Thursday, February 5, 2015

Book Recommendation - Prince Lestat by Anne Rice


I've been a long-time fan of Anne Rice's writing and have read  the Vampire Chronicles, the Mayfair Witches, and the Sleeping Beauty series in their entirety. (I haven't yet read her more recent books based on Biblical figures/stories.) I think her writing voice and her rich language choices are both straightforward and sincere, and they often belie the complexity of characters and plot development in her books. She has been able, time and again, to take the sometimes awkward position of narrator as interviewer and not only make it work but make it work amazingly well. 

Who should read this book? 
Anyone who read Lestat in the Vampire Chronicles; anyone who has read other books in the Vampire Chronicles, particularly Queen of the Damned

Who shouldn't read this book? 
Anyone who doesn't know anything about the Vampire Chronicles; anyone who finds a bit of language or sex or homosexual reference offensive - it's not rampant or anything, but you should know there are bits and pieces

What's great about the book? 
Rich characters, extensive and varied character list, tightly woven story line, believable dialogue, multiple settings, references to past books/characters, suspenseful edge through the first 1/2 of the book at least, multiple narrative perspectives within the individual stories told in the book, several unanswered questions of the series finally explained 

What wasn't my fave about the book?  
Some of the background info felt a little repetitive, but I really did need to be reminded of some things since it'd been so long since I'd read the series. Sometimes I felt like there were too many characters to keep up with in the story line, and I wasn't always sure of their importance to the ultimate outcome of the book. 

What I wonder? 
Will there be another book in the series? Is she using this as a vehicle to kickstart an offshoot series using a couple of newly introduced characters? (Can't give more details here or spoilers might happen...) Why did she go back to Lestat's story after all these years?

Bottom line? 
If you're already an Anne Rice fan, definitely read this book. If you're not already a fan, I'd recommend starting with her Mayfair Witches series, the first of which is The Witching Hour. Personally, I think the quality of characters and the quality of writing is far superior in that series. If you're determined to go the vampire route, then I'd start at the beginning with Interview with the Vampire. (No, the movie does not do it justice.) And if you're a fan of Fifty Shades of Gray and not easily shocked, you might consider reading the Sleeping Beauty series she wrote under the pen name A.N. Roquelaire. I believe the first one is titled The Claiming of Beauty.

What books are you reading right now? I'd love to talk books with you. Feel free to follow me on Goodreads if you'd like, and please leave me a comment about your bookshelf right now if you're so inclined.

Happy reading fellow bibliophiles!

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