Vittorio the Vampire: New Tales of the Vampires (Hardcover)

by Anne Rice (Author) "When I was a small boy I had a terrible dream..." (more)
Key Phrases: Fra Filippo, Fra Giovanni, San Marco (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Tired of the same old vampires? Check out Anne Rice's new race of undead bloodsuckers, independent of the Lestat series. Her alterna-vamp books began with Pandora, but the second of her New Tales of the Vampires, Vittorio, is truly a new beginning--a more controlled story and probably the best of her last half-dozen books.

Rice has called Vittorio her vampire version of Romeo and Juliet. The hunky Vittorio is sweet 16 and "incalculably rich" in 15th-century Italy, the epoch of the Medicis and Vittorio's favorite painter, madly passionate Filippo Lippi. Florence is to Vittorio what New Orleans is to Interview with the Vampire.

One night, Vittorio's family is butchered by vampires. The gorgeous Ursula spares Vittorio to make him her reluctant undying sweetheart. Ursula's ravishings of Vittorio recall the erotica Rice wrote under her own name and the pen names Anne Rampling and A.N. Roquelaure.

Vittorio flees to the creepy town of Santa Maddalana, which has made a pact to sacrifice its young to Lord Florian's vampire horde. Vittorio is bent on revenge as he invades the eerie Court of the Ruby Grail (i.e. blood), as angry with the child-sacrificing humans as he is with Florian's fang gangsters. Torn between lust, murderous rage, and vampire thirst, Vittorio is one interestingly troubled soul.

Rice urges readers to enter Vittorio's world by reading the sources she embroiders, Fra Filippo Lippi and Public Life in Renaissance Florence, and to get a feel for the scary communion Vittorio sees in the Court of the Ruby Grail by listening to All Souls' Vespers. --Tim Appelo

From Publishers Weekly
Blood and holy water both run thick through the streets of 15th-century Florence in Rice's 21st novel of the undead, the second in a series of New Tales that leave New Orleans's cemeteries behind. While there's not much plot to this lushly described story of how Vittorio di Riniari became a vampire, there's plenty of period detail about Italy's Golden Age. With the courtly arrogance of one who's to the manor born, Renaissance man Vittorio tells of his seduction into evil immortality. As the 16-year-old scion of a wealthy home, he rubs elbows with Cosimo de Medici and is attracted to the work of Fra Filippo Lippi, whose tormented paintings of angels mirror Vittorio's own heart. In the year 1450, he witnesses the massacre of his entire family by a band of demons. Fleeing from the primal scene, he follows the fiends in search of vengeance, and instead is overcome by the devastatingly beautiful "strega," the bare-shouldered Ursula. His desire for revenge?and his desire for Ursula?propel him in a dizzy descent to religion's darkest side, especially after Ursula's vampire attentions render him able to see and converse with angels. Though the narrative is presented as a tragic tale of doomed love, we know so little of the swooning, inarticulate Ursula that there's hardly any romance or suspense. And while Vittorio's particular road to hell is a new entry in Rice's repertoire of vampirification, much of the material is familiar: the rich, brash young man transformed against his will who agonizes over his new existence. Vittorio's painstaking narration of his biography takes so long to acquire momentum that when at one point he admits, "This chapter ought to be over," even diehard readers may be tempted to agree that it's time for a new vampire for a new age. Agent, Lynn Nesbit. (Mar.) FYI: Rice includes a bibliography of readings for greater appreciation of the time period.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 1st edition (March 16, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375401601
• ISBN-13: 978-0375401602
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (256 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #512,688 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars too short!, November 29, 1999

By A Customer

As always, I adored Ms Rice's glorious descriptions of old Italy, and her rapturous ability to convey a love of art and music. I liked Vittorio a good deal, he is one of her more heroic vampire characters. The plot about the haunted city is a classic that deserves to be retold, and the underlying story of temptation and damnation is gripping. But it ended on such an abrupt note! I can't help but feel there should have been more.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anne weaves a masterful tale, April 14, 1999

By A Customer

I can hardly express how much I enjoyed Vittorio. I do have to say though, that I went into reading this amazing work NOT looking for Lestat, or the Witching Hour, or blood and gore. I read it with an open mind. It is NOT one of the Vampire Chronicles, and shouldn't be read as such. I'm dissapointed with the fans that couldn't grasp the concept that there are vampires outside of the small ring. It is wonderful, lush and rich on its own. Yes, it does paint a dark picture of Italy, but that is due to Vittorio's circumstances, having just witnessed the massacre of his family! How should he describe his world? And as for the book being mostly set in his mortal life, it is a change. And change is good. It is supposed to be the story of his early life, which is what it is. And it is amazing. I completely enjoyed the angels' involvement, it was a surprising and lucious twist. I would be greatly dissapointed if Anne didn't challenge what she has done before, and push the boundries of her own worlds, but she does. This is why I will continue to love her. She has never been a "Horror" writer for me, no one should pick up one of her novels expecting this, for you will only be dissapointed. She makes vampires human, giving them thoughts, feelings, and voices, each unique and individual. It's not just about the blood. The imagery in Vittorio is rich, and deep and it is a wonderful work all on its own. She made me really feel Vittorio's pain, and I almost dreaded the moment Ursula tricked him into the dark gift. Though it seems he should have been smarter, I think he really wanted to be fooled. Ah, well, what can I say...Anne has done it again. I think she is growing beyond the little world we've grown comfortable with, and I look forward to seeing what else lies in store.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Anticlimatic New Start, November 3, 1999

By A Customer

While I do enjoy almost all of Rice's work, Vittorio left me somewhat hungry. It's always great to read about new characters, but this book was a complete departure from the magical world Rice has weaved that started with the Chronicles. I might have enjoyed it more had there been even a rudimentary tie to another Vampire character but when you're reading an established series, to introduce a completely alien character is somewhat traumatic. Why should we care about Vittorio? That was never explained. The book was, as usual, well written, but I would have much preferred a novella of a more established character, like Rice did with Pandora. She introduced a host of promising characters in Queen of the Damned, and I wish she had continued along that vein. I, for one, am still waiting for the explanation of where Mekare was during her separation from Maharet. Was she really sleeping the whole time? How depressing!