The Vampire Lestat
ISBN 978-0394534435 | | |
Preceded by | Interview with the Vampire | |
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Followed by | The Queen of the Damned |
The Vampire Lestat (1985) is a vampire novel by American writer Anne Rice, the second in her Vampire Chronicles, following Interview with the Vampire (1976). The story is told from the point of view of the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt as narrator, while Interview is narrated by Louis de Pointe du Lac. Several events in the two books appear to contradict each other, allowing the reader to decide which version of events they believe to be accurate.
Plot summary
The book opens in the 1980s, with Lestat coming out of the ground after a decades long sleep, awakened by a rock and roll band named "Satan's Night Out." He reveals his name and that he is a vampire, but the band believes he is joking as, in this world, Interview with the Vampire is a published novel and they recognize the name 'Lestat' from the book. As a response to Louis's recollections in Interview with the Vampire, Lestat decides to publish his own autobiography and create a rock album. He hopes that the attention will help him to find and reunite with the vampires he's loved, including Louis, and also craves the excitement of a potential human-vampire conflict as he reveals vampire secrets to the world.
Lestat's autobiography opens with his life as the youngest son of an impoverished noble family in the 18th century
One of Lestat's admirers in the audience turns out to be a centuries-old vampire,
Lestat's mother, Gabrielle, dying of consumption, becomes suspicious as his letters no longer seem truly happy. She arrives in Paris to see Lestat for herself before she dies. To save her, Lestat transforms her into a vampire. Gabrielle takes to the freedom of vampirism immediately, shedding the feminine clothes and roles she never longed for to become almost a new being. The pair runs afoul of the Children of Darkness, a coven of devil-worshipping vampires led by Armand, who disapprove of their lifestyle of mingling with humanity and enjoying the pleasures of society. Armand's coven attacks them but finds them challenging to capture. Armand then kidnaps Nicolas to force Lestat and Gabrielle to come to his rescue. Lestat learns that he and Gabrielle go against coven law in many ways, including their strength, as it is forbidden for an ancient vampire like Magnus to pass along his powers. After a heated debate, Lestat turns Armand's coven to chaos by telling them their superstitions about serving Satan and avoiding churches are baseless and have no more evidence than his approach of living well. With the coven conflicted, Lestat escapes with Nicolas, who begs to become a vampire. Nicolas feels abandoned by Lestat and is suspicious that vampirism is a secret of the nobility that Lestat and Gabrielle hid from him. He is insistent that Lestat turn him, which Lestat reluctantly does. In drinking his blood Lestat sees that Nicki is full of emptiness and despair.
Armand seeks Lestat out again, this time joining him at a ball and attempting to seduce him. Once he has Lestat's attentions, he tries to drain him - but Lestat is surprisingly resilient and able to beat Armand. Armand begs to be allowed companionship with Lestat, Gabrielle, and Nicolas - telling him he has insights into the ancient vampires as he was made by a Roman vampire, Marius de Romanus. He also warns Lestat that he will never find true companionship by making other vampires - as a veil exists between the minds of makers and fledglings and fledglings inevitably resent their makers. Lestat refuses Armand, feeling that Armand's need for purpose could not be fulfilled by him - and that Armand's desperation for a doctrine to live by would consume them all. Lestat offers Armand the theater as a new home, as the cemetery where Armand based his coven is set to be demolished. Armand and Nicolas, along with the few vampires Armand allows to live from his prior coven, found the
Still compelled by the idea of Armand's ancient maker, Marius, Lestat leaves messages carved into rock in numerous places while traveling, hoping Marius will see them. Lestat and Gabrielle voyage out of France for several years, though Lestat knows it cannot last as Gabrielle never craved motherhood and wishes to pursue her own ends. Lestat receives updates from the theatre, and learns that Nicki's madness has spiraled beyond the control of the other vampires. They fear he will expose them. Severely depressed, Nicolas eventually commits suicide by throwing himself into a ceremonial bonfire. Lestat mourns Nicki, as well as his human brothers who have died in the French Revolution. Gabrielle tells Lestat she is ready to pursue her own travels and study of the natural world, intending to go into deep jungles away from humanity and its norms. Lestat is a creature who loves cities, art, and humanity - and so they part. Lestat promises Gabrielle that he will live and not give up, but he is soon overcome by his losses and descends into the earth to sleep. He thinks about the human lives he is sparing by decaying underground.
