Pandora

I've read all the books until The Vampire Armand, and I loved all of them. This book is uninspired, there is nothing novel in this story, although there is a minor addition to the the vampire mythology.

I think about 70% of the book is truly ordinary, just the story of a unremarkable aristocratic woman in Ancient Rome time. She explains how her father wanted her to be well educated, and as such she grew up to be not just a wife, but an independent and intelligent woman.

During her youth she got involved in a cult of Isis, and due to some events she is forced to flee to Antioch, where she eventually meets Marius.

The historic details were very faint, just a brief mention of what it was like living in that time, plus some of that period intrigues. Pandora is a flat character, and Marius short appearances didn't portray him nearly as magnific as the other books did.

The support characters, like her slaves, were “just there”. They almost were well developed enough to create a connection. The expanded mythology, that Akasha was actually Isis was a nice touch.

One of the things I like about immortal stories is the possibilities that the span of time of their lives bring about. This book had none of that. Most of it is about her mortal life, then a very brief mention of her opinions of how the world changed through the millennia. Even though Armand's book followed the same pattern, his story was much better.