Blackwood Farm ¦ Anne Rice ¦ Review
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- Опубліковано 15 жов 2024
- In this video, I dig into the ninth book in The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice: Blackwood Farm.
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String Impromptu Number 1 Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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Just finished this book. I really liked it. Very complex. Quinn is very lovable (like Lestat). Lots of classic Rice adventurism and travels (I love how she tied Pompeii in). There were lots of shock in the family tree…hence the need for her intricate backstories. Merrick’s fate was unexpected and sad. Damn the ghosts are scary! I didn’t read the Mayfair Witch series yet but this book made me want to. The witches seem way scarier than the vamps…
this is definitely one of my favorite books in the Chronicles, and in my opinion, one of Rice's best too. too many people dismiss anything she did post the 90s and it's such a loss; like you said, Blackwood Farm is a perfect synthesis of her vampire and witch worlds, both literally and thematically. it's a good summary of where Anne was at the time, and what she could do with all the tropes she frequently infused her work with.
also: I agree with you on Quinn's characterization when it comes to his sexuality. in a lot of ways, him ending up with Mona felt too much like Rice trying to give her agency once again, especially after she was sick for most of the story. it reminded of her treatment of Rowan during the events of Lasher, just to have her launch into action at the end of the book.
unfortunately, I'm also with you when it comes to Merrick and how her fate was handled. I love the scenes with Quinn, Lestat and her at *that* funeral, and I found the tension between her and Rowan spectacular, so you can imagine how heartbroken I was by the ending of the book. it made sense, and it was Rice once again being brutally true to themes she'd worked with in the past, but the way Merrick is handled overall leaves a lot to be desired, and robs the ending of even more nuance.
thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this underrated southern gothic horror masterpiece!
Yeah I think the thing with Rice is that her flaws are quite consistent, so if they bug you, it's just not going to change later on. Though who knows, some people seem to see the final three books as a return to form. It's an interesting phenomenon though with artists generally; the later work is always held up to the early work and always found wanting!
Thanks for you thoughts, as always! :)
🦇🌹First of all, I love the picture of Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier, "Hannibal" is my favorite series of all time !
Second, I really appreciate you taking up for Anne Rice's later work. Her last three Vampire Cronicles books ( Prince Lestat, Realms of Atlantis, Blood Commuion ) are brilliant in a way rarely seen in contemporary fiction.
the witching hour is one of the most satisfying horror novels i've read. it didn't even feel draining that it was something like 1000 pages long. the ending was weird though and it's funny that it felt like a cliffhanger but anne rice said that it was supposed to be the end of that story, and she was told it needed a continuation and so she wrote lasher, and then taltos.
Yeah I kind of wish she had left it like that sometimes. :P
I just hated the ending. The house is beautiful, I visited it years ago.
Not only does Rice always include history to my liking, I always enjoy her literary references…here it was a lot of Hamlet & Dickens…I’ve never read any Dickens but Blackwood Farm made me want to read “the old curiosity shop”…
FYI Rice talked about how she used to always close doors with her vampire books, but the final three she wrote at the end of her life she said was about opening doors. I think she doesn't knock characters down that way in those last three books.
I look forward to them!
I've been sooo waiting for this review! Thank you, Joshua, I enjoyed it very much! I didn't read this book, I skipped it along with Blood Canticle, because I knew they were crossovers with Mayfair Witches (and I didn't read those), so after Blood and Gold I went straight to the new trilogy and already finished Prince Lestat :)
But I'm really interested in what you have to say about all of them! So thanks again for continuing to review and I hope to see your review of Blood Canticle and the rest of the series soon!
As always, I wish you and your channel all the best!
You should give the Mayfair Witches a go! Or at least the Witching Hour, which is a great book. Lasher is all right, and Taltos... well... :P Already on Blood Canticle, I want to get to that final trilogy very soon!
I’m so excited to see Merrick return.
I just finished this book yesterday! Thank you for reviewing the book!
I wanted more Merrick, less Mona 😂😂😂😂😂
Love this review. Man I miss Rice.
You and me both!
@@JoshuaJClarkeKelsall Her last solo book was Blood Communion and it serves a wonderful conclusion to the vampire books.
I miss her too.
blackwood farm is definitely better than merrick. when i read merrick, it felt kind of meh and i just wanted to finish the book so i can tick it off my VC list and move on to the next one. blackwood farm is actually good and creepy.
🦇🌹I love AMC'S "Interview with the Vampire". The changes made by the writers/producers add new levels to the world of Anne Rice and live up to her gothic legacy.
