Pandora: New Tales of the Vampires

This is Bruce P. Grether's review, though my partner's name appears on my reviews here for reasons known only to the the store software!

When the astonishing, elegant, and relentless Anne Rice published THE WOLF GIFT earlier this year, I was transported, as always by her remarkable prose. The new Man Wolf Saga (she tells us the next one comes in 2013) whetted my appetite to return to her magnificent Vampires.

Only where to enter?

PANDORA has become my new entry point. She appears first in THE VAMPIRE LESTAT and QUEEN OF THE DAMNED, as a sometime-companion of Marius, a somewhat sad, unhappy character, though she always intrigued me. In her own story, which she narrates, the novel PANDORA begins as David Talbot (post-BODY THIEF) persuades her to write in a couple of beautiful notebooks. I will try not to give major spoilers, but be forewarned, if you want to go into her story with no idea of its riches. (SPOILER WARNINGS: SORT OF!) Pandora's words sweep me back two millennia to the Rome of Augustus, an era that comes totally alive. Her first meeting with Marius when she is a prominent Roman's young daughter and he a tall, handsome "barbarian" dazzles me all over with premonitions.

Originally called Lydia, she narrates this vivid and totally plausible history, both personal and broader. When she purchases a handsome one-legged slave named Flavius, we are enriched with the kind of utterly believable and quirky character Anne frequently creates. Flavius prefers boys, yet Pandora clearly loves and wants him as a lover. Eventually Pandora persuades her first crush, Marius, to give her the Dark Gift, though she soon comes to regret it. They become a perennial couple, in some ways like Louis and Lestat--unable to live together, or to totally disconnect emotionally.

Towards the end of this marvel of characters and scenes, again the Rice magick unfolds a strange and lovely vignette that involves an elderly monk, beehives and a sort of scarecrow--unlike anything a lesser imagination could invoke. It blows me away! The book is profoundly about the need for companionship and how difficult our human nature can make that to sustain.

Now I know I can trust these characters to call to me, and I need not think about where to go. Of course, Marius wants his say, so from here it's to BLOOD AND GOLD, for his side of things. Plus I already see that his beloved from the Renaissance, Armand, will probably want my attention next. Ah! Amazing how these beings truly live, and yet they are undead!

Bravo all over again, Anne Rice, and much gratitude and love for the riches you gift us with in your tales.

To Rice's credit, both 'Pandora' and 'The Vampire Armand' feel and read as if they were written AFTER 'Blood and Gold' which actually proceeded them by a few years. Pandora and Armand's perspectives on The Vampire Chronicles and their individual relationships with Marius are both quite interesting. That said, there's the usual Anne Rice problem of not enough eventual pay-off and resolution to relationships and conflicts between characters that get established early and that time apart, aging, expanding self-knowledge, perspective, and adequate opportunity should allow some degree of reconciliation. Furthermore, the exact nature of the conflicts between Marius and Pandora are not entirely defined enough to cause the degree of problems that they do. Nonetheless, this 'Alexandria Quartet' Multiple Persons POV discussion, rehash, expansion, and explanation of the larger and component parts of 'The Vampire Chronicles' is actually surprisingly satisfying.

This book has some amazing things in it, and some really not amazing things. The main character is raised in the time of Augustus, very well educated and brought up in a secular society. She also has a streak of both religious fervor and total nihilism, which makes her an interestingly conceptualized character as someone who can describe religious movements and societal changes through history. Unfortunately, this book feels like a treatment for a much longer work, where all of the concepts that get grazed over in this book would actually get fleshed out and put into some type of historical or personal context for the character. Pandora ends up being someone we know as a human and a fledgling vampire, but we never really know what she becomes and how she gets there, because she seems to disassociate from her own story and any conclusion that could be drawn from it.

Another interesting element of this book is a romantic sub-plot where Pandora interacts with Marius, who we've met in previous Vampire Chronicles. This is the third time I've read this book, and when I got to the page where the character says something along the lines of, "And then Marius and I spent the next 200 years arguing," I got the same giddy feeling I did in the past, because that sounds amazing and like something I'd love to read. Unfortunately the book does not follow through on this. There are a couple of little conversations, which Pandora doesn't hold up her end of, and then nothing. So disappointing. After hearing how articulate Marius was in previous books, and how strong a figure Pandora has been up until this point, I'd expect wonderfully fleshed out arguments in two very distinct voices. There is actually a scene in 'The Queen of The Damned' that makes me think of this, where Akasha can't argue with Marius' logic, and her whole plot falls apart. That makes sense for Akasha, who was arrogant and eternally convinced that things were right just because she said them. For Pandora it makes no sense, and it feels like the author letting the character down.

On the whole, the book is well written, and the historical details on ancient Rome and Antioch are very interesting and well done, but it does not live up to its promise. I want to read the book this could have been.

This book is a masterpiece.It reveals the tale of the beautiful pandora.It is definitely a must read.

Pandora is born with the name Lydia in the Roman Republic a few years before the birth of Christ to a Senatorial family. She is tall, with rippling brown hair and gold-brown eyes. She meets Marius for the first time when he is twenty-five and she is ten, and falls in love with him. Marius has the same feelings and asks Pandora's father for her hand in marriage. Unfortunately, his proposal is rejected and the two are not to meet for many years after.

Pandora's father holds a high rank as a Senator. But when a new emperor takes power, her family is betrayed by her own brother and killed. Only Pandora and her traitorous brother survive the massacre, and she is taken to Antioch (after changing her name) by a man who was very close to her father. There she meets Marius again, fifteen odd years after they first met. Unbeknownst to her, Marius is now a vampire.

She eventually finds out what Marius has become, and also that he protects and hides the Queen and King of all Vampires. The two care for the Royal Couple together for awhile before a vampire, Akabar, tries to steal the Queen's powerful and ancient blood. Marius and Pandora prevent him from carrying out his plan. To spite Marius, Akabar drains Pandora to the point of death. In order to save her, Marius is forced to make Pandora into a vampire. The pair stay together for the next two hundred years before arguing and separating.

The next time they meet again is in a Dresden ballroom in the early to mid-1700's. Marius tries in vain to make Pandora leave her companion and fledgling, Arjun, and come back to him.

The next and last time that they meet is in 1985, when she is among thirteen vampires who survived Akasha's killing spree and gathered at Maharet's house in the Sonoma compound to battle against Akasha. Pandora remains quiet and withdrawn throughout the whole ordeal, staring out the windows and saying little, rousing herself only once to say that Akasha is trying to justify deplorable "reasons" for a holocaust.

