The Vampire Armand. Anne Rice (Vampire Chronicles 06) [Paperback]

Anne Rice (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2010 | Series: Vampire Chronicles 06

Magnificent and electrifying, "The Vampire Armand" tells the tale of the mesmerising leader of the vampire coven, the Theatre des Vampires in Paris. This angel-faced killer was snatched from the steppes of Russia as a child, and sold as a slave in Renaissance Venice. From there Armand's story spans several hundred years, culminating in a visit to New Orleans at the end of the twentieth century. Here his victims await either death or immortality. But once there his own existence comes into question when he must chose between salvation and his immortal soul...

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In The Vampire Armand, Anne Rice returns to her indomitable Vampire Chronicles and recaptures the gothic horror and delight she first explored in her classic tale Interview with the Vampire (in which Armand, played by Antonio Banderas in the film version, made his first appearance as director of the Théâtre des Vampires).

The story begins in the aftermath of Memnoch the Devil. Vampires from all over the globe have gathered around Lestat, who lies prostrate on the floor of a cathedral. Dead? In a coma? As Armand reflects on Lestat's condition, he is drawn by David Talbot to tell the story of his own life. The narrative abruptly rushes back to 15th-century Constantinople, and the Armand of the present recounts the fragmented memories of his childhood abduction from Kiev. Eventually, he is sold to a Venetian artist (and vampire), Marius. Rice revels in descriptions of the sensual relationship between the young and still-mortal Armand and his vampiric mentor. But when Armand is finally transformed, the tone of the book dramatically shifts. Raw and sexually explicit scenes are displaced by Armand's introspective quest for a union of his Russian Orthodox childhood, his hedonistic life with Marius, and his newly acquired immortality. These final chapters remind one of the archetypal significance of Rice's vampires; at their best, Armand, Lestat, and Marius offer keen insights into the most human of concerns.

The Vampire Armand is richly intertextual; readers will relish the retelling of critical events from Lestat and Louis's narratives. Nevertheless, the novel is very much Armand's own tragic tale. Rice deftly integrates the necessary back-story for new readers to enter her epic series, and the introduction of a few new voices adds a fresh perspective--and the promise of provocative future installments. --Patrick O'Kelley --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Fantasy's great advantage is that authors can make anything happen?even rewriting their own stories, as Rice does here. Readers of her 1995 novel, Memnoch the Devil, will recall that the vampire Armand ended his existence by stepping into the sun. Since he was a popular character from earlier tales, a resounding protest from fans followed. In response, Rice concocted a way in this, her seventh Vampire Chronicle since Interview with the Vampire (1976), to raise Armand from the dead. He is, in fact, the narrator of this story, in which he looks back on his earthly existence, revisiting his apprenticeship in 16th-century Venice to the regal vampire artist, Marius De Romanus, who saved his life with the kiss of immortality. Afterward, Armand returned to his Russian homeland, but when disaster parted him from Marius, he became the nihilistic leader of a pack of Parisian vampires. Rice offers exquisite details of erotic romps and political intrigues while reprising other material familiar to her fans, but finally returns to the pressing question of what happened to Armand in the sun's lethal rays. She supplies a vivid and resonant description of the experience, set against the counterpoint of Beethoven's Appassionata. Unfortunately, she dims the effect by dragging Armand through rambling scenes involving two odd children, Sybelle and Benji. Otherwise, this is a lavishly poetic recital in which Armand struggles with the fragility of religious belief. The final scene is a stunner. Editor, Victoria Wilson; agent, Lynn Nesbit. First printing 750,000; BOMC main selection; simultaneously available in audio and large-print editions.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Arrow Books (February 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0099548143
• ISBN-13: 978-0099548140
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 1.3 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (460 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,076,339 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Anne Rice was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. She holds a Master of Arts Degree in English and Creative Writing from San Francisco State University, as well as a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science.

She is the author of over 30 books, most recently the Toby O'Dare novels Of Love and Evil, and Angel Time; the memoir, Called Out of Darkness;and her two novels about Jesus, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt and Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana,

Anne publicly broke with organized religion in July of 2010 on moral grounds, affirming her faith in God, but refusing any longer to be called "Christian." The story attracted surprising media attention, with Rice's remarks being quoted in stories all over the world.

