Blood and Gold: A Novel

Written by Anne Rice

Narrated by Roger Rees

Once a proud Senator in Imperial Rome, Marius is kidnapped and forced into that dark realm of blood, where he is made a protector of the Queen and King of the vampires-in whom the core of the supernatural race resides. Through his eyes we see the fall of pagan Rome to the Emperor Constantine, the horrific sack of the Eternal City at the hands of the Visigoths, and the vile aftermath of the Black Death. Ultimately restored by the beauty of the Renaissance, Marius becomes a painter, living dangerously yet happily among mortals, and giving his heart to the great master Botticelli, to the bewitching courtesan Bianca, and to the mysterious young apprentice Armand. But it is in the present day, deep in the jungle, when Marius will meet his fate seeking justice from the oldest vampires in the world. . . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio
• Release date: Jan 2, 2001
• ISBN: 9781415920800

Anne Rice

A.N. Roquelaure is the pseudonym for bestselling author Anne Rice, the author of 25 books. She lives in New Orleans.

Reviews for Blood and Gold

[thereadingmermaid · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Boring to say the least.In this book we are told the story of Marius from his own lips as he explains it to a newly risen vampire named Thorne. His story was already captioned and a couple of the previous books.Perhaps I liked his story better as a caption instead of in full. Instead of wise he comes off to me as very pretentious and self-righteous. His story is boring because he is always in the right about everything and everyone else is in the wrong. And at first glance this may sound like the story of Lestat however he differs from Lestat in the fact that he's not comical and bratty. Instead he is simply just always the victor in every circumstance.Though it is beautifully written like the rest of the series, I have to say I did not enjoy this book very much and found it a rather daunting read. I am hoping that the next few books are better but as I'm heading into number 7 my hopes are not very high at this point.

[jco123_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Long and winded

[anagarika · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Marius' story. No disappointment here.

[kassilem · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked this volume a lot, maybe more than the story of Armand. The story of Armand was sensual, erotic almost. Marius's story is historical. I loved how much history and culture was in this volume. I do find it interesting that the same conversation, told by Armand first and then Marius in this volume could be so different. At first it bothered me a lot. Why would Armand say Marius said or did something, but then Marius says he didn't or that something completely different happened. Finally I decided that Rice wasn't referring back to her earlier writing as reference. And then I decided that maybe it was deliberate - a way of showing that different people see things differently and see different things as important or not. Whether or not that is the case, I am actually very interested in the differences now. Put yourself in the shoes of an immortal. Of course small details disappear. Imagine them thinking back thousands of years and trying to remember what was said or not. No, it would be more that they took away from the events. I'm having too much fun with these books. :) And now that I've gotten Armand and Marius' stories out of the way I feel that I now have to read Pandora's story, since hers is so intertwined with these two. So off I go!

[akaria-2 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Another book I don't remember reading. Marius obviously didn't impress all that much.

[aliceanna-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This one was pretty good and wasn't near as preachy as the last one of hers I had read. Unfortunately, they've just become too repetitive and formulaic. Unless she writes another witch one, I think I'm done with her. No more vampires for me.

[kraysaulis · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Marius is by far one of my favorite vampires, however this book took me forever to get through. I'm not sure if that is because it was slow, or because of what's going on in my outside life... The first half, talking about his paintings and the good years of his life, was amazing. The second half seemed slow.


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His scene with Pandora, expressing his love to her and making all of the promises he made was absolutely BREATHTAKING. And very similar to things I myself have said in the past. Beautiful. Loved it. Wish the chapter had been longer...

Looking forward to reading Pandora...

[Mike P Wagner · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Interesting story - and interesting narrative viewpoint. Felt a little long towards the end, but overall pretty interesting.

