I enjoyed revisiting the characters, but this should maybe just have stayed in the head of the author. It should not be seen as part of the original chronicles. ( )

A few months ago I read BLOOD CANTICLE, which at the time of its publication was to be Anne Rice’s final chapter in the Vampire Chronicles after nearly three decades of the adventures of her romantic and decadent Undead characters, and in my review for that book, said that she was clearly burned out on her beloved vampires. BLOOD CANTICLE was clearly written to tie up loose ends, and give her loyal fans some closure before Lestat bid farewell from her imagination. That closure lasted a little more than a decade before Rice brought back her Brat Prince of the blood suckers in PRINCE LESTAT, along with a host of familiar faces in a new story that took some twists and turns, especially when it comes to the origin of the vampires and their mythos she created in earlier books. Not all fans where happy with this turn of events, and PRINCE LESTAT received some scathing reviews from Rice diehards, along with gargantuan over analysis in others. Lestat was back and every one had an opinion.

I liked PRINCE LESTAT way more than the naysayers, but I also get where some of them were coming from, and why they were so peeved. The basic plot concerns a mysterious entity known as The Voice which is speaking telepathically to Lestat and other vampires around the world and commanding them to destroy their own kind. Some listen and act on what The Voice commands, while others are able to shut it out, but Lestat, and others like Marius, David, and Jesse, are determined to discover just who and what is the true nature of this threat to their peculiar “tribe.” The answer lies with a return to Rice’s earliest books, THE VAMPIRE LESTAT and QUEEN OF THE DAMNED, and reappearances of the immortal sisters Maharet and Mekare, the latter having slain the Blood Queen Akasha, the mother of all vampires, and taken the “sacred core” from the Queen into herself; this being the spirit Amel, who entered Akasha’s body and become one with her flesh and blood, thus making him the true progenitor of all vampires. It is little mystery as to the identity of The Voice, and not much more as to how its threat will be resolved. Thus Rice attempts to reach back to her early, and clearly most beloved, books, pull on a plot thread, and weave a new story that builds on what has come before.

And that was fine with me, for as a long time Rice fan, I was satisfied with this latest book which brings back so many previous characters that it was necessary to have a glossary of them at the end, along with a chronological listing of all the Vampire Chronicle books that came before. It was a real help in keeping track of who was who, and where they entered the story. The book also had a lot of points of view and chapters shifted from the first person POV of Lestat to third person narratives by Marius and a host of new characters, both living and Undead, not to mention some ghosts who have figured out how to pass among the living. This is a departure from the first person narration that was a hallmark of many of Rice’s best books, and many long time readers didn’t cotton to it, but I had no problem. It was nice catch up with Armand, Benji, Pandora, Louis and Daniel Malloy again. There are also some out of left field turns that no one saw coming, such having Lestat father a biological son with the help of Fareed, a research doctor turned vampire. This seemed to contradict the physical nature of vampires that Rice established in her first book, INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, way back in 1976, but this is fiction after all, and an author has the right to bend their own rules. The problem comes with readers who consider a bend the same as a break.

The main fault I have with PRINCE LESTAT is that the plot ultimately turns out to be rather thin, with an antagonist that appears to be a huge threat to vampires being revealed to be something less when all is said and done. And the subplot with Viktor, Lestat’s son, and his ward, Rose, could have been way better developed, along with its dramatic possibilities. How about Lestat having a mortal son who is determined to kill his monster of a father who abandoned him? That could have been a book all to itself. But Rice clearly so loved her beautiful, and beauty loving, immortals, that she just couldn’t be but so mean to them by this point in her career. She wrote PRINCE LESTAT after coming back to her childhood Catholic faith, and there is no mention of the decadent Mayfair family of witches with their incest and pedophilia that dominated BLOOD CANTICLE, but I did wonder where Quinn and Mona Blackwood were. Still, to the end, Anne Rice was a master world builder, one that intrigued and enchanted readers everywhere, and to open her one of her books was an invitation to join that world, to become part of it, to walk with the Undead through their endless nights as one of them. If she ultimately struggled to write new adventures for her characters after they had lived so many lifetimes, then it was a problem she shared with other equally talented authors. I’m looking forward to reading PRINCE LESTAT AND THE REALMS OF ATLANTIS next. ( )

Like most people have said the book did take a long time to get to the action, but I feel it was necessary in order to set the stage. There were so many old characters (figuratively and literally) who needed to be (re)introduced in order for the reader to understand who, what, where, when and why Amel/The Voice was so dangerous. Because of the slow pace of the book, I have to admit that I took my time reading it (almost 4 years haha) but by the time I'd gotten to "the good part" however, I was back in love with Lestat and excited to read the next book in the Chronicles and even inspired to write myself! I also had an urge to go back and reread at least two older Chronicles (Blackwood Farm & Blood Canticle to be specific).

I'm also really excited for the tv series Anne and her son Christopher are working on. I really hope it's as good as the books and doesn't cheapen the story or turn the characters into soap opera mortals. ugh.

Anyway, yeah I enjoyed the book. I'll probably read it again and take notes sometime in the future. ( )

I will be forever grateful to Ms. Rice for transforming the vampire lore into what we know today: a race of independently wealthy, dazzlingly beautiful, creatures of class and taste living an unending life of hedonism and excess.

These vampires are much more interesting than those glittery saps who prey on sheltered emotionally challenged high-school girls. And Lestat and Louis and Claudia and all the rest were constant friends during my angst ridden teen years.

But I think I have outgrown this genre. I appreciate what she is trying to do with this story, but truly, Lestat is much better as the self-centered villainous child-man immortal, rather than an anti-hero suffering an existential crisis. ( )

hb