Blood and Gold - Anne Rice

Advantages: Odyssey spanning millenium
Disadvantages: Drags on sometimes

For those of you following the Tales of the vampires you will already be familiar with Marius who Lestat seeked and find in a remote island in the mediterreanean looking after the King and Queen. Well, this book is all about him.. and him alone. Marius was a rich roman which was abducted by a tribe from Gaul - nowaday France - to become their new 'God'. This tribe had been for years paying tribute to a vampire locked in a tree trunk. That 'God', ...
...seek out the evildoers during a ceremony held once a year and will in return be fed with human blood. Unfortunately for some unknown reason, the tribe's God had been badly burnt hence Marius' kidnapping. The book will transport you to Rome at the height of its power. You will see through Marius' eyes the rise of Christianity, the fall of Rome, Constantinople, Venice and a host of other places and time throughout Marius' travels. Aside of the main ... Read review

Advantages: Deeper understanding of Marius
Disadvantages: Armand retold

...Armand, go ahead and read Blood and Gold. If you HAVE read Armand, skip this one, unless you are into rereading the same thing over again. Marius is a tragic figure, and has been since the first books. But the true tragedy is that his story has been told TOO MANY TIMES. I'm sorry, Anne, but I cannot really and honestly recommend this book to the faithful. I myself am a faithful adherant to your stories, but this, really, I hate to say it, was a waste ... Read review