Lestat is awoken from his slumber by Marius, who takes him to his Mediterranean home. Marius shares his past with Lestat, and shows him the progenitors of all vampires—Those Who Must Be Kept—
The next section of the book briefly recounts the events from Interview with the Vampire from Lestat's perspective. He shares his arrival in New Orleans, his love for
The book returns to the present, with Lestat and his band successfully launching their rock career. He receives several threats from other vampires but dismisses them and schedules a major concert to take place in San Francisco, On the eve of the concert, Louis tracks Lestat down to the remote home where he's preparing with his band and they share a forgiving and romantic reunion. Louis has read Lestat's autobiography during their time apart, just as Lestat read Louis's Interview with the Vampire, so they arrive at a greater understanding of one another's history and mindset. Lestat proceeds with the concert, with Louis accompanying him backstage and the two sharing a kiss before the show. However, the concert is attacked by vampires who oppose Lestat's revelations about their nature and history. Louis and Lestat fight through the crowd, but are outnumbered. Mysteriously, the vampires attacking Louis and Lestat begin to burst into flames. Gabrielle drives in as she has been tracking Lestat's recent rise to superstardom and the three escape in her car. It is then revealed that Lestat's concert has awakened Akasha, who burned the attacking vampires. The book ends on a cliffhanger, as Lestat feels Akasha arrive to kidnap him for some unknown purpose.
Publication
The Vampire Lestat was released on October 31, 1985.[1] Told from the point of view of Lestat, who was previously introduced in Interview with the Vampire, the novel explores the titular vampire's backstory.[2][3] The Vampire Lestat also reinforces and expands upon Rice's vampire mythology, and The New York Times critic Michiko Kakutani noted, "We learn lots of 'facts' about vampires and vampire culture. We learn that they cry tears of blood, that they're capable of reading other people's minds, that they can be destroyed by fire and sunlight. We learn that 'no vampire may ever destroy another vampire, except that the coven master has the power of life and death over all of his flock'; and we learn that 'no vampire shall ever reveal his true nature to a mortal and allow that mortal to live'."[4]
Adaptations
Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat
The Vampire Lestat was adapted into a comic and released as a 12-part miniseries by
Queen of the Damned
Parts of The Vampire Lestat and The Queen of the Damned were loosely adapted into the 2002 film, Queen of the Damned. The film was a critical failure, and disappointed some viewers. Rice herself dismissed the film. On her Facebook page, any time the subject was brought up, she repeatedly commented that The Queen of the Damned film is not something she could understand or embrace, that she encouraged them not to do the film and that it hurt her to see her work "mutilated" the way it was.[6]
Lestat: The Musical
The novel formed the basis for the short-lived 2006 Broadway show Lestat. The musical, which was composed by Elton John and Bernie Taupin and written by Linda Woolverton, had a pre-Broadway tryout in California in late 2005 and ran for a total of 33 previews and 39 official performances at the Palace Theater in New York.[7]
Television
In November 2016, Rice announced on Facebook that the rights to her novels were reverted to her despite earlier plans for other adaptations. Rice said that she and her son Christopher would be developing and executive producing a potential television series based on the novels.[8] In April 2017, they teamed up with Paramount Television and Anonymous Content to develop a series.[9] As of early 2018, Bryan Fuller was involved with the creation of a potential TV series based on the novels.[10] On July 17, 2018, it was announced that the series was in development at streaming service Hulu and that Fuller had departed the production.[11] As of December 2019, Hulu's rights had expired and Rice was shopping a package including all film and TV rights to the series.[12] In May 2020, it was announced that AMC had acquired the rights to The Vampire Chronicles and Lives of the Mayfair Witches for developing film and television projects[13] with Anne and Christopher Rice serving as executive producers on any projects developed.[13]
Interview with the Vampire premiered on October 2, 2022, and Mayfair Witches on January 8, 2023. The second season of Interview with the Vampire will include flashbacks to some of the events of The Vampire Lestat, including glimpses of Lestat's life as an actor in the 18th century, his relationship with Nicolas, and his meeting and conflict with Armand. If renewed for future seasons, the show will continue to adapt material from The Vampire Lestat and subsequent novels in the series.
