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Servant of the Bones

3.62 of 5 stars 3.62 · rating details · 17,694 ratings · 271 reviews

SERVANT OF THE BONES is Anne Rice's new electrifying novel, with a hero as mesmerising, seductive and ambivalent as the vampire Lestat. Azriel is a restless Jewish spirit, born almost 2500 years ago in Babylon, who can be called forth by whoever holds and understands the arcane mystery of the casket of golden bones he is tied to. Caught between heaven and earth, Azriel is...more

416 pages

Published (first published 1996)

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Oct 31, 2007 Irene rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Like most of Anne Rice's later work, this book is written in a loose, breathy semisoftcore, purple overwrought style and is sprinkled with too many one sentence paragraphs. The premise of the story isn't bad and I didn't have a hard time getting though it but it does give one that creepy squirrely feeling of having unintentionally intruded upon someone else's sexual fantasies about Antonio Banderas.

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Sep 29, 2011 Lizann Dennis rated it 3 of 5 stars

Anne Rice tells the story slowly; A demon or god recalling his past while a temporary recluse writer transcribes the story for him is a unique story line. Rice tells the story with such care that you come to find yourself attached to this man who is now neither living or dead, no longer a man but not quite an all-powerful god. I enjoyed this strange tale of how a god is created where usually gods simply exist, they are not given a human element at all. I would like to re-read this text because I...more

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May 20, 2013 laurenpie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Recommended to laurenpie by: Shawn

The bones of a truly fascinating literary novel, but regrettably fleshed out into a light and mediocre quick-read.

I find the topic fascinating to contemplate: a millenia-old spirit, incredibly powerful, yet confused regarding his own provenance, and unsure even what he is: Angel of Wrath? Demon?

Knowing that he is brimming with hate and violence, yet catching fleeting glimpses of a way he once learned from a forgotten master he once loved, a way dedicated to goodness.

With a more diligent author,...more The bones of a truly fascinating literary novel, but regrettably fleshed out into a light and mediocre quick-read.

I find the topic fascinating to contemplate: a millenia-old spirit, incredibly powerful, yet confused regarding his own provenance, and unsure even what he is: Angel of Wrath? Demon?

Knowing that he is brimming with hate and violence, yet catching fleeting glimpses of a way he once learned from a forgotten master he once loved, a way dedicated to goodness.

With a more diligent author, we could have taken advantage of this brilliant and unique idea for a main character. We could have traveled through time with Azriel as he slowly recovered his memories of various masters throughout cultures and centuries, from ancient to modern day. The few chapters dedicated to this were by far the best in the novel. I would have relished experiencing the varying attitudes and philosophies through the ages, deliberating on their effect and values.

I also wish we had spent more time delving into (view spoiler)

I don't mean to hint that this is a religious novel... it's NOT. It's fiction, not Biblical-based at all, and not intended to be so.

Interesting side-characters too: Cyrus, Zurvan, Samuel, the Rebbe. Though, I didn't care for Jonathan; I felt he unwarrantably intruded a little too much into the story. The complex relationship (especially that last conversation) between Samuel and Azriel was great! The plot-line behind the Temple of the Mind of God was fairly interesting. And, a small thing: it was fun reading about the compilation of warnings and safeguards that successive generations had added to the casket of bones. Right down to iron chains! LOL!

On the downside: the constant sophomoric obsession with looks was silly (from Jonathan to Azriel to Gregory Belkin), as though Ms Rice was having trouble remembering to switch gears from writing erotica or romance. I do respect Ann Rice for her wonderful-written vampire series, and boy can she think up some interesting plots and details. However, I'm afraid she could have done better here.(less)

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Feb 07, 2013 Al added it · review of another edition

"[Rice] has a real gift for rendering psychically charged mood and melancholy atmosphere".--The New York Times Book ReviewHaving created fantastic universes of vampires and witches, the incomparable Anne Rice now carries us into new realms of the mystical and the magical--and into the presence of a dark and luminous new hero: the powerful, witty, smiling Azriel, Servant of the Bones. He is a ghost, demon, angel--in love with the good, in thrall to the evil. He pours out his heart to us, telling...more

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Sep 24, 2012 Martin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, fiction, fantasy

As a bit of a diversion from the regular vampire lore, in The Servant of the Bones by Anne Rice we are taken to the hay days of a crowed chaotic Babylon. At times rambling on in non-essential dialogue this story is rich in detail and character development not to mention vivid descriptions of places and people long past. A very long time ago a young boy sacrifices himself for the Jewish community in Babylon under the impending rule of King Cyrus. His reward is to live forever on as a powerful spi...more As a bit of a diversion from the regular vampire lore, in The Servant of the Bones by Anne Rice we are taken to the hay days of a crowed chaotic Babylon. At times rambling on in non-essential dialogue this story is rich in detail and character development not to mention vivid descriptions of places and people long past. A very long time ago a young boy sacrifices himself for the Jewish community in Babylon under the impending rule of King Cyrus. His reward is to live forever on as a powerful spirit neither completely alive and certainly not dead. Passed on from master to master Azriel eventually ends up in modern day New York where he becomes a pivotal component in the plan of a mad mastermind set on bringing about his version of the End of Days.

Before all that however we travel with Azriel and we see through his eyes the world as it once was. All this we are told by Azriel himself as he re-told it to Jonathan a writer who trapped himself for the winter in a remote lodge surrounded by miles of snow. The setup of an old tired spirit telling his life's story to a listener who has the power to write it all down appropriately is perhaps not a novel one, but it certainly works in this case. Although the story starts out very slowly with lots of re-starts, as Azriel puts in more and more detail, right around the middle of the novel things start to pick up and accelerate towards the ending.

After thousands of years of being immortal and mostly omnipotent, Azriel is confronted with a situation he can't change. He can't prevent the death of a young girl, something we later read has many more personal repercussions for our 'hero' dead or alive. The more he tries the less he seems to have a grip on his physical world around him and he can't prevent those around him he cares about to not perish at the hands of baser minds. Or can he? We are treated here to a well thought out and well told story on humanity as experienced by a being far from human. At times dragging on and at times too fantastical for its context, this novel his highly entertaining and engrossing.(less)

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Sep 15, 2012 Colleen rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 13, 2012 Abraham rated it 3 of 5 stars

Anne Rice's Servant of the Bones

Plot:

Azriel, Servant of the Bones. He is a ghost, demon, angel - in love with the good, in thrall to evil. He pours out his heart to us, telling his astonishing story when he finds himself - in present-day New York City - a dazed witness to the murder of a young girl and inexplicably obsessed by the desire to avenge her. Azriel takes us back to his mortal youth in the magnificent city of Babylon, where he is plucked from death by evil priests and sorceresses and t...more Anne Rice's Servant of the Bones

Plot:

Azriel, Servant of the Bones. He is a ghost, demon, angel - in love with the good, in thrall to evil. He pours out his heart to us, telling his astonishing story when he finds himself - in present-day New York City - a dazed witness to the murder of a young girl and inexplicably obsessed by the desire to avenge her. Azriel takes us back to his mortal youth in the magnificent city of Babylon, where he is plucked from death by evil priests and sorceresses and transformed into a genii commanded to do their bidding. Challenging these forces of destruction, Azriel embarks on his perilous journey through time - from Babylon's hanging gardens to the Europe of the Black Death to Manhattan in the 1990's. And as his quest approaches its climactic horror, he dares to use and risk his supernatural powers in the hope of forestalling a world-threatening conspiracy, and redeeming, at last, what was denied him so long ago: his own eternal soul.

My Review and Thoughts:

Anne Rice has away with taking the very fabric of history and painting a pure piece of art come to life in her written. She is mind numbing when it comes to creating characters and stories that are so thick with history and passion and the very nature of existence is classified into her writing. Her story telling blows my mind. I have been a fan of Rice for a very, very, very long time. I grew up with Interview with a Vampire being my first book by her and then consuming all of her dark horror novels, from Witches to Mummy's to vampires she is able to weave a perfect woven fabric of imagination into a whirl pool of storytelling that is beyond any other writer.

When she writes the descriptive nature and the imagination on page sends the reader in sort of an ecstasy. Page after page the blood flows and the mind becomes apart of the story when she writes, it creates a tone of expression that sends the reader into a frenzied state of enlightenment as you consume the words she tends to write in her books.

Rice is a true writing god in many of her novels, a nature of words and story that only she knows how to do. Many of her works are one of kind pieces of history into the modern realms of horror in a sensuousness way that does not let go. So begins this novel by her about the story of Azriel which is a character that has built on me and I will never forget, an interesting character that works and doesn't work in many details.

Now I did not really like this book and I don't want that to sound negative because the book is very interesting and will hold a lot of readers. Many will like this book but I just could not get into it like her other works. I felt at times I was reading a history book and not a Rice book even though lots of her books have history as back stories I felt this one was to thick for my taste.

Many readers are going to love this book I just felt it was slow and drawn out and dare I say a little boring for me but like I say for others it might work I just felt not enough was there to hold the reader and it felt like the writing was just following an outline of a history paper with twists, but yet not enough twists. I also felt some of the writing was re-used from other works such as Interview with a Vampire or her other vampire chronicles.

Some will like some will not, I for one felt it lacked, had some great moments but just not enough for my taste. I often felt while reading it the writer struggled to write it just like the reader struggles to read it. I think the hardest thing I end up having is the concept of these mythical beings, these walking dead or ghost or witches just showing up in these books finding someone to write their story and it's like the scribe just says okay lets rock n' roll, it worked for Interview with a Vampire because it was unique and one of a kind and now it just seems a little far fetched to follow and the whole let me tell you my story is so over done and also comical at times.

I don't want to sound too negative about this book because I liked some of it because it had its moment and worked in back story and neat odd characters it just seemed to fall flat for a Rice novel. (less)

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May 10, 2009 Alison rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookclub, fiction

This was something I read for one of my book clubs. It's the story of Azriel, a demon/angel/spirit who is called forth from his preserved skeleton by whomever owns it, and must do that person's bidding. We see how he is turned from a regular person into the demon, hear a bit about the various masters he serves, and then hear about how he somehow manages to free himself from this servitude. This last part takes place now.

The story of Azriel was fairly interesting, but it was set within the concei...more

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May 26, 2012 Rogermue rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, french-books, english-books, english-language

Servant of the Bones, 1996 – Anne Rice, USA

The fantasy novel is worth reading and somewhat exceptional – because it is fantasy with a strong element of history – passing through the ages, beginning in old Babylon, moving to Greece, the Middle Ages and ending in New York of our times.

The main figure is Azriel, a young man who under magical circumstances is changed into an immortal spirit who passes through various places and ages but is servant to that person who is in possession of the casket co...more

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Oct 04, 2012 Crystal rated it 2 of 5 stars

The story opens when Azriel, an ancient spirit, accosts an archaeology scholar named Jonathan in a remote mountain cabin a few hours outside New York City. Azriel — who has materialized to avenge the murder of the daughter of a modern-day cult leader — proceeds to tell Jonathan his own strange and terrible story. And tells him and tells him — for 24 (out of a total 26) mind-numbing chapters. Each chapter is arranged as a virtual soliloquy by Azriel, who apparently did some hard time in places li...more

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May 05, 2009 Danielle rated it 1 of 5 stars

I have never been so happy to finish a book in my life. Ok that's probably not true. In fact I think The School on Heart's Content Road was probably worse. I only read this book because it is for one of my book clubs. For this book club whoever is hosting gets to choose the book. The person hosting May's book club is a sci-fi/fantasy fan, which is so not my genre at all. She offered us 3 choices of books and this seemed the most mainstream, so it got the most votes. I sincerely wish I had voted...more

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Apr 09, 2011 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Although it has been a few years since I have read this book, it still stays with me. Anne Rice has an amazing attention to detail and the ability to really put the reader into her characters' heads. She uses flashbacks and backstory to develop her characters and give them personality. She even gives personality to characters that most others would have ignored. This layers the story and gives it life. In this book she goes into mythology and intertwines religions to create a unique story. The m...more

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Dec 15, 2012 Kheresket Madira rated it 2 of 5 stars

