So I decided to plunge into Anne Rice’s world of vampires once again. I felt I had to get those stupid wimpy Twilight vampires that sparkle in the sun out of my head! Of course, I was a bit wary after her last book “Memnoch the Devil” began to show her increasingly christian themes which I didn’t care about.
But Armand has always been such a mysterious figure for me that I thought it would be real neat to find out more about him. And overall I wasn’t disappointed. Lots about the supercool and ancient Marius as well as some nice reunions with old friends like Louis, Pandora and David (Lestat is in some kind of stupor on the floor throughout). But there was also a lot of the heavy christian stuff as well. Not very surprising in this book given Armand’s initial christian upbringing.
Image Credit: endovalswhisper.blogspot.com
I found myself glazing over large tracts of text about jesus and god and about how he loved everyone – blah blah. Get to the cool vampiric stuff already! But as I said, we find out all about Armand and his relations with Marius – including sexual ones. Oh didn’t I mention that? There’s sex. Lots of it- and explicit. With Armand being at the center of it all. He coolly frolics with men and women alike showing no particular preference for one over the other. Marius of course, being a vampire can’t screw in the traditional way but there are plenty of kisses, as well as handjobs and (not so subtly) implied blowjobs.
But it’s all done very artistically in Anne Rice’s impeccable style. It’s very refined and naturally we can’t imagine Marius being coarse. He finds Armand irresistible, as does everyone else apparently and Armand is mightily pleased about the whole situation.
So if you’re comfortable with skipping over tedious christian themes, and you want read more about Rice’s awesome vampires, then get a hold of this book. Lots of succulent backstory that you would no doubt be thirsting for (no pun intended) after finishing her big trio – “Interview with a Vampire”, “The Vampire Lestat” and “Queen of the Damned.”
Oh and one more thing – those who’ve seen the movie “Queen of the Damned”, please please forget it. The book is nothing like it. The movie is quite simply pathetic and my wife and I almost puked while watching it. “Don’t judge a book by its movie” seems to be the latest mantra these days, and it applies in this case particularly well.
Ahh, Rica’s vampires. Real vampires. I’m sick of hearing about the sparkling kind! I read most of this series of books about ten years ago, although I can’t remember much about them now. Have you read “The Witching Hour,” and it’s related books? Much more interesting than the vampire series, for me at least.
I’ve thought about posting book reviews in the past, but have been reluctant because most of what I read are not current or mainstream. Maybe I’ll reconsider.
@Thurman
No I haven’t read it – another one of Rice’s novels isn’t it?
The biggest benefit for me of writing book reviews is so that I know what I’ve read in the recent past! I find myself losing track of all my reading, and I feel that’s a bit of a waste, so this is a nice way to capture my impressions before I lose them.
Also, for me writing a book review is a bit like letting go. Sort of like giving myself “permission” to move on to another novel – a mark of respect and a nod to the book I just finished…
I love the books, I love this book most, though. I liked how it was written and the some of the old english literature; expressions and how it was written is what I mean. I overall enjoyed the book, sometimes made me laugh at the funny bits.
Bah, my friends think the book to be a cheesy romance. But they don't understand. XD Then again, they like Edward Cullen whom I depise; along with his author. I enjoy these series MUCH BETTER.
For the picture of Armand that's somehow I imagined him. Not bad. It's posted all over DeviantArt ( DA ). Awesome.
Hey, I didn't know you were an Anne Rice reader. Wish I would have discovered your blog sooner. :D Anne Rice is one of my favorite authors. I get you about the Christian themes, but she when she wrote the Vampire Chronicles, she did identify as an atheist but at the same time she was going through a struggle with her beliefs. So that's why you have Christianity sprinkled in her books. Now she's Christian and writes religious themed books, which you've probably heard. I also prefer them over Myer's vampires, I know Twilight is written for a younger audience (though women in their 30's and 40's like it) but it just doesn't measure up.
The Vampire Armand was my favorite out of the entire series. Marius is my favorite vampire, because he's so wise and sophisticated. :D I loved the relationship between them, it wasn't only sexual it was emotional as well. But I did enjoy the sex scenes, because they were so hot. Rice wrote them without being sleazy. And yes, the Queened of the Damned movie sucked.
In reply to RenKiss
I think we all agree that Rice created some of the coolest vampires in literature – the way they were meant to be. I have a partial intention to also read "Pandora" someday as she seems to be quite an enigmatic figure throughout the series as well as a very powerful vampire. But I'm a bit wary of encountering more christian themes and too much filler material. Still, I might give it a go one of the these days…
Very sorry to say my friend, but by skipping over the parts you did, you essentially missed the whole point of the book. It’s not a story about cool vampires – yes the main charachters are vampires, but that is part of the context – the whole point of the story, and most of Anne Rice’ls stories, is that it is supposed to be an exploration of the human soul, a journey of self acceptance despite what we perceive as sin, of how we find our own faith and how this defines us as individuals. If you don’t have the patience to fully grasp the concept of a novel like this, you should probably stick to twilight – it seems better suited to your aesthetic level. — Although, I will give you points for accepting the largely homoerotic subtext of the story, which as a straight man (I am assuming of course) is often difficult to do.
Cheers.