🌿 It would have been so easy and uncreative to just retread the story from the book and the movie. They have done good by the original source material by going their own way with it which by doing so ironically keeps it faithful to the spirit and energy of Rice's characters.
🌱 I think you'll love it. Thank You for the informative and concise reviews and content. I always enjoy hearing from you.
🎃 Have a spooky Halloween season !!!
I disagree that it's uncreative or even less creative to be more faithful to a text. I think you can make a lot of creative choices within that. Still, I am not against less pure adaptations. That said, there are just so many bad ones out there at the moment that I'm loath to trust another one! But maybe I should...
@@JoshuaJClarkeKelsallThe show is so good! But, I can also understand why it will not work for all book fans. It is after all a sort of alternate universe version of the story even though it is still almost the same. I really recommend you to give the show a chance! It does capture the essence of Anne Rice very well in my opinion, almost feels like a “love letter” to VC in way.
Though, I do understand why some book readers won’t like it. Still, I really think you should give it a chance! :)
It looks ridiculous.
10:00 that is one of mona's powers, the seduction. enhanced by lasher. especially for the drive to only sleep w family. _JC
As to why Rice knocks down her female characters::: I’ve read some interviews wherein Rice claims - Lestat is her. She is Lestat. That always stuck with me as I continued with the chronicles. Maybe rice was more male identified? Her books (even the wolf chronicles) have many tertiary female characters who I usually find unlikeable. They are usually sexualized as well, which I often find exaggerated and gratuitous. Not sure if Rice is making some grandiose feminist statement or anything…because she has many fierce female characters too….interesting to think about, I wish Anne was still with us. Such a great.
Hello Joshua, it’s been awhile since I’ve had a chance to catch up with your reviews. I agree Blackwood Farm was the best cross over between the Mayfair Witches and Vampire Chronicles. While it wasn’t as strong as the Witching Hour, there were some genuine moments that I felt were getting back to the gothic / horror magic that the earlier books were known for.
It does have an awkward placement in the overall series that leaves me feeling divided though. Blood and Gold was one of the stronger works towards the end of the series, and part of me wonders if she could have even ended it there. Blackwood farm starts to open/reopen a new journey with the cross over concept, but that gets flushed away quickly with Blood Canticle.
Thankfully she had the ending trilogy which I am halfway through, so I’m hoping that will give a more proper ending.
Yeah I see what you mean about ending the series on Blood and Gold. In a way that novel does serve as a wrapping up of the classic story of the first three books. At that point you've pretty much got the backstory of the mythology and all the key players (except for poor Gabrielle, who Rice hated), and it is also a great book to end on.
I'm in the midst of Blood Canticle now and, well, you're pretty much spot on. Too much Mona Mayfair, Quinn seems like a different character and Lestat is bonkers! And not in a good way. :P
I'm looking forward to the trilogy though as I have heard very good things about it. Almost there!
It was nice to have another chronicle set in New Orleans.
*than crank the gain to 300%!* what is this, your first day, Dr? _JC
When you finish this series do you think you will make a list of books that need to be read while others that could be skipped? I've read the first 3 books so far.
Just started to his today. Looking forward to the vampire/witch mingling.
So far my favorite chronicles are:
Lestat
Merrick
Blood & Gold
✨ TALE OF THE BODY THIEF✨✨✨✨
Good luck with it, be interested to hear what you think of it once you're done
I don't understand why all of Rice's male vampires turn gay or bi-sexual when turned. The female vampires are straight. Akasha and her King were straight. There is zero reason all the males become gay or bi. It would be random and based on their sexuality as a human.
One thing that annoyed and puzzled me was how Rice doesn’t call Goblin by name until the end. Goblin was a main character and goes by the trite, tacky name “goblin” for most of the book - I just found this kinda cheesy…I’m sure she had her reasons.
*16:00** it is a monstrous atrocity.* & i think that is objective. & it is certainly nothing to do w anne rice. _JC
Mona, and Rice’s handling of her was kinda annoying I agree….
I loved it, I really did. But I also love Mona and was saddened by her portrayal in this book. Rowan was better, though! And I refuse to watch The Mayfair Witches show! They cut Michael and Aaron! Like, what?! No thanks.
Yeah I don't know what they were thinking. It's possible they will introduce him in a future season maybe, but meh, I haven't enough time on this earth to invest in that! :P
@@JoshuaJClarkeKelsall Well, I caved and wanted to procrastinate for a bit, so I watched the first few episodes and I was pleasantly surprised. Huge alterations, but not bad. I haven’t made it to the new IWTV show, though. 🥴