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Live with them as they use their abilities and their ingenuity to try and keep the lives of the villagers from drastic change in the course of the year. The Second book in the Descendants: Vampire Chronicles series the story picks up where the first book left off. You can download Apple Books from the App Store. Opening the iTunes Store.
If Apple Books doesn't open, click the Books app in your Dock. Do you already have iTunes? Click I Have iTunes to open it now. Vampires of the Nile Descendants: View More by This Author. The most important reason is that IWTV is basically a vampire family drama, with some occasional violence, and nothing really hardcore. That was done well in the film, but reading several hundred pages of Louis being a crybaby, was no fun, I can tell you that. Not knocking on it, it's not a bad book, it was actually a unique and revolutionary vampire novel in its own way for its time, and well written and all, but 'the Anne Rice magic' didn't really begin in the first book.
Basically every Vampire Chronicles novel that has been written after TVL, all followed or built upon the vampire universe and laws, first seen in The Vampire Lestat. The best part about TVL is that it was this book, that gave Anne's vampire universe, a great origin story, that was not only an original take or spin on it you know, as opposed to the traditional, "it all started with Dracula or Carmilla" stuff , but also paid homage to ancient Mesopotamian proto-vampire myths about blood drinking spirits and so on you can tell that Anne had thoroughly done her research on vampire mythology, before penning TVL.
It was like we got all the answers Louis Brad Pitt was asking Armand Antonio Banderas but which Armand couldn't answer, but The Vampire Lestat gave gave us those answers; Lestat answered all our questions. And the powers of the vampires, were shown off more here, such as telepathy, telekinesis, pyrokinesis and so on. Louis in IWTV had basically no powers other than being immortal he can't even read minds , and Lestat barely showed off his powers there, whereas TVL had a lot more action.
IWTV was basically a story about two guys drinking blood and pretending to be parents to a little girl. Anyway, The Vampire Lestat is probably the best book in the entire Vampire Chronicles series, although I have to say, it's right up there with Memnoch. Not everyone likes Memnoch though, due to all its theology, but I personally loved it. I still reread TVL and Memnoch from time to time, like every 5 years or something. The Vampire Lestat is vampires done right; Interview with the Vampire the novel, not the film, which is actually a classic film and a masterpiece was an interesting experimental, first attempt of Anne Rice becoming a great author.
She became one when she published The Vampire Lestat. That was when Anne Rice cemented her status as a cult legend. See all 11 questions about The Vampire Lestat…. Lists with This Book.
Jan 01, Eddie Black rated it it was amazing Shelves: This is one of those books that defined me. I don't mean that I turned goth or vampire or whatever. I was born and raised in the South. I didn't read anything else other than fantasy novels like Dragonlance. I joined the Marines in 89 and while watching a movie about a teenage vampire it was mentioned that Dracula is 'good literature'. I went to the base library to check out Dracula and beside it on the shelf was this book. I took this one instead.
The book was grea This is one of those books that defined me. The book was great. The book engendered a question within me that never found any sunlight growing up a protestant in the Deep South.
That queston, can something evil love? The values of the Southern protestant is one of black and white and there is no mixing, no grey, no overlap. By witnessing the drama of Lestat's journey, this manifestation of the Shadow declaring it's evil and it's good I questioned this myself. It is a slippery slope to question everything. With no reading, history, or even exposure to any philosophy Arkansas public school after all I now asked questions about ethics, the nature of God, what is beauty, morality, and more.
I had become a philosopher though not a good one. Now, 17 years later I've been around the world many times, am nearing the completion of two degrees psychology and philosophy and am a much different, much broader, much more deepened soul. The questions I've asked, the roads I've taken, the experiences I've had, are all a result of my search for my own truth.
A lot of that was set afire because of reading this book. I know that many bemoan Anne's move from the supernatural and to Christian writings. It's her life and I respect that. Yet I am reminded of something Jung said, we do not become enlighted by imagining beings of light, but by making the darkness visible I'm paraphrasing. Lestat might not be a being of light that's another topic but his darkness is illuminating. This is one of my favorite books ever. View all 29 comments. Nov 28, Christine AR rated it it was amazing Shelves: Or at least, I didn't appreciate it for the sheer masterpiece of storytelling that it is, and it's not just the mood and the world and the mythology and the fast-moving plot -- more than anything, it's the characters.
Lestat, of course, Rice's 'brat prince', arrogant and compassionate and impossible, all at the Dear Anne Rice: Lestat, of course, Rice's 'brat prince', arrogant and compassionate and impossible, all at the same time -- he'd be enough to carry any book, imo, but the secondary characters are just as layered and bewitching, probably because we see them through Lestat's eyes. Nicki and his endless internal darkness; Armand, who manages to be both tragic and terrifying; Gabrielle, who seems like a force of nature; and even Louis, the whiny, unreliable narrator from Interview comes off as beautiful and mysterious, the star-crossed love of Lestat's afterlife.