Like many of Anne Rice's vampires, Pandora is portrayed as a morose, despairing immortal who initially wanted immortality but soon regretted her choice and turns into a dark, indifferent cynic. Lestat thinks that Pandora was troubled in some deep, fundamental way even before she became a vampire because she's the only vampire who doesn't receive visions of Maharet and Mekare in her dreams. During the confrontation in Sonoma, when Akasha directly asks Pandora to join with her or die, Pandora merely responds in a quiet, indifferent voice that she can't do what Akasha is asking of her and stoically accepts the idea of being killed.

Even after Akasha herself is destroyed and the thirteen vampires regroup in Armand's Night Island in Florida, Pandora still acts withdrawn from her fellow vampire kin, watching music videos all day long and completely ignoring Marius, who dotes on her lovingly. There is no sense of recovery or security in her as there is with the other vampires, and she departs from Night Island alone, still just as morose as ever.

enjoy...Nigel

Anne Rice the great author of The Vampire Chronicles has created a new masterpiece, Pandora. Pandora is the first in a proposed series of novels linked together by the fledgling vampire David Talbot. Talbot has decided to become the chronicler of his fellow undead. Our heroine, Pandora, meets Talbot in a present day Paris cafe. Talbot eventually persuades the two thousand year old Pandora to record her biography in a leather notebook. Pandora begins, reluctantly at first and then with increasing passion, to record her mesmerizing tale of the last two millenniums. Pandora, in her mortal years, was a senator's daughter in Caesar Augustus's day. Pandora was in love with a young man named Marius and nieve of the world. She believed the world to be as Ovid and Petronius described. She was forced to flee to Antioch for her life, leaving her murdered family behind. In Antioch, the herione meets her old friend Marius. Marius was now a vampire. Marius gives Pandora the dark gift and together they guard the tomb of Akasha, Queen of the undead. Pandora writes her biography from Imperial Rome to eighteenth-century France to twentieth-century Paris and New Orleans. Anne Rice continually makes her vampires sexy, seductive, and debonair. It is Rice's imagery and artful descriptions that allows her to transplant the reader to another time and place. The excess of historical information in this novel shows the reader the day to day life of the times of the centuries. Many critics have commented that Rice has various slip-ups in her writing. I believe that these are strategicly placed to show the changing times. The backround information given in this novel is a great basis for the story. Many readers will expect a novel like The Vampire Lestat or other past Rice hits, but this is very different. Rice usually makes it a point to describe the vampire in her characters, but this novel shows the human in the vampire. Rice's ability to write lavish descriptions and delve into the heart of the unknown and mysterious makes almost every novel a morbid favorite of mine.

I remember the feeling I had seeing an advertisement for this book prior to the release date. It was pure excitement. I had just finished reading 'Violin' and 'Servant of the Bones', and was hungry for more Anne Rice.
Pandora came along, and although I was a bit disappointed at first to see that it was a 'smaller' novel, in reading it I found much more content that I had anticipated.
Pandora's tale, as told in journal form to David Talbot, the self-appointed 'chronicler' of the vampires, is far more romantic than Anne Rice's prior vampire works. Pandora's childhood infatuation with Marius, which grows into genuine love as Pandora becomes a young woman, is every bit as heartfelt as Armand's infatution with Marius in the following vampire chronicle, The Vampire Armand.
The historical realization of this novel, set in ancient Rome and Antioch, is a departure of sorts from the other vampire tales. While the novels based upon the tale of Lestat tend toward a more religious exploration, this 'new tale' reveals more of Marius, and entices Anne Rice fans to want more of him. Pandora receives the 'dark gift' from Marius, after an attack from another vampire, who seeks to kill Pandora as revenge on Marius, for keeping the King and Queen of the vampires hidden away from him. Through 'Pandora' it is clear that Marius is a force to be reckoned with, and hopefully the stage is set for a future novel of his own.
Although this novel is Pandora's tale, so much of it is wrapped up in the tale of Marius that it is easy to lose the focus. However, Pandora is a strong heroine for Anne Rice, developed from an 'in passing' character from Queen of the Damned, and a very entertaining read.

Contrary to what appears to be popular opinion by many others who have added their comments here on the store, this latest installation in the Vampire Chronicles is not the harbinger of Anne Rice's return as a great writer. Indeed, not. She's still floundering.
As one other person mentioned already, I can't understand why Rice chose to focus so heavily on Pandora's human existence when this woman lived as a vampire for a couple of millenia. Not that Pandora's human history wasn't entertaining (even though, at times, I felt like I was being lectured to about ancient civilizations (why did I need to know that "garum" is Roman ketchup???)), but what happened in between her rebirth as a vampire and the Pandora we met in Queen of the Damned? How did she get hooked up with the Asian vampire who ended up combusting in the Himalayas? Are we to assume that Pandora simply decided to take up needlepoint after a while and just didn't have much to tell about her vampiric years? Reads like a half-written book to me. Actually, all of Rice's books are starting to read that way, so I don't know that I'm really surprised.
And, of course, Rice has once again fallen back on her old standby of making every notable character in the story unbelievably beautiful, even before they got their vampire makeovers. Heavens forbid that any of Rice's hero(ine)s should suffer a pimple or (gasp!) split ends.
The only truly interesting items I pulled from this story had to do with two vampires other than Pandora and Marius - those being Lestat and Armand. According to Pandora, Lestat is lying in a catatonic state somewhere in New Orleans (to which I'm sure many who have visited N.O. can relate...). And, she also mentions that "one who was believed gone from us is now apparently known to have survived." Sounds like Armand didn't manage to put himself entirely out of commission when he decided to sunbathe on the steps of St. Patrick's Cathedral.
Here's hoping that Rice manages to lose the pedantic tone and finds some more gripping inspiration by the time she finishes the last rewrite of Armand.

I have always been interested in the character Pandora ever since first reading about her in Queen of the Damned. I caught the glimpses of her and her relationship to Marius and was so curious to find out more about her. She was intriguing to me, even with the very little that Anne wrote. So I was delighted that a book soley on Pandora was being written. The book is more of a novella, it is a quick read, but so full of information. Everything you could have possibly wanted to know about her. It delves deep into her ancient past and you get to see her before becoming immortal, meeting Marius, getting into trouble. Its fascinating. Its just great to break away from the Lestat Centric novels and into something new and refreshing. Its a great book and very informative as well. Anne really does a great amount of research when she writes anything. Especially about history, the architecture or a particular period, the style of clothing, it really goes on and on. She did a fantastic job with this book.
I'd like to say that you can read this as a stand-alone book without having to read the other Vampire Chronicles, but, though not in depth, it does go into some of the other books and might be a tad confusing for readers who have never read them. However, as to an order of reading, its not terribly important. But definitely read IWTV, TVL and QOTD, before reading this one.

Pandora was made vampire at the time that Emperor Tiberius ruled the Roman Empire. She was born as Lydia into a noble Roman family. Only girl in a family of boys she was loved by her father who made sure her education makes her worthy of the best marriage prospects there are. Lydia loves reading and indulges in the works of Ovid, Caesar and Aristotle.

