Rice for 41 years until his death in 2002. Her books have sold near...more

More about Anne Rice...

Books by Anne Rice

Interview with the Vampire (The Vampire Chronicles, #1)

The Vampire Lestat (The Vampire Chronicles, #2)

The Queen of the Damned (The Vampire Chronicles, #3)

The Witching Hour (Lives of the Mayfair Witches, #1)

The Tale of the Body Thief (The Vampire Chronicles, #4)

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“There are so many books I mean to read, and things I mean to see.” — 44 people liked it

“For several long moments we remained locked together, and I think I covered her hair with small sacred kisses, her perfume crucifying me with memories.” — 21 people liked it

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Merrick (The Vampire Chronicles #7)

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