I swooned through the last chapter. I didn't care for the places Rice took this series after Queen of the Damned, but for me, Lestat continues to define the vampire-as-anti-hero genre. No other blood-sucker comes close. View all 10 comments. James Sullivan Lestat is a great character!
He can definitely lite up a scene. Feb 07, Ania Totally agree with all of this. I got so much more from the re-read as was too young first time around to appreciate the depth and complexities. Dec 13, Lo mejor de los libros de vampiros de Rice, es que en efecto son de vampiros, es decir son contados por los vampiros, y los protagonistas son los vampiros, en este caso tendremos a otros tres grandes vampiros en la historia, Gabrielle, Armand y Marius.
Muy pocos seres buscan de verdad el conocimiento en este mundo. Mortales o inmortales, son escasos los que hacen preguntas. Preguntar de verdad es abrir la puerta al torbellino. La respuesta puede aniquilar a la vez la pregunta y a quien la hace. View all 9 comments. May 13, Melissa rated it really liked it Shelves: Oh, how I love Anne Rice.
I actually started reading these books after I read Twilight. Yes, surprisingly, I went back to vampire fiction after that. Meyer is a good writer, but once you've met Anne's Vampires, you're never going back. Anyhow, this book was great. It still has the good kind of vampires: This second book in the series wasn't disappointing, although I feared it might be, after reading the amazing 'Interview Oh, how I love Anne Rice.
This second book in the series wasn't disappointing, although I feared it might be, after reading the amazing 'Interview With The Vampire'. It was also quite interesting, since I read this book after I'd seen the movie 'Queen of the Damned', which is based on this book and the next book.
Turns out it didn't belong to a girl at all, but to Nicki, a boy. Damn you, untruthful modern cinema. The characters in this book were brilliant, the story-line was good and the ending was awesome. I can't wait to read 'The Queen of the Damned'. I own all of the books in this series and it's about time that I finish them all. View all 3 comments. The year is , and Lestat is the famous lead singer of the group, The Vampire Lestat. He stumbles upon a simple little book, "Interview with the Vampire", starring Louis, his ersatz lover of sorts because vampires don't exactly have lovers the same way humans do.
So Lestat sets the record straight and tells the tale of his life as a vampire. When people say this is better than Interview with the Vampire , they are not kidding. This book is light years better than "Interview".
I almost wish th The year is , and Lestat is the famous lead singer of the group, The Vampire Lestat. I almost wish this book never ended, it was so good. I already have book 3 lined up to read - and normally, I would give myself a break, just so I didn't burn out. What makes "The Vampire Lestat" so good?
Just about everything - from characters, to setting, to writing, to mythos. About the only thing I can critique is that at one point, not long after Gabrielle is turned and we meet Armand, the story kinda stalls and gets a bit dull. But honestly, those are nitpicks - I enjoyed myself thoroughly with this book. Lestat is a WAY better protagonist than Louis. He's not so whiny, so pathetic, so useless. He's a master of his own life - sure, he contemplates whether he is evil and tends to choose victims who are evil those women Louis says Lestat seduces?
They are prostitutes that cheat sailors and probably kill them. He is a passionate being - he cares enormously for Nikola and Louis some of the sweetest interactions in the book and his mother though his love for her gets a bit creepy in the "I don't think we should be kissing our MOM this way".
He is a curious being - he searches all over the Mediterranean for Marius and the source of answers. He is a powerful being - his powers attract the attention of Armand and Marius and when others can't stand being a vampire, he is able to press on. The rest of the cast is beautifully done as well. Gabrielle, Nikola, Marius, Armand, and even Louis all get dimension. They are real people, with real desires - Gabrielle to be set loose to live alone. Nikola to balance his "wicked" pursuit of the theater with his religious beliefs. The story was engaging and exciting.
I was enthralled with the depths of the mythos, a perfect balance of complex and yet simple - not a list of rules sloppily tacked together when the author needs to add a new challenge to her characters, but actual rules that make sense in the world and seem to originate naturally from the circumstances.
And the addition of Akasha and her brother - I can't tell you how deliciously creeped out I was! At this point, I'm just gushing. If you like your vampires wicked and blood-thirsty, you definitely need to check out this series!! View all 4 comments. It is my suggestion that, if you want to sample Anne Rice, and have never read any of her other works, this may be the book you want to read instead of her most famous novel, "Interview with a Vampire.