As a young girl, she comes across another noble young man, more than a decade her senior. He is charming and exotic looking as his mother was from a differrent part of the Roman Empire. He has appreciation for her love of words and reason, but Lydia's father does not find him suitable to be her husband.

Circumstances put them together in the Antioch where Lydia flees after her family is killed. Before long, Lydia becomes vamire herself and she changes her name to Pandora. It it thousands of years later that she is asked to write he life story in which she describes how she became a vampire and her unyielding love for the beautiful Marius she loved her entire life.

Interesting story, but thinly developed characters. Do not expect literary greatness as this work is written in simple dialogue-like manner.

Anne Rice's newest installment in her Vampire Chronicles is by far the best of her more recent works. Unlike previous novels, Pandora is focused, concise and mostly void of the rambling passages that hampered Memnoch the Devil, Violin and Taltos. Rice accomplishes the task of keeping the reader focused and intrigued through the recounting of ancient Roman history seen through the eyes of a 2000 year old vampire, Pandora. Pandora, mortal in the time of Ceaser Augustus, is a highly educated "highborn", a senator's daughter, who flees Rome when her family is slaughtered by the government. She attempts to hide in Antioch, but is soon discovered by both a surviving brother and a long-lost love. Both men bring dramatic changes to her life, but not before we get a detailed account of life in the times of political treachery, religious fervor and spiritual questioning. Although the story of Pandora occurs thousands of years ago, the reader may ask him or herself if we, as a society, have evolved as much as we think.
There is less telling of Vampiric horror and pain in this novel than in Rice's previous works, however the historical background provides enough intrigue and splendor to fulfill the readers' thirst for a finely told story. Pandora is more similar in that vein to Margaret George's The Memoirs of Cleopatra than to Interview With The Vampire. This sublime and easily read novel is therefore one of the best new pieces of historical fiction available today.

Firstly, if you haven't read Interview w/ a Vampire or the Vampire Lestat - this is not the place to start. While the narrative of Pandora stands largely on itself - they are numerous mentions of all past books and plot lines.
What surprised me about this book is that 80% of it is about Pandora's (2000 yr old Roman vampire) life growing up in Rome. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that I enjoy Roman history - I probably would have abandoned this book half way thru. Also, it would not surprise me to find that Anne Rice's historical research was limited to Robert Graves' I, Claudius. It reads like a sort of Cliff's Notes for that excellent book (and excellent PBS miniseries it was turned into.)
I was disappointed that the book was so short. Once Panadora becomes a vamp, the book is essentially over. We find very little about her life between becoming a vampire (around 10AD) and the modern day. She skips over those 2000 with a flourish of her hand. A pity. If I were Anne, I would have shortened the Roman history and shown a few chapters of her life thru the ages. Also, since when did her Vamp's become such nice noble creatures? Marius and Pandora only drink the blood of "evil-doers." Such prattle.
So, if you want another Vamp book and are REALLY TIRED of Lestat, this is an ok read - otherwise... I hope you didn't acutally read this entire review to figure out its a fairly boring book.

OK, when I first heard about the book being published soon I went wild: I simply had to get it and I almost drove my friends crazy with my cries for it! In the end I got hold of it and I must admit I was somewhat disappointed. I am not going to repeat all that was said here before, but I also thought it was more of an over-long short story than a novel and I had the feeling it stopped in the middle. It was really interesting to hear about Pandora's mortal life and I agree that it is what makes the vampire in the end, but why stop there? What happened to her after that? What about Flavius? It did not make too much sense to me that he simply left! Like many of the others I felt left hanging in the air! Anne could have gotten so much more out of the story, I am sure. One other thing I also found disturbing was the way in which Pandora refers to the other books. It does not make sense that she says: In The Vampire Lestat.. and so on. If all the books are supposed to be real, she would refer to the events and not the book. To me it sounded like: "Read those book if you haven't yet"..... please! I really hope Armand will be a real novel.... longer, deeper and more sensual (one more thing that I did not like too much was the cheap sex! sort of!) All in all it was worth while reading even though my review might sound very harsh. It is good, but could have been so much better of only Anne had taken some more time....... why hurry?

The formula for this paper reminds me of "Interview with a Vampire." Unfortunately, it feels like a formula written book.
The basic premise is Pandora, one of the older vampires, has met David, a newer vampire who has been in earlier Rice books, and he has asked her to write about her creation. This book is her writing to David about how she was called to Akasha, how she met and "married" Marius, and where she originally came from.
The book starts with a few mentions of Lestat and earlier books, then ends with more mentions of Lestat with the hint that she is going to find him. It seems more like a pause in the telling of the story of Lestat. Not that this is bad, but it is not engaging as her first two books.
It is difficult to feel any kind of connection with Pandora. She mentions in the beginning that she doesn't want to write, writes, then tells us she doesn't want to write anymore. Although Rice does a good job in the settings of New Orleans, Rome, and Antioch, the story as a whole never sets. You can easily put this down and pick it up later.
This is a bone thrown to the vampire fans. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of meat on this bone. I enjoy the continuing stories of Rice's vampires, but she is having a hard time living up to what she started.

It took me a while to get into "Pandora", because of the stilted manner in which the story is told. Pandora (introduced as "The Goddess Pandora" in Anne Rice's earlier "Queen of the Damned", the third book of the Vampire Chronicles) doesn't just tell her life story. She recounts it, in journal form, for one-time old psychic detective (and now young immortal) David Talbot, at his request. For the first several pages, Rice is basically clearing her throat, and Pandora expands on how wonderful it is to be alive... yet ... not alive, while admiring Talbot's impossibly well-sculpted physique.
Then we get into the story. We meet Pandora as the enlightened, trouble-making daughter of a patrician Senator in Augustus Caesar's Rome, and how her family is brought to ruin by the back-room dealing of one of their own. Pandora escapes to the ancient East, but then the dreeams begin. Blood dreams.
What follows is that the dreams intensify, and Pandora's efforts to assert herself as an independent woman of means in Antioch are complicated both by the presence of a familiar traitor, and the confusing lust for blood. Also in the mix is Marius, a hunky family friend who's now stronger, paler, and only visible at night. The two stories dovetail in what appears to be just 24 hours of real time. When the inevitable happens to Pandora, it's not a tragedy at all: immortality proves to be what she wants and embraces, even if she's not calling her own shots.
The writing, if you gloss past the Talbot prologue, is crisp and filled with a nouveau sort of "historical realism". Rome is presented as you don't really get it in certain modern histories -- it's taken as a positive development that the Christianity is stripped away and the pagan religions remain intact,. Certain characters are still prone to making speeches that last seven or eight pages, which you just have to take as a given in Rice's world and accept with a sigh.
"Pandora" doesn't so much create new myths in the world of the vampires, as it rather expands on the old ones and colors the borders a little bit. It is nice, however, to get a Rice heroine who's more interested in being alive than dying, and who embraces the eternal night with an elan usually reserved for characters on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".

