by Lorie Lewis Ham

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of Prince Lestat, along with a link to purchase the book.

I think sometimes when you anticipate something, and hope for something, for a very long time, the reality can never live up to your expectations. Fans of Anne Rice have hoped for a new Lestat book for a VERY long time, and finally in October of 2014 we were rewarded for our wait with the release of Prince Lestat.

I was so excited to get my copy and I was prepared to sit down and devour this very long book very quickly. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. Much of the first half of the book is confusing and disappointing. I had expected the book to be in Lestat’s viewpoint, but well over half the book is not. Anne Rice spends a great deal of time introducing us to other characters–many of which had brief mentions (sometimes even without names) in other books. Chapter after chapter provides us with glimpses into these characters lives, and as we go along we do get brief glimpses of Lestat as well, and what has happened to the other vampires we came to know so well in the Vampire Chronicles.

It is difficult to tell you briefly what the story is about as it is very complicated and at times very confusing. The basic plot of the book takes places nearly 30 years after the book Queen of the Damned and yet ties in very closely with what happened in that book–though there are mentions of many of the other books as well. In short, the vampire world is falling apart and many are calling on Lestat to lead them and save them. There is a mysterious voice, simply called “The Voice” for much of the story, who is speaking to Lestat in his mind and he does not know who this voice is. As the story progresses we learn “The Voice” is speaking to many other vampires as well and getting them to do awful things–including murdering many of the younger vampires.

I don’t want to give away the ending of the book so I will leave the rest of the plot for you to discover. I think this book could have been half as long, and I personally would have found it much more interesting had more of it been told from Lestat’s perspective–perhaps many of the characters she introduces us to could have been done so more through his eyes, as many do become necessary to the story. Jumping around from character to character was not only confusing, but often boring.

That being said–the end of the book makes the journey that I expected to take in merely days but instead took months, well worth it. Rice brings everything together to an absolutely wonderful ending–an ending that I really hope, as much as I love Lestat, is the ending to this series. There is no doubt that Rice is still a master at weaving a tale, and her vampires are my favorite’s without question. Perhaps having waited so long to come back to these characters she wanted to give us extra and I appreciate the thought–but I feel this book would have been much better if it were much shorter. But again–I loved how she brought it together in the end, so if you are a fan and have not yet read the book, or are having trouble getting through it–be assured in the end it is well worth it!

If you have never picked up any of the Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, where have you been? Run out and get started on this amazing series that came WAY before the Twilight books and are so much better. Lestat would wipe up the floor with Edward! Lestat will always be the best vampire ever to me. So take the journey with Lestat, all the way to the end of Prince Lestat, you will not be sorry (you just may want to skim through the first half of the book).

To enter to win a copy of Prince Lestat, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “Lestat,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen April 18, 2015. U.S. residents only. If entering via email please include your mailing address.

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Lorie Lewis Ham is our Editor-in-Chief and an enthusiastic contributor to various sections, coupling her journalism experience with her connection to the literary and entertainment worlds. Explore Lorie’s mystery writing at Mysteryrat’s Closet.