Blood and Gold
First edition
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| Author | Anne Rice |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Detail of Mars from Sandro Botticelli's Mars and Venus (c. 1483) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Vampire Chronicles |
| Genre | Horror fiction |
| Published | October 16, 2001 |
| Publisher | Knopf |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 480 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 46935938 |
| 813/.54 21 | |
| LC Class | PS3568.I265 B58 2001 |
| Preceded by | Merrick |
| Followed by | Blackwood Farm |
Blood and Gold (2001) is the eighth book in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles series.
The book begins with an ancient vampire of Nordic descent awaking after being frozen in a block of ice for hundreds of years. The vampire, Thorne, meets Marius de Romanus and inquires about Marius' past. Marius then provides his life story.
As a young Roman patrician, Marius was abducted by druids who were trying to find a replacement for their "god of the grove"—a vampire, kept locked inside a chamber underneath a tree, who took on the role of a god in a druidic religion. Marius does not want to receive the powers of the dying god, but is given them nonetheless.
Unable to face a life imprisoned in a tree, Marius escapes from the druids (one of whom is Mael). He embarks on a trip to Egypt, where he learns of Akasha and Enkil, the Mother and Father or Those Who Must Be Kept—the progenitors of all vampire-kind. He takes them back to Rome with him after learning that if they die then every other vampire in the world will suffer the same fate.
He falls in love with a mortal woman, Pandora, and turns her into a vampire. They live together happily for a long time, although they argue frequently. One day, their house is attacked by a group of vampires who want to know the secrets of Those Who Must Be Kept. Though they destroy these vampires, the attack leads to an argument between the two and Marius, filled with anger, leaves Pandora.
Marius then returns to Rome, where he creates a life for himself as a socialite, fraternizing with mortals and practicing painting. It is here that he meets Mael and Avicus, the latter of which is a former god of the grove—a vampire older than Marius, but who does not seem to know his own power. There is still much enmity between Mael and Marius, and Marius asks them to leave. They do so, but remain in the city of Rome. Marius does not mind this, as they keep the city free from other blood-drinkers who may pry the secrets of Those Who Must Be Kept from his mind. Marius continues to live this way even as the Roman Empire splits, with its capital city moving to Constantinople.
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Wikipedia