Rating: 
Summary: A pinnacle in the series!
Review: This and "Queen of the Damned" are the best of the 5 Vampire Chronicles - after "Memnoch", they start going downhill...
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Summary: RICE'S OWN 'WHAT DREAMS MAY COME'
Review: Here, Rice wanders off the well-beaten path of archetypical story-telling intermingling philosophy, psychology and history. The author explores the themes of Judeo-Christianity, life after death, purgatory, deities, angels, etc. In the end, I concluded that her theories (told through Lestat's journey into both the past and the afterlife) are remarkably insightful. When compared to the Christian ritual of communion (pretending to eat Christ's body and drink his blood), I hardly think that Lestat's actions in the novel can be deemed controversial for religious folks...
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Summary: Anne Rice's Divine Comedy
Review: This is modern mythmaking at its finest. In the first three books of her Vampire Chronicles, Rice reinvented the vampire for our times. She made them human, made them see their reflections in mirrors, and made them us. I always admired how she managed to commercialize homoeroticism and criticique the Catholic Church ... all the way to the NYT bestseller list. Tale of the Body was sweet, touching change of pace after the epic climax of Queen of the Damned - and didn't prepare me for Memnoch the Devil.
Memnoch is an absolutely ingenius reimagining of JudeoChristain doctrines and texts. Most amazing of all, she came up with cosmic explanations that make far more sense than any of them. Growing up Catholic, the concepts of Heaven and Hell never seemed convincing or logical, and the idea that Jesus HAD to die on the cross for our sins never made any sense at all. THIS version makes much more sense. (And the crucifixtion moved me to tears.)
All in all, WILDLY IMAGINATIVE, STUNNINGLY AMBITIOUS, EMOTIONALLY SATISFYING. A TOWERING ACHIEVEMENT.
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Summary: Challenge the establishment
Review: I am not a fan of Anne Rice, I never followed the vampire stories or whatever, but somehow I got my hands on this book and I was completely blown away. This book is basically the authors' interpretation of Western religion. If you are looking for some kind of vampire story then you will be dissapointed. But if you are looking for a unique view of God and the Devil - then read this book today! The book is FICTION people and no one is claiming anything to the contrary. Enjoy the book to that end.
Rating: 
Summary: Anne Rice's MEMNOCH THE DEVIL.
Review: I began reading the book with an open mind - I'd read some bad reviews. In fact, the first - third? - of the book was very good. It seemed Rice had got her gay erotica under control, and the story was going great. I mean, Lestat meets someone claiming to be the Devil? Sounds like a great idea to me! But then, we reach the part when Lestat actually goes with Memnoch, and we find ourselves on completely different ground. Rice uses Memnoch as a way to re-write the Bible and create her own religion: Riceism. Arguments about God, what happened, how the earth was formed - basically, history and religion mashed together in one great big science class. Die-hard Anne Rice fans may be able to make it through the book, but I gave up about 2/3 of the way through, feeling very disappointed. Lestat and/or vampire fans beware; MEMNOCH THE DEVIL is nothing more than Anne Rice's version of the Bible. My verdict: you ain't gettin' no hallelujahs from me.
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Summary: Well, it's better than Blood Canticle...
Review: I think I was fourteen-years-old when I realized I liked Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat. I had an obsession with vampires and Gothic horror in general. And I found out about the novel Interview with the vampire. So I read that novel in the course of one weekend. At the back of the book it advertised The Vampire Lestat. And I was delighted. I wanted to know his side of things. I believed he had a story to tell. It seemed obvious to me from the little hints in Interview with The Vampire. And I was absolutely delighted with Lestat and his rock persona. At the time I was also just getting in to David Bowie. And I saw a comparison to Ziggy Stardust and Lestat. Lestat- a vampire pretending to be a rock star pretending to be a vampire. And David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust- A rock star pretending to be an alien, pretending to be a rock star pretending to be an alien.
I was in love. And it wasn't the 'charisma of the undead' so get that idea right out of your heads. I don't usually find vampires very sexy. To be honest, the brooding, byronic vampires bore me.
I loved Lestat's rebellion. I loved his angst. I loved his passion. I loved his inability to be discouraged for very long. I loved his human questioning, which was handled very differently than Louis' brooding. I loved his need to escape and it's realization when he went to Paris. I loved his sensuality. His passion. I felt a connection to him. A vampire Glam Rock musician- basis for Goth culture. Replacing the old cliche of the cape and castle with a leather jacket and motorcycle. I had wondered where the modern vampire style had come from! I spent the summer of 1996 reading The Vampire Chronicles. I felt slightly cheated with Tale of the body Thief. It was cliche but good for comic relief but it didn't have the same... fire as The Queen of the damned. It seemed like something had been lost.
