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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
1976's Interview with the Vampire is a modern classic of the gothic horror genre, popularizing a new variety of sympathetic bloodsucker with its brooding and homoerotic immortals. Following in 1985, this first sequel isn't nearly so good, but it still has moments rivaling that baroque majesty of its predecessor while forming an important link to the remainder of the series ahead.
We've switched protagonists to the title figure Lestat, complicated quasi-villain of the original novel, who as a narrator turns out to be more direct and less prone to grandiloquent introspection than Louis. He also contradicts him on several occasions, which reads not as a continuity error so much as a conscious rewriting and emphasis on subjectivity from author Anne Rice. And those tend to be my favorite parts of this book, but they are few and far between, since the point is not simply to retell the events of Interview from a different perspective. Instead, we have a lengthy sequence exploring the (anti)hero's own history, including the unexpected appearance of Armand and the Théâtre des Vampires, along with nested narratives from other fiends relating their respective origins from centuries further back, all the way on to the ancient Egyptian progenitors of this line. In a minor thread bookending the start and end of the text, Lestat picks up a guitar and becomes a contemporary rock idol, angering those of the undead who want their kind to stay in the shadows forever.
It's a bit all over the place, in other words, and Rice seems particularly enthralled with the explanatory mythology she's concocted, which was largely absent in the previous volume. Future sagas of this ilk and installments of this one would balance plot and worldbuilding concerns more skillfully, but the writer's groundbreaking contribution here is to think through the latter so completely at all. To some extent that makes this little beyond a just-so story for the setting, but it also transitions the action into the high-stakes pulpy thriller mode that subsequent releases like The Queen of the Damned and The Tale of the Body Thief would continue to utilize. I sped through many of those when I was younger, but on this reread, I think I might just bid farewell now after this two-part debut.
[Content warning for gore, incest, slavery, pedophilia, and rape.]
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--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
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--Or click here to browse through all my previous reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
We've switched protagonists to the title figure Lestat, complicated quasi-villain of the original novel, who as a narrator turns out to be more direct and less prone to grandiloquent introspection than Louis. He also contradicts him on several occasions, which reads not as a continuity error so much as a conscious rewriting and emphasis on subjectivity from author Anne Rice. And those tend to be my favorite parts of this book, but they are few and far between, since the point is not simply to retell the events of Interview from a different perspective. Instead, we have a lengthy sequence exploring the (anti)hero's own history, including the unexpected appearance of Armand and the Théâtre des Vampires, along with nested narratives from other fiends relating their respective origins from centuries further back, all the way on to the ancient Egyptian progenitors of this line. In a minor thread bookending the start and end of the text, Lestat picks up a guitar and becomes a contemporary rock idol, angering those of the undead who want their kind to stay in the shadows forever.
It's a bit all over the place, in other words, and Rice seems particularly enthralled with the explanatory mythology she's concocted, which was largely absent in the previous volume. Future sagas of this ilk and installments of this one would balance plot and worldbuilding concerns more skillfully, but the writer's groundbreaking contribution here is to think through the latter so completely at all. To some extent that makes this little beyond a just-so story for the setting, but it also transitions the action into the high-stakes pulpy thriller mode that subsequent releases like The Queen of the Damned and The Tale of the Body Thief would continue to utilize. I sped through many of those when I was younger, but on this reread, I think I might just bid farewell now after this two-part debut.
[Content warning for gore, incest, slavery, pedophilia, and rape.]
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6288479-joe-kessler
--Or click here to browse through all my previous reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Book review of The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice. 4 out of 5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ .
The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice is a captivating tale that will enthrall readers who crave a rich, atmospheric, and philosophical exploration of the vampire mythology, with a deep dive into historical and cultural settings, and a protagonist who embodies the essence of the undead, making it a perfect fit for fans of fantasy, historical fiction, and the supernatural.
I DNFed this book about six months ago because I wasn’t into reading then. Trying again this time. Anne Rice has such a romantic sensation to her writings, which I think is why it is so hard to read. I’m not used to it.
The first book dragged. I understand why I DNFed it the first time. But I pushed on this time because I was bored and didn’t have entertainment (power and internet). It definitely did not disappoint. After the massive storytelling, which now I realize was crucial to the storyline, and the way that Anne wrote it to be relevant, oh man. And the way it ended on such a cliffhanger. Can’t wait to read the next!
“We are the things that others fear.”
