Merrick (novel)
First edition
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| Author | Anne Rice |
|---|---|
| Cover artist |
Henri Rousseau "The Snake Charmer" (1907) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Vampire Chronicles |
| Genre | Horror fiction |
| Published | October 17, 2000 |
| Publisher | Knopf |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover, Paperback) & audio book |
| Pages | 307 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 43115157 |
| 813/.54 21 | |
| LC Class | PS3568.I265 M48 2000 |
| Preceded by | The Vampire Armand |
| Followed by | Blood and Gold |
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Merrick (2000) is the seventh book in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles series. This book brings together Rice's vampires and the Mayfair Witches.
We again meet the vampires Louis de Pointe du Lac, Lestat de Lioncourt, and David Talbot. They are followed by the beautiful witch Merrick Mayfair, an offshoot of the Mayfair clan, with Julien Mayfair as one of her ancestors. She knew David when he was a mortal man working as a member of the Talamasca and it is through David that Louis seeks Merrick's help in resurrecting the spirit of Claudia.
This novel is a major turning point for Louis, after talking with the spirit of Claudia, called upon by Merrick, and receiving harsh words from the spirit that only confirm what the diary found in the French Quarter flat, the one Louis, Lestat and Claudia once shared, by Jesse as narrated in The Queen of the Damned (the diary was kept in the vaults of Talamasca and retrieved by Merrick), he attempts to commit suicide by allowing himself to bake in the sun, but he doesn't burn completely. The other vampires, including Merrick, David and Lestat, find him and restore him by showering him with their preternatural blood.
Most of the novel is a rather long flashback detailing David and Merrick's adventures. Readers meet Merrick's malevolent sister, Honey Isabella or Honey in the Sunshine; Merrick's mother, Cold Sandra; and the Great Nananne, a powerful witch whose very presence is enough to frighten and instill respect in Talbot.
One notable adventure involves a journey to Central America, which Merrick is compelled to undertake by dreams of Oncle Vervain (or so she thinks). Merrick and David find the cave where Matthew had contracted a fatal disease. David is surprised at the malevolence of the spirits in the cave and conjectures that they are protecting some great treasure. Merrick leaps forward and finds the treasure: a beautiful jade mask. By looking through this mask, one can see ethereal spirits as if they were corporeal. The two Talamascans see a mysterious spirit who resembles a priest. David then falls deathly sick, though Merrick does not. The two escape the treacherous cave, with David growing weaker by the moment; he is shuffled from hospital to hospital and is eventually cured of the disease.
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