A review by geofrog
The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice

2.0

While I loved the heart of the first novel, it was a heavy read and wasn’t at all what I was expecting from a vampire novel. The first time I attempted to read this book, the sequel, I had trouble with the pacing and it felt like the story didn’t capture my attention. Upon returning to this book right before the premiere of the second season of the television adaptation, I felt like I understood more clearly that this novel (and maybe all of Anne Rice’s works) were not meant to be read in a single sitting. The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice is the second book in her The Vampire Chronicles series. It follows the story of Lestat de Lioncourt, a charismatic and powerful vampire who recounts his life story. From his origins as a young nobleman in 18th-century France to his transformation into a vampire, Lestat's tale is one of love, betrayal, and the quest for meaning in an immortal existence. The novel delves into Lestat's struggles with his identity, his relationships with other vampires, and his desire to find his place in the world. Rich in atmosphere and complex characters, The Vampire Lestat is a compelling blend of horror, romance, and philosophical exploration. While at first I found the plot to be meandering, I enjoyed the different settings and seeing the vampire Lestat navigate these different locations filled with different characters. I loved the atmosphere of the vampires in Paris, there was something intriguing about seeing otherworldly characters interacting in real historical and human cities and locations. I’m thankful to have read this book when I did, as Anne Rice’s complex and nuanced views on religion influence her stories, and I think I’m finally in a place spiritually to be more flexible to these ideas after a lifetime of atheism and agnosticism. I loved seeing these immortal creatures of the night looking for meaning and their place in this world, questioning their faiths and the creation of the universe. I love how Anne Rice focuses on how these immortal creatures seek meaning and sometimes have very unique relationships with human beings and humanity as a whole. It makes me wonder who I would become if I was a being that could never die. How long would it take me to see immortality as a curse? How many iterations of myself would there be if I knew that I could never die? It’s interesting because I think there isn’t a clear answer for anyone, and I think that the truth of it is that immortality is seen as desirable from mortals but as a curse by the undead. Life is only precious because it ends, as they say. While I did think most of this novel was intriguing, it did feel like Anne Rice wrote a whole book about vampires standing around and talking about vampires. One could argue that this entire novel is Anne Rice exploring the lore and world building off of her first novel through the lens of her favourite character, and there are a lot of interesting ideas here. I think that the constant info dumps and expository dialogue can get tiring, and that element may turn off many readers. I will say that learning about the oldest and most ancient vampires in this story’s world was interesting, and seeing other story threads from Anne Rice’s other books made me curious about those stories and storylines. The “vampire in a 90s rock band” portion of this book should have been the entire premise, along with learning about the ancient vampires. Overall this book’s format and pacing was a slog to get through, but it was an interesting piece of vampire fiction. A lot of what happened in the Queen of the Damned movie happened in this book, which makes me curious about what will happen in the next book in the series.

“Very few beings really seek knowledge in this world. Mortal or immortal, few really ask. On the contrary, they try to wring from the unknown the answers they have already shaped in their own minds -- justifications, confirmations, forms of consolation without which they can't go on. To really ask is to open the door to the whirlwind. The answer may annihilate the question and the questioner.”