David Talbot is a relative rookie at being a vampire (he is not related to the werewolf), having only recently been converted. In Paris, David is honored to meet one of the vampiric legends, two thousand year old vampiress, Pandora. David pleads with her to tell him her story so he can scribe it for posterity. Reluctantly, Pandora agrees to write down her two millennium history.
Her childhood was peacefully spent in opulence as her father was a senator in the Roman court of Augustus Caesar. However, with the rise of Tiberius as Emperor, her family fell out of favor and ultimately were killed. Pandora fled to Antioch where she met her old friend Marries, who turned her into a vampire, the first of many such converts.
PANDORA is the first in a series of vampire tales tied together by David, whose goal is to chronicle the undead. The story line is vintage Anne Rice, though her classic erotica is somewhat limited in the tale. Pandora is a fascinating character, who has excited readers with her appearances in other Rice novels. That alone should make this novel a favorite of Ms. Rice's myriad of fans. However, the book is quite good and can stand on its own, thereby, inducing fans to want to have Talbot to provide other tales.
Harriet Klausner

Aparantly, Anne has sent one of her immortal children out on a never-ending quest. To gather all the stories of the myriad blood-drinkers scattered all over the world. This framework is brilliant, because it fits so well with the character of David. Once a scholar, always a scholar.
But this not Davids story, after all, but Pandoras, and she writes it in her own words. We learn of her life in ancient Rome, daughter of a senator, a brilliant mind in her own right, an intelect. We see her early fascination for the still-mortal Marius de Romanus, whom we know from "The vampire Lestat", and other books.
The amazing thing about Rice's books is that if she describes an historical period, she does not present us a pretty-picture that can only be percieved in retrospect. We see history in a way that those living in it might have done, present and real.
The thing I miss is that the story cuts of as soon as Pandoras life in Rome is over. I would have liked too see a bit more of her life between leaving Marius and showing up at Maharets house.
As with all Anne's books, read them in order. If you begin here you will miss a lot, although this is one book that might stand on its own, if you ignore the little details that dont make sense that way.
Its not as good as "Interview with the Vampire" and "the Vampire Lestat", but its still a worthy read. Go ahead, enjoy yourself. And beware of the shadows. . .

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was well written, fluent, and had a wonderful storyline. The main character, Pandora, was eloquent and convincing. She had me transported straight away to the Roman Empire 15 B.C.
Pandora is a joy to read. It is easy to read, and is not overly exhausting with adjectives and description, but still manages to bring in small details about the surroundings to make the story come to life.
I would suggest, however, not to read this book without reading the Vampire Chronicles. Many times, I found Pandora referring to events and people in other books which I knew nothing about. I read Interview with the Vampire many years ago, when it really was out of my depth, so although I had a basic understanding of things, I didn't have the entire history. Althugh these are New Tales of Vampires, they (of course) do not create a brand new storyline all of their own, which is inevitable, as of course, all Vampires came from the same source.
All in All, this was a very worthwhile book, and I recommend it to any Anne Rice fan, particularly if they are looking for a lighter weekend read. Not that it's filled with fun and games, but it is something easily finishable in a couple of days. I would warn a reader new to Anne Rice not to begin with this book, but instead wait until you can read the Vampire Chronicles - or at least the first two or three - before reading this one.

I found the first few chapters to be quite lively and entertaining. I couldn't wait to hear about Pandora's initiation (into vampiredom), but as chapter after chapter wore on and on about her pre-vampire life I was bored into a state of hopeful finality. It seemed to me that the author was more caught up in her superflous dialogue and the life and times of the roman empire and artisan culture, rather than, telling us about vampires. In my opinion Pandora's family was over developed and these characteres became overly familure by the fourth chapter. I wanted to hear about the lives of vampires, to hear about their powers, their stealthfulness. In this book we're only teased, but I will give Rice the credit of discribing in great detail the making of a vampire and their original beginings. This book is great for those who are very familiar with these characters and for those who like romantic/early euro history novels. If Rice would have taken out all the middle chapters and their fluffy wordsy romance, "cut and pasted" the last three chapters in their place and finished the book with the intention of developing the lives of these creatures it might have been more interesting.

'Pandora' is the highly historical and mesmorizing autobiography of its reluctant subject; the inkling of a character named Pandora. Although many readers have anticipated both the arrival of this book, as well as relief from the tired Vampire Lestat chronicles, I feel that many more would rather see the blond-haired charmer as a supporting character, rather than a name. The novel itself is well-written, but only compared to Ms. Rice's recent, dissapointing 'Memnoch the Devil'. Our knowledge of Pandora from the previous novels is limited; we suspect that she and Marius go further back than is offered, and that she is considerably older than Lestat. Here, she is persuaded into remembering - and regretting - much of her past life. Her beginnings as a brilliant and wealthy Roman child, and her journey to Greece, where she falls in love with the handsome and stubbon Marius all over again. This romance charms me. For the first time, the sensualness of the vampire novels is seen through the eyes of a woman, one of which who is both strong at heart and fair of face. It is worth reading, but any I found myself searching for mentions of Lestat.

Sometimes when an author lets a character be an idealized version of themselves, it is poison. Other times it is brilliance, as in Hemingway's work. In my opinion Pandora is brilliance.
It is true that anyone who has listened to Anne Rice be interviewed will hear similarities between her and Pandora, but she still manages to give Pandora that measure of independence that sets her apart as a rounded character.
Having read some of the negative reviews here, I think some might be mourning the less-than-happy ending without judging the beauty of the writing as a whole.
Here we have Anne Rice taking chances. Rather than a tortured soul, we have a vampire who laughs out of something other than malice.
In fact, Anne seems to be experimenting with humor and pulling off like a pro. Of course, Kate Reading's delivery deserves some of the credit, but Anne's writing is in full bloom.
Also, the book has just enough independence from the rest of the Vampire Chronicles that it can be appreciated as a fantastic novel in its own right. You don't have to have read 8 other books before this one. Sure there are allusions to The Vampire LeStat and Memnock the Devil, but these are not so lengthy that a reader would feel in the dark about the story.
Perhaps, best of all, I really got the feeling that the writer was actually having fun writing it. Often authors suffer for their craft and feel the need to share that suffering with their readers. In Pandora, if there was suffering then it was well hidden.
On a personal note I have to admit I bought this unabridged audio book years ago and listen to it at least twice a year. It is one of the jewels of my collection and I hope after reading this review, Pandora will be one of yours as well.

This book was a dissapointment. I expected much more from Anne Rice. She can be an excellent writer when she chooses to be.
First and for most, the novel was boring.
I expected to read a book about vampires.
Instead, this book was about an uninteresting,
dull, uncharismatic women. Pandora is nowhere
near as interesting as Akasha. The character
of Pandora does not possess any of the passions or idiosyncroties that Louis or Lestat
possessed.

Very little of the book focuses on Pandora's
vampire existence. This novel lacked the
tremendous, very subtle details of description
and historical account that Rice is known for.

Did I hate the novel? No, I did not hate the book. I just didn't get anything out of it and I did
not see the point in reading it.

I strongly recommend the first five books of the
vampire chronicles. They are all excellent and very entertaining. Each of those novels has its
own unique qualities that makes them worth reading.

Hopefully, The Vampire Armand will be better
than Pandora. I suggest that Rice's readers
skip Pandora and wait for Armand.

Well, there I was, looking through the bookshop, and I see "PANDORA". Another tale from the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice.
I really thought, that with her excellent commentary, imagery and passion of the previous books, that the Vampire stories which would follow would be repetition of similar situations in different times (and lets face it, humans have not fundamentally changed all that much over the last millenia - still insecure and paranoid) with very similar results. In all honesty, I did not expect to enjoy this book as much as the excellent "Vampire Lestat".
I was WRONG! An incredible book! Pandora's experiences before the Dark Gift make up most of this story, and lay the foundataions for the character which grow into an immense tale of passion, life, death, betrayal and immortality.
If you enjoyed ANY of the previous Vampire Chronicles (and personnaly I have enjoyed them ALL), then PANDORA is the book for you. Lets just hope that David continues collecting the tales of the Old Vampires and that more novels fly from Rice's fingertips!!

When Lestat took a step backwards and stopped telling his stories, a gap opened inside all of us: we had lost our anti-hero and enchanted recounter. Many of us thought that vampires were no longer a topic in Anne Rice's mind. We got wrong. She is back with another series of vampire books and this time she starts with Pandora, Marius's beloved. Pandora starts her tale addressing to David Talbot, Lestat's fledgling and now chronicler of the Undead. She spills her story centered among the streets of Rome where she was conceived, from where she later would depart due to menace of assassination. And so she dwells in anecdotes and words about what her life has been like as well as how she got to meet Marius. The story is very good and is spiced with historical information (maybe a couple of things made up) that may appeal to those who like books dealing with scenarios of the past. Although the book can make a way of its own, it lacks some qualities that keeps it from being excellent: the lack of wild adventures and the grace of the recounting that we were so used to in previous releases, for instance. In her first try, Pandora does well, but her lack of grace and authentic passion make me weighed the balance on Lestat's side.

When someone coined the phrase "Get a life" they may have been referring to us Rice fans. Or, maybe it's an "afterlife"....At any rate, I started the series backwards, first off. I was recommended Blackwood Farm here, on the store . That was great,so I moved to the others in the series, paying no mind to the order they were to be read in. Guess what ? It really didnt matter. Any one could could pick up anywhere in the series and still love these tales. Pandora, one of the few really strong women of the night, takes us from our modern times, to the love of her human life, Marius (of Blood and Gold) You get a history of an age long gone, of Romans, pagen beliefs, the constrictions placed and freedoms allowed women of that era. The imagery is wonderful, descriptions lush without becoming boring. Pandora looses all she loves to start all over again, in a strange city, followed by a strange male figure, who is both her protector and maker. We meet Flavius, her servant, love ,and future fledgling. This book, I had it read in 3 nights, did not want to put it down. Unlike Vittorio, this is a story worth telling.

This novel gives one the prequel information relating to how Anne Rice's vampire family came about. Unfortunately, it seemed to drag in places for me and by the time my interest was as captured as Pandora's was in the 'blood sacrifices', the book was almost read. It definitely picked up for the last quarter of the book but I was used to having the 'vampires' grab me by the throat from page 1 and that did not happen in this book. Your interest is captured enough by the end that you are left with wanting additional sequels and the knowledge that they are forthcoming is satisfying. I do wish, however, that the sequels dwell more on the disturbing aspects of these characters and their initiations into the vampire family instead of their mundane existences prior to that time. I think this book would be most enjoyed by those who are already familiar with Marius, Lestat, Armand, etc., and relative newcomers to their storylines might become lost in the background noise and not enjoy the intended presence of the story.

Anyone who's ever worshipped a goddess should be offended by this novel. Her portrayal of the goddess Isis wouldn't seem quite so insulting if she didn't come right out and say it was all absurd nonsense. I don't think her comments about Christianity were ever this insulting, not even in Memnoch. She portrays worshippers of Isis as spoiled rich women and prostitutes who like to dress up in Egyptian garb and paint their faces.
But when I remove myself from the insults to the worship of the Goddess, It was a truly fascinating book about the pre-christian Roman Empire. It provides a great view of the lifestyle. One of the things I love about Rice's style of writing is that she takes the most interesting parts of history and blends them with charismatic and intriguing characters. This book has that part down. At the end of the book, I found myself hoping that somewhere down the line, Flavius would come back into the story. ANNE RICE - IF YOU'RE READING... whatever happened to Flavius?

Pandora is the beautiful, sad, and mysterious lover Marius who is first introduced in "Queen of the Damned" and later mentioned by Marius in his own story "Blood and Gold." David Talbold tracks down Pandora and asks her to tell him her story, so that he may document her tale. Born to a wealthy family in Rome, Pandora has idilic childhood and exhibits rare intelligence and capacity to learn. As a little girl she also encounters young and still mortal Marius, who forever captures her heart. As she matures, however, her life takes several drastic and tragic turns and after two unsuccessful marriages and loss of her family Pandora finds herself a newly-made blood drinker, joined with Marius, and bound to care for the horrifying and beautiful vampiric King and Queen.

Pandora's story is interesting, nothing more nothing less. I was pleased with the few erotic moments, the detailed historical backdrop, curious dress and custom discriptions, and Anne's comments on development of Christianity. However, the story feels hollow and poorly timed. We learn little of Pandora's travels after she leaves Marius, the growth of her character, experiences in immortality, and most unfortunately almost nothing about the fledgeleing Indian vampire she spent centuries with. Her fights with Marius are almost humorous, but

the whole theme of rationality vs intution is way overplayed.

The book started out well and picked up pace, and then it sort of hit the wall. The ending is rushed and makes little effort to bring closure to Pandora's story. Anne rushes through a huge timespan, mentioning only briefly things readers most want to learn about. It isn't a bad book, but fans BEWARE, Rice is going downhill with the quality and substance of her work. Lestat himself had editors for his untobiography and it would be wise of Anne to do the same. A lot of omissions, typos, and story weaknesses and inconsistencies could easily have been fixed with editorial help. Pandora is a strong and complex female character, and her story had a potential to be great, but ended up being only ok.

In this book Ms. Rice has Pandora write her history in the blank pages of a note book at the persuasion of David Talbot. We start in present day Paris, where David makes his request. And Pandora sems reluctant to comply. But she does start to write, and as she does we are transported to her past, the year 15 BC, Rome.

She picks up he history when she was a mortal child in Imperial Rome when Caesar Augustus ruled. We see her meet and fall in love with the then mortal Marius. And all seems idyllic. But then events beyond her control, force her to flee her home city of Rome for Antioch. Her she tries to face her fears and the mystery of the dreams she has been having. And of course she is reunited with her Marius, who has gone through changes of his own.

The Novel also gives you a quick glimpse of Imperial Rome from good years, to it falling apart and the cooruption that caused that. And the splendid port of Antioch is briefly covered. Pandora's interest let us become reaquinted with the sholars/philosophers of the time. And how their contemperaries thought of them.

This book was a very fast read. And you do not need knowledge from any of the other novels to enjoy it.

In the Vampire Chronicles, Pandora has been one of the several Children of Night you wanted to know more about. Pandora is an interesting character, but a supporting one nonetheless. She didn't need a book of her own. Even more so, there were others in the "New Coven" which would have made a much more of an interesting read than Pandora. Khayman and/or Gabrielle or even Marius (which I hear is the next book to be released)would have been greater stories. Needless to say, Pandora's story does have some good moments, but they are too and far in between. Pandora starts off recounting her story for David, Lestat's newest creation. Pandora is one of the few more powerful vamps in the world, after Queen Akasha's death in QOD (Book III). Pandora pretty much sums up what we wanted to know two books back. You have to read it to find out however. Pandora then starts her story 2,000 years in the making when she was a wee child meeting Marius for the first time when she was only a mere 10 years old. As any Anne Rice novel concerning her peternatural brood, she mixes in fantasy with history, but Pandora's story is more history than fantasy. We are taken down an old road in which some would rather skip,but it lends a helping hand into understaning exactly what shapes Pandora to who she is today. More so, it does give a little bit more understanding of her on again/off again relationship with Marius (which are mostly philosophical and funny) and also showing us her various mood swings, emotions, and reactions to Akasha as we see in QOD. Pandora's all of a sudden interest in seeing Lestat in his comatose that he obtained in Memnoch the Devil comes out of leftfield. Like I said before, Pandora does have some moments were you would love. Some action scenes flesh out into the utter powers of these elder vamps, but it's not gone into further detail. Of course, Anne does introduce characters who you want to know more about, but somehow looses them in the novel never to be heard from again. I'm going to say one name: Flavius. Once you read it, you'll know why. All in all, I recommend anyone who reads this - keep an open mind. Anne Rice will take you to fantastic worlds, which are long gone, but you have to be comfortable with the driving. This is not a book you can just pick up if you are a first time reader of her work, even though this could be a stand alone novel, Pandora takes about 50 pages to adjust to, then about 200 pages to really get cooking. But I know Anne Rice's fans will devour this anyway!

The story is intriguing and compelling; very much in the spirit of the Lestat books. The details of the Roman history of both world events of the time and small details such as what they ate for dinner, combine with the beautiful and suspensful writing of Anne Rice in this, one of my favourite of Ms.Rice's books. The plot reminds me of that of her second book,"The Vampire Lestat", and the fact that Rice is writing from the perspective of a female is a spescial treat (In all of the Vampire chronicles Rice uses a man, mainly Lestat, as the narrator.) This is a wonderful book and great to read in one sitting (I believe it is the shortest of the Vampire chronicles). It also shows a hint of the same concepts as "Servant of the Bones" another one of Rice's entertaining books. One of the lightest and most enjoyable of the recent Rice books,"Pandora" is on my top 10 list.

In this lustrous tale of romance, and macabre horror, Anne Rice tells the story of Pandora (whose given name was Lydia) in her first installment to 'The New Vampire Chronicles.' Being my first Anne Rice novel, I felt hesitant at first, yet as the story unwound it released my imagination to the foundations of the lead character and it was like nothing I've read before. The complexity of Rice's writing contributed to her intricate details of the Roman era and her love of history was evident in this novel. The character's thoughts and descriptions weaved a vivid picture of the settings with regard to the details and it was anything but bland. I gained respect to the charisma and intelligence of the lead character, even through her psychologically wounded past. Entwined with the poetry of Ovid and the cruelty of Tiberius, the Emperor of Rome it gave it a realistic quality. Though Akasha should have been mentioned more, her prescence thourghout the book was interesting. Overall, I believe this is a great beginning for Rice's new series with historical acuracy and the time frame fits perfectly into the plot. I would highly recommend this to anyone who is a fan of Anne Rice or loves romance and horror.

I began Pandora with some trepidation. The introductory chapter is necessary as an explanation and set up for the rest of the book, but it could have been more subtle and original. It felt profunctory as if Anne Rice felt obligated to get the reader up to speed before launching into the main tale. I almost put it back down, but I'm glad I carried on. As usual, Anne Rice is exceptional at creating an atmospere. Pandora's description of daily life as a Roman transports you there. The book is a real page turner, although I wish Rice had dwelt more on Pandora's adventures as a vampire, with Marius and after. Also, she needs to give her religious philosophy a break! Near the end, her musings on the "new" christian cult bog down the story. Overall though,Pandora is an engaging addition to the Vampire Chronicles

I have enjoyed most of Anne's vampire books (just look at my e-mail address) although she/the characters have become much more religiously philisophical in the themes...I think this deters from "the real" story and in some ways it interferes with character development (shorten the self-reflections done by the vampires)..."Pandora" is a return to her earlier vampire pieces without the religious tones. This was a good and quick read with quite a climactic surprise ending. Keep writing these novels Anne, but also keep adding the creative gore and sexuality - it spices up the story line...ALSO continue the accurate historical aspect of the stories - this gives the reader rich and colorful settings for the characters...When are we going to find out about Marius and his adventures after leaving Pandora???

I was so excited to find another Anne Rice vampire novel on the bookstore shelf. I read most of it in one day and as I journeyed along with Pandora, my initial excitment waned. I will finish the book in the hopes that it is a prelude to something better (i.e., "Armand"), but "Pandora" leaves much Anne Rice to be desired. I enjoy the links to previous vampire novels and the explanations of missing bits of vampire history, but I agree with others who have reviewed this tale. Why did the author spend so much time detailing the pre-vampire life of Pandora and leave out almost of her life after reuniting with Marius in Antioch? After all, isn't the tale about vampires, not living humans? "Pandora" is Anne Rice, so it must be read by her fans, but it is not Anne Rice at her vintage best.