I read this one a while back, after a friend of mine was doing characterization on His Grim Reaper style character that I had given to him. Although I love Anne and majority of her books with Queen of the Damned being my favorite, and that book being the one that inspired me to create my series of characters. I have to say Servant of the Bones just didn't do it for me. The main character just seemed weak at times, and his choices/decisions annoyed me quite a lot. But I felt for Azriel and Anne h...more

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Apr 13, 2011 Kraig Horton rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was another good book from Anne Rice. "Servant of the Bones" brings mythology, religion and a compelling visual story that like her other novels made this almost like watching a movie. The main character is narrating through several past events leading to the present his life as a servant to the bones that he was cursed to. I have read many novels that this type of layers in a story took away from the novels appeal because it made things to complicated but Rice used it amazingly and without...more

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Oct 29, 2012 Alex rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: occult-fiction

Took my absolute time with reading this book, just as Anne Rice took her absolute time in telling it. Started off pretty boring to me but later picked up when Azriel stopped pausing to remind us how very rich he and his family was; and to describe random things like he had ADHD; and when Jonathan stopped pausing to describe over and over Azriel's hair, eyes and "cherub mouth".

Once we got past that, the book wasnt so bad. Or maybe it's that I read this while Hurricane Sandy passed over Jamaica a...more

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Nov 03, 2011 Laura rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: pleasure

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 26, 2009 Honor rated it 4 of 5 stars

Sometimes Ann Rice is just too frickin weird for me, but I liked this. I guess I don't know much about Hasidic Judaism, so I don't know how accurate her representation of that is, but I was fascinated, and I really liked the descriptions of ancient Babylon. I was also amazed and sort of shocked to really read Psalm 137 (it opens the book) and realize that what I had kind of thought of as an uplifting song about freedom is actually a lament and a call for revenge (quite literally it talks about k...more

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Jul 07, 2012 Rosy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

“La domanda?”
“Ho un destino io?”
“Che domanda bizzarra. Cosa ti fa pensare che si possa avere un destino? Facciamo quel che facciamo e poi moriamo. Te l’ho spiegato. Esiste un solo Dio creatore e il suo nome non fa differenza. Il nostro destino, il destino di tutti, è amare e imparare ad apprezzare tutto quello che ci circonda. Perché il tuo dovrebbe essere diverso?”
ho riportato questa frase perchè per me è bellissima.
E' un libro che si legge tutto di un fiato, intrigante e molto interessante...more

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May 14, 2013 Yun Rivera rated it 3 of 5 stars

It's a slow book with tons of descriptions about most of the servants life and you kinda loose the point of the story at all, it's a great book you have to be in certain mood to be able to pass the first 20 pages.

The book calls you when you are ready for it. It is great that you know as much as to what's happening as the servant Azriel himself.

The parts where you are back at the current time is difficult it takes you to why he is telling this story but I never quite got the point of the first sc...more

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Oct 27, 2012 Delicious Strawberry rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: anne-rice

After being disappointed by 'Violin', I gave this book a try. Thankfully, it proved to be better than the other book. It's not on par with the Vampire Chronicles, but is a decent and satisfying read, whether for the Anne Rice fan or for someone just looking for a good read.

The story is interesting (the past story of Azriel and the present one of Belkin, his cult, and the surrounding events) and I actually liked this. I wouldn't quite give it a four, but it deserves better than 3, but unfortunate...more

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Jan 27, 2013 A.R. Voss rated it 4 of 5 stars

When I was reading Anne Rice's "Servant of the Bones" last year, I could not decide if I cared much for her style or the story. It was not until I finished the book that I began thinking about both the story and the writing style. It took another three months before I realized how thought provoking her book had been for me. And that to me is the sign of a true artist. Since then I have enjoyed a few of her books and just finished "Interview with the Vampire" (Which I always thought was called "I...more

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Sep 08, 2012 Louisanna rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, supernatural

Wo Rice ihrem Roman schon die bescheidenen Worte „Dieses Buch ist GOTT gewidmet“ voranstellt, ist es ja nur recht und billig, dass ich auf der letzten Seite angekommen mit einem lauten: „Hallelujah“ das Ding zur Seite legte. Allerdings, wie man sich denken kann, weniger aus Gottesfurcht denn aus Dankbarkeit, dass auch diese Tortur ein Ende hatte.
(view spoiler)...more Wo Rice ihrem Roman schon die bescheidenen Worte „Dieses Buch ist GOTT gewidmet“ voranstellt, ist es ja nur recht und billig, dass ich auf der letzten Seite angekommen mit einem lauten: „Hallelujah“ das Ding zur Seite legte. Allerdings, wie man sich denken kann, weniger aus Gottesfurcht denn aus Dankbarkeit, dass auch diese Tortur ein Ende hatte.
(view spoiler)[
Der Rahmen, den der „Chronist“ Jonathan darstellt, unterbricht in den ersten Kapiteln mehrfach und höchst unwillkommen Asraels ohnehin viel zu langatmige Schilderung über sein Leben als Mensch; Der zweite Stern, der insgesamt zu der Aussage führt, dass ich es okay fand (was so nicht ganz korrekt ist), ist eher dem Teil des Romans geschuldet, den der noch junge und unerfahrene Geist mit dem Magier in Griechenland verbringt; ein Abschnitt, in dem ich für Kreativität und Sprache locker vier Punkte vergeben würde. Nur leider wird der Leser, abgesehen von einem geradezu als Versehen anmutenden Abstecher ins pestzerfressene Europa des Mittelalters direkt in die „Gegenwart“ geworfen, ins Manhattan der neunziger Jahre. Und „Gegenwart“ scheint die große Schwachstelle von Rice zu sein; wobei die tollpatschige Sprache sicherlich zu großen Teilen auch der Übersetzerin zu verdanken ist. Ein ruheloser Geist, der sich zu Aussagen wie „Ich fand sie einfach nur toll“ hinreißen lässt, den kann nun wirklich niemand mehr ernst nehmen. Auch insgesamt gelang es Rice nicht, mir die enorme Bedeutung von Belkins Sekte zu vermitteln, abgesehen von dem unvermeidlichen „Monolog des Bösewichtes“ auf den letzten zwanzig Seiten, der den großen Plan von der Auslöschung der Menschheit erklärt. Weiterhin ist die als so „süß und unschuldig“ beschriebene Esther, das „Opfer“, absolut kein Sympathieträger. Immerhin lernt man sie kennen, während sie mit der dicken Limo von Papa vor den Luxusladen in der 5th Avenue gefahren wird, und sie stirbt, während sie ihre verwöhnten Fingerchen nach einem Schal(?!?) ausstreckt. Ein Schal, der dann lächerlicherweise auch noch mehr schlecht als recht als MacGuffin später wieder auftaucht. Asraels lächerliche Nachfragen, ob Belkins nun wirklich den Mord an seiner Stieftochter in Auftrag gegeben hat, sind einfach nur ermüdend, weil die Autorin uns schon auf der allerersten Seite darüber in Kenntnis gesetzt hat – fragt man sich, ob sie das einfach bis dahin wieder vergessen hatte. Unterm Strich also ist die ganze „Verschwörung“ in der Gegenwart einfach nur belanglos und langweilig – der einzige Grund, der mich annähernd neugierig dem Ende entgegenblicken ließ, war die Frage, was für ein fulminantes Feuerwerk Rice nun nach dieser fragwürdigen Komposition aus ergreifender babylonischer Saga und belanglosen, Persönlichkeitsfreien High-Society-Kotzbrocken für angemessen hielt. Ich wurde nicht enttäuscht, was das angeht; der ach so erhabene Geist wirkt ohnehin einfach nur überfordert und machtlos, wenn er Belkins gegenübersteht, verhindert dann aber doch noch durch irgendein auf seinem Dasein als „Geist“ beruhenden Fähigkeit den Weltuntergang. Nicht etwa durch besondere Weisheit, die er in seinem mehr als zweitausendjährigen Dasein erlangt hat, nein, er irrt und stolpert eher gehetzt umher und greift nach dem allerletzten Strohhalm.
Und lasst mich gar nicht erst von den fragwürdigen homoerotischen Schwingungen anfangen, die bei nahezu jeder Begegnung zwischen Asrael und einem Mann ‚aus Fleisch und Blut‘ entstehen; und dieser angedeuteten Neigung weiß Rice auch scheinbar nichts Besseres entgegenzusetzen als einen ausufernden Softporno mit der Frau des großen Verschwörers – hinfällig zu erwähnen, dass auch dieser Abschnitt nach meinem Empfinden nicht besonders zur Weiterentwicklung der Handlung beiträgt, lediglich bekommt unser weinerlicher Geist mal wieder Gelegenheit, sich als triebgesteuert (er hat nicht mal mehr Organe, verdammt, sollte man nicht annehmen, dass er wenigstens über das allzu männliche Fiasko einer ungewollten Erektion erhaben ist?!) alles andere als dem weltlichen Firlefanz überlegen darzustellen. Vermessen von mir, sowas zu erwarten, bei einem Wesen, dass zweitausend Jahre Zeit hatte, nachzudenken und weise zu werden, und seinen Körper eigentlich nur durch Willenskraft aus Atomen zusammenberuft… (hide spoiler)]
Und das alles würde mich vermutlich nicht so aufregen, wären da nicht diese besagten "Lehrjahre" Asraels beim griechischen Magier, in denen das Dasein als Geistwesen so faszinierend und greifbar und mysthisch dargestellt ist, dass man unbedingt die Geschichte weiterverfolgen möchte. Stattdessen also der Sturz ins kalte Wasser, ins profane Manhattan.
Das ist, als würde man ein Kobe-Steak benutzen um daraus Gulaschsuppe zu kochen!

Soviel also zu meinem ersten Roman von Anne Rice. Es würde mich nicht wundern, wenn es auch mein letzter bliebe. Denn auch wenn ich kurz darüber nachsann, wenigstens „Interview with the Vampire“ in Angriff zu nehmen; so weiß ich ja bereits aus dem Film, dass auch diese „Chronik“ von einem Journalisten gehört und dokumentiert wird, und die bloße Vorstellung, auch nur eine weitere Sekunde mit Anne Rice in den neunziger Jahren zu verbringen, ist ausreichend abstoßend.
(less)

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Aug 11, 2011 Jason Gusman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This reminded me of a more macabre tale of a genie in a bottle. Once someone owns the bones of this person, they control his spirit. And it's been this way for hundreds of years. Now he is being used to carry out the owner's wishes no matter what they say. The spirit fights back. But not before taking us, in typical Anne fashion, through his life from shortly before he became the Servant of the Bones. And also,in typical Anne fashion, we are transported into a history lesson with a story. Overal...more

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Apr 05, 2013 Eddy Allen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy-and-horror

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Apr 25, 2013 Michael Barnett rated it 5 of 5 stars

I started reading all of Anne Rice's vampire books, then started with the Mayfair Witches, which for the most part, enjoyed thoroughly. After a while, however, I was wanting something more. After all, how many times can you re spin books with the same central theme? Then I found Servant of the Bones. I have always loved historical epics, and beginning the story in Babylon, during the Jewish captivity there, was not only brilliant, but very well written. Miss Rice has always, not only done much r...more

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Mar 01, 2010 Shawna McKinnis rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own

The Servant of the Bones falls into the Crunchy Vegetable category. It took me quite a while to really get into the story. In my quest to own and read everything Anne Rice, however, I endured and interspersed my stints of reading Servant with nice helpings of Ice Cream books.
In the Servant of the Bones you meet the spirit Azriel as he tells his tale to the Professor and Author Jonathan. Azriel’s tale is one of great sorrow, fear, and in the end, love. You look at the human condition on a scale...more

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Apr 28, 2010 Swissmiss rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This started out as a five-star book for me. Already after the first few pages, I was ready to give it the highest rating. I was immediately fascinated by the story, by the characters. I like stories that build on history, as long as they don’t get too long-winded about it, which this one didn’t. The historical aspects were really only background, with the main story springing from the imagination of the author. However, I do have to admit that there were a couple of passages that summarized hum...more This started out as a five-star book for me. Already after the first few pages, I was ready to give it the highest rating. I was immediately fascinated by the story, by the characters. I like stories that build on history, as long as they don’t get too long-winded about it, which this one didn’t. The historical aspects were really only background, with the main story springing from the imagination of the author. However, I do have to admit that there were a couple of passages that summarized human history that I skipped over because they were preachy. Yeah, yeah, we know about how terribly humans have destroyed the environment, etc. That was not the point of the story, and didn’t need to be in there. Those were only really short parts, though, so I can forgive them.