[wb4ever1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A few years ago I got back into reading Anne Rice after having stopped with THE MUMMY a couple of decades ago. Working my way through THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES and THE MAYFAIR WITCHES, I have finally arrived at BLOOD AND GOLD, which was written in 2000. Rice’s most enduring and popular character will always be Lestat, the young 18th Century French nobleman turned blood drinker whom she introduced in INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE. But after giving her readers a half dozen books with their favorite at the center of the action, she began expanding her literary vampire universe by putting out books telling the stories of secondary characters such as Armand, Vittorio, and Pandora. In BLOOD AND GOLD, Rice tells the story of Marius, the Roman aristocrat turned creature of the night, and keeper of Those Who Must Be Kept.Or, retelling the story, as much of Marius’s saga, from his origin as a vampire in Druid worshiping ancient Britain, his becoming the keeper of Akasha and Enkil, the original vampires, his time in Venice where he meets and becomes infatuated with the boy, Amadeo, to Akasha’s awakening in modern times have been covered in other books. BLOOD AND GOLD seeks to fill in the blank spots from other narratives, and tell things from Marius’ point of view. The book is framed by one of Rice’s tried and true tropes, where one character sits with another, and tells a tale. The story begins with the awakening of Thorne, a vampire Viking (that’s a book right there) who has slumbered under the ice for many centuries. Thorne has been awakened by the events of THE QUEEN OF THE DAMNED, and goes looking for Maheret, his maker, and one of the most ancient of vampires. Thorne meets Marius instead, who then proceeds for 500 pages to tell Thorne his story. At the end, Thorne does meet his maker, and some old conflicts are resolved. But this is Marius’ book, and his story encompasses ancient Rome and its fall to Barbarians, the newly rising Constantinople, Renaissance Venice, and the city of Dresden in Saxony in the 1600s. There are side trips to medieval Paris, and the England of Henry the VIII, where we get a look at the early Talesmasca. The great part of the book covers Marius’ relationships with Pandora, a young woman he falls in love with in Roman times and whom he makes into a vampire; Amadeo (later known as Armand), a beautiful boy he falls in love with in Venice, and makes into a vampire; and Bianca, a beautiful woman of Venice, whom Marius falls in love with and makes into a vampire when he is in desperate need of aide after running afoul of other blood drinkers. The fates of these relationships and why they come to such a state is the heart of the story. Along the way there are encounters with Mael, Avicus, Eudoxia, Zenobia, and Santino, other vampires who are friends, foes, and frenemies at different times. The great artist Botticelli makes an appearance, and there is a cameo by Daniel, the young man introduced in the first chapter of INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, now a blood drinker himself, which in a small way ties everything back to the beginning. Compared to some other books by Rice, I found BLOOD AND GOLD to be an easy read, the author seems to have forsaken her rampant use of adjectives that plagued other books, nor was there the tendency to gush over architecture and art in the extreme. Rice’s tremendous grasp of history is on full display, including a deep knowledge of fashion. Her books always create a world that feels much lived in; she always conveys a sense of place, and makes us believe that this is how people were at this point in time. The main character of Marius is well loved by some fans, not so much by others. In the early Lestat books, he is a knowing elder, with wisdom gained by centuries upon this earth. But the Marius we see in BLOOD AND GOLD is his own worst enemy by not taking threats seriously, practicing deceit with those who care for him, and foolishly overestimating himself. He comes across as being as guilty of letting his passions rule him as much as Lestat, a sin for which he often condemned the younger vampire. Then there are Marius’ relationships with young boys, and his expressed affection for them in the section set in Renaissance Venice. This comes uncomfortably close to pedophilia for some readers even though Rice makes it clear that her vampires do not have sexual relationships in the conventional way. I understand their concerns, and it is an issue with other books by her, especially in the Mayfair witches series, but what I think Rice is doing here is creating a character with a pre Christian and pagan sensability, one that he has not forsaken despite the passage of a thousand years. As I have stated in other reviews of Rice’s books, she is most definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, and those who have a problem most certainly have given up long before they would have gotten to BLOOD AND GOLD. If you are unfamiliar with Anne Rice, this book not a suitable entry point.The finale of BLOOD AND GOLD, where some characters not seen since the end of THE QUEEN OF THE DAMNED appear, felt like THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES were coming full circle, maybe an ending point. But Rice has continued to write in the years since, crossing over her witches and vampires, and adding werewolves to the mix. She had also written about Jesus Christ, a result of her returning (for a time) to the Catholic Church. And it looks as if we’re finally about to get that long delayed TV series adaptation of CHRONICLES, let’s hope AMC doesn’t botch it.