I have enjoyed most of Anne's vampire books (just look at my e-mail address) although she/the characters have become much more religiously philisophical in the themes...I think this deters from "the real" story and in some ways it interferes with character development (shorten the self-reflections done by the vampires)..."Pandora" is a return to her earlier vampire pieces without the religious tones. This was a good and quick read with quite a climactic surprise ending. Keep writing these novels Anne, but also keep adding the creative gore and sexuality - it spices up the story line...ALSO continue the accurate historical aspect of the stories - this gives the reader rich and colorful settings for the characters...When are we going to find out about Marius and his adventures after leaving Pandora???

At last; a leading female vampire.

I have read every Anne Rice ever published (from vampires to witches to mummies, ghosts and even the erotica) but I have never seen a female lead (other than in the erotica). Of course their were a few females with large roles throughout the books (especially in the Mayfairs) but this is the first time that an entire book has been deticated to the life of a female character. Im not saying that Mrs. Rice can't right well as a male character because she has made the fact that she can very clear but she does things with Pandora that she could not have done with a male character.
The story of Pandora, although tragically short, is a masterful piece of work. Teeling her life all the way from childhood to present day. With the exception of Marius, not many of the vampires we all know and love are mentioned. Some might say that this is bad thing but I like it. I was getting tired of the same old male characters with the same old problems but then came Pandora. What a tale. Mrs. Rice's world of the vampires has always been accented by the great ancient worlds of Rome and Egypt, as well as the new worlds of New Orleans and San Francisco. Anne Rice is one of the best writers ever, in my opinion. I would compare her with Mary Shelly but Anne is better. Her characters are inventive and not contained within the rules of gender, which is a nice change from a lot of other books.
All in all, Pandora is great. FIVE STARS does not even begin to show how great this book. I would go on but I've not the time.
GREAT WORK!!!!!!!

The "autobiography" of the Vampire Pandora, who has appeared in "The Vampire Lestat" and "Queen of the Damned" as a minor character, is a fascinating look at the life of a woman in ancient Rome. It bears some stylistic similarities, and some similarities of plot and character, to the "Cynthia, Witch of Syracuse" stories of Dorothy J. Heydt that appear in Marion Zimmer Bradley's "Sword and Sorceress" series, but it is hardly derivative. There are also some similarities between the character of Pandora and that of Olivia, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's vampiric "childe" of Saint Germain. This book is delightfully well-written, and is a pleasure to read on many levels: powerfully moving story, interesting historical perspective, compelling philosophical insights, and fascinating characters. One of Anne Rice's best-written vampire novels.

Gawd, how disappointing. Here you have a vampire who is thousands of years old, who, unlike Akasha, Mekare and Enkil, apparently kept her sanity and managed to adapt as times changed, and all you get of her 'unlife story' is a drippy, unconvincing love story and some ugliness with Roman soldier-types. I wanted to know if, like Maharet, she kept track of her human relatives. I wanted to know what she thought of the changes in human existence. I wanted to know how she met her friends and how she made her enemies. I was so disgusted with this book that I lent it to someone and told her to keep it! (I never do this!) The story of Pandora had (and HAS!) the potential to be as sweeping and compelling as Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's St. Germain, or even as interesting as Lestat's relatively short unlife, but Rice dropped the ball big time. I never got the sense that the writer liked or even _cared_ about Pandora. Never has it been more obvious that Anne Rice is a gay man trapped in a straight woman's body.

Anne Rice continues to tell the stories of her vampire characters in great detail. I can't wait to get started on the next one. The story of Pandora (which takes place right after `Memnoch the Devil' and before `The Vampire Armand') is an interesting one. Pandora's Roman heritage is fascinating as she deals with the ancient Marius, who has now become just as interesting as Lestat in many ways. The fledging David Talbot seeks to record Pandora's story as to how she became a vampire and her life before it. The story is fun and exciting, like most of Rice's vampire novels are, and we really get a sense of who this woman is. Pandora was not used much in the other novels and is somewhat of a mystery, until now.

As always, Rice's writing style, full of imagery and artful descriptions, held my attention throughout this new novel. But Pandora falls short in its biographical elements as they relate to vampirism. I was haunted by Rice's descriptions of Rome and Antioch, but I initially bought the book to learn more about the VAMPIRE Pandora, not the educated WOMAN Pandora. I was angered that Rice mentioned a Great Russian Vampire, but never gave any descriptions of Pnadora's life with him. Rice should have lengthened the book and given her readers more of what they want, descriptive and complete imagery into the lives of her vampires, woven story lines with character interraction, and some type of plot.

PANDORA is the best book Anne Rice has written in years. The story of a strong-willed woman in Ancient Rome is as intriquing as anything Anne has ever written, and she has finally returned more to the style of her older works. The book would have been better if Anne had touched a little on what Pandora had been doing in the last fifteen or so hundred years, but at least the part she gave us is definitely worth reading. This book has restored my faith in Anne's ability. Pandora is an excellent character -- the kind of woman that any one of us knows today, creating a great parallel from the ancient Roman civilation and our own. The introduction of Flavius was wonderful, especially now that we can look forward to someday hearing his "vampire tales." Only Anne Rice can write like this. Thank goodness she is doing it again!

Oh people are nuts! Nuts I tell you! Peanuts, walnuts, chestnuts, so forth! This book was magnificent, I loved it! And what more, unlike some other reviewers I will tell you WHY I loved it so much.
First off, why the heck did people expect this to be Interview with the Vampire part II? This is NOT the other books, it has a life of its own, it has its own story to tell. Just because Anne Rice is best known for her books the center around the existence of Vampires, doesn't mean ALL her books are going to be about that. This book is about the battle between passion and reason, between science and religion, logic and dreams, mathematics and poetry, Pandora ( aka Lydia ) and Marius. In all truth it's about how Pandora became a vampire. In a nutshell, Pandora is the daughter of a senator, lives a good life, and then one day her family is attacked, and she just flee to Antioch. There she is attacked by her brother, saved by the god Marius, becomes a vampire, lives with Marius, and then separates from Marius. What I liked about the character of Pandora was her strength, her quick wit, her morals, and her sexuality. How can you not love a girl who has morals and yet is so damn comfortable with her own sexuality? My favorite line from the book? "I see your gift has added inches to your height, has it added inches else where?..." I laughed out loud when I read that. Pandora saying something like that to someone like Marius is just hysterical. It's too bad what time has done to Pandora's quick wit and humor. Anyways, the book goes into depth on the reason for religion, whatever that reason may be. The book argues constancy, because there is not such thing. You can depend on logic, on reason, on math to get you through life but it will NOT be there in your darkest times. We may not know whether religion exists or not, but we need it., and that is precisely what Pandora's argument with Marius is throughout the book. Akasha was a mindless twit who wanted to wipe out the whole male race, how could anyone prefer a brainless child like Akasha to the wisdom and Ovid rambling woman Pandora? Pandora is the best female character in the Vampire series I would think. Gabrielle is cold and just unlikable, Merrick was a deceiving, Akasha as I said was a mindless ditz, Dora was just annoying because she turned on Lestat, and Claudia was a child who died and can't be revived...soooooo......go pandora?

