Average Rating: 
Rating:  - It's official: I give up on Anne Rice
Long ago, after reading "The Tale of the Body Thief" I pooh-poohed my disappointment with that work by reasoning that every author has her bad novel. I optimistically hoped that book had been the one and only. Alas, her later works have shown me that "Thief" was proof that all Ms. Rice's best tales had already been told and that she is now a dry well.Like another reviewer admitted before me, I was drawn by the first pages of this novel. This powerful fledgling vampire seeks out Lestat for his help, hoping that the Brat Prince won't obliterate him on the spot for his audacity. "Sounds great," I thought. "Will Lestat glower at him, making him fear for his preternatural life? Will he toy with Quinn, allowing him to tell his tale with the promise to spare him if it moves him sufficiently?" No, nothing so interesting occurs. Lestat is instantly drawn to this young creature, declaring himself in love. (As does every other stinkin' character of hers do regarding every other character. Lestat loves Quinn; Lestat loves Aunt Queen; Quinn loves Stirling; Quinn loves Mona; Mona loves Quinn. Doesn't anyone in Rice world ever take an instant dislike to people?!) We are then "treated" to pages and PAGES of Quinn's spoiled brat life story, only to get the sense that Ms. Rice herself got bored with her own tale and slapped a hurried ending onto it to get to the publisher's in time. Whereupon the editors must not have had time to do any cutting, because that had to have been the biggest look-how-many-words-I-can-spew fest she has indulged in to date. So spare yourself the heartbreak. Cling tightly to those early Rice vampire novels and pretend she never wrote anything else. That's my plan.
Rating:  - A further integration of the vampires and the witches
It seems that Anne Rice's current intention is to combine the characters in her vampire novels with those in her series about the Mayfairs, a powerful family of powerful witches. She began her integration in "Merrick", and now continues it with "Blackwood Farm", a worthy addition to her canon.The main characters she's introduced in both series - Lestat in the first; and Rowan Mayfair and her husband Michael Curry in the second - are just incidental players here, but they figure importantly in the story being told. That is the story of one Tarquin (Quinn) Blackwood, the young master of Blackwood Manor, an estate just outside of New Orleans. Quinn's tale has three major points - how he met and became involved with the Mayfairs; how he became a vampire; and most importantly, his "relationship" with a spirit he calls Goblin, who is both less and more than just an ordinary ghost. It is because of Goblin that Quinn meets the Mayfairs, and also why he seeks out Lestat. Rice gives Quinn an intelligence and voice that is more than worthy of the tale he tells. Lestat is, as always, a powerful presence, despite the comparatively minor role he plays here. And many of the characters Rice introduces us to here are also extremely three-dimensional, incredibly - dare I use the word in describing an Anne Rice character? - human. But there are some disappointments, which is why I can only give "Blackwood Farm" four stars. I couldn't help feeling that Rice was somehow suppressing Rowan and Michael - they should have had more to do, bigger roles to play. The character of Petronia, the hermaphroditic vampire, seemed flat and one-dimensional - more of a joke than anything else. And the character of Stirling Oliver, the only representative of the Talamasca in this book, didn't have much of a role at all - as little, in fact, as the entire Talamasca itself. That was a disappointment - Rice has built up the mythology and character of the Talamasca throughout most of her novels, and to suddenly see them relegated to bit players comes as something of a shock. With all of that, however, this book is definitely worth your time.
Rating:  - Maybe you should return to New Orleans...
This is a continuation of the Vampire Chronicles, but it brings in some of the witches from the Mayfair series. This is Anne Rice back and as good as ever! After reading Merrick, I was excited that there seemed to be a storyline to the Vampire Chronicles again. Blood and Gold followed and I wondered where the storyline had gone. Blackwood Farm brings back the storyline of the persecution of the vampires by the Talamasca, but yet it does nothing with the storyline - nothing that the ending of Merrick seemed to promise.However, Ms. Rice is almost back to her usual storytelling self and the story of Quinn Blackwood is a good one. It's almost a family saga. My only other complaint with this book is that the ending is rushed and does not wrap itself up very well. I am not sure if Ms. Rice is planning a sequel to this book or not - I have heard that this may be her last Mayfair/Vampire novel, but who knows? This book does not wrap anything up, so the possibility of more books is always there.
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