Overview of The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice

Cover for the first book in the series
The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice are well-written, historical, sophisticated stories of love, lust and, well, bloodsucking. Anne Rice incorporates many amazing factual places and events into these works of fiction. Better yet, her vampires are dramatic, romantic and appropriately evil.

Here are brief descriptions of the first three books in the series. There are ten (update: 11) novels in the original Vampire Chronicles and two new tales of the vampires. All of them are excellent novels.

"Interview with the Vampire"

"Interview with the Vampire" was published in 1976 and was the first of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles. The novel begins with the seemingly young Louis deciding to tell the tale of his life to “the boy” (the boy’s name is Daniel in later novels). Louis tells the boy that he is a vampire and that he would like for the boy to record the story of his life.

Louis’ story begins in 1791. He is wracked with guilt over the death of his brother and seeks death. A vampire named Lestat becomes fascinated by Louis and eventually turns him into a vampire. Louis, who is sensitive and forlorn by nature, loathes being a vampire and is torn between love and hate for the flamboyant Lestat. Louis tells the boy a heart wrenching and bitter tale that spans centuries.

"The Vampire Lestat"

In "Interview with the Vampire," Lestat de Lioncourt is portrayed as a selfish and antagonistic creature, but comments he makes in Interview hint at a gloomy past. After reading Interview readers are left wanting to learn more about the enigmatic Lestat. "The Vampire Lestat" fills in all the details of how Lestat, unwillingly, became a vampire and later turned his mother and best friend into vampires.

Eventually, after the events that occurred in Interview, Lestat becomes just as discontented as Louis and decides to retreat into the ground. Fifty-five years later he is awakened by the sound of a heavy-metal band practicing nearby. He joins the band and becomes the lead singer. With Lestat at the helm, the band becomes famous. He then blatantly exposes the vampire world with his lyrics and by writing and publishing "The Vampire Lestat."

"The Queen of the Damned"

After Lestat becomes famous with his band, one of the oldest vampires on Earth, Akasha, awakens from her centuries-old slumber to seek out Lestat. The vampire world is angry with Lestat for his overt behavior, but Akasha is smitten with him. Unfortunately, Akasha is also going on a murderous rampage, killing all of the vampires she considers to be weak. Several other older vampires then come out of hiding, thus introducing readers to many new and interesting characters. In this novel Anne Rice weaves many new tales and blends many characters, new and old, together to create a story that is both intriguing and satisfying.

Novels in the Vampire Chronicles:

"Interview with the Vampire"

"The Vampire Lestat"

"The Queen of the Damned"

"The Tale of the Body Thief"

"Memnoch the Devil"

"The Vampire Armand"

"Merrick"

"Blood and Gold"

"Blackwood Farm"

"Blood Canticle"

Update: "Prince Lestat"

Shelly Barclay

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