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Average Customer Rating:

Loved it	Customer Rating:
Loved this book. Finally, a misanthrope who isn't charging off to join the Lestat groupies. (I do love Lestat, so don't get all crazy on me) Vittorio was beautifully written. I thought the setting was exceptional. Sacred and profane......two fantastic elements thrown together. Who doesn't love Renaissance Italy?

Meet Vittorio...

Customer Rating:

I bought this book back in December, and I just finished reading it about two weeks ago. Why did it take me so long? Because, despite the fact that I am a big fan of Anne Rice, this book really offered nothing new in the ways of the New Vampire Tales! When I first heard about Rice doing a book about a vampire from Italy, i was pumped (after all, I am Italian). After reading the first three chapters however, I quickly realized it offered nothing out of the ordinary. Quite the opposite really, if you just substitute Vittorio with a man named Lestat, you'll have the same plot fans are used to reading. Rice goes into no depth as to how these Vampires arrived (and thrive) in Italy, and goes into very little backstory on their cult as a whole. In the same sense, there is less of a connection with vampires here, and more with angels. I would have loved to have seen how these angels interact with Vittorio (especially after having read Memnoch The Devil), again it would provide more backstory. In the end, the book itself didn't turn out bad, it just seemed to have that lck of substance most of her novels have. You may find that the end is a bit dry and un-rewarding (but I'll let you be the judge of that). Overall, I rate this book 3.5/5 as it does offer some excitement and parts where you'll want to keep reading and enjoy it as well!

Vittorio the Vampire

Customer Rating:

ISBN 0345422392 - Some books suffer, or benefit, from the book I read just before. Vittorio seems to be one of those, following Under the Tuscan Sun, one of the most deadly boring books I've read in a while. I dubbed Vittorio "Under the Tuscan Moon" since, ironically, it too is set in Tuscany. Beyond that, I don't think the pair have anything in common. Vittorio is sixteen in 1450, when his entire family and everyone in his father's castle and the surrounding villages is killed by a groups of demons and he swears he will find a way to avenge their deaths. Ursula is among the demons and is, in fact, the one who spares his life. This is hardly the gift it might seem, as Vittorio sets out to learn more about these creatures. Ursula's developed feelings for the young man and he soon feels the same, a diversion he doesn't really need. Having convinced a pair of angels to assist him in wiping out this nest of vampires (a name he's not familiar with at the time), Vittorio gets his vengeance but finds himself unable to kill the woman who twice saved his life. When she repays his gratitude by turning him into one of them, he begins to live a life he finds loathsome - and it gets worse. For the second time, I've picked up a Rice novel that doesn't require any knowledge of the rest of her books. This is probably a double-edged sword, because I don't get the feeling that this book represents the best Rice has to offer but, on the other hand, I do like that I can read it without feeling lost. I did have a hard time buying Vittorio's feelings for Ursula. He knows she was among the group who killed his loved ones, he clearly doesn't value his own life now and is willing to die to avenge those deaths - so why he would feel gratitude that she saved his life is beyond me. Worthy of the short time it takes to read and FAR better than that Tuscan Sun book, Vittorio's story is far more human a tale than you might expect.

Vittorio the Friendly Vampire

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Never before have I met such a likeable, well-intentioned vampire as Vittorio. Never meaning to harm another, he struggled with what he had become, in order to survive. The profusely descriptive settings in this story set in fifteenth century Florence make the chase all that much more interesting. The romance story of the two young lovers is saddening in its ultimate corruption. The spiritual elements in the story bestow us eventual unattainable hope during hopeless situations. I enjoyed the ride.

Not Free SF Reader	Customer Rating:
Very average. I think I have mostly forgotten what happens, so that is about the definition of average, I think. A minor tale about a minor character at the minor end of a major series. Not too likely to be of any particular note, in that case, in general. It is certainly not the case, here.