I've finished this short novella only recently and I thought it to be a fairly interesting read. It has the same theme as "The Vampire Lestat"-an immortal telling their dark, life story. Pandora wasn't very appealing to me; I didn't like her kind of aggresiveness and she seemed to be snappy in character. I did however take a liking to Flavius. He was captivating from the very start when Pandora begins to give his description after seeing him in the slave market, and latter details that makes him all the more a likeable character. It was a shame though, that he was always referred to terms such as 'loyal servant' by Pandora. I think it took away from his unique character.
Another thing-the book concentrated so little on Pandora's and Marius's relationship. I'm rather glad it did. I found Marius to be the most arrogant, cynical, obnoxious character of all Anne's immortal creations. Not only that-he bored me. He was not the least bit interesting. ! But truly and overall this book is ok. It's definitely a vast improvement from Anne's failure "Memnoch the Devil", which in my opinion should have been a stand-alone novel, no, a non-existing novel.
This novel like so many of Anne's books, tends to be long-winded. And I mean very long-winded. So it didn't command my attention very well. I did love her descriptions though and her word usage of the several locations Pandora ventured to.
Onto the ending. I loved it! It gave a hint that a presumedly past awayed immortal may not be dust and ashes afterall, which would be Armand in this case. Can't wait until Armand comes out! I love that boy :o
Angel C.

With "Interview with the Vampire", Anne Rice showed us that vampires are not only evil killing creatures, they also have feelings. With "The Vampire Lestat" and "The Queen of the Damned", we learned the origin of the vampires. In "Memnoch the Devil", we learned about the creation of the world. "The Tale of the Body Thief" and "Pandora", sadly, do no add any new piece to the puzzle. They're only stories (a not very good one in the case of TBT), period. Of course, I've enjoyed to learn about how Pandora became a vampire, but I think we could expect a little more from a great author such as Anne Rice.

After reading some of the other reviews I felt compelled to write my own review. Granted, I too would've enjoyed reading more about her life as a vampire, however, I thought the book was quite good (especially on the heels of Servant of the Bones and Violin). She seems to be getting back into her "old form" which got me so interested in her work in the first place!! I didn't find it at all boring as some have stated!! It was very historical, which I thought was wonderful. I enjoyed hearing about Pandora's life, her transformation and a little about her vampire life. And I'm sure we'll hear about her more in books to come! Definitely a good read!

After being severely disappointed by Rice's last four books (back as far as "Taltos"), I found "Pandora" to be a marked improvement, although far from perfect. The return to the vampires is far overdue, and Rice has a good idea in focusing on previously minor characters. (After "Armand", I can imagine books will arrive about Maharet, Santino, Eric, Mael and all the rest). It is interesting to learn more about Pandora, although the depiction here doesn't exactly match up with the woman in the earlier novels, where she seemed to me to be a rather distant, passive woman. But it seems like a very long short story. Not a lot happens, not a lot is achieved... to some extent it feels pointless. However, its greatest strength is that it eschews the self-important pseudo-religious nonsense of "Memnoch" and a few of her other recent books. A mixed but ultimately positive review from me. Here's hoping Rice has another "Queen of the Damned" up her sleeve yet.

Pandora wanted to set the record straight about Lestat's version of what Marius said about her. She does so, but not much more was revealed to us about her thousand-year life than the beginning and her transformation into a vampire. She wandered Europe for centuries, but chooses to spend 400 pages on the first 35 years of her life. It was still interesting to read about, but I was hoping for more than a rehash of things we pretty much already knew.

Anne Rice has outdone herself this time. As a huge fan I must say that this is one of the most thrilling, exciting and compelling novels to date. Pandora is excellent. I admire this character in ways that could never apply to Lestat. Pandora comands the audience, her power is felt and it outshines Lestat. He has been upstaged. This story is one of love, strength and courage of no other magnitude found in the previous books of the vampire chronicles. I discover once again why I so love Anne Rice's work. I say, Let Lestat pass now from fiction into legend and let the others bask in their new found glory. This is a must read for any Rice fan.

Having always been a fan of the Vampire Chronicles, I was very hesitant about reading about Pandora's story. After trying to read the trash that was the Violin, and being disapointed with the book on Armand, I was almost dreading what Anne was going to do to Pandora. I shouldn't have bothered. She didn't make it into a horror fest like the Violin, or leave me bored as with Armand, no she told a similar story as that of Armand and Marharat and her twin. Anne Rice has lost her character's individualness that was so unique. Please stop belting them out for your publisher, Anne. Return to basics, we know you can do it, perhaps then we can recover from The Violin, Pandora, Memnoch, and Armand. Ugh.

Pandora. Yes it was magnificent to read the story about a female vampire. It is a novel on its own. The fact that she is a vampire is irrelevent enough. It's her amazing character that shines through. The fact that she dares to be different in a world where being the same is rewarded. Yet she is a sensitive soul, who blames the death of her father on her own daring to be different.

I would have liked this book to go on longer. I would have liked to know more about what happened Pandora after leaving Marius. In fact I plan to reread Marius' biography again very soon.

Some might argue that Pandora is too brilliant to be believable. But it is this brilliance and love of life that has helped her survive as a vampire into this millenium.

Well done to Anne Rice again for another magnificent work of fiction.

Let me start with a positive: Interview with the Vampire is one of my favorite books. I am a librarian, and read LOTS of books -- so this is a serious compliment coming from me! Having "said" that: Pandora struck me as just so silly and well, dopey that I couldn't justify taking time to finish the book. I actually found myself cringing when I read it. For starters, I don't understand the point of giving the character, David the very long winded blow-by-blow of a conversation in which he took part. Yes, it was a literary device, but didn't "ring true" and seemed just plain bizarre. Kinda disappointing.

Pandora doesn't seem like a main character when you first read the Vampire Chronicles. They give you just enough information to let you know who she is and why she's in the story. The Chronicles leaves you wanting to know more about her character. After reading the Chronicles I was a bit disappointed because I didn't know the back story on Pandora. I'm one of those readers who wants to know everything about a character. This is where the Book Pandora comes into play. The book is SUPERB. Pandora meets Marius (Another main Character in the Vampire Chronicles) when she's a little girl and again when she's all grown up. Plus you get to meet her family. If your and Anne Rice fan then I promise you, this book will not disappoint you. As always Anne Rice has delivered a great story with twists, turns, and unexpected surprises!