[sumisbooks · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Boring to say the least.In this book we are told the story of Marius from his own lips as he explains it to a newly risen vampire named Thorne. His story was already captioned and a couple of the previous books.Perhaps I liked his story better as a caption instead of in full. Instead of wise he comes off to me as very pretentious and self-righteous. His story is boring because he is always in the right about everything and everyone else is in the wrong. And at first glance this may sound like the story of Lestat however he differs from Lestat in the fact that he's not comical and bratty. Instead he is simply just always the victor in every circumstance.Though it is beautifully written like the rest of the series, I have to say I did not enjoy this book very much and found it a rather daunting read. I am hoping that the next few books are better but as I'm heading into number 7 my hopes are not very high at this point.

[emscape · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm kind of glad I waited more than a year to read this book after having read the first eight, plus the Mayfair Witches book all pretty much right in a row. I think I would have found the parts where Marius is retelling things that Lestat told us in The Vampire Lestat and that Armand told us in The Vampire Armand rather boring and repetitive. As it was, it was a nice reminder of things I'd forgotten, and I was able to jump right back in without re-reading, which would have been quite the undertaking. I would really recommend, if you're reading straight through, to take a hiatus before jumping into this one, because it seems others who'd done so were quite disappointed by this. I've always really admired the wisdom and even temper of Marius, particularly in The Queen of the Damned and although we knew a little of him from the two previously mentioned books, it was a treat to have his story fleshed out even more and his perspective shown on things we already knew the other side of. It's unfortunate that the character of Thorne, who emerges from the ice apparently only to listen to Marius tell a 500-page story and then complete a couple of acts no other previously introduced character would have been able to. I would have liked to have known more about him; the climax of this tale might have meant more or had more feeling for me. As it was, it was a little bit of a let down. I was feeling like awarding this book three stars because of that feeling, but sitting down to write about it has induced me to add back the fourth star I was intending to give it right before I came to the end. Had the ending been more exciting or satisfying, I probably would've given 4.5 stars. As it stands, it's a good, full, tale of history and blood and a fascinating vampire with a rather lame last three chapters. I hope that's a set-up for something more interesting, but it seems the next book in this series takes an entirely different tack. I am looking forward to completing this author's vampire-related works in their entirety.

[docwalt10 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Love everything to do with Vampire stories. Anne Rice is one of the best at it.

[pigofhappiness · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As Marius was always one of my favorite characters, I particularly enjoyed this book. Beautifully written and expressive, this is a must read for lovers of the vampire chronicles. Appropriate for high school and beyond.

[meersan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Roman vampire chases his undead girlfriend across Europe.

[hermit_9_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Rice returns to the Vampire Chronicles with elan. The character Thorne hooked me, and I wish there were more of him.

