Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Reviews of The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2)

The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2)
The Vampire Lestat - Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2
Author: Anne Rice
ISBN-13: 9780345313867
ISBN-10: 0345313860
Publication Date: 1986
Pages: 560
Rating:
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 1114

4 stars, based on 1114 ratings
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

87 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 54 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 6
I was instantly an Interview With the Vampire fan, so it was a given I would read this book. The first book makes you hate Lestat. This one will make you fall in love with him, even if you're digging your heels in to keep from it. Another classic from this fantastic writer.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 29 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 6
Amazing story telling. After reading Interview with a Vampire, I could not stand Lestat. After reading this book, I fell in love with him.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on
Helpful Score: 6
Outstanding. One of my favorite books -- terrifying and sensual. Lestat is both hard to like and irresistible. I think this is Rice at her finest.
JennL avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 70 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
This reader found it a little difficult to go from the deceiving spiteful Lestat in Interview to the glorious rockstar in this book. Overall the first book in the Chronicles was much better.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 12 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Nice, tight read. Sexy and intriguing mind candy.
SutterTom avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 191 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
A very well written tale of a vampire who is compelled to seek answers & find meaning in living an eternal life of complex passions, terrors & secrecy.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 8 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
great book from a great series!
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 13 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Read most of it. Great Style and Structure but I had little liking for the story.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 134 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Excellent look into Lestat's past.
LadyLioncourt avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 45 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
SO much better than the first, and that is saying something indeed. You find yourself sucked into the story immediately and do not stop turning pages until you reach the end, and then you are still screaming for more!
carlamo avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 269 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
If you haven't yet read Rice's vampire books, you're missing out. The first few books in the series are definitely the best.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 3 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This book is an interesting read, it gives a more detailed idea of the character. You get a different side to the story that came before with out really going into it. It's written in a way that forces you to see from the characters point of view.
Overall a very good read.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on
Helpful Score: 1
I have listened to the audio tape of Interview with a Vampire, but it did not prepare me for this story seen through LaStat's eyes. This book i9s one of the more "on the edge of my seat" books I have read in a long time. The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice are all MUST READ BOOKS!!!!
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 7 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Enjoyable! Interesting continuation.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 1568 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
The vampire hero of the novel is a creature of the darkest and richest imagination. Once an aristocrat in the heady days of pre-revolutionary France, now a rock star in the demonic, shimmering 1980s, he rushes through the centuries in search of others like him, seeking answers to the mystery of his eternal, terrifying existence. His is a mesmerizing story--passionate, complex, and thrilling.
SanJoseCa avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 328 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Lestat, the mischievous creator of Louis in INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, emergies to tell his own story. A novel of supernatural fiction. A great "sample" of Ann Rices work!
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on
Helpful Score: 1
Anne Rice is a master of description. She has a way of telling a story that creates a perfect image in your mind. This is one of the best books I've read.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 24 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Fabulous, complete in itself, you can safely skip the first book, which is not nearly as good.
justreadingabook avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 1726 more book reviews
One of my all time favorite books, love the way she writes, