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Post by Lady of Himring on Jul 23, 2013 18:34:45 GMT -8
A place to discuss the works of Anne Rice. I'm personally fond of Interview with the Vampire, Lestat the Vampire, Servant of the Bones and Queen of the Damned.
I read The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned and I freely admit to hating that book. Do you have any favorites or any you hate?
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Post by Admin on Jul 25, 2013 12:54:00 GMT -8
I really like her historical fictions. They are so well researched that it allows me to enjoy the story.
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Post by Lady of Himring on Jul 30, 2013 18:25:08 GMT -8
I really like her historical fictions. They are so well researched that it allows me to enjoy the story. So her historical fiction (oh irony!) is well done? Good to know, I might give it a go sometimes
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Post by Admin on Jul 31, 2013 15:09:06 GMT -8
I really like her historical fictions. They are so well researched that it allows me to enjoy the story. So her historical fiction (oh irony!) is well done? Good to know, I might give it a go sometimesIt is very well done. She puts a lot of effort into making them historically accurate.
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Post by Lady of Himring on Aug 1, 2013 20:16:04 GMT -8
So her historical fiction (oh irony!) is well done? Good to know, I might give it a go sometimes It is very well done. She puts a lot of effort into making them historically accurate. That's good to know Meghan, thank you. I honestly hate it when authors write "historical" fiction and it's based on gossip and non founded stuff.
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makoeyes
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Post by makoeyes on Sept 5, 2013 21:53:40 GMT -8
Yeah, Anne's really great about being historically accurate. Though according to a friend of mine, she's not so good with pre-historical eras.
Has anyone read the Witches books? Are they worth reading? I have them but Idk if I want to devote my time to read three doorstoppers and them turn out to be crap.
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Post by Admin on Sept 6, 2013 8:03:38 GMT -8
Yeah, Anne's really great about being historically accurate. Though according to a friend of mine, she's not so good with pre-historical eras. Has anyone read the Witches books? Are they worth reading? I have them but Idk if I want to devote my time to read three doorstoppers and them turn out to be crap. My mom said they're okay. I haven't read them yet, but I plan on borrowing them from my mom the next time I go visit her.
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Post by Lady of Himring on Sept 6, 2013 18:19:00 GMT -8
Yeah, Anne's really great about being historically accurate. Though according to a friend of mine, she's not so good with pre-historical eras. Has anyone read the Witches books? Are they worth reading? I have them but Idk if I want to devote my time to read three doorstoppers and them turn out to be crap. I read them a while ago, incest, murder, poetry and philosophy ahoy! Taltos was the one I liked the most; the series in general aren't terrible, but aren't spectacular either. So, I guess you could say they're "Meh".
Also, she does a cross over in some of her other books: Merrick, Blackwood Farm (interesting book, actually) and Blood Canticle (I rolled my eyes through most of this one).
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Post by EquinoxSolstice92 on Sept 7, 2013 2:34:54 GMT -8
I think Anne Rice did a fairy tale retelling of Sleeping Beauty. Was that book any good whatsoever? Just asking.
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Post by Lady of Himring on Sept 7, 2013 16:20:00 GMT -8
I think Anne Rice did a fairy tale retelling of Sleeping Beauty. Was that book any good whatsoever? Just asking. It's an erotic retelling, she published it under AN Roquelaure name. I did read it a couple of years ago, it's "meh" for me, I've read worst. But I do admit it was a bit too much on some parts and the ending is kind of ridiculous.
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Post by Alkonost Storm on Sept 11, 2013 13:55:07 GMT -8
I like Interview, Queen of the Damned, and that one book where Lestat meets the Devil but I keep forgetting the name/shot.
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Post by Lady of Himring on Oct 8, 2013 20:16:14 GMT -8
I like Interview, Queen of the Damned, and that one book where Lestat meets the Devil but I keep forgetting the name/shot. Queen of the Damned is great, I loved the whole backstory. And the second is Memnoch the Devil, I have a love-hate relationship with that book.
