REVIEW: BLOOD AND GOLD by Anne Rice

Title: Blood and Gold
Author: Anne Rice
Series: Vampire Chronicles #8
Genres: Paranormal, Classics, Gothic
Publisher: Mass Market Paperback
Release: 2002
Source: Audiobook
Pages: 752

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BLURB:
Here is the gorgeous and sinister story of Marius, patrician by birth, scholar by choice, one of the oldest vampires of them all, which sweeps from his genesis in ancient Rome, in the time of the Emperor Augustus, to his meeting in the present day with a creature of snow and ice. Thorne is a Northern vampire in search of Maharet, his 'maker', the ancient Egyptian vampire queen who holds him and others in thrall with chains made of her red hair, 'bound with steel and with her blood and gold'. When the Visigoths sack his city, Marius is there; with the resurgence of the glory that was Rome, he is there, still searching for his lost love Pandora, but bewitched in turn by Botticelli, the Renaissance beauty Bianca, with her sordid secrets, and the boy he calls Amadeo (otherwise known as the Vampire Armand). Criss-crossing through the stories of other vampires from Rice's glorious Pantheon of the undead, haunted by Pandora and by his alter ego Mael, tracked by the Talamasca, the tale of Marius, the self-styled guardian of 'those who must be kept' is the most wondrous and mind-blowing of them all.

EXPECTATIONS: If you have been following our blog for some time you know that recently I have been marathoning Vampire Chronicles of Anne Rice. I started then when I was fourteen and thought it is about time I finish this series. So here we go. 

THE WORLD: As it is a book about Marius and he is from old Rome we of course spend a lot of time there. Actually this book I think is more historical fiction than fiction simply due to the fact that Marius is one of the oldest Anne's vampires and he has a lot of history to talk about. I mean whole 752 pages. And trust me, he does not miss any paintings, architecture of cultural traditions. Oh and let's not forget his weird relationship with Mother and Father who he is keeping hidden. Anyways, if being simple the world is very much what you find in old history books plus vampires. But not your modern world ones, the ancient ones who are as cold as ice and as white as snow. And they somehow are also beasts that cannot pass as humans. Leave it to Anne to be dramatic. 

CHARACTERS: When I was fourteen I was in love with Lestat. The Stuart Lestat to be more precise. But then eventually I somehow became a fan of Marius more. I even went as Cassie de Romanus on social media :D But thanks to this book I must sadly admit that I really dislike Marius. That amazing character Anne created in her first books...well she just butchered him in Blood and Gold. Somehow this wise and incredibly sexy character became a whiny teenager who must fight every women around him. I went into this book a bit wary simply because of previous Anne's books and it took about 50 pages to realize I am a masochist who just likes to torture herself. I still cannot believe I pulled through whole 752 pages. It was torture, pure torture. Also there were things that we already heard about in Armand's book. Why did it have to be repeated? Beats me. 

ROMANCE: We are back to this everybody loves everybody style. Now I would not mind it really but the whole love in Vampire Chronicles is so fake. I am kinda thinking that Anne just used word love as a substitution for a world like. Because really...you see a person for a first time, no words exchanged and you are already declaring eternal love. Like whaaaat? 

GOOD: I like old Rome and so that part was kinda interesting. However, for some reason Anne tends to discuss interesting history for about half a page and then spends another 50 pages analysing the door or the window. If you are into gothic literature this might be for you but as I am not a fan of it...it was just not for me.

BAD:  I cannot stand this whiny teenager Marius. I mean okay I get that existentialism problems is the main topic of the whole Vampire Chronicles but really...how many books have to deal with same things.  

OVERALL: Unfortunately I must admit by now Anne Rice is not even near to my favorite authors. I would go even as far as saying that in my opinion Anne Rice is not even a good author. She writes these books that are as different to each other as it can be and then we have to just accept them. I get that authors have their ups and downs but I like a total of 2 books of Anne and I have read now 10. So yeah...not something I recommend. 

What do you think about BLOOD AND GOLD?