Don't get me wrong, Lestat was the antagonist in Interview but towards the end of It is my suggestion that, if you want to sample Anne Rice, and have never read any of her other works, this may be the book you want to read instead of her most famous novel, "Interview with a Vampire. Don't get me wrong, Lestat was the antagonist in Interview but towards the end of the novel you start to think maybe that's not the case.
That single thought pushed me to read his story to find out why Lestat was the way he was. In Lestat's story, the reader goes throughout the centuries, as he meets other vampire's who tell their tales. This book feels like a world tour that goes back to Ancient Egyptian times, to classical Rome, to pagan Europe, to the times of the French Revolution, to an old, decaying slightly creepy I might add Parisian cemetery and back up to the present time.
It was FUN to follow Lestats journey to find the truth.. The entire story is fascinating and spans centuries as Lestat grows from a fledgling vampire into the emotional, lonely, angry, and finally carefree vampire he is upon setting foot on a San Francisco stage to perform his first rock concert in front of 15, screaming fans. Yes, Lestat is a Rock star in the 's in this book! My first thought to that was, "Whatever!
Lestat now gets a chance to tell his OWN story, and it makes us the reader realize that he has suffered even more than Louis and shows that he is not a villain; he is the tragic hero of sorts. He is actually far more aware than Louis, something else that Louis doesn't see either. He is a gentle, innocent, thoughtful young man who has suffered so much in his life, and then he is forced into becoming one of the living dead, who now must kill to survive.
It is explained to us why Lestat is the way he is and why he does the things he does which is truly interesting. When you read "Interview with a Vampire" you don't know then that Lestat is misunderstood by Louis, and therefore misunderstood by the reader, whom is seeing the story through Louis' eyes.
The glimpses of Lestat we have in Interview with the Vampire, of his relationship with his father, of the way he acts, of his charm that Louis finds both attractive and repulsive, of his love of bright artificial light and his desire to live luxuriously, of his friendship with a young musician, of his doting upon Claudia and showering her with gifts, of his fear to lose Louis, of him emotionally distraught and pleading with Louis to come back to him in Paris which I didn't understand at the time , and finally of the frail, broken, and pitiful shadow of a man he has become by the end of Louis's story, where Louis finds him again in New Orleans.
All of these things are hints at the depth and complexity of the character of Lestat. In The Vampire Lestat, you will finally see the entire picture, and see the masterpiece of a character that Lestat is. The depth and the multi-dimensionality, and the humanity of Lestat. If you liked Louis before, you will still like him. But you will like Lestat even more because you will see how completely misunderstood he is and learn the story of the pain and sorrow he kept hidden in his heart, hidden underneath that charming facade that Louis encountered on his plantation in You will start to understand HOW Lestat could act the way he did towards Louis and Claudia which was the answer to the questions I was seeking in this book so I closed the covers of this book satisfied.
View all 5 comments. Jul 07, Jaidee rated it liked it Shelves: The vampire lestat is like lavender candy floss. Dec 09, Calista rated it it was amazing Shelves: I loved these books in my 20s. Lestat had a great origin story and we explore that here. Anne takes us all the way up to Interview with the Vampire. Lestat is a crazy maker, he likes trouble. He did have a rough start as an immortal. I loved the tone of Anne's books. They were so brooding and gothic and lush. She uses flowery language and I loved that then. Plus Lestat was Bisexual and he was one of the first characters I read that way.
I still have a warm feeling when I think of these books.
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I haven't re-read them in a while so that might ruin it or it could bring me back to a more simple time in my life. I would like to read this series over someday. The story is now being narrated by the one and only Lestat de Lioncourt. He decides to write a book detailing his long life as a vampire. Lestat runs away with his lover when he is a young man. The two men run away to France where they drink wine and cry over the beauty of music and art.
One night Lestat is kidnapped and turned into a vampire by Magnus. However, Magnus does not stick around to show him the ways of the world. Instead Magnus kills himself with help from Lestat and leaves Lestat a fortune. Lestat, not wanting to upset his loved ones decides to flee and leave them completely. But he uses his new-found wealth to shower them with gifts from afar. He decides to give her the dark gift so that they can spend all of eternity together. He has what I would call an unnatural attachment to his mother. After Armand meets Lestat he shows him how they were made.
These are the two alpha-dogs; the two original vampires. While they do not need to be approached, they do need to be respected and protected. Armand tells Lestat to leave them alone while he runs out on an errand, and Lestat of course does not. Lestat is a shithead. He thinks he is above everyone he encounters. He views himself as untouchable. He has all the arrogance of new money. Listening to Lestat explain his side of the story about what transpired between Louis and him was quite comical.
Lestat is more likely to try to convince you of his innocence while scoffing in his head at how pathetically gullible you are. Whereas Louis, I do believe. He was a whiny little bitch, but he would have no reason to lie. Listening to how the vampires were made and meeting great characters like Armand and Marius was fantastic.
Once again- Simon Vance narrates and absolutely rocks the audio version! View all 6 comments.
This was the Audible audio book, unabridged, read by Simon Vance. Who gives a really good performance, I love his vampire voice! Lestat de Lion court rises from his long hibernation in and decides to become a rockstar. He puts out an album and to accompany this he writes his autobiography - revealing the story of his youth as well as the history of the race of vampires, which started years ago in Ancient Egypt.
Anne Rice loves the words: This is the band Savage Garden's favourite book I imagine. Although it has a lot of similar themes, I did not enjoy this book as much as "Interview with a Vampire" for a number of reasons. I think because the plot is much more meandering and fragmented. It takes in four narrators - Lestat, Armand, Marius and another narrator in Ancient Egypt - and a lot of different geographic and cultural settings which I don't think Anne Rice captures quite as well as she does New Orleans or Paris. Rice has softened and rounded Lestat to make him more likeable compared to the evil, mysterious enigma of Interview.
As a narrator he is a totally believable character this is Rice's main strength though I do not think his obsessions are as interesting as Louis'. He is a bit too confident and self assured. Gabrielle too was similar to Claudia, but again not quite as interesting, her concern that she will never change is represented by the fact she can never cut her hair, a brilliant weird sequence, but not nearly as strong as the stories spun around Claudia - the little girl who never grows old.
Nicky, the other main character, was an entirely tedious and forgettable cypher. In terms of the story I loved the opening and the end and a lot of the sequences in Paris, but a lot of the stuff in Ancient Egypt - the history of the vampires etc — I found rather boring. I hated the development that now all the vampires can read minds, it just meant the prose drifted off into even more internal stuff than before.
I hated that there was no big deaths - like in Interview. Nicky is the only character who dies and this isn't even 'onscreen' Lestat is informed of it in a letter, this is such a throwaway of good drama I can only assume that it was a lie and done so he can show up again sometime. Also, Lestat and Gabrielle miss the French Revolution because they are basically on holiday in Egypt, talk about throwing away more great dramatic opportunity.
Anyway, if Queen of the Damned is set in the modern day I probably will end up reading it as, from the ending of this one, that seemed an interesting premise. Mar 06, Navessa rated it did not like it Shelves: View all 19 comments. Oct 03, J. Grice rated it really liked it Shelves: A very original take on the vampire tale, complete with a sweeping history and rich locales. This was Rice at the top of her game.
Jun 09, Olivier Delaye rated it it was amazing. This is my fourth reread in 15 or so years, mind you of The Vampire Lestat and honestly it gets better every time. The prose is absolutely gorgeous, the story is downright engrossing and, history-wise, very well researched. Really, gothic literature doesn't get any better than this. That said, let me add a caveat here: Cuz, yeah, Anne Rice can be quite a bit of a rambler at times, you know. You've been warned, mortals!
Aug 18, Stephen rated it really liked it Shelves: Anne Rice's re-imagining of the "vampire" mythos is excellent and Lestat is on my list of "All Time Favorite" characters. As good as this novel is, the books that follow: Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel Dec 30, Melody Sams rated it it was amazing Shelves: Spent most of yesterday and some of today finishing this book. Very seductive read indeed, I do like how the author writes but from time to time I felt my concentration slipping because she goes on just that little bit more than is needed sometimes.
Apr 25, Bart rated it really liked it Recommends it for: Recommended to Bart by: A happy surprise indeed. Perhaps it was a result of low expectations or a prior experience with the movie "Interview with the Vampire" that had me so unprepared to enjoy this novel. The Vampire Lestat is a great read. It may not have all the literary quality of, say, Cormac McCarthy's equally gruesome accounts, but it is more enjoyable on its first reading.
What makes authors great, of course, is how their works hold up on revisits. Knowing the plotting and the conclusion of Anne Rice's novel, I'm A happy surprise indeed. Knowing the plotting and the conclusion of Anne Rice's novel, I'm unlikely to go back to it. But let that dissuade no one from giving this novel a first reading. If there are shortcomings in this book, they derive from Rice's tries at ontological philosophy. She's brave to consider questions of immortality, of course, but probably not as wise to record her thoughts. In the first third, she tries to tackle immortality - and how it relates, ultimately, to good and evil - but she sort of loses her way.
She has her characters who, for being inexperienced at being immortal, haven't the depth for it, making soliloquies about its consequences. Later on, though, when she comes to characters that are millennia old, she knows better and concedes the impenetrability of their plight. And along the way, she also kills off about "immortals". This also seems to suggest that maybe all those pages of contemplating immortality should have remained behind in the novel's first draft. Otherwise, the book is a joy to read.