Blood and Gold: The Vampire Marius (Vampire Chronicles)
Time heals all wounds, unless, of course, you're a vampire. Cuts may  heal, burns vanish, limbs reattach, but for the "blood god," the wounds of the  heart sometimes stay open and raw for centuries. So it is for Marius, Anne  Rice's oft-mentioned and beloved scholar. We've heard parts of his tale in past  volumes of theVampire  Chronicles, but never so completely and never from his own lips. InBlood  and Gold, Rice mostly (but not entirely) avoids the danger of treading worn  ground as she fills out the life and character of Marius the Lonely, the  Disenchanted, the Heartsick--a 2,000-year-old vampire "with all the conviction  of a mortal man."Plucked from his beloved Rome in the prime of his life and forced into solitude  as keeper of the vampire queen and king, Marius has never forgiven the injustice  of his mortal death. Thousands of years later, he still seethes over his losses.  Immortality for Marius is both a blessing and a curse--he bears "witness to all  splendid and beautiful things human," yet is unable to engage in relationships  for fear of revealing his burden.New readers to the Chronicles may wish for a more fleshed-out, less  introspective hero, but Rice's legions of devoted fans will recognizeBlood  and Goldfor what it is: a love song to Marius the Wanderer, whose story  reveals the complexities and limitations of eternal existence.--Daphne  Durham--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.