Review

Oh, Lestat. What a magnetic presence! I'm really in the pocket for Interview with the Vampire. Loved the movie. Really enjoyed doing the book. So I was wary of the change in protagonist. Particularly knowing that Lestat became the series lead. I'm gonna miss my Louis!

My fears were totally unfounded. I completely get it now. Lestat is meant to be the lead. He is the vampire! When the book first began and we start with the framing device, the band, I had a bit of a sense of trepidation. This seems a little cornballs...But when we get to the end, it totally works. The vampire shrieking on the stage that he will devour your soul and the audience pouring upon him their adoration is delicious. Loved it. Loved the whole thing. This is really the first book in the rest of the series. So much worldbuilding. It puts into stark contrast how comparatively sheltered Louis was in Interview. The only thing I didn't really like was the seeming retconning of Lestat's victims. "No, actually. He always was killing evil people, he's cool." I dunno, seems a little too just so for me. The novels have certainly trucked in he said-she said, so who's to say. Maybe Lestat's just lying about that and Louis is correct!

I'll definitely be getting on with the rest of the series at some point. I know it's fairly extensive. Curious if it's like a continuous narrative or we have any standalone novels. Also curious how the other novels were received. If equally well-liked or if we've got any stinkers? I know there's a break at some point where Rice left the series and returned to it after some number of years. That's pretty spooky; could so easily go wrong and end up tarnishing the legacy. Thus far, Vampire Lestat is my fave of the first two, but they're both quite good.