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makoeyes
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Post by makoeyes on Dec 4, 2013 10:24:38 GMT -8
I didn't like Memnoch, for the same reason I now hate His Dark Materials.
I've started reading the first Mayfair Witches book, and I'm really surprised at the quality. People call it one of her lackluster series, but so far I'm not seeing what sucks about it. As far as being well written, it's up there with the QOTD, which is my favorite of the Vamp Chronicles. And I daresay I like the two main characters better, though it likely has a lot to do with these people aren't mass murderers. I kind of attracted to Michael; he seems like a really good person and sounds Hunky as Hell. Was the first one before she fired her editors?
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Post by Ozymandias II on Dec 4, 2013 12:35:31 GMT -8
I didn't like Memnoch, for the same reason I now hate His Dark Materials. It took precious wordspace away from the plot in order to sermonize about whatever ideologies the author felt like preaching about at the time with all the subtlety of Thor's hammer in your face?
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Post by Lady of Himring on Dec 4, 2013 23:01:59 GMT -8
It took precious wordspace away from the plot in order to sermonize about whatever ideologies the author felt like preaching about at the time with all the subtlety of Thor's hammer in your face?[/quote] You sir/madam are brilliant, that's the best description of Rice's book preachings ever.
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Post by Ozymandias II on Dec 5, 2013 18:58:04 GMT -8
It took precious wordspace away from the plot in order to sermonize about whatever ideologies the author felt like preaching about at the time with all the subtlety of Thor's hammer in your face? You sir/madam are brilliant, that's the best description of Rice's book preachings ever.[/quote] Sadly, that can describe way too many works of fiction. Like what happened to the Maximum Ride series...
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makoeyes
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Post by makoeyes on Dec 6, 2013 12:37:23 GMT -8
I didn't like Memnoch, for the same reason I now hate His Dark Materials. It took precious wordspace away from the plot in order to sermonize about whatever ideologies the author felt like preaching about at the time with all the subtlety of Thor's hammer in your face? Yes, that is the perfect way to describe Pullman's sermonizing. You sir/madam are brilliant, that's the best description of Rice's book preachings ever. Sadly, that can describe way too many works of fiction. Like what happened to the Maximum Ride series...[/quote] And the House of Night series? Not that it was good to begin with.
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Post by Ozymandias II on Dec 6, 2013 13:40:26 GMT -8
^ And Artemis Fowl (which I loved so much until its agreeable environmental undertones began to get slammed into your face until I wanted to strangle the lemur myself).
If I ever get my lazy ass into gear enough to finish a book, I will try my darndest to keep any morals, messages, etc, strictly in the undertones, no matter how strongly I feel about them. My integrity as an author and storyteller to entertain the audience must come first.
Look at Princess Mononoke. Very strong environmental message, but done well and not slammed into your face. Just gently placed there as if with a feather pillow. Or Spider-Man. Any medium. Taking responsibility with your powers, but it uses the one major example of Uncle Ben's death and it SHOWS rather than tells. That's how it's done.
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makoeyes
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Post by makoeyes on Dec 6, 2013 23:08:49 GMT -8
Yeah, the AF series pretty much beats you over the head with its environmental message. Like, really, there are worse things out there than not saving the whales. Same goes for Avatar, really. Oh gee, maybe if our "Mother" gave us perfect weather, a psychic link to the rest of the natural world, dragons to fly around, and wasn't constantly trying to kill us then we would be a little bit nicer to her too!
Define "undertones". Because the "messages" in what I'm planning are certainly part of the villains' and heroes' motivations. And there's one point where a main character is pissed off at the vampires for comparing an anti-vampire attitude and crimes to homophobia and racism and says "Oh yes, because gay people and black really ARE dangerous, mass murdering rapists!" That's a pretty obvious Take That to True Blood.
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Post by Ozymandias II on Dec 7, 2013 8:20:05 GMT -8
Define "undertones". Because the "messages" in what I'm planning are certainly part of the villains' and heroes' motivations. And there's one point where a main character is pissed off at the vampires for comparing an anti-vampire attitude and crimes to homophobia and racism and says "Oh yes, because gay people and black really ARE dangerous, mass murdering rapists!" That's a pretty obvious Take That to True Blood. As long as it serves the plot and puts characters and storytelling first, it's OK. Just make sure you're not putting your message above your story or characters. You should be fine.
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makoeyes
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Post by makoeyes on Dec 7, 2013 9:11:39 GMT -8
Define "undertones". Because the "messages" in what I'm planning are certainly part of the villains' and heroes' motivations. And there's one point where a main character is pissed off at the vampires for comparing an anti-vampire attitude and crimes to homophobia and racism and says "Oh yes, because gay people and black really ARE dangerous, mass murdering rapists!" That's a pretty obvious Take That to True Blood. As long as it serves the plot and puts characters and storytelling first, it's OK. Just make sure you're not putting your message above your story or characters. You should be fine. Yes, it does tie into the plot. The vampires are successfully making people more sympathetic to them by daring to compare themselves to oppressed minorities, which helps their goal of world domination.
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Post by Ozymandias II on Dec 7, 2013 14:31:58 GMT -8
As long as it serves the plot and puts characters and storytelling first, it's OK. Just make sure you're not putting your message above your story or characters. You should be fine. Yes, it does tie into the plot. The vampires are successfully making people more sympathetic to them by daring to compare themselves to oppressed minorities, which helps their goal of world domination. Nice! That's how it's done. Make it fit, and don't shove it in the audience's face. Let them get the message for themselves; they're not babies. Sounds like you're on the right track.
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makoeyes
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Post by makoeyes on Dec 17, 2013 13:19:25 GMT -8
Yes, it does tie into the plot. The vampires are successfully making people more sympathetic to them by daring to compare themselves to oppressed minorities, which helps their goal of world domination. Nice! That's how it's done. Make it fit, and don't shove it in the audience's face. Let them get the message for themselves; they're not babies. Sounds like you're on the right track. There's only one thing that worries me, specifically the way I handle the Jerkass "gods" that are based on the ones from our world's mythology (especially Classical, and to a lesser extent Mesopotamian). I mean, almost all of it has a basis in either actual mythology or humanistic thought, but I'm worried that it'll be too heavy-handed.
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Post by Ozymandias II on Dec 17, 2013 19:33:08 GMT -8
Nice! That's how it's done. Make it fit, and don't shove it in the audience's face. Let them get the message for themselves; they're not babies. Sounds like you're on the right track. There's only one thing that worries me, specifically the way I handle the Jerkass "gods" that are based on the ones from our world's mythology (especially Classical, and to a lesser extent Mesopotamian). I mean, almost all of it has a basis in either actual mythology or humanistic thought, but I'm worried that it'll be too heavy-handed. I guess make them have reasons for being jerks? The Greek gods' personalities were so because they were based on their respective associations. Zeus was an unpredictable dick because that's how the sky and weather is. Poseidon was moody and unstable like the sea. Ares was violent and destructive like war.
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makoeyes
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Post by makoeyes on Dec 17, 2013 20:18:43 GMT -8
There's only one thing that worries me, specifically the way I handle the Jerkass "gods" that are based on the ones from our world's mythology (especially Classical, and to a lesser extent Mesopotamian). I mean, almost all of it has a basis in either actual mythology or humanistic thought, but I'm worried that it'll be too heavy-handed. I guess make them have reasons for being jerks? The Greek gods' personalities were so because they were based on their respective associations. Zeus was an unpredictable dick because that's how the sky and weather is. Poseidon was moody and unstable like the sea. Ares was violent and destructive like war. I suppose I sort of have that going on. The gods are essentially "prisoners of their own myth". They cannot change unless they permanently give up a sizeable chunk of their powers, and thus will not because they're basically spoiled brats. They only start to change for the better whenever the Bigger Bad comes back and starts doing to the gods what the gods have always done to mortals that they find the incentive to change and transcend their own godhood and become like mortals. But as for the reason why they were like that to begin with, it's because most cultures thought that if you had the power and nigh-unkillability of a god, then you're above ordinary human laws of morality, like in Classical mythology. Either that or their sense of morality was fucked up, like how they thought war was awesome, or that it's okay for a married man to fuck whomever he wants but if his wife does that then she's a criminal and a slut (looking at you, Odysseus). One of the few exceptions to this was Kemetic mythology where it's basically Right Makes Might, and in my universe the gods based on the gods of Kemet mostly play the Token Good Teammate role to the various pantheons in general. And unlike certain other authors, like the Casts and Phillip Pullman, I'm not going to demonize the entirety of their followers and make it seem like they're all evil, retarded, and insane, not even the ones who follow the old gods' religions accurately. My series shows that the problem lies mostly with the gods themselves, not their followers.
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Anne Rice
Jan 19, 2014 3:14:29 GMT -8
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Post by circledaybreak on Jan 19, 2014 3:14:29 GMT -8
I read all of Rice's vampire books (even The Master of Rampling Gate) They were fun to read here and there, but if you're allergic to ceaseless back-and-forthing between atheism and monotheism, more gushingly obsessed descriptions of New Orleans than any sane person can handle and smatterings of unusual sex then I would advise you to steer clear. The werewolf books are much the same, And I had to quit the witch books because there was so much deviance in them it made me physically ill. I actually had an "nope" sexual nightmare from one of them...blech.
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Post by Lady of Himring on Feb 25, 2014 22:29:52 GMT -8
I read all of Rice's vampire books (even The Master of Rampling Gate) They were fun to read here and there, but if you're allergic to ceaseless back-and-forthing between atheism and monotheism, more gushingly obsessed descriptions of New Orleans than any sane person can handle and smatterings of unusual sex then I would advise you to steer clear. The werewolf books are much the same, And I had to quit the witch books because there was so much deviance in them it made me physically ill. I actually had an "nope" sexual nightmare from one of them...blech. ^I'm sorry to hear about the nightmare, sounds awful
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Anne Rice
Mar 21, 2014 15:35:37 GMT -8
via mobile
Post by circledaybreak on Mar 21, 2014 15:35:37 GMT -8
Thanks. Yeah I always know it's time to move on from a story when everyone in it seems to have no qualms with incestuous, pedophilic sex. I think writers give away more about themselves in their fiction than they reaize: Ann Rice's books depict sex like a key to ascension, regardless of the individuals involved. I guess to an academic that might appear insightful or brilliant, but to me it was just fifty shades of "oh god why"
I don't really know much about Mrs. Rice, but it wouldn't surprise me if she was molested as a child and chose to paint it as cultured and mature to offset her guilt. I could be FOS on this, but that's my theory.
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Post by Lady of Himring on Mar 26, 2014 20:55:26 GMT -8
Thanks. Yeah I always know it's time to move on from a story when everyone in it seems to have no qualms with incestuous, pedophilic sex. I think writers give away more about themselves in their fiction than they reaize: Ann Rice's books depict sex like a key to ascension, regardless of the individuals involved. I guess to an academic that might appear insightful or brilliant, but to me it was just fifty shades of "oh god why" I don't really know much about Mrs. Rice, but it wouldn't surprise me if she was molested as a child and chose to paint it as cultured and mature to offset her guilt.I could be FOS on this, but that's my theory. Welcome.
Man, whatever you do, don't read her re-telling of the Sleeping Beauty. I really don't know what to make of the sex in her stories, honestly, I have no problem with sex in general (much less on books) but seriously, her bouncing back and forth with her ideas... I'm just "Make up your mind, woman and own it!".
I don't know much on Anne's personal life so I couldn't say, but maybe it's her religious faith also playing a part.
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Post by valkyria on Dec 10, 2014 7:44:27 GMT -8
I've read a few books of hers, didn't like them very much. I gotta say : I'm not really into vampire literature.
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