Reviews with content warning for Rape - La reina de los condenados

I mean just. Wow. What can I even say about this book!! Anne Rice you've done it.

This clarification is going to get shorter every time I do a review of a Vampire Chronicles novel, but I will do it anyways! I am coming to these books as a fan of the AMC+ adaptation of Interview with the Vampire and that absolutely coolers and changes my interpretation and enjoyment of the books compared to someone who reads them without this influence.

I was so so right to look forward to this book. A lot of this review is going to be me singing the praises of this book, but I might as well get the few criticisms I have out of the way. Firstly, there's just so little Louis! I knew this going into the book, and it's a thing I expected of the novels after Interview, but god I still do really miss his perspective and his character having an actual big presence in the narrative. Also, it's not an Anne Rice book if some of the ways she talks about race are weird, especially in regards to Akasha and Khayman who are two Egyptians that become white over the thousands and thousands of years of them being vampires. Because apparently it has to be a part of the vampire lore that it leaches the melanin from a non-white person's skin (Does Anne know there are statues made out of black stone? In fact, I'd argue there's probably more black statues than white in Ancient Egypt). The ways Anne talks about culture, archaeology, and the past sometimes do bother me since it is my own field of study, but it's not enough to really truly deeply upset me. Also, as a warning this novel does deal with repeated descriptions of a rape scene and cannibalism which I don't feel is a negative but should be something people are aware of before reading the book.

Now! Onto everything I liked!

I absolutely adore the way the story of this book is told and it's structure and the different perspectives and stories that we see. Yes, the novel fundamentally is still narrated by Lestat (who I do find annoying as a narrator) but it is dominated mainly by other narrators like Khayman, Marius, Jesse, and Daniel that Lestat just feels like another perspective and portion of the story. Anne Rice's talent as an author truly shines through in the writing of these perspectives, because it really does feel like there are distinct voices of these characters in their narration and because there are quite a few new characters it really helped me grasp them and come to love them.

I really enjoyed the short section of Baby Jenks and the Fang Gang, yes because it was such a tragic tale of the state of vampirism in the modern world but also because of the ways it becomes clear that the show adopted it into Claudia's story. I enjoyed Pandora's tale, and I wish we got more perspective from her!

Daniel's story was just utterly brilliant. I knew going in that I would love this portion of the novel, and I am not exaggerating when I say it is one my favorite things I have ever read. The explicit queerness and love between him and Armand makes their story is just so compelling and beautiful and one of the best queer things I have read. I adored getting to learn more about Daniel (who is the interviewer of IWTV) and about his life post-IWTV and his obsession with vampires (same, girl). I also just completely loved seeing Armand through his eyes and getting to deeply understand Armand as a character in day-to-day life, which is something we haven't really seen of him in the previous books. I could wax poetic about this chapter and their relationship all day long, especially if I got spoiler-y with it. But I will restrain myself!

Jesse's perspective was also super interesting, and I was just super compelled to read about this woman archaeologist (can I have a rich vampire aunt who funds my research please!!). I find her connection to the spirit world and the introduction of the Talamasca really compelling and I am excited to see where it goes in the next books. I just really related to her and I too would like to be an archaeologist and a vampire. Make that make sense!!

The rapid switching between perspectives during Lestat's concert really held the tension of that scene, and kept me engaged as I watched the other characters experience this moment I had already experienced but with much less context (about Akasha especially) than I had when reading this section. I also just think it's funny that the portions I wanted extended in The Vampire Lestat (being the end scenes) were literally what half of this book was about! I think that that section was just really well written and compelling.

I absolutely loved Akasha. I felt like she was a really compelling villain (and one of the original girlbosses! You would've loved radical feminism queen). I found her philosophy really interesting to explore and delve into, especially related to violence and gender and power. Do I think Lestat was the wrong audience for the message? Yes! Plan better queen! But I found the ways that she trapped him and also introduced powers to him to be really cool.

Maharet's story and the explanation of the twins that threads the whole book is quite compelling for the insights it gives us on her and Mekare, as well as on Khayman, Akasha, and Enkil. I especially found it compelling with how it relates to the end in the confrontation with Akasha. I think the philosophical confrontation of Akasha was one of the best moments of the book, and I especially enjoyed Louis and Akasha having a moment of ethical sparing.

Mekare's return, beheading of Akasha, and then the twins cannibalizing her to transfer Amel was just engrossing to me especially with the connections it has to the failed mourning cannibalizing of their mother that Akasha ruined. I'm not sure I fully have the words to articulate how beautiful I find that scene and it's connotations in the wider story.

I thought the final 40ish pages were very fun, especially the way we get to see this cast of characters (and the only vampires left on Earth) intermingle with each other on Armand and Daniel's island as a coven. I would've loved to see more of it, since Lestat doesn't see much because of his trauma. I especially loved Louis and Lestat's return to New Orleans and their apartment on Rue Royale to reminisce about Claudia and their life there. I thought it was sweet, and for some reason it made me sob. I enjoyed Lestat's confrontation with David and I am excited to see how David and the Talamasca connect to the next book.

Now, let's go see Lestat and that body thief!

Content Warnings