Pandora

AnneRice,creatoroftheVampireLestat,theMayfairwitchesandtheamazingworldstheyinhabit,nowgivesusthefirstinanewseriesofnovelslinkedtogetherbythefledglingvampireDavidTalbot,whohassetouttobecomeachroniclerofhisfellowUndead.Thenovelopensinpresent-dayParisinacrowdedcafé,whereDavidmeetsPandora.Sheistwothousandyearsold,aChildoftheMillennia,thefirstvampireevermadebythegreatMarius.Davidpersuadeshertotellthestoryofherlife.Pandorabegins,reluctantlyatfirstandthenwithincreasingpassion,torecounthermesmerizingtale,whichtakesusthroughtheages,fromImperialRometoeighteenth-centuryFrancetotwentieth-centuryParisandNewOrleans.ShecarriesusbacktohermortalgirlhoodintheworldofCaesarAugustus,aworldchronicledbyOvidandPetronius.ThisiswherePandorameetsandfallsinlovewiththehandsome,charismatic,lighthearted,still-mortalMarius.ThisistheRomesheisforcedtofleeinfearofassassinationbyconspiratorsplottingtotakeoverthecity.AndwefollowhertotheexoticportofAntioch,wheresheisdestinedtobereunitedwithMarius,nowimmortalandhauntedbyhisvampirenature,whowillbestowonhertheDarkGiftastheysetoutonthefraughtandfantasticadventureoftheirtwoturbulentcenturiestogether.