So I know it's been two weeks since I last posted. I've been ill have a bad cold which seemed more like a chest infection, but it wasn't and I'm way better now. Also, my jobs at the youth center has been keeping me busy and tiring me out!
I'm pleased to say that I'm finally writing this review! Also, I brought Prince Lestat and The Realms of Atlantis last week and finished The Beast by J .R. Ward on the same day. So there's two more books to review. I can't actually believe it's December now. This year has gone so fast and it's been tough for me, but it's ending on a high now.
Anyway, I'd so recommend reading my previous post which was about Interview With The Vampire. It's become one of my topped view posts now and I guess that's due to the new Lestat novel. As for this novel, let me just say this was my second time reading it and I do remember enjoying it. This time I round though I just couldn't get though it. Maybe, it's because I now have years of studying different books and I've read lots more vampire novels, but and I hate admitting this, I did get a bored of Lestat because it drags too much.
It's great that straight after IWTV we get to hear Lestat's story and of course he mocks Louis and says he story is incorrect. Lestat claims he had to be like he was due to his past and as we learn more and more about this infamous vampire we discover why he behaved the way he did in the first novel and how this was possibly misinterpreted by Louis. What we don't get is a re-telling of IWTV. Yes there are some scenes that get told from Lestat's point of view, but they are quickly gotten through.
Oh, I should add that there might be spoils about this novel and the history/stories of certain vampires in the series today. Normally, I try to be good about that, but I feel it'll be too difficult today as I'm getting all the thoughts out of my head. Plus, I don't want to be writing a lot because I so could go on forever about this novel, so I'm going to rein stuff in a bit.
The novel has two different time periods; the present and the past and is told in first person to us by Lestat. (In IWTV, Louis was taking to a journalist) It does follow on from where Louis left Lestat in IWTV though it is a like a few years later. Lestat has been a sleep and he is woken up by a band playing music. He then decides this is interesting enough to investigate further. Thus, Lestat becomes a rock star and what gets woven into this plot line is the story of how he become a vampire.
Lestat gives us a very detailed history of himself, starting off when he was a human and his family life in France. He is a noble man, but being the youngest son and having a lot of brothers means he gets very little money etc. He is well known for his hunting ability and one scene has him fight off a pack of wolves, which other characters bring up at different points in the novel. He wants to run off to Paris with his best friend Nick who is a violin player. This of course does happen. They both become involved in the theater which has been Least dream for a long time.
However, Lestat is then kidnapped by a vampire named Magnus, who then turned Lestat into a vampire. Magnus then kills himself and Lestat is then left to look after himself. Lestat tries hard to life a secret life and doesn't talk to any of his family or friends. He does though use a human to deal with things and send letters and gifts on to people. Lestat learns about his new powers and drinking blood. Then though, his mother becomes ill and he has to go and see her. Lestat makes her a vampire. And she turns out very different from himself, wanting to stay more in the shadows and away from humans. Whilst Lestat loved humans and wants to be close to them.
Of course, Nick also becomes a vampire, but it doesn't end well. That is another great aspect of Rice's vampires; they are all totally different and have their own unique problems to deal with, I also the endings for some vampires are violent. Remember what happened to Claudia? I do feel sorry for Nick because he just becomes so mentally insane that if Armand doesn't kill him then he'd have just exposed vampires and killed so many people too. Saying that Lestat exposes vampire kind through his songs and books!
One of the downsides of The Vampire Lestat and the reason it's so long is that it's not just Lestat's story. You also hear about Armand and Marius, who do have their own novels in which their stories are expend upon. Yes, they do fit in with Lestat and you do need to hear Marius story to then make better sense of Queen Of The Damned, which follows straight on from Lestat's story and carries on telling it in the present.
One of the things I do love and often forget about is that Lestat owns the Theatre Des Vampires and actually when you read the trail of Louis and Claudia from his point of view, that moment in IWTV makes more sense. Also of course we learn that Lestat didn't want Claudia's death but due to his state he couldn't do much to stop the theatre vampires.
I do also like the back story of the first two vampires, Akasha and Enkil which is then further looked at in the other novels. That's also the other reason why Marius's story ends up being told because we need the information he has to make better sense of vampire history. Lestat also needs this information to tie in with his story and interactions with other vampires.
I do love the detailed descriptions of places, people, clothes and furniture, it helps to make the image clearer in your mind. However, Rice does get a bit bogged down with this. I don't mind though and it's one of the reasons why I started reading her novels. And of course Lestat, he's just such an interesting character.
Even though this novel ended on a cliffhanger, I've decided not to read Queen Of The Damned. I've read it before, though I've not reviewed it here. I really wanted to read The Beast and now I'm currently reading Lestat and Atlantis. Which I shall be reviewing next week even though I won't have finished it. It's too long and detailed for me to read big chunks of. My brain needs more time to sort it out. But hopefully, I'll have read enough of it to review.
Overall, The Vampire Lestat is a good novel and it's great to hear Lestat's side of things. It's possible to read this without reading IWTV. Though, not reading that does seem pointless to me. I'd always say out of all of Anne Rice's books to read that one. It's just the start of everything really. I'm also hoping to read her werewolf series at some point and I do own the witch ones, but I've not read them. I've got far to many other books I want to read.
Thanks for reading this and I'll be back next Monday with my thoughts on Rice's latest novel.
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