Servant of the Bones

Servant of the Bones (1996) is a historical horror novel by Anne Rice. It is an autobiographical account of the creation and subsequent existence of a genii, Azriel. It is a story told as a fireside chat and it is rich with historical accounts of Azriel's life as a displaced Jew/rich merchant's son in Babylon at the time of its conquest by Cyrus the Persian. There are also glimpses of life in ancient Miletus, in Strasbourg during a pogrom, and Ne... more

Servant of the Bones (1996) is a historical horror novel by Anne Rice. It is an autobiographical account of the creation and subsequent existence of a genii, Azriel. It is a story told as a fireside chat and it is rich with historical accounts of Azriel's life as a displaced Jew/rich merchant's son in Babylon at the time of its conquest by Cyrus the Persian. There are also glimpses of life in ancient Miletus, in Strasbourg during a pogrom, and New York City of the 1990s. Throughout the novel, Azriel is struggling to understand whether he is a ghost, a demon, or an angel. He is trying to understand why his god has denied him the Stairway to Heaven by allowing him to be made into an immortal spirit who is bound to the gold-encased bones of his mortal body. As a genie, he must obey the Master of those bones (whoever has them at the moment) and become the Master's Servant of good or evil. Thus the title, Servant of the Bones. Azriel is telling the story of his transformation into and... less