Vampire author Anne Rice launches angel series

Anne Rice, the acclaimed author of 1976′s Interview with the Vampire, has launched a new series of books focused on angels, dubbed Songs of the Seraphim. The first book, Angel Time, went on sale last week.

The book, according to its blurb, focuses on Toby O’Dare, a contract killer in the United States – the sort of person who is definitely going to hell. But into his world comes a seraph (angel) who gives him the chance to redeem himself. He is then taken back in time to thirteenth-century England, where a variety of dark acts are taking place, in his search to make things right.

Rice has stated that the new series is being published as part of her commitment to do Christian fiction in a variety of forms. She is continuing to work on other books in her Christ the Lord series as well, and the second book in the Songs of the Seraphim series is already with her publisher.

The author has recently conducted several interviews with the press about the launch, including with the Wall St Journal. She told the WSJ:

“Only some of my readers are reluctant to read my Christian-themed books, and the reason they give in emails to me is that they don’t want to read anything Christian.  They are resisting the Christian books pretty much the way people resisted my earlier supernatural books, on the basis of the theme.”

However, Rice said, her vampire novels overcame this sort of prejudice, and she expects her Christian books will as well.

Angel Time has already received a swathe of positive reviews from both critics and readers alike, although some reviewers noted the Christian theme was a bit heavy-handed.

“Readers will revel in Rice’s colorful recreation of the historical past and in her moving depiction of characters struggling to reconcile matters of the heart with their personal sense of faith,” writes Publisher’s Weekly, while People Magazine added: “Rice-who believes that angels, unlike vampires, are real-has said she writes to draw readers closer to God. Her Christian message is sometimes heavy-handed, but the story zips along to a very grand finale. Even nonbelievers will feel divinely entertained.”

21 reviewers out of 41 on Amazon.com have given the book a 5-star rating and 10 a 4-star rating. One reader described the book as “unputdownable”, while another praised it, but again drew attention to the religious aspects:

“If you are of a religious persuasion, you may enjoy it, but I’m not and it did come off a tad bit trite from my viewpoint. It is expertly written and extremely vivid, much like her earlier, more Gothic pieces, so that’s definitely another plus. The pace of the book is nothing short of brilliant for the first half but it did start to drag in the second, not too bad but it was noticeable. Overall this is a great book and allows the imagination to flourish but I just couldn’t get into all of the religious aspects.”

One other interesting tidbit from the WSJ interview: Rice said she has not read any of Stephanie Meyer’s books.

Commentary
It sounds like Rice has written a decent book here with Angel Time. The author is one of those fantasy authors that, like Stephen King, has truly crossed over into the mainstream. Her Vampire Chronicles books basically set the groundwork for the entire vampire fiction movement over the past decade … well, those books and the TV series Buffy.

There’s a reason for that – the awesome writing – and it seems like she’s applied those same skills to the growing angel sub-genre.

However, I am a bit suspicious about the Christian push, as several reviewers have noted it is a bit heavy handed.

When authors get on their high horse about a subject, and attempt to sway their art in that direction, the results can be mixed. Some have complained about some aspects of Orson Scott Card’s work, for example, due to his Mormon religion, while others have no problem with it.

It really depends to what extent an author attempts to use their art as a vehicle for their beliefs, rather than following the art for its own sake, wherever it goes. Do the characters exhibit an unnatural pull towards religion? Do the books’ moral systems seem entirely based on one creed, with none other in sight, although the context demands some variety? If so they may be a bit too heavy-handed.

There’s also the very valid point that even avowedly Christian readers don’t necessarily find books with a heavy religious slant to be that appealing. They’re intelligent people too, and often like to examine and prod their faith in the context of others. It’s not all about blindly following what any Christian evangelist says. Many like to make up their own minds. And writers shouldn’t underestimate that factor.