The Vampire Lestat

• Author: Anne Rice
• Genre: Fantasy
• Publication Date: May 31, 2011
• Publisher: Books on Tape
• Series: The Vampire Chronicles #2

Lestat. The vampire hero of Anne Rice’s enthralling new novel is a creature of the darkest and richest imagination. Once an aristocrat in the heady days of pre-revolutionary France, now a rock star in the demonic, shimmering 1980s, he rushes through the centuries in search of others like him, seeking answers to the mystery of his eternal, terrifying existence. His is a mesmerizing story — passionate, complex, and thrilling.

I vaguely recall reading this book way back when I was a teenager, before Twilight brought vampires back into the limelight. This was back when vampires were on par with Blade and The Lost Boys, and it was cutting edge for bringing queerness into the mainstream at a time when that wasn’t as common as it is today. This book crosses genres between fantasy, horror, and historical fiction, and there were so many things that I didn’t remember from the last time I read it. Plus, I have to note that Simon Vance is a fantastic narrator—he even manages Lester’s mild French accent without having it be difficult to understand at any point.

Lestat is a much more compelling MC than Louis was. He’s headstrong, brash, and seemingly fearless, even as a human character, but he carries those qualities over into his immortal life. It was fascinating to see what things were like during his life, especially juxtaposed against the view of him that I was given from book 1. I was curious to see what shaped him into who he was, and it was fascinating to see not only his family life as a human, but also his early years as a vampire.

Much like The Witching Hour, I loved the way that we got flashbacks into the histories of major characters. We get to learn a little about who they were in life and what it was like in the times in which they were made into vampires, and how vampire society shifted and changed over the years. It wasn’t a static situation, and the idea of vampire families and covens were significantly altered depending on the place and time in history, and we got some good insight into these settings.

After reading this, I had quite a different outlook on Lestat than I did after finishing the last book. It’s like meeting a person after only hearing the worst about them from another person—you’re expecting them to be horrible, only to see that they’re human and have good qualities as well. We’re also introduced to the origins of vampires in this book, and it was fascinating. I can see how Rice is setting the stage for future books, and it makes me eager to see what happens in the next book, since it’s been so long that I forgot much of the next book as well.