By the end of the summer I found Memnoch The Devil, which was still a pretty new novel at the time and was only just coming out as a large paper back, after the initial hardcover release. And I read it. But it upset me and disappointed me.
I had a Catholic upbringing too but Anne seems very obsessed with religion and history lately and I think it hinders on the actual story. Also, a part of Lestat's charm was that he was searching for answers in the chaos, a reason, and was uncertain of any of the universe's mysteries. Now it seems a part of that charm is gone. Anne's trying to correct that now by putting a shadow of doubt on what the things Lestat saw might have been but it's clear she wants us to think he did see God and The Devil and that poor vampire has learned that there is no real reason. The Universe is governed by powerful lunatics. No wonder he went mad with grief. The poor, damned bastard. I had thought she ruined him, especially after he had laid on the chapel floor for so long.
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Summary: Delightfully Unorthodox
Review: Memnoch is the name given to the Devil by Anne Rice in this refreshingly modern theological story, based loosely off her widely popular Vampire Chronicles. The story is narrated by the Vampire LeStat, whose usual immeasurable fearlessness is shattered when he is stalked by a mysterious, immortal being who identifies himself as Memnoch the Devil. Perhaps using the novel's plot as a vehicle to convey her own ideas on religion, Anne Rice describes, with delightfully sensuous imagery, Memnoch and LeStat's journey through Heaven, Hell, and time, while telling her Devil's story of creation. Memnoch, cast out of heaven by a God ignorant and uncaring of his Creation, attempts to draw the immortal LeStat to his side in his fight against the arrogant Creator. While being told the origin of the universe, LeStat is also concerned about the inspiring mortal televangelist, Dora, who he has become fascinated with. LeStat is forced to decide whether to take the side of God or the Devil, and at the same time must protect Dora from the enemies of her criminal father (LeStat's victim) who has left her with a vast inheritance. In this mesmerizing exploration of modern theology, Anne Rice transcends above the usual clash between atheism and Christianity, creating her own intriguing religious conflict, while keeping the vampiric hero LeStat's adventures exciting. I wouldn't recommend this book to a conservative, biblical literist. But if you enjoy contemporary, controversial ideas, and enjoyed The Vampire Chronicles, this book is fabulous.
Rating: 
Summary: Simply Awful
Review: I have read nearly all of Anne Rice's vampire/witch chronicles and fell in love with the stories. A friend and I trade the books and can't wait to discuss each new twist, however, Memnoch will not be one which we will ever read again. This book was dreadfully wordy and the story was awful. There was nothing about this book which will lead me to read it again. After I finally reached the mid-point of the story I began skimming the paragraphs just to get through. I have never done this with any other Anne Rice book. I cringe whenever anyone asks me what I thought of this book and quickly refer them to The Witching Hour, Blackwood Farm, Blood and Gold, Interview with the Vampire, etc. as those books are where Anne writes a wonderfully absorbing tales. Don't bother with Memnoch. Future stories do refer back to ideas and scences in this book but it is just not worth spending the time to struggle through this book for the minor mentions in other books.
Rating:
Summary: Dreadful
Review: This book is absolutey dreadful. I'm working my way through The Vampire Chronicles and had enjoyed all the books up until this one. I now have reservations about reading any of the others considering how bad this one is. The book started out fairly well with the mixture of Lestat's pursuit of Roger and the mysterious being that is stalking Lestat. Unfortunately, the book quickly becomes a ridiculous history of religion as seen through Rice's eyes. A pity. The beginning of the book could have led to so many interesting plots. Why Rice chose the "plot" she did is beyond me. This is a book to avoid. The books leading up to this one are all worth checking out (even the somewhat less successful The Body Thief is pretty good).
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Summary: Memnoch, Child of God
Review: Memnoch comes to Lestat with an unusual opportunity. Lestat agrees to let Memnoch make his case before he agrees to anything, and so begins Lestat's tour of Heaven, Hell and human history, both beautiful and bloody. Although The Vampire Lestat is still one of the most compelling of Anne Rice's books that I have read, this one can definitely compete in the same league. I approached this novel with some caution after reading the terrible reviews, but I turned the last page of the book with immense satisfaction. If you thirst for some good philosophical fantasy, uninhibited storytelling and a little indulgence for your Shadow Self, then I highly recommend this book. It definitely puts an interesting spin on typical Christian ideas, and makes you wonder if those "twenty million people could be wrong". On whether this book is a valid instalment in the Vampire Chronicles, I would have to say yes. Even though vampirism is "not central to the tale", 'Memnoch the Devil' explores the humanistic aspect that lingers in Lestat and all the remaining vampires in spite of the cool detachment of immortality. It further explores the Atheism vs. Mysticism profound in the Chronicles' first three books and in modern society's sense of spirituality or lack thereof.
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