Now Mona is a vampire and not facing her inevitable
death, she is able to ask hard questions – like where her daughter is and what
has become of the Taltos
The big dark secret of the Mayfair family is finally open
and ready to be resolved.
I have a problem.
When I reviewed Blackwood Farm I gave it 0.5 fangs. I do not regret that rating, it most definitely deserved that rating. But now I have a problem, because Blood Canticle is even worse but, out of some odd twisted sense of needing to finish this series, I finished it so I can’t DNF it.
Normally I like to sum up all the positive things with
the book first. This will not take long. I like that the book addresses Mona
becoming a vampire and how, as a woman, the sheer safety from attack that comes
with vampiric power means a lot more than it would to, say, Quinn. It’s a nice
mention – it’s one line
There’s the good. I can think if not one more positive
thing to add. Now to the much much much longer lists of negative.
Firstly, this book opens with a rather awful screed from
Lestat chastising readers for not appreciating the brilliance of Memnoch
The Devil (a book that was much criticised and, no, I didn’t like it either).
I’ve seen authors respond to negative reviews before and it’s never good, but
to actually have your title character scold readers for not UNDERSTANDING the
insight of your oh-so-perfect book in a later book in the series is rather
shockingly childish and ridiculous. It did not make me positively inclined
towards this book
Then we have Lestat running through this strangely
bizarre joyous ode to Catholicism, including shovelling over a lot of
problematic issues (in a series that likes to make every character bisexual –
well so long as their loves are under-aged – praising the church in glowing
terms then throwing aside the homophobia as a 3 word bracketed reference is
insulting) which then develops into a confused, incoherent ramble of Lestat
wanting to be a saint and the Pope and the spiritual joys of an obscure saint
that will keep popping up throughout the whole book without any real need or relevance
(and it’s not like the books need more reasons to deviate).
