Blackwood Farm (Vampire Chronicles) [Paperback]

Anne Rice (Author)

Book Description

Series: Vampire Chronicles | Publication Date: November 6, 2003

Lestat is back, saviour and demon, presiding over a gothic story of family greed and hatred through generations, a terrifying drama of blood lust and betrayal, possession and matricide. Blackwood Farm with its grand Southern mansion, set among dark cypress swamps in Louisiana, harbours blood-stained secrets and family ghosts. Heir to them all is Quinn Blackwood, young, rash and beautiful, himself a tyro bloodhunter whom Lestat takes under his wing. But Quinn is in thrall not only to the past and his own appetities but, even more dangerously, to a companion spirit, a 'goblin' succubus who could destroy him and others. Only the unearthy power of Lestat combined with the earthly powers of the ubiquitous Mayfair clan could hope to save Quinn from himself and his ghosts, or to rescue the doomed girl whom Quinn loves from her own mortality. Shocking, savage and richly erotic, this novel with its deceptively gentle title brings us Anne Rice at her most powerfully disturbing. Here are vampires and witches, men and women, demons and doppelganger, caught up in a maelstrom of death and destruction, blood and fire, cruelty and fate.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In the past few years, many fans have sworn off Anne Rice, flinging her later novels against the wall with cries of "First draft!" and "Never again!" But these same fans may want to take a chance on her Southern gothic Blackwood Farm, a fast-paced and erotically charged, though uneven, novel of the Vampire Chronicles. Blackwood Farm has an unusual flaw: it isn't long enough. Many of its triumphs and tragedies demand more development than they receive. Motivations are sometimes unlikely or unexplained, and the ending is far too rushed.

Blackwood Farm introduces Quinn Blackwood, the sexy, eccentric young gentleman who becomes both a vampire and the heir to the Blackwood estate. All his life, Quinn has been haunted by Goblin, a doppelgänger no one else can see--or believe in. But Goblin is real, and he is becoming maliciously tangible, strengthened by the blood that Quinn unwillingly drinks. Quinn's only hope of liberation from his increasingly dangerous doppelgänger is to find the legendary vampire Lestat. But Lestat has vowed to destroy any vampire who sets foot in New Orleans....

Blackwood Farm features characters from both the Vampire Chronicles and the Mayfair Witches series, but this self-contained novel makes a good entry point for newcomers to Anne Rice's fictional world (however, Vampire Chronicle virgins really should start with Interview With the Vampire, the first in the series and arguably the finest vampire novel of the 20th century). --Cynthia Ward --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Just in time for Halloween, Rice's latest gothic epic blends her beloved Vampire Chronicles with her Mayfair Witches series. Near the dank Sugar Devil Swamp, sinister bayou country where critters far more fearsome than gators lurk, overheated Quinn Blackwood suffers a protracted case of adolescent angst driven by his violent love-hate relationship with Goblin, his spirit-world doppelganger. As heir to Blackwood Farm and an enormous fortune, Quinn enjoys every luxury the decadent Deep South of Rice's imagination can provide, from culinary delicacies to Jasmine, his equally satisfying mulatto housekeeper. Seemingly hell-bent on seducing everyone within range, regardless of gender, age or consanguinity, he falls into a passionate but fatal relationship with 15-year-old nymphomaniac Mona Mayfair, offshoot of the Mayfair clan of witches. But he cannot control Goblin's ferocious jealousy or his nefarious double's taste for blood, particularly once Quinn is made into a Blood Hunter by Petronia, a malignant bisexual spirit who stalks the haunted family cemetery at the edge of the swamp. Rice fleshes out her slim plot line with gory set pieces of vampire history in ancient Athens, Pompeii and 19th-century Naples. She excels at vivid descriptions of macabre landscapes, gloomy estate houses and the lust that motivates her Blood Hunters and propels her ghoulish narratives. Her dialogue and characterizations, however-even of the durable Vampire Lestat, called upon by Quinn for deliverance from Goblin and Sugar Devil Swamp's unholy spirits-are flat and predictable here. But it's intrigue, eroticism and obsession that fans want, and they'll find plenty of all three.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 784 pages
• Publisher: Arrow (November 6, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0099446723
• ISBN-13: 978-0099446729
• Product Dimensions: 4.4 x 1.6 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (290 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #261,739 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Anne Rice was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. She holds a Master of Arts Degree in English and Creative Writing from San Francisco State University, as well as a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science.

She is the author of over 30 books, most recently the Toby O'Dare novels Of Love and Evil, and Angel Time; the memoir, Called Out of Darkness;and her two novels about Jesus, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt and Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana,

Anne publicly broke with organized religion in July of 2010 on moral grounds, affirming her faith in God, but refusing any longer to be called "Christian." The story attracted surprising media attention, with Rice's remarks being quoted in stories all over the world.

Anne is very active on her FaceBook Fan Page and has over 550,000 followers. She answers questions every day on the page, and also posts on a variety of topics, including literature, film, music, politics, religion, and her own writings. She welcomes discussion there on numerous topics.

Her latest novel, The Wolf Gift, a werewolf story set in Northern California in the present time, will be published on February 14th, 2012. With this book, Anne returns to the classic monsters and themes of supernatural literature, similar to those she explored in her Vampire Chronicles, and tales of the Mayfair Witches.

Her first novel, Interview with the Vampire, was published in 1976 and has gone on to become one of the best-selling novels of all time. She continued her saga of the Vampire Lestat in a series of books, collectively known as The Vampire Chronicles, which have had both great mainstream and cult followings.

Interview with the Vampire was made into a motion picture in 1994, starring Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Kirsten Dunst and Antonio Banderas. Anne's novel, Feast of All Saints about the free people of color of ante-bellum New Orleans became a Showtime mini series in 2001.

Anne Rice is also the author of other novels, including The Witching Hour, Servant of the Bones, Merrick, Blackwood Farm, Blood Canticle, Violin, and Cry to Heaven. She lives in Palm Desert, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better Than I Expected, May 8, 2003

By 

wysewomon "wysewomon" (Paonia, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blackwood Farm (The Vampire Chronicles) (Hardcover)

I've been increasingly disappointed in Anne Rice's books. It seems that she, like many authors, is wonderful at starting an engrossing series and less able to continue with it. _Blackwood Farm_, however, harkens back to some of her eariler work lends fresh blood (heh heh) to the Vampire Chronicles.

Quinn Blackwood, a young (both in human age and in terms of his "change") vampire, has a problem. As long as he can remember, he's been haunted by a sometimes loving and sometimes malicious spirit whom he calls Goblin. Since Quinn's change, Goblin has become more sinister and more powerful. Quinn seeks out the most famous and powerful vampire he knows of -- Lestat, in quite a good cameo role -- to help him put an end to the spirit who is threatening Quinn's mortal friends and relations.

What I liked best about this book is that it's essentially Quinn's tale of growing up among the people and ghosts of a rich southern family -- a family with its own mysteries and legends. The characterization of people, spirits and place is deftly handled. In fact, this is one of the things I think Anne Rice does best: weaving character and setting together into a specific atmosphere, and I was glad to see her get back to it after neglecting the practice in her last few novels.

I also liked the way she brought together her two major New Orleans mythologies -- the Vampires and the Mayfairs (although it still seems a bit contrived to me, the way that everyone seems to be a member of one or the other group.) I was glad to see what became of Mona Mayfair, as well as Rowan and Michael. I think, however, that it would be difficult to understand everything that was going on without having read the three Mayfair Witches books; a lot of reference was made to the events in those and I know I would have been confused and distracted had I not read them.

Another thing I liked was that in _Blackwood Farm_, Rice relies a lot less on the same old tired vampiric events to move the story along. Not only is Quinn a new vampire completely unrelated to and even (for the most part) unaware of the vampires we know from former books, but also his transformation doesn't take place until relatively late in the story. So there's quite a bit less of the Blood-Hunt-Identity Crisis-Yikes I'm Immortal! flavour of some of the more recent vampire chronicles.

We still have the requisite Scholarly Tweedy Englishman of a Certain Age to represent the Talamasca. And we're still dealing with people who, even as mortals, have more money than God, which sometimes makes the story hard to swallow. (I wish sometimes we could follow the adventures of a working class vampire who was not so ready to give up his culture of origin.)The predictable ending gets points for getting rid of a character who never should have existed in the first place but loses some points for transforming yet another interesting mortal.

On the whole, though, I liked _Blackwood Farm_. It actually reminded me of _Interview with a Vampire_ more than any of the other books. I think most people who like Anne Rice will enjoy it.

29 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars It's official: I give up on Anne Rice, February 1, 2003

By 

Sharon Duke (Tennessee) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blackwood Farm (The Vampire Chronicles) (Hardcover)

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.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor writing. Worse character development. Fool's Gold., January 24, 2003

By 

Keith L. Goode "Keith L. Goode" (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blackwood Farm (The Vampire Chronicles) (Hardcover)

Okay. Come on people. Don't be blinded by the fact that this book was written by Anne Rice. Not everything she lays her hand to is golden. If anything, this book should prove that she does not have the "Midas Touch." It's obvious by this attempt that Rice believes she has a magic formula, into which she can plug any story, any character, and get positive results

This book was a paltry attempt to bring a new character into the realm of the beautiful undead. Quinn is the typical Rice vampire - handsome and beautiful, androgynous in both appearance and sexual preference, educated, loves art, classical music, literature, and culture ... wait a second. Does this sound familiar? Why, Quinn is the modern-day version of Lestat, and Marius, and Armand, ... shall I go on? In short, if you are reading this book to catch a glimpse of a new vampire, you'll be sorely disappointed. He is the same vampire as all of them, with a different name. Obviously Rice has run out of ideas.

The main character aside, the story is a great disappointment. Ninety percent of the book is wasted on covering the background of Quinn, which could have been covered in 100 pages or so. It is absolute drudgery through Rice's boring concept of elegance. The story's climax and "resolution" are finally reached in the last 30 pages of the book, but quite honestly even these were a flash in the pan, an absolute waste of energy. I had hoped that "Blood and Gold" was Rice's last failure, but apparently it wasn't.