Rating: 
Summary: Immensely important yet problematic
Review: The Queen of the Damned is strikingly different in both form and substance from the first two books of The Vampire Chronicles. Several new characters are introduced, a number of truly old vampires we have only heard of up until now become part of the action, and the story is woven together into a mosaic much more wide in scope from what has come before. This is essentially Lestat's book, but he is not really the focus of the tale; while he narrates his own role in events, much of the book is written in the third person. This, plus the addition of so many new characters and the truly elaborate scope that is covered, makes this novel much less cohesive than the first-person narratives of the first two books. The action is spread out over six thousand years from one end of the world to the other, with a lot of mythology and pondering taking the place of the thrilling, energetic action of the earlier novels.The book begins a week or two before Lestat's legendary rock concert and the ensuing mayhem that erupted outside the auditorium on that night. We follow the paths of other vampires in the days prior to this, including Armand and Daniel, the young man from Interview With the Vampire. We also learn that the immolation of vampires that Lestat, Louis, and Gabrielle saw that night had actually begun several days earlier, as a number of covens were destroyed by Akasha, the newly awakened Queen of the Damned. After the story of her awakening is told, the book takes on a somewhat mystical air. Almost all vampires are dreaming of two red-headed young women preparing to feast upon their dead mother, only to be taken prisoner by soldiers while their village is destroyed around them. The true significance of the red-headed twins does not become clear until the final hundred pages of the book, for their tale is an integral part of the story behind vampirism's very existence. We already knew that Enkil and Akasha, ancient rulers of Egypt, were the first vampires. Now, the whole history of the King and Queen is revealed, including the curse that accompanied their transformation. Rice goes out of her way to explain the beginning of vampirism in a unique way, although the facts of the matter seem a little too elaborate and far-fetched to me. The one real weakness I find in the novel is Akasha's agenda. She is not exactly the altruistic type, and her mission to save mankind sounds ingenuous at best. It is also a rather laughable plan; having spent the past six thousand years in contemplative thought, I would have expected a character of her strength and moxie to have come up with a plan much better than this one. The final conflict, one prefigured for hundreds of pages in the slow unveiling of the Legend of the Twins, ends so quickly I was forced to stop and make sure I hadn't somehow skipped a paragraph or two. Basically, it's all over in one sentence. Even Lestat is not himself here; I actually enjoyed the stories of the other vampires and the history of the accidental birth of vampirism in Akasha more than I enjoyed the action related first-hand by Lestat. Certainly, Rice is to be commended for vastly expanding her vampire universe and having her characters deeply examine their lives and their purposes on earth, but I just could not fully connect with this novel. Still, it is an essential book for Anne Rice fans, as it offers up loads of information about the vampires who roam the world of her creation and explains the very origins of vampirism itself.
Rating: 
Summary: Lame
Review: This is a book that does not know its place. What should be pulpy fun, is instead masquarading as Important Literature. Rice has really misfired with this book. I wasn't a fan of _Interview_ but I thought that _Vampire Lestat_ was an improvement. Here the train has derailed though. The end of the previous novel in the series (Vampire Lestat) seems to indicate that we will finally be getting some action that happens in the present tense. Wrong. This book, like the first two, is almost completely about events that happened in the distant past. It's about time that Rice let her vampires walk around in the present world. The continuous re-writing of her own pseudo-history is also beginning to be a real drag. Let's pick a origin story and stick with it! The Queeen, when she finally makes her plan known, turns out to be about the biggest unintentionally idiotic character in modern fiction (ok, that's an overstatement, but still). She seriously seems to believe that killing off most of the men on earth will create a peaceful, harmonious planet. But even if that were true, which it is not, why would the Queen want to create such a planet? She's a damn vampire! She's not supposed to have human concerns, as Rice points out continually about her "lesser" vampires in the first two books of the series. The plot twist is completely hair-brained. And then there's the climax. The whole novel builds toward the battle between this ultra-powerful queen and the ragtag group of rebels. There is some philosphical garbage they spout at each other, and then the the battle occurs in the space of about three sentences. End of story. It makes you want to throw the book in the ocean. I'm not sure that it's worth reading the next installment after this fiasco, but I suppose I'll give it a shot, simply based on the goodwill Rice got from me after Vampire Lestat. As for Queen of the Damned, the book is as bad as the movie. And that's about the worst insult you can hurl at a piece of fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: A very good read.
Review: To be honest, I am not an Ann Rice fanatic and haven't really found any of her other books that intruiging, but Queen of the Damned is very rich, and has a wonderfully layered quality to it, like reading secrets out of an ancient manuscript. It could be called a masterpiece of modern horror fiction, if ever there was. I would highly recommend this book above all her other works...and also check out the film, which isn't superb, but still interesting enough.
Rating:
Summary: Akasha has awoken after 6,000 years...watch out!
Review: The Mother of all vampires, literally has been asleep for nearly 6,000 years, give or take a thousand. Akasha, Queen of the Damned and former Queen of the Nile in Ancient Egypt has woken from her slumber mysteriously after hearing the music from another vampire singing in a rock group calling themselves The Vampire Lestat.
Lestat, or known among the vampire circle as 'the brat prince' has made it his mission to wake Akasha from her sleep and take on the world's vampires. Lestat is tired of this life and his neverending quest for good and redemption. What he doesn't know is that Akasha was better off asleep.
What Lestat dreams of her being and what she truly is are two very different things.
Evil in the purest word is what she is.
Kept asleep with her husband and fellow vampire Enkil, King and Queen, or as all seem to know them as, Those Who Must Be Kept, the vampire Marius tells us how he came to get them and how he kept watch for nearly 2,000 years until Akasha awakens. Going back 6,000 years the story of Akasha and Enkil and how vampires began is told in detail. Along with the Legend of the Twins and how they seem to be forgotten after all these years.
Fascinating work here. More fasinating than the previous books.
Creepy and truly frightening at times, this one is a keeper.
Will Lestat find Louis after nearly a hundred years? Will the older ones seek to destroy him? What does Akasha intend to do now that she is awake?
I was torn at times on who I felt sorry for and in the end I was shocked. Unbelievable read. Tracy Talley~@
Rating:
Summary: The Queen of the Damned offers a great insight on Anne Rice'
Review: I was quite intrigued on the insight of theology that Anne Rice shows in this book. The movie doesn't even touch upon how far she goes into how mankind created God, not the other way around. And that's only the beginning of the theology found in this book. Agreat read. If you pick this book up in the afternoon, odds are you won't be sleeping until you finish it.
Rating:
Summary: Queen of the Damned
Review: I have been fueled by Anne Rice's book since the 1st one that I read,Blackwood Farm, but must admit, have read them sequencially backwards. I was put off at first by the cover,from the movie poster,as the deceased pop star is NOT by any means, my mind's eye vision of Akasha,not by all means. So, I first read Armand. BUT I WAS MISLEAD by the cover & my loyalty to my imagination of the characters. FORGET THE COVER, and the MOVIE....This book is great, beyond what I had hoped. THe mythical historical journey is in itself awesome. One gets to view Marius, Mael, Jesse,Armand, Daniel....as some strange new sort of Superhero league. My heart actaully hurt for Baby Jenks, and I did not think it would. She brought together present day USA with the ancients in a way that kept me up way past bedtime ! So it's a little gory, but isn't the world we really live in gory, too ?
Rating:
Summary: Forget the movie!
Review: Thebook has so much more to offer -- especialy if ur a anne rice reader! The twins should be the movie focus!
Rating:
Summary: VAMPIRIC ORGINS, 101
Review: Ever wonder where vampires come from, and who was the first? This book answers those burning questions! In a defiant and conquering mood, Lestat accidently awakens the Queen of All Vampires, The First, The Original, The Goddess! And not only do we learn just HOW vampires came into existence, but why they did, and why they can't stand the sun among other weaknessess. (Anne Rice gets a bit scientific in this one!) This book starts in the present day and takes us through time to ancient locales, cultures, and mystic practices to explain the bizarre beginnings of the strange immortal beings we've come to love. And although the series stars Lestat.....don't get the wrong idea - IN *THIS* BOOK, IT'S THE WOMEN WHO STEAL THE SPOTLIGHT!
Rating:
Summary: The Queen has awoken
Review: 'You are no healer. You cannot give life or save it, nor can you prevent death and disease, my queen. And those people will expect such miracles.
All you can do is kill.' -Marius In this book: The Vampire Queen, Akasha, has awakened after 6,000 years of being locked deep in her own mind. And now the world is in danger of being taken over by this Dark Queen and her beloved prince: the rock-star vampire, Lestat.
Akasha now seeks to utterly destroy 90% of the male population (only leaving one male per 100 females), believing it would end all war, rape, and violence. Anne Rice, the beloved author of Queen of the Damned (and many other books in this series), brings this wonderful book to life as if it were straight from history itself. She starts out with a bang and elevates the action until you feel like you're living in the story moment by moment. You honestly can't ask for a better type of author! If you saw the movie, you haven't even seen half the story. The book is so much better! The book gives you the history of how all the vampires in Rice's world came into being, and a fictional history of Egypt that swallows you, bringing you deeper and deeper into the lifestyles of the vampires. And the story of the Twins is magnificent all its own-a beautiful twist! 'Behold, the new Queen of the Damned.' When I first started reading this book, it was a little confusing because it jumps from the point of view of one vampire (or person) to another. But in the later of the book, it only jumps from Lestat's journey with Akasha to the meeting of the other seven vampires-all of which are connected to each other and Lestat, which makes the book even more wonderful. But does Lestat change his childish and immature ways? My advice is read the book and find out.
Rating:
Summary: Great & more exciting than the movie made!
Review: If anyone has seen the movie and tried making the comparisons, its absolutely deemed ridiculous. The book explained in much details and has more excitements than the movie portrayed. The characters were too shallow in the movie and much stories and roots of mother of all vampires were left out leaving movie goers who never read Ann Rice book before puzzled and dazzled. I suggest just read this book and let your imaginations accompany your reading to its peaks and climax and forget about the movie unless of course if one is an ardent fan of Aliyah but leave the good story telling to Ann Rice herself and her book.
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