The Vampire Chronicles Collection, Volume 1 (Paperback)

by Anne Rice (Author) "I SEE...said the vampire thoughtfully, and slowly he walked across the room towards the window..." (more)
Key Phrases: coven house, damnedest creature, brat prince, New Orleans, Pointe du Lac, Rue Royale (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The hypnotic, deeply seductive novels of Anne Rice have captivated millions of fans around the world. It all began a quarter of a century ago with Interview with the Vampire. Now, in one chilling volume, here are the first three classic novels of The Vampire Chronicles.

INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE
Witness the confessions of a vampire. A novel of mesmerizing beauty and astonishing force, it is a story of danger and flight, love and loss, suspense and resolution, and the extraordinary power of the senses.

“A magnificent, compulsively readable thriller . . . Anne Rice begins where Bram Stoker and the Hollywood versions leave off and penetrates directly to the true fascination of the myth–the education of the vampire.”
–Chicago Tribune

THE VAMPIRE LESTAT
Once an aristocrat from pre-revolutionary France, now a rock star in the decadent 1980s, Lestat rushes through the centuries seeking to fathom the mystery of his existence. His is a mesmerizing story–passionate and thrilling.

“Frightening, sensual . . . A psychological, mythological sojourn . . . Anne Rice will live on through the ages of literature. . . . To read her is to become giddy as if spinning through the mind of time.”
–San Francisco Chronicle

QUEEN OF THE DAMNED
Akasha, the queen of the damned, has risen from a six-thousand-year sleep to let loose the powers of the night. She has a marvelously devious plan to “save” mankind–in this vivid novel of the erotic, electrifying world of the undead.

“With The Queen of the Damned, Anne Rice has created universes within universes, traveling back in time as far as ancient, pre-pyramidic Egypt and journeying from the frozen mountain peaks of Nepal to the crowded, sweating streets of southern Florida.”
–Los Angeles Times



From the Inside Flap
The hypnotic, deeply seductive novels of Anne Rice have captivated millions of fans around the world. It all began a quarter of a century ago with Interview with the Vampire. Now, in one chilling volume, here are the first three classic novels of The Vampire Chronicles.

INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE
Witness the confessions of a vampire. A novel of mesmerizing beauty and astonishing force, it is a story of danger and flight, love and loss, suspense and resolution, and the extraordinary power of the senses.

"A magnificent, compulsively readable thriller . . . Anne Rice begins where Bram Stoker and the Hollywood versions leave off and penetrates directly to the true fascination of the myth–the education of the vampire."
–Chicago Tribune

THE VAMPIRE LESTAT
Once an aristocrat from pre-revolutionary France, now a rock star in the decadent 1980s, Lestat rushes through the centuries seeking to fathom the mystery of his existence. His is a mesmerizing story–passionate and thrilling.

"Frightening, sensual . . . A psychological, mythological sojourn . . . Anne Rice will live on through the ages of literature. . . . To read her is to become giddy as if spinning through the mind of time."
–San Francisco Chronicle

QUEEN OF THE DAMNED
Akasha, the queen of the damned, has risen from a six-thousand-year sleep to let loose the powers of the night. She has a marvelously devious plan to "save" mankind–in this vivid novel of the erotic, electrifying world of the undead.

"With The Queen of the Damned, Anne Rice has created universes within universes, traveling back in time as far as ancient, pre-pyramidic Egypt and journeying from the frozen mountain peaks of Nepal to the crowded, sweating streets of southern Florida."
–Los Angeles Times

Product Details

• Paperback: 1280 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345456343
• ISBN-13: 978-0345456342
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #57,627 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chronicles of the vampires, October 23, 2005

By	E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Anne Rice revamped the vampire-horror genre with the publication of "Interview with the Vampire," a supernational drama from the vampire's own mouth. It became an unexpected hit, and spawned a series of sequels that came to be known as the Vampire Chronicles. The first three books of the series are compiled here, and arguably remain her best.

"Interview With the Vampire" is the story of Louis, a grieving young widower and plantation owner, whose life is turned upside down when he meets the charming vampire Lestat. Lestat offers him a way out: become a vampire. Louis accepts, but once it's done, he finds that vampirism is more than he bargained for -- especially for his conscience.

"The Vampire Lestat" takes a totally different tack, showing us the world through the enigmatic, charming Lestat's eyes. After years of dormancy, Lestat wakes up in time for the early MTV years of the 1980s, becoming a rock star in the tradition of Ozzy and Black Sabbath. And like Louis, Lestat relates his long life's story -- how he became a vampire, his wanderings over the earth, and his investigations into the origins of vampirism itself...

"Queen of the Damned" builds on that research. Lestat's metal music has caused quite a bit of mayhem -- but not this much before: Akasha, Egyptian queen and mother of all vampires, has reawoken from her comalike sleep. The lesser vampires are having strange dreams, some are being murdered by the ruthless queen. Apparently she wants to kill virtually all men. What is more, Akasha has taken a shine to the roguish Lestat himself...

Vampiric autobiography is a given in Anne Rice's bibliography -- she has plenty of bloodsuckers telling us about their lives. But Lestat and Louis's were not just the first ones, but perhaps the most compelling and rich, especially since the two had such radically different viewpoints -- including of one another. Is Lestat a heartless fiend, or a roguish good-craving bad boy? I'd lean towards the latter, to be honest.

The first two books are quite personal -- one is Louis recounting his own miserable life and un-life. Then we get Lestat, a radically different viewpoint, a guy who enjoys his un-life even more than his mortal existance. Finally, there's an epic view of all vampires, throughout history, from the ancient Egyptian queen to the modern biker vamps.

Despite the more controversial recent novels, Anne Rice's first Vampire Chronicles are often reckoned to be modern horror classics. Rich, intriguing and far deeper than you'd think vampire fiction would be.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vintage Rice, October 12, 2002

By	"pinkerton81" (Toronto, Ont CANADA) - See all my reviews

Many people know of Anne Rice's "Interview with the Vampire" due to the popular movie starring Tom Cruise & Brad Pitt. But what some may not be aware of is that "Interview" is only one part of a much larger tale.

Rice has been at it for many years and the Vampire Chronicles span innumberable volumes by this point in time. A reason to buy this particular book is that it collects the first three, and most essential novels in an affordable single edition.

While Rice's future work suffers from sameness and lack of a good editor, this trilogy (Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, and The Queen of the Damned) is filled with striking imagery and an emotional resonance that commands attention. You journey with these characters as they grapple with issues of good and evil, and search for the meaning of their existence... complete with sex and blood and explosions, all that good stuff.

The novels contained in this volume are hugely entertaining and shift through many different moods, perhaps all you ever need to know about Anne Rice - it stands as her best legacy.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great edition of Anne Rice's infamous Vampire saga, March 31, 2008

By	candyapples (Daly City, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is for this particular edition.

I love that the first three (and argueably best) books of the Vampire Chronicles were combined with sleek and well designed cover art. The cover was actually taken from the short-lived Broadway musical, 'Lestat', and this was made as an obvious merchandise tie in. It was nice to see, nonetheless.

It's of a much better quality than the mass market paperback versions and a better deal at $13, since each mass market edition will cost you about $7. The book itself is rather heavy (about 4 lbs), so if you have weak wrists it may be a struggle for you to hold, but text is large and easy to read, the ink does not smudge like the mass market editions do, and the pages are thin and smooth.

If you're contemplating 'plunging into the stream' (the words that the Vampire Lestat himself 'lives' by) by giving Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles a try, than buy this particular version. I can't recommend it enough.