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Summary: A Juicy Little Morsel!
Review: I first read "The Vampire Lestat" about seven or eight years ago. Since then, I have become a big fan of Anne Rice's novels, and this book in particular has become one of my favorites. "The Vampire Lestat" is an exquisitely worded novel about a mortal who becomes a vampire after killing a pack of wolves in the forests in pre-Revolutionary France. In the book, Lestat narrates his "life" after transformation. Those of you who are not familiar with Anne Rice's style of writing might be rolling your eyes right now and saying, "Oh, brother! Not another cheesy vampire novel?" Well, you would be wrong! Rice writes in a way that makes your mouth salivate for more of her juicy morsels. Her words drip with richness and clarity. When she describes Lestat feeding upon his victims, Magnus' leap into the fire, or Armand's underground coven, you can envision her images so clearly it is as if you are actually there. Her language is so lush and awash with beauty that it seduces you and blinds you to the atrocities of the events within this book. This is not a cheapie dime-store horror novel or even a romantic love story. It is a seduction of your imaginaiton. Succumb to it and read this book!
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Summary: Lestat: The All Time Great Anti-Hero
Review: 'The Vampire Lestat' is a wonderful work of fiction that takes the reader through centuries of undead history. The story revolves around the adventures of the newly-created Vampire Lestat and his quest to understand his demonic origins. His quest takes him around the world and back through time as other, older Vampires share with him their secrets. In 'Lestat' we see a much different being than was presented to us in 'Interview with a Vampire.' Rather than the cocky, vain, unfeeling Vampire that we had known Lestat tells his story with humility and an almost human fraility. Rice's sensual writing style and her unwavering ability to probe the darker sides of the human condition make her an entertaining and thought-provoking author. The Vampire Chronicles are truly great works of fiction and 'The Vampire Lestat' may be the best of the series.
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Summary: Engrossing characters
Review: Anne Rice is a master of setting a scene, she makes you feel that you are truly in it. And when you add to that her sensual and engrossing characters, quite a potion is brewed. Very intoxicating...
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Summary: Nice enough to read
Review: Well.. when I started reading it I was looking quite forward to it, thinking that i would finish it in a week or soo... wasn't like that. The book starts up quite nicely but then it slows down, we become involved with Lestat's feelings a bit too much, then Armand comes along. That's when the fun starts, it took me a week to get there and as soon as i started reading that, in 2 or 3 days i was finished. I the plot is awesome from then on. How Lestat looses everyone and then gets them back, how the Enkil is jealous of the Akasha and Lestat and how Marius plays them. It's also fun to listen as vampires speak about the children of the millenia and other myths like that and then pick up a book(i.e. Pandora) and learn about them... We also get some insight on what is happening to Louis in the present as he goes with Lestat to his concert. If it wasn't for the slowness in the start/middle i would have given it 5 stars. But 4 is good. Otherwise, it's quite a nice read
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Summary: Horror?
Review: Anyone who enjoys Rice's work will esteem this volume as one of her most riveting and mesmeric creations. I think, however, that the people who would benefit most from readng this novel are those who consider Rice's work as 'horror', and avoid it for that reason. This is not genre horror! It is literature, fantastical, dark, philosophical literature. It is a tale about a vampire, one of the living dead - someone who once was human but no longer is. Yet this novel actually conjures more questions and promotes more affection for our own humankind than the majority of modern 'realistic' fiction. Rice has a wonderful sense of what makes us humna, of the effect that the age we live in has upon us, and she uses the guise of an immortal to demonstrate this with great sensitivity. The differences between this work and "Interview" are manifold and although many fans of Rice became so enamoured of the remarkable Lestat that they couldn't stand 'Interview', I find that reading 'Interview' over again and then going back to Lestat makes one appreciate Rice's characters and writing skill even more.
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Summary: Lestat Forever!
Review: I was a bit nervous about reading "The Vampire Lestat" because I got bored in the middle of "Interview" I still love that book, but I was afraid that this novel would be like it, but it's not... I love "The Vampire Lestat" it was a novel that kept me reading for three days straight... It talks about his life before Louis and Claudia and he talks about the present about he becoming a rock star who is on Mtv and is about to perform in San Francisco... Another reason I loved this novel is because it explained things that weren't mentioned in "Interview" like the Children of The Damned, and The "Vampire Gods" and so forth... It's an excellent novel... if you liked this book, you'll love "The Queen of The Damned"....
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Summary: Fantasic!
Review: I admit that when I read that Lastat was going to be an 80's rock star in this one my expectaions for this novel weren't high, but in a vary strange way it makes sence. Once you start reading "The eirly years" it seems natural. It actually reads more like a prequal to Interveiw till the epilog which I LOVE In Interveiw we saw Lastat as the pushy villin. The trurcor of victims the killer of the inocent but in this one we see him as the restless mortal youth, looking despreatly for the meaning of everything. But my favorite part is the epilog where he corrects all of Louis mistakes! And the only reason he didn't tell Louis and Cladia where they all came from is because Marius told him "You tell any one I will smash you." in so many words. This is the best in the cronicals, Body Thief is a close second
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Summary: the best contemporary character
Review: This most wonderful of characters is well defined and excellent in his description. Anne Rice has a real talent for drawing in the reader with not only vivid description but the human and emotional aspects. In this book we learn of Lestat's rich past and mischievous present tales. A complicated character but certainly one that everyone loves to hate. Probably because he represents humanity in all its wonderful and dread realities. A must read for anyone.
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Summary: a hypntoic modern gothic masterpiece
Review: This novel is probably the best of Anne Rice's work, and most certainly the jewel of the Vampire Chronicles. With poetic grandeur, Rice takes on a journey through the unflinchingly realistic death and borgeois carelessness of 18th century Paris... We follow young Lestat on his journey from the son of a French noble to a popular stage actor. And it is done with an eloquent, patient style that has personified Anne Rice and her novels. Here, her wrtiting is in top form! The book, although comnparitively long, is intenseley engrossing, and as we follow the life of the Vampire Lestat, we can't help but paint our own vampiric reality of this fictional biography in our own minds. Lestat is done in such a way that his author's voice (the book is an "auto-biography") is genuine and believable...not only that, it is hypnotic and beguiling. We are shown the depravity of the wretched cult of vampires led by Armand underneath the "Les Innocents" cemetary...we follow Lestat and his companion (mother) Gabrielle on their journey through the VERY VIVID old world (Europe) of the 18th century. Perhaps the most compelling character in the story is Marius, a 2,000 year old vampire who recounts the tale of his own "birth into darkness" to Lestat. We are shown awesome sights in Marius' biography within a biography. It is a must-read for any vampire-fan, or fan of gothic literature. I will say this; the ending is a very artful cliff-hanger...you'll be compelled to read "The Queen of the Damned"...
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Summary: Delicious!
Review: What a feast for my spirit! I read this masterpiece years ago, the 2nd Anne Rice book of my novel awakening - "Interview With the Vampire" being the first - and, I must say, it was one of the rare satiating moments of my existence! Ah - this is the Vampire Lestat - Maker of the Vampire Louis of "Interview With the Vampire." This is the 2nd book of Rice's Vampire Chronicles - in the brilliant, illuminating voice of Lestat, himself. This beautiful, dark tale flies high up there among my three favorite novels - masterworks that pulsate to the rhythm of my very soul - this, Lestat's tale, along with Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" and Austen's "Pride and Prejudice." I cannot write enough herein to be worthy of this wonderous novel. My dark soul doth indeed overflow - V~~~~V!
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