ANGEL TIME

by Anne Rice



"Haunted by his decision to become an assassin rather than a priest, contract killer Toby O'Dare prepares for another grisly mission. However, when an angel offers him the chance to redeem himself and save countless lives, O'Dare wholeheartedly accepts. Consequently, he is catapulted back to thirteenth century England, where a young Jewish girl has mysteriously disappeared and the town's Christians are accusing her parents of murder." (Based on the CD container summary.)

Anne Rice's vehicle has switched from vampires to angels in Angel Time: The Songs of the Seraphim, but the beautiful writing and explorations of spirituality are back. Yippee! Many would say they were never gone considering her previous two fiction books were about the life of Jesus, but they didn't feel like the same as the Anne Rice I had come to love. This book felt more like the original Vampire Chronicles -- dark and dream-like -- with more belief in the ability of humanity to reform its selfish ways.

I was concerned that Rice would be too preachy, using her new characters to push her recovered faith. There are those moments, but they are few and fleeting and served their purpose of causing this reader to reflect on her own thoughts about religion in general. Looking back, the Vampire Chronicles often did the same thing but with searching cynicism. Angel Time speaks with guided confidence. This is the first of a new series, and I'm greatly looking forward to its continuation.

CHRIST THE LORD: THE ROAD TO CANA

by Anne Rice



Let it be understood right from the outset that anything I say in this review is not meant as an attack or even an insult to Anne Rice as an author or a person, nor to Christians, Christianity or anyone or anything else. These words are merely my honest feelings about a book I read by an author I happen to like a lot and that just happens to have Jesus as the main character.

Considering my disappointment with Blackwood Farm, Blood Canticle, and the first book in this series, Christ The Lord, I’m not certain why I continue to read new Anne Rice books. I think it’s similar to when you know it’s time to end a relationship that no longer brings either of you joy, but you’re not exactly unhappy and you’ve been together for sooooo long . . . . And you’re just certain that things will go back to the way they used to be and feel the way it used to feel. I just don’t know. There are books by Anne that have an honored place on my bookshelves: Interview With The Vampire, Pandora, Blood & Gold, The Mummy. After so much darkness and violence, I respect Anne’s decision to follow her faith and write the story of Jesus. I just wish I liked it more.

The writing is pure Anne Rice, flowery and dramatic and beautiful. But I find the story being unfurled dull and uninspiring and the characters don’t grab me. None of them make me want to see into their minds and souls. And the one mind you do want to see into feels too limited. I think what bothers me the most is this: If a person is going to write the story of Jesus, there should be more to it than what I can get directly out of The Bible. Especially considering the story is told in first person. Jesus is telling me his story himself, and I don’t feel I know him any better than if I just sat down and read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I’m not sure what that says about me, when Jesus doesn’t move me at all, but I’m guessing there is more than one brick already paving my way to hell. It is probably not fair to Anne or this book, but the fact is that I’m longing for the early days, to once again fall under a spell as beguiling as that cast by Lestat and Louis and Armand and Marius. And, with all due respect to Anne Rice and Our Lord, Jesus just isn’t doing it for me. (Yup. That would be the sound of the laying of another brick . . .)

Lezlie

Anne Rice books I loved: