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The story itself is great, my personal favorite of the Anne rice vampire ...

Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2018

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The story itself is great, my personal favorite of the Anne rice vampire tales, but the ebook needs a lot of editing. I’m only halfway through and have found almost a dozen errors, the wrong words transcribed. In the paperback, these words are correct but comparing the same page of the ebook, it’s different. Really distracting and not worth the $8 price tag for such poor work imo.

Thunderbird

I took a walk through ancient Rome

Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2017

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I felt as though I'd been taken back to ancient Rome. What I love about Rice is that I experience her books three dimensionally (all my senses are activated) even as she immerses me in vivid history and complex characters. The fist chapter was a little slow and if you've not read the Tale of the Body Thief then you might find the first chapter a little boring. From chapter two, however, you're transported straight to an opulent ancient Rome with RIce's seductive prose to guide you through her gardens, temples, and the busy streets of the Forum itself. Fantastic read!

Seany

For hardcore fans

Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2021

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You have to get almost 50% through before a vampire even appears, half of the story is about Pandora losing her family and moving to Antioch which isnt that interesting. Endless philosophical prose, which at least is well written. Reads like a historical fiction novel, I think the more hardcore Rice fans who want to expand upon the vampire world will enjoy.

D. Cupples, Gainesville, Fla.

but I started reading Anne Rice years ago and really enjoy the universe of characters and events that she created

Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2016

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I'm not generally a fan of vampires, but I started reading Anne Rice years ago and really enjoy the universe of characters and events that she created. Her stories would work (with some adjustment) even if her characters were not vampires--they're basically just human beings with some extra powers and some degree of immortality, which allows Rice to put them in historical situations.

Pandora goes back to Roman times (Anne Rice is great with history--really does her research) then goes into the 20th century.

The Old Philosopher

Interesting Roman culture and fill in of vampire lore.

Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2004

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The story of Pandora fills in more of the holes in Rice's vampire series. Pandora has been mentioned previously in more than one novel, and is a significant minor player in Blood and Gold, the story of Marius. In Pandora we hear about her childhood growing up in a rich Roman family. Marius who is not yet a vampire, is the younger son of another family. She meets Marius in Rome at age 10, and at age 15 her father refuses Marius' request for her in marriage. For some unknown reason, when Pandora is age 35, one of her brothers causes the other members of her family to be assassinated in a political plot. Pandora flees with Jewish merchants to Antioch where she meets Marius again. By now Marius is a vampire and keeper of the ancient mother of vampires. Much of her story describes her trials getting settled in Antioch, another conflict with her traitor brother, her conversion to a vampire by Marius, and the first attack by Satanic vampires. Little is told about the subsequent 1800 years before she ends up in a Paris café where she writes the story. I found it to be an entertaining afternoon read. I enjoyed Rice's obvious research into Roman life, but I was disappointed in not learning more about her life during the centuries while Marius searched for her. For example, we learn nothing of the Indian vampire with whom she apparently spends centuries traveling around the capitols of Europe during the Middle Ages. Maybe Rice is saving that for another volume.

Loki Shams

Mesmerizing

Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2000

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Wow! I was literally swept off my feet in this entrancing tale. This is Anne Rice at her best. This novel has it all, Romance, Intrigue, and Drama. But best of all, it has History.
Oh, how I love history. From Ancient Egypt, to the Roman Empires and Greek Mythology. It is just beautiful. Anne Rice is a great Historical storyteller. She obviously does meticulous research, and she takes her knowledge and spins a mesmerizing tale of olden times, when people lived life, just for the sake of living.
She writes of an era, when time was abundant. And it was spent with families and close friends, reading, writing and gaining insight into their life. Expanding their minds with philosophy and poetry and just about anything that was within their grasp. When time really did take a lifetime, and it was savored with all its beauty. Unlike now, with time passing by, faster than we can blink.
This is not another novel of a Vampire in Rices collection,this is the story of Pandora. A woman whose mind rivaled that of a scholar, her thirst for knowledge and the meaning of what it is to exist, her main quest in this life. She is a woman who is betrayed, but that will not stop her. She embraces her induction into vampire hood, because this way, she can savor her love of life and feel it all the more.
This is an exceptional book. My only regret is that it ends too soon. I would have gladly lived with Pandora for a thousand more pages.