Anne is very active on her FaceBook Fan Page and has over 550,000 followers. She answers questions every day on the page, and also posts on a variety of topics, including literature, film, music, politics, religion, and her own writings. She welcomes discussion there on numerous topics.

Her latest novel, The Wolf Gift, a werewolf story set in Northern California in the present time, will be published on February 14th, 2012. With this book, Anne returns to the classic monsters and themes of supernatural literature, similar to those she explored in her Vampire Chronicles, and tales of the Mayfair Witches.

Her first novel, Interview with the Vampire, was published in 1976 and has gone on to become one of the best-selling novels of all time. She continued her saga of the Vampire Lestat in a series of books, collectively known as The Vampire Chronicles, which have had both great mainstream and cult followings.

Interview with the Vampire was made into a motion picture in 1994, starring Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Kirsten Dunst and Antonio Banderas. Anne's novel, Feast of All Saints about the free people of color of ante-bellum New Orleans became a Showtime mini series in 2001.

Anne Rice is also the author of other novels, including The Witching Hour, Servant of the Bones, Merrick, Blackwood Farm, Blood Canticle, Violin, and Cry to Heaven. She lives in Palm Desert, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't know what you all are talking about but....., June 4, 2000

By 

"pagansong" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Vampire Armand : The Vampire Chronicles (Rice, Anne, Vampire Chronicles) (Hardcover)

Maybe it's because I'm kind of new to Anne Rice, but, by far, Armand is my most favorite character because of this book. It seems that most of the reviewers who didn't like this book were looking for a more "action" book (i.e. Queen of the Damned). Let's get this one straight, Armand is absolutely a different and very unique vampire even by, dare I say, Rice's standards. This is the kind of book you would read w/ your cup o' Java, not one that you'd expect to have all blood and glory. Armand seems like the ultimate brat prince but at the same time seems like a fragile angel teetering on the brink of oblivion, and in some parts of the book he falls in, but amazingly flys back up, reborn but still the eternal child. He's the fallen angel, but the only one worthy of Heaven. Rice, as always, is poetic in all her work and this book is no exception, she treats every detail as if it is a divine revelation. I say keep it up, her books just keep getting better and better, even if some of the things she writes aren't very agreeable to me, but at least I still respect her passion of HONEST expression. I don't think she even tries to sugar her novels up for the sake of readers. She writes what's in her heart (which is purely selfish) at that moment, and I praise her for it.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars original & thought provoking, November 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Vampire Armand : The Vampire Chronicles (Rice, Anne, Vampire Chronicles) (Hardcover)

I read "Interview" 2 yrs ago, saw the movie & was fascinated with Armand's character. This book filled in all the gaps in Armand's personality, which the other Chronicles revealed here & there. The despair & abuse he suffered as a mortal boy explained his need for love from Lestat (TVL), his love-hate relationship with his Orthodox religion (Memnoch), his highly seductive courtship of Louis (IWV) from the development of his skills in summoning his victims. The beautiful May-December love affair between him & Marius, the only vampire making that ws made "out of love". I thought Louis was complex but Armand takes first place. Anne Rice handled his fall from his religious beliefs so well, (the church scenes in the Byzantine chapel & when Marius "makes" him, the entire flashback of his mortal life in Russia) and the florid fifteenth-century language she used added to the entire Renaissance feel of the book. A beautiful, dark and sensual story...I'm glad he finally found someone who loves him just for himself (Sybelle) Anne really dug deep into herself to plumb the questions of religious faith & all the dark despair of Armand's and her own heart. Now, I wait for "Blood & Gold" Marius' story!

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Where Ego needs her editor, June 6, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Vampire Armand (Vampire Chronicles) (Paperback)

I have always been a huge Anne Rice fan, but The Vampire Armand has convinced me that she needs the guidance of an editor. It's no small coincidence that her finest book is the one that employed the additional eye of an editor. There has, at least in my opinion, been a gradual decline in the quality of the books since Interview with the Vampire. Her ego is impeeding her work. A writer is not an editor. Love of their work will not give them the impartial view necessary to remove or modify those parts that just don't work. That's the problem with The Vampire Armand. Large parts of it just don't work. There's also a nagging tendency for the book to repeat itself over and over again. A very poor outing in my opinion.