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Prince Lestat by Anne Rice(published by Chatto & Windus, an imprint of Random House publishers)
Long before Twilight, Vampire Diaries or Sookie Stackhouse, Anne Rice captured the world’s imagination with her reimagining of blood drinkers.
These creatures were dangerously sexy, powerful but still vulnerable in both body and soul, and spilling over with love-hate for each other and themselves. They burst onto the scene in the mid 70’s and have been inspiring readers and movie-goers alike for decades.
I devoured (yeah, I went there) the first four books in the series and came to an abrupt and confusing halt with Memnoch the Devil. Rice’s rich prose and navel-gazing philosophy became too much for me without the strong plot of the first four novels to support it. And while I didn’t hate the other vampire novels it just became more of the same for me.
So instead, I went seeking solace in the Mayfair Witches books and found some.
And now, after almost three decades, Anne Rice delivers a novel worthy of The Vampire Chronicles. While Prince Lestat, might not quite be the worthy sequel fans have been waiting for, it is definitely a remarkable improvement and an enjoyable read.
Technically Prince Lestat is the 11th book in The Vampire Chronicles (we’re not counting Vittorio and Pandora) but it reads and feels like a direct sequel to Queen of the Damned. Not only does it further answer questions about the awesome vampire origin story, but also addresses questions to what the future holds for those with the Dark Gift.
And instead of being a watered-down hybrid or a random autobiography of some random immortal, it takes us back to the characters we’ve gotten to know and love.
Louis de Pont du Lac, who “started the whole thing” in Interview with the Vampire, Marius the Roman Patrician who looked after the races “parents” for thousands of years, Akasha, who yearned to be Queen of Heaven but nearly damned both the mortal and immortal world, the red-headed witch twins Maharet and Mekare, their trusted companion, Khayman, English gentleman, David Talbot who’s left the Talamasca behind, and a host of new characters, including mortal, ancient and spirit.
The vampire world is under threat. A mysterious voice is urging blood drinkers across the globe to destroy fledglings. Lestat is needed, but he is on a mission of solitude.
Who is the mysterious voice? Does Lestat really have a son? What will the fast-changing technological world hold in store for ancient immortals? Can Lestat shake off his status as Brat Prince and become a true leader for his tribe?
Rice tells the story while never skimping on exaggerated emotion, luscious settings, absurdly aesthetic characters and seductive mythology. Like a ripe plum, the book promises sweetness bursting from its seams and is difficult to resist.
Even if it does leave you somewhat unsatisfied afterwards.
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