The Tale of the Body Thief

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Summary: Anne Rice's fourth entry in the Vampire Chronicles ...
Review: ... features vampire legend Lestat returning to spin THE TALE OF THE BODY THIEF. This time the troubled ex-rock star has switched bodies with a mortal who's more than he seems. THE TALE OF THE BODY THIEF was the first novel to show that Anne Rice was becoming weirder. She can still write beautiful novels; and yet they become more erotic and sensual every time. BODY THIEF comes nowhere near being as good as her first masterpiece, INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, or the sequels, VAMPIRE LESTAT and QUEEN OF THE DAMNED - but TALE OF THE BODY THIEF is interesting and enjoyable. Anne Rice fans shall be pleased; otherwise, your opinion of the novel may be less good. As a warning for non-fans, let me tell you the themes the book is divided in to:
1. Lestat whining.
2. Lestat's attraction to an older man.
3. Human love.
4. God and the Devil: religion.
5. More Lestat whining.
If that list looks fine to you, go ahead and enjoy it. Whether you do or not, one thing is certainly pleasing:

Lestat lives!

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Summary: Something's Missing...
Review: I've been reading a lot of Anne Rice lately. And while I can't say I haven't been moved at some points, generally speaking, my experience has been one of frustrating disappointment. Anne has come up with these fascinating and alluring CONCEPTS--these vampires who travel through centuries, across myriad lands and a panoply of cultures, forging and breaking relationships with one another--and with mortals all the while--sounds like a great idea for a series of books, and it IS, that's what's sad.

Somehow she fails when it comes to actually writing about these characters. Something's lacking. I think it's her main character and narrator, The Vampire Lestat. In my opinion he's too whiney and weak to be the hero of the chronicles. He goes on and on at the end of "Body Thief" about how he simply cannot help but be gleefully happy--that it's in his nature and he cannot be depressed for long. This was flabbergasting because Lestat--mischievous though he might be, is ALWAYS upset about something. Rice seems to want Lestat to be viewed in a certain light, so she tells the reader what to feel, but Lestat's actions throughout the book do not SHOW this at all.

In the other books of the chronicles, such as in QUEEN OF THE DAMNED, when she deals with the relationship between Armand and Daniel, THEN it becomes hard to put the book down. But the rest of time, when we are going round and round in circles with Lestat, rather than feeling absorbed and entertained, I find myself hoping she'll write more about those OTHER things.

I haven't read MEMNOCH THE DEVIL, and to be honest, I am afraid to because I hear it's quite dreadful. What I can say is that I think QUEEN OF THE DAMNED was the best book of the chronicles so far, and I recommend it highly.

Rice is a master when it comes to descriptive language, that is for certain, and I agree with all the literary critics who have ever labeled her writing as being "lush" but unfortunately that doesn't make up for the feeling I get when I read Anne Rice, that she is WASTING these wonderful concepts, and that in someone else's hands they could truly come alive.

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Summary: Good but not Good enough
Review: The idea for this book was a good one...but the storyline itself was never really a eye opener. Only for hardcore Anne Rice readers

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Summary: Wonderful, but episodic
Review: It is important to note that while this book is mighty interesting, it's much different then the first three. The first three seem like these big epic histories, but this is more of a melodrama. It's as if the vampire chronicles become a tv show and this is an episode.
It is, however, easier to get into. The plot is much quicker in this book then QotD, and because there is more action and less descriptive prose. Although, since it is Anne Rice, there is still a good amount of prose! It is definitely worth your time if you are able to overlook some especially sexual scenes!

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Summary: my favorite in the series so far
Review: i love all of the books by Anne Rice that i have read so far and this one is my favorite yet. this books isn't full of action but it does have lots of suprises and very good dialogue. the conversations that Lestat has are what makes this such a good book. again, its not full of action if thats your thing but the best stories dont. Anne Rice also has an incredible talent of making the unbelievable believable. not many writters would be able to pull of this plot but she does without you ever questioning it. i recommend this to any reader that is big on long conversations in thier books or a love for angsty vampires. i love it couldn't see how any one else couldn't.

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Summary: okay but nothing special
Review: I loved Interview with the Vampire and liked the second and third books in this series, but this one was a disappointment. It's not an awful book. It was entertaining enough to where I never wanted to toss it aside and not finish it. But there were just a few things about it that prevented me from enjoying it nearly as much as I enjoyed the previous books in the series.

First, the plot was too unoriginal. Lestat wants to be human again so he trades bodies with a mortal and naturally the mortal doesn't want to trade back. While Lestat being human again was mildly entertaining, it was also very predictable. I was rarely bored with the book, but it didn't exactly keep me on the edge of my seat either because I usually knew what was going to happen next or at least had a pretty good idea.

Secondly, it was too repetitive. This book added almost nothing at all to the series. It did add to Lestat's character but it was mainly just the last chapter that added to his character and the rest of the book was just the same old stuff.

But I think what hurt the book for me the most was the absence of all the other vampires from the previous books. Rice introduced several new characters in Queen of the Damned and I was hoping to learn more about them but they were nowhere to be found and instead Rice spent nearly the whole book telling me stuff about Lestat that I've heard before. Louis did make a few short appearances but other than that, Lestat was the only vampire from the previous books that was in this one. Now, I love Lestat as much as anyone. Don't get me wrong about that. But Lestat by himself just gets boring after a while especially when very little is being added to his character. Also, having Lestat by himself so much eliminates a lot of the character interaction that I loved in the previous books.

So my advice is that if you've read the previous books in the series and want more then go ahead and read this one too. But I'd recommend borrowing it from your library to read it and make sure it's something that you want to own before you pay money for it. To tell the truth, I bought it but I ended up returning it to the bookstore and getting my money back. It was okay to read once but it's not a book that I'd ever want to read again.

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Summary: Another good story
Review: While "Tale of the Body Thief" pales in the light of "The Vampire Lestat" and "Queen of the Damned" it still more than delivers the goods. Lestat finds himself in a pickle (what a surprize) and his journey to get out is very intriguing, and of course speckled with religious overtones that add to the story's charm and beauty.

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Summary: I thought it was good
Review: Unlike the some others reviewers I feel that this was a well written book. I thought it had a much faster pace then The Queen of the Damned, I could not put down Tale of the Body Thief.

Even if you haven't read the other books in the series you can read this one without feeling lost. The other characters are not really mentioned as they are in the other books. Although it it better to read them in order to get the full effect.

I like the sucide atempt at the beginning, as another already said. I found Lestat's decriptions of being human interesting. I loved the dreams of Claudia and how they occured even after the fever dreams. I did not feel that the reader could not relate with Gretchen, she had questions about life that I could relate with. Gretchen's reaction to Lestat in his real body felt real. I loved finding out more about David. I felt David's rejection when Lestat agressivly turned him. I am glad that Rice did not over do it when she mentioned the eroctism between David and Lestat, it felt more real the way that it is.

It was a good book and ends the mystery of Lestat wanting to see the sun again. It leaves him happier to be himself.

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Summary: AWESOME!!!
Review: This is a wonderful story. I couldn't put the book down once I started it. I thought it was going to be a little slow but then it picked up and it exploded! I highly recommend this book to any Anne Rice fan. I know I'll be reading it again.

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Summary: The Series is Dead
Review: Let me make clear, _Tale of the Body Thief_ is much superior to _Queen of the Damned_. But it doesn't come close to the heights that Rice reached in her most fun novel _The Vampire Lestat_. And let's face it, if these books are not fun to read, there is not much left. The philsophy is overstated and un-subtle and the prose can be achingly difficult to slog through. So if the fun factor is gone, so should go the readership.

Still, the series had nowhere to go but up after _Queen_, and that is where this novel goes. Just not far enough to be ultimately redeemable. Lestat's little adventure is, I suppose, meant to take us closer to his inner thoughts and motivations, but we emerge from the novel knowing almost nothing about him that wasn't already apparent. This is a character study that does precious little studying. As for the thriller/mystery aspect of the book, each step is obvious well in advance and little or no surprise when it happens, with one notable exception that occurs at the very end of the novel. From this reader's point of view, it's not worth the effort that is needed and frustration that is caused. Lestat comes away from his human experience having learned nothing about himself, having no insight into his nature. Apparently the only emotion he could feel was disgust at himself, and an intense desire to be a killer vampire again. It doesn't do much to make him sympathetic. Of course, if Rice let Lestat remain a human, then she couldn't keep writing more asinine novels about him that sell like hotcakes. Don't encourage her. The series is dead.