As I got further into the story, though, several other things started creeping up on me that dampened my enthusiasm. The first was, I realized that this book was probably just a carbon copy of Rice’s famous Interview With the Vampire. I have never read that book, nor seen the movie with Tom Cruise, but I believe it is based on the same template: An immortal, supernatural being pours out his biography, along with the story of his struggle between good and evil tendencies, to a sympathetic listener who mainly remains in the background. Seen thus, as a sort of ‘spin-off’ (although not a sequel), the magic of the story is already slightly lessened. I was unable to admire the originality of the concept because it was no longer original.

The second thing that bothered me was that although the book started out from the listener’s point of view, and his insights and reactions were an important part of the initial chapters, suddenly he was dropped completely and the entire remainder of the story, up to the last chapter, was solely from the speaker’s point of view. I felt that this turned the listener into nothing more than a gimmick to allow the speaker to pontificate -- which of course he was, but at the beginning at least, he was allowed his own opinions, and could have served as a counterpoint, devil’s advocate, or voice of reason at crucial points throughout the narrative. So I felt that the author had just let him go out of laziness, and his absence was felt.

The thing, though, that I really didn’t like about this book, was the last third or so, especially the sex scene and the premise that Asrael’s (the protagonist and speaker) entire existence of over three millenia was forever changed and clarified by his ‘love’ for two women he met at the very end, one of whom he saw only for one second before she died, and the second one (her mother), whom he spent barely a single day with. He decided, seemingly on the spur of the moment and with nothing more than a brief glimpse into each of their eyes, that he loved them so completely and utterly that his entire character was changed, and the meaning and course of life made clear in those instants. Gag.

Also, details like... why was it so important that Esther wasn’t Gregory’s biological daughter? It was mentioned over and over again, but the point was never made clear. In fact, if she had been his biological daughter, her murder would have made more sense. Or the whole thing with Asrael’s will: On the one hand, he was supposed to be in some way subject to the will of his summoner, yet he was able to act completely independently of them, even to kill them, despite them telling him not to. But maybe that’s just me being dense. In any case, things like that that didn’t seem to make sense or be consistent also lessened my pleasure in this book.

All in all, though, it was a good story, it definitely kept my interest, the characterizations were consistent and vivid, and the climax was, although not entirely surprising or innovative, satisfying and tied up all the loose ends.
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May 01, 2008 Dan rated it 2 of 5 stars

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Jul 27, 2009 Shomeret rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, contemporary-fiction, fantasy, my-reviews

The story about Azrael in Babylon is beautiful, but I suppose Anne Rice is attempting to validate the Book of Enoch which is apochryphal by including a prophet named Enoch among the exiles in Babylon. The Enoch mentioned in the Old Testament is Methuselah's father from a much earlier generation. This is a minor point. Most readers probably will not notice.

The contemporary plot line didn't have the impact that it might have had because it reminded me of other similar scenarios I've seen in other...more

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Apr 26, 2013 Jared Holt rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book purely for the fact that it's a gorgeous standalone piece, free from the world of the vampires or the Mayfair Witches. It deals with many interesting aspects from Babylonian and ancient Jewish mythology. And through it all, Rice's signature trademark of even the most monstrous creatures still seeking out or clinging to the shreds of their humanity, and what it means for them on roads that often lead to eternity. A beautiful, powerful story without a doubt!

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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

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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 is one purpose to life and one only: to bear witness to and understand as much as possible of the complexity of the world- its beauty, its mysteries, its riddles.” — 129 people liked it

“The greatest create of power you have on earth, whether you are an angel, a spirit, a man or woman or child is to help others.” — 15 people liked it

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