The Vampire Lestat

Infobox Book
name = The Vampire Lestat


image_caption = Paperback edition cover
author = Anne Rice
country = United States
language = English
series = "The Vampire Chronicles"
subject = Vampires
genre = Horror fiction
publisher = Alfred A. Knopf
release_date = 1985
english_release_date =
media_type =
pages = 560
isbn = 0345313860
preceded_by = Interview with the Vampire
followed_by = The Queen of the Damned

"The Vampire Lestat" (1985) is a novel by Anne Rice, and the second in her "Vampire Chronicles", following "Interview with the Vampire". Many events in the two books appear to contradict each other. These inconsistencies provide a good example of the unreliable narrator, allowing the readers to decide which version of events they believe to be accurate.

Plot summary

Set in the late 18th century to the late 1980s, the story follows the 200 years long life of the vampire Lestat, and his rise from humble beginnings as a penniless aristocrat in France to become the "Brat Prince" of the vampires after his creation by the vampire Magnus who orphans him on the night he is made. It details his adventures with his mother Gabrielle, who eventually leaves him due to irreconcilable differences when he searches out the vampire Marius, the existence of whom he learns from the teenage vampire Armand.

From Greece, Lestat travels to New Orleans. After the events detailed in "Interview with the Vampire", he "goes into the earth" again in 1929 (This contradicts 'Interview', in which Louis and Lestat meet again in the 1970s. Lestat calls into doubt the accuracy of Louis' account within his own story, claiming that Claudia's death has skewed Louis' version of the past). In 1984, Lestat emerges to become a rock star with a mortal band that consists of Alex, Larry and Tough Cookie. With the eyes of the world on him, Lestat seeks to start a war. Just before the night of the concert, Lestat reunites with Louis, who fills him in on the Vampire Connection.

The book ends on a cliffhanger after Lestat's debut concert in San Francisco, and leads directly into the third volume, "The Queen of the Damned".

Adaptations

"Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat"

"The Vampire Lestat" was adapted into a comic and released as a 12-part miniseries by Innovation Comics in 1990 and 1991. The comic, which was formally titled Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat and featured Daerick Gross and Mike Okamoto as lead artists, had a script adapted from the novel by Rice and Faye Perozich. In 1991 the entire series was published as a graphic novel by Ballantine. ["Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat" Ballantine Books, 1991. Rice, Anne; Perozich, Faye; Gross, Daerick; Okamoto, Mike. ISBN 0345373944]

""

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. [ [http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=402876 Lestat at the Internet Broadway Database] ]

References