Audiobooks
There have been three audiobook adaptations of The Vampire Lestat: a 1989 abridged version narrated by Michael York;[14] a 1994 unabridged version narrated by Frank Muller;[15][16] and a 2011 unabridged version narrated by Simon Vance.[17][18]
Critical reception
The Vampire Lestat debuted at No. 9 on The New York Times Best Seller list,[19] spending a total of six weeks on the list.[20] The New York Times critic Michiko Kakutani found Rice's vampire mythology "more compelling than the rest of the novel", and wrote, "While Lestat's not an unlikable vampire ... it's hard to take his dilemmas all that seriously."[4] Kirkus Reviews wrote that "Rice dots Lestat's tale with some marvelous chillers ... vampire bonanza in appropriate dark, humid, spider-web narrative—Rice's specialty"[1] Reviewing the audiobook adaptation, AudioFile wrote that "the plot twists are difficult to follow at times".[15]
Dave Langford reviewed The Vampire Lestat for White Dwarf #86, and stated that "[Rice is] audacious enough to propound an acceptable 'origin story' for vampirism, and to move from dark old Egyptian mysteries to the extremes of twentieth-century Dionysian ecstasy as Lestat gives his first live rock performance. Nice one."[21]
References
- ^ a b "The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice". Kirkus Reviews. September 15, 1985. Archived from the original on October 18, 2020. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
- Nerdist. Archivedfrom the original on November 21, 2017. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
- ISBN 978-0-8389-0967-6. Archivedfrom the original on April 15, 2024. Retrieved May 15, 2020 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b Kakutani, Michiko (October 19, 1985). "Books of the Times; Vampire for Out Times". The New York Times. p. 16. Archived from the original on October 15, 2020. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
- ISBN 0-345-37394-4
- ^ Rice, Anne: Anne Rice Archived 2008-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, Facebook.com
- ^ "Lestat at the Internet Broadway Database". Archived from the original on 2008-05-05. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
- ^ "Anne Rice Plotting The Vampire Chronicles TV Series Adaptation". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 2016-11-29. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
- ^ Otterson, Joe (April 28, 2017). "Vampire Chronicles Series in Development at Paramount TV, Anonymous Content". Variety. Archived from the original on April 28, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
- ^ Brockington, Ariana (12 January 2018). "Bryan Fuller Joins The Vampire Chronicles TV Series". Variety. Archived from the original on 26 May 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
- ^ Petski, Denise (July 17, 2018). "Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles In The Works At Hulu". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 17, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
- ^ Schneider, Michael (December 20, 2019). "Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles No Longer at Hulu; Is Being Shopped Elsewhere". Variety. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
- ^ a b Otterson, Joe (May 13, 2020). "Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, Lives of the Mayfair Witches Rights Land at AMC". Variety. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
- ISBN 978-0394577050.
- ^ a b "Audiobook Review: The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice (unabridged), Read by Frank Muller". AudioFile. 1994 [1985]. Archived from the original on April 15, 2024. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
- ISBN 978-0798788618.
- Penguin Random House Audio. Archivedfrom the original on May 11, 2021. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
- ISBN 978-0798788618.
- ^ "The New York Times Best Seller list: November 17, 1985" (PDF). Hayes Publications. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 13, 2020. Retrieved May 20, 2020 – via Hawes.com.
- ^ "The New York Times Best Seller list: December 22, 1985" (PDF). Hayes Publications. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 15, 2020. Retrieved May 20, 2020 – via Hawes.com.
- ^ Langford, Dave (February 1987). "Critical Mass". White Dwarf (86). Games Workshop: 6.
External links
- Anne Rice at IMDb