Srae

Great Origin Book

Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2013

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I'm the biggest Anne Rice Fan in general. Every summer for over a decade I make a point to re-read most of her books. I'm a big Marius fan so it's no surprise that I enjoyed this book. After years of wearing out my paperback and rebuying them I finally started picking up the eBooks. This review is a result of that!

This book is basically a journal written to David Talbot about Pandora's human life, her life was a free un-married woman in Antioch, her vampire origin, and the complicated relationship she had with Marius. I know many other fans wouldn't put this book at the top of their list but this one is special as it is the only one of her vampire novels in the voice of a woman. Also, how can you not love the ancient world? I get my vampires and historical fiction in one swoop!

Gail Jordon

nothing like Anne Rice's other books

Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2021

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It was slow and boring. I have adored her books in the past. This one just dragged, taught me nothing and didn't provide entertainment. As a huge Anne Rice fan, I would not recommend this.

Top reviews from other countries

Alison's Catty Book Corner

Thought Provoking Fiction

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 21, 2017

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Pandora by Anne Rice

***** 5 stars

Book Blurb:

A Vampire Chronicles novella from the internationally bestselling Anne Rice

In a cafe in modern-day Paris, in the aftermath of a fresh kill, the fearless and beautiful Pandora begins to tell her tale of treachery, vengeance and love stretching across two millennia. As a young mortal in Imperial Rome in the time of Caesar Augustus, Pandora was first introduced to the blood-tainted cult of Isis. Later, in exile in Antioch, she was drawn even further into the dark, ancient rites. Now looking back across the centuries, Pandora decides to return once more to New Orleans, to find the love of her early life, Marius, and to see once again the Vampire Lestat...

Review:

This is the first book in the series of New Tales of the Vampires and tells the story of Pandora.

Pandora was born 15 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. She has lived a long and interesting life, at first with her love Marius and then alone. She is a vibrant character full of life and immensely intelligent. Always ready to learn from others and to teach her skills to young vampires.

David a young vampire seeks out Pandora to ask her to write her life story. She does this and takes the reader on a wonderful journey.

This book was written so beautifully, giving the reader a vivid image of Rome and its history.

Highly recommended to lovers of thought provoking fiction.

Martin Scoreseasy

A missed opportunity

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 22, 2014

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I really enjoyed the first two Vampire chronicles books so was hoping that this would continue in that vain. Sadly that was not to be the case.

My guess is that Anne Rice's knowledge of the period or the ancient Roman world was not as deep or well researched as needed With ancient Rome at the turn of the Principate and early Empire as the backdrop so much more could have been done to capture the danger, horrors, wonder and dynamism of the age. To see how well that can be done, try reading The Master's of Rome series by Colleen McCullough.

As for her protagonists Pandora and Marius they fail to truly sparkle with a truth or ever really develop. It almost feels as if there were a large number of ideas bubbling up but that they stayed in the authors head and failed to make it to the page.

In summary: Reasonably well written, but flaky and inconsistent in parts. Pandora fails to capture the depth of "Interview with the Vampire" and "Vampire Lestat".

Michael Gallagher

Not one of her best

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 12, 2013

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I started---so i finished but the more i got into it i became bored.
This was not a novel with a story which started,had a plot and then
finished,rather it was recollections of Pandora concentrating for the
most on Roman history and Roman political characters. In dfinishing
chapters i struggled trying to remember what i had read such was its
abstract nature. Would not recommend this novel to anyone.

Azariah

A Nice Book :)

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 3, 2012

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Having read all of the previous books to this one, I enjoyed reading this and liked the way it filled the gaps in some of the previous stories. I would, however, recommend reading this book after the books that come before it, as you may be confused as to who some of the characters are. It's also much shorter than the previous books and I finished reading it within two days! I am a very fast reader, though ;)

miss K. Rogers

Good interlude

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 4, 2014

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Not officially park of her Vampire Chronicles series this is a great little book for filling the gap on what happened to Pandora in the times before and after she met the vampire Marius and beyond. She is telling her story to the former Talimasca recently Vampire chronicler David.
Shorter than the chronicles but a good read if those little details are bothering you.

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