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Content Warning: violence, death, pedophilia, torture, arson, sexual abuse, grooming, rape.
Note: this review contains discussion of rape, grooming, and sexual abuse.
Marius de Romanus has lived through the rise and fall of empires, has walked as a mortal man, and has been transformed into a Druid God by vampiric blood. A child of the Millenia, born in ancient Rome, we follow him here through his journey into immortality, where he loses love after love by arrogance, where he is brought to his ultimate rock-bottom. As the guardian of Those Who Must Be Kept -- the vampire Mother and Father, who were awoken by Lestat's music -- Marius has been burdened not only with keeping his own secret, but with keeping Akasha and Enkil hidden from others who might harm them. Here finally to tell his story in his own words, Marius takes us on a journey from Rome and the Byzantium Empire all the way to 16th-century Dresden, all while reflecting on the great losses of his life, and the cost of his devotion to an unspeaking Queen who never expresses her affection.
Reading the summary above, you might imagine that Marius is one of the most fascinating characters in Rice's well-populated series. He is one of the oldest vampires, a so-called "Child of the Millenia," virtually indestructible due to his age and power. He grows up during one of the most interesting times in history, as the Roman Empire reaches its peak, fathered by a nobleman and a Gaulish slave. Abducted at the age of forty by zealous Druid priests, he is ushered into a strange and frightening world where they intend to make him a "God of the Grove" - and thus, a vampire.
But here's the thing: Marius is pompous, willfully ignorant, and unable to see his flaws. This could make for a very interesting character indeed (after all, our primary anti-hero of the series is Lestat, who shares many of Marius's traits), but somehow, he manages to always be painfully boring. That, I think, is the main problem with Blood and Gold - where most of Rice's books feel propelled forward by an almost frightening, electric force (which she seems barely able to control), this one plods on and on, without ever making much progress at all.
It's only fair to mention that I fundamentally dislike Marius; when I think of him, I think of the man who bought, groomed, raped, and gave Armand the "Dark Gift," only to abandon him carelessly. It's hard to like him, and although he is a fan favorite, I never could exactly tell what it was that so intrigued people about him. Even Santino, who is similarly and heavily flawed, manages to somehow come across both as more sympathetic and interesting than Marius, who seems too busy caught up in his own self-pity to ever actually do anything. However, I do want to say that although I think it's worth mentioning that I do not like Marius whatsoever, I was actually a bit excited to pick this up, as I was hoping it might explore some of the fascinating time periods Marius has lived through, and perhaps explore some of his past and his mortal life.
Sadly, there isn't much of that at all. We briefly get glimpses of his life in Rome, but only once he has already been turned; the most engaging part of the novel involves Mael, who he hates with a burning passion, and I loved to read the complexity between them, the sort of push-pull that keeps them coming back together. There's a very dark, sexual undertone to their interactions that leaves you feeling both puzzled and slightly pleased. Unfortunately, Rice abandons this for involving some other vampires who feature hardly at all in any meaningful way (Zenobia and Eudoxia, who have tiny and pointless arcs), and most of his time with Armand and Bianca is glossed over with frustrating briskness. Bianca, who I liked very much in The Vampire Armand, is rife with potential to grow, but Rice never gives her her dues, instead using her merely as a device in Marius's story.
His arrogance with regards to Pandora could be a truly tragic story of two people too proud to ever admit their need of one another, but again, despite the fact that this novel is 400+ pages, little of it is ever examined with depth. There's Raymond Gallant, another potentially intriguing character, who suffers a similar fate; at a certain point, you start to wonder what the point of including any of them was to begin with. I'm just guessing here, but I'm assuming that Thorne is meant to represent the part of Marius's psyche that is consumed by the drive for vengeance and rage, a physical example of how it consumes someone until they become nothing but a slave to it, but his story does not provide a satisfying conclusion to a narrative that is, principally, meant to be Marius's.
Not a pleasant read for me at all; I kept wondering how much longer he could go on, without ever really saying anything at all. On another note, it's a shame Rice never took the opportunity to write a story for Mael, who is lovably brutish, wonderful in his contrast to all of the other noble, elegant Ricean vampires.
I'm sure there's plenty of Marius fans who have enjoyed this book over the years, and will continue to do so, but for me -- no thanks.
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