easolinas's review
3.0
Except for "Dracula," the Vampire Chronicles are probably the most influential story about vampires ever written... although since some of the works influenced are Anita Blake and "Twilight," that's not always a good thing.
And like vampire fiction itself, "The Complete Vampire Chronicles" (which is no longer complete, with the publication of "Prince Lestat") is a severely mixed bag -- some of the books are absolutely brilliant, some are middling, and some will leave you goggling in horror. While it begins with three spellbinding classics of vampire passion and pain, the books slowly slip in quality as the series goes on, climaxing with the fanfiction-like grotesquerie of "Blood Canticle."
"Interview with the Vampire" and "The Vampire Lestat" begin the story by introducing readers to the mopey vampire Louis and his maker, the flamboyantly arrogant Lestat. Rice follows them through the centuries, from their human lives to the first dramatic days of vampirism, of the sensuality and loss that filled their days, and to the current day. "Queen of the Damned" follows these stories with a mesmerizing epic, where the vampire queen of old wakes from her millennia-long slumber, and begins a terrifying rampage across the world. The key to stopping her lies in a pair of ancient vampire witches.
And then... Rice started careening off the path. "The Tale of the Body Thief" has Lestat encountering a strange man who can switch bodies, and allows him the chance to be human for awhile... except the body thief doesn't want to give it back. And in "Memnoch The Devil," Lestat encounters the devil.... no, really... and goes on a tour of creation with him to convince him to defy God alongside him. After that came a slew of vampire "memoirs," wherein the characters of Armand, Pandora, Marius and a heretofore-unknown vampire named Vittorio were explored.
Then we lurch back to the present day, with "Merrick" interweaving the Mayfair witches into the Vampire Chronicles, with Louis asking an alcoholic witch (whose breasts are detailed a little too much) to contact the spirit of his "daughter." Finally, Lestat encounters the wealthy Quinn Blackwood, who is haunted by a terrible spirit and in love with one of the Mayfair witches, who will ensnare the vampires in a strange quest to find the Taltos. And no, that won't make any sense unless you've read the Mayfair Witch trilogy.
In a series spanning nearly thirty years of publication, it's inevitable that this series would have massive ups-and-downs. The first two books are nearly perfect, lush and hauntingly passionate, and the third is a slow-burning epic that spans the globe and all of human history. Unfortunately, the books that follow were not able to maintain the same quality -- "The Body Thief" struggles with many bizarre or disgusting moments, and "Memnoch the Devil" is a pretentious mass of dull pseudo-spirituality.
One thing that can't be denied is that throughout most of the series, Rice's prose is pretty lush and even intoxicating; she brings alive the humid, flowering beauty of New Orleans, rock concerts, the labyrinthine streets of old Europe, and the deserts of ancient Egypt. Her writing is at its best when it lingers on historical things, whether it's the events of the past encroaching on the present, or a simple memoir of an immortal life lived. Though the stories of some of the "memoirs" are rather thin, the writing makes them more enjoyable.
Unfortunately, even the writing deteriorates in the final trilogy of books, and the interlacing of the Mayfair witch stories causes the stories to become almost like bad fan-fiction. The final indignity is Lestat's overnight transformation into a slang-slinging weirdo who wants to be a saint, and falls in love at first sight with Rowan Mayfair.
It is worth noting also that the publisher -- presumably for the same reasons as the rearranged Narnia Chronicles -- did not release these works in publication order, but in chronological order. So rather than opening with "Interview," the collection opens with "Pandora" and proceeds to "Vittorio" before settling on Rice's first novel.
"The Complete Vampire Chronicles" (minus the most recent book) is a series of lush settings, vampiric loves and plenty of historical detail. However, the vacillating quality means that the omnibus is best suited to those fans who love all her vampire books.
And like vampire fiction itself, "The Complete Vampire Chronicles" (which is no longer complete, with the publication of "Prince Lestat") is a severely mixed bag -- some of the books are absolutely brilliant, some are middling, and some will leave you goggling in horror. While it begins with three spellbinding classics of vampire passion and pain, the books slowly slip in quality as the series goes on, climaxing with the fanfiction-like grotesquerie of "Blood Canticle."
"Interview with the Vampire" and "The Vampire Lestat" begin the story by introducing readers to the mopey vampire Louis and his maker, the flamboyantly arrogant Lestat. Rice follows them through the centuries, from their human lives to the first dramatic days of vampirism, of the sensuality and loss that filled their days, and to the current day. "Queen of the Damned" follows these stories with a mesmerizing epic, where the vampire queen of old wakes from her millennia-long slumber, and begins a terrifying rampage across the world. The key to stopping her lies in a pair of ancient vampire witches.
And then... Rice started careening off the path. "The Tale of the Body Thief" has Lestat encountering a strange man who can switch bodies, and allows him the chance to be human for awhile... except the body thief doesn't want to give it back. And in "Memnoch The Devil," Lestat encounters the devil.... no, really... and goes on a tour of creation with him to convince him to defy God alongside him. After that came a slew of vampire "memoirs," wherein the characters of Armand, Pandora, Marius and a heretofore-unknown vampire named Vittorio were explored.
Then we lurch back to the present day, with "Merrick" interweaving the Mayfair witches into the Vampire Chronicles, with Louis asking an alcoholic witch (whose breasts are detailed a little too much) to contact the spirit of his "daughter." Finally, Lestat encounters the wealthy Quinn Blackwood, who is haunted by a terrible spirit and in love with one of the Mayfair witches, who will ensnare the vampires in a strange quest to find the Taltos. And no, that won't make any sense unless you've read the Mayfair Witch trilogy.
In a series spanning nearly thirty years of publication, it's inevitable that this series would have massive ups-and-downs. The first two books are nearly perfect, lush and hauntingly passionate, and the third is a slow-burning epic that spans the globe and all of human history. Unfortunately, the books that follow were not able to maintain the same quality -- "The Body Thief" struggles with many bizarre or disgusting moments, and "Memnoch the Devil" is a pretentious mass of dull pseudo-spirituality.
One thing that can't be denied is that throughout most of the series, Rice's prose is pretty lush and even intoxicating; she brings alive the humid, flowering beauty of New Orleans, rock concerts, the labyrinthine streets of old Europe, and the deserts of ancient Egypt. Her writing is at its best when it lingers on historical things, whether it's the events of the past encroaching on the present, or a simple memoir of an immortal life lived. Though the stories of some of the "memoirs" are rather thin, the writing makes them more enjoyable.
Unfortunately, even the writing deteriorates in the final trilogy of books, and the interlacing of the Mayfair witch stories causes the stories to become almost like bad fan-fiction. The final indignity is Lestat's overnight transformation into a slang-slinging weirdo who wants to be a saint, and falls in love at first sight with Rowan Mayfair.
It is worth noting also that the publisher -- presumably for the same reasons as the rearranged Narnia Chronicles -- did not release these works in publication order, but in chronological order. So rather than opening with "Interview," the collection opens with "Pandora" and proceeds to "Vittorio" before settling on Rice's first novel.
"The Complete Vampire Chronicles" (minus the most recent book) is a series of lush settings, vampiric loves and plenty of historical detail. However, the vacillating quality means that the omnibus is best suited to those fans who love all her vampire books.
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