[mramos_710291 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Blood and Gold is the story of the Vampire Marius of Rome. It is the eight book of Ms Rice in the Vampire Chronicles. I found this book to be an easy read. I would rate it in the top four of the chronicles. We have an ancient Norse man waking up in the artic, where he went to sleep in darkness. We learn that he had learned of the world through the 'Mind Gift'. And he finally finds a reason to wake. He walks south back into civilization and into Marius' hands. I wanted to know more of this vampire...but this is a book about Marius. And he has what he needs in Throne, a student/listener hungrey to hear his words. So we have Marius teeling his story to Thorne...And we are in the shadows listening. We some some of th eother books story line through Marius eyes. Which I found interesting. The story starts after his creation as a blood drinker. He takes us from Ancient Rome to all the cities he made home. To his first love The Queen of the Dammend, Akasha. Pandora, his second, who he lost because of his anger. Then in Venice he falls in love with Bianca and Amadeo, one leaves because of a lie the other is taken. And eventually to our first book, Lestat, who he sends away. We see he loves to be in love, but his anger drives him to solitude. Marius learns he has been watched by the Talamasca, with who he develops a sort of realtionship. What appears to me to be the only honest relationship he had. For Marius saw himself as a scholar, and the Talamasca were true scholars. His life, though having moments of great pleasure, seemed to be filled with tragedy of his own making. Though if you like the Vampire Chronicles, I do recommend you read this.

[surreality_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Plot: There's nothing new to see here. The entire plot has been told three times before, in The Vampire Lestat by Marius and Armand, in Pandora by Pandora, and in The Vampire Armand by Armand. There are a few new chapters, but overall it's a retelling of what is already known. Crappy ending. Crappy beginning, too. Characters: Marius is character-assassinated very thoroughly and is now a megalomanic, arrogant workaholic rather than the wise father figure he used to be. Side characters are generally painted as selfish idiots who interfere with his duties; characterization reiles on how they have been written before, then proceeds to deconstruct them into unrecognizability. The book's great problem is Thorne, the one who gets the story told to and who has the attention span and brain of a hummingbird. Style: The book is described to death. Description covers over anything that might be interesting, and when description doesn't do, Marius navel-gazing takes over. He misses the fall of the Roman empire by being too preoccupied with himself, completely misses the Middle Ages by being even more introspective. Renaissance gets glossed over because his painting supplies are more fun, and all other historic periods are simply ignored altogether, with an attempt to cover up this lack by description of small things and more re-telling of what happened in previous books.Plus: Hard to think of anything. Some interesting scenes that flesh out already known situations. Minus: The book is completely overwritten. Character assassination that qualifies as mass murder. Nothing new, just retelling. Summary: This is where the Vampire Chronicles lost their last redeeming values. For hardcore fans only.

[flamika_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I had felt for a while that Anne Rice's novels were declining in quality and enjoyment, but this novel was the one where I decided to stop reading anything by Rice. It's Marius' story, but the problem is that it's been told through the eyes of so many people that a lot of the stuff he has to add isn't particularly interesting. I was addicted for years to Rice's novels, but sorry, I'm now filing for divorce.

[ragwaine · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not as overwritten as some of the others, better than Merrick, Vittorio, and Pandora. Some rehash of already known stuff but enough new things to keep it interesting.

[bookmarque · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Well this was a little strange. So much detail in places where we didn’t need it and so little in the places we did. It seems that Rice really knows the story of the ancient Egyptian origins of the story, and the birth and duty of Marius, but she knows precious little of the history in which Marius passed. The Reformation – she gave it a sentence. The fall of Rome and the rise of Constantinople she gave a few paragraphs. The Renaissance got a few distracted chapters during which Marius fell under the spell of egg tempera.And the end – rushed is too kind a word. As I read about his getting back together with Pandora and he hadn’t even gotten to Lestat yet and there was only about ¼ of an inch of pages left – I knew the end would be miserable. I wasn’t disappointed. Marius comes across as a self-serving ego-maniac the whole time. Always going on about his responsibility to the Devine Parents. The children he creates all abandon him because he always has to be “on”. He envisions himself as a great teacher and cannot stand it when his pupils actually begin to learn. That’s why he and Mael don’t get along – Mael doesn’t want to learn anything that Marius knows. But the times we don’t know about aren’t elaborated on much. What he was before he was captured by Mael. Bah.

[sdtaylor555 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is the last really great Vampire Chronicle. After this book they go down hill fast. This one was brilliant though.