This book is the third in Anne Rice's vampire series, which began
with Interview With A Vampire. As the third book, it's probably best if
you read in order, but I must admit, I haven't read the 2nd book and I
got along ok in this one, although I was awfully glad to have read the
first book for the background information.
Lestat's singing has
awakened the first vampire of them all, Akasha. In a time of turmoil,
the vampires are all out of sorts, trying to survive and wanting to keep
their secrets hidden from the human race. But Lestat bringing to the
open has changed everything and with Akasha on the loose, the times are
dangerous for both vampires and humans, as she has an interesting sense
in who should survive in this world. Only a small group of vampires,
old ones and Lestat's friends seek to stand against her. And another
ancient power to match Akasha's is roaming the earth.
I can't say
I really cared for any of the characters in this book. We were
supposed to care for Jesse. She had such a major role in the book but I
thought she kind of fizzled out and didn't really matter towards the
end. Armand, he too took a back seat and Louis only had small roles
through the whole thing. Lestat was predominant, but he was never
really a character I liked anyway. Maharet was probably the best
character. She had the history and depth to be interesting and good
intentions, which is more than you can say for a lot of the characters
in the book.
The biggest problem was that this book was too
long. It wandered around aimlessly and had so many scenes that didn't
really mean anything. An example would be a young biker vampire who we
got to see for a few pages. While her story was sad, it didn't really
add anything. And a lot of the book was just the telling of history, so
it went back and forth between modern times and when the vampires
originated. That was actually the only part I enjoyed as I liked
hearing how Rice's vampires came to be. But all the filler around it
just bored me even if Akasha was on a rampage. There is a lot of
violence in this book, and strange relationships between the vampires.
If you've read Rice before you probably know all this though, but new
readers probably would be surprised at some of the things she puts in
her pages. I just think this book was trying to be too many things at
once.
I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the first, but I'm
curious to see what happens to all of the characters so I'll probably
read some of the other books. But this one, I just didn't quite see the
appeal.
The Queen of the Damned
Copyright 1988
491 pages
Ok, so first off I'm going to admit that I absolutely
loved the movie "Interview with the Vampire". And not just because it
had some wonderful actors in it. The story gripped me and I felt for
the characters. So now I've finally read the book, and I have to say
I'm a little disappointed. It wasn't nearly as enchanting as the movie
and while it was still decent writing, I could take it or leave it. And
this is the first book in a series, even though it could be read as a
stand-alone quite easily.
We are introduced to Louis very early
in the book, he is after all the main character. And he is telling his
story to a reporter. You see, Louis has had an eventful life. Sort
of. Louis is a vampire and he tells his tale from when he was first
changed to the years after with Lestat,the vampire who changed him, and
with Claudia, the child vampire he inadvertently creates. When Claudia
and Louis leave for Paris they are hoping to find out more about
vampires in general, but find out that ignorance could be very dangerous
for them.
Louis is our main character. And he is very deeply
described and all his motivations shown to us. Despite this though I
couldn't connect with him in the book like I could the movie. In fact,
he was downright whiny in the book. Lestat on the other hand we were
supposed to not like but I actually rather enjoyed his character. He
was shallow, manipulative, and deeply flawed, but there was something
about him that grabbed your attention. Claudia too was a bit of an
enigma. She is a young vampire, and her mind ages while her body
doesn't and that makes her situation very unique. They really were the
main characters of the novel, and there were some other much-described
characters in this book, but they were only there to support Louis'
story.
There is a lot of description in this book. So much so
that it becomes bogged down and boring some times. There's only so much
you can listen to Louis complain before you start feeling melancholy
yourself. And that's really not a good state of mind to have when
you're supposed to be reading a book for enjoyment. But when Louis
isn't moaning and groaning the book is rich with detail and the
plot-line very interesting. Rice really did the vampire world a favor
compared to the books of late and made them real but relatable at the
same time. You could picture Louis out roaming the streets in real
life, the story just seems plausible in that fantasy-like way. And some
of that detail does involve violence, this probably isn't the best
choice of a novel for a young child, but I wouldn't hesitate to give it
to a mature teenager. They could probably handle it.
An ok book,
the movie will be nearer and dearer to my heart, but it did spark an
interest to read the rest of the series. Now I just have to get my
hands on the next book.
Interview with the Vampire
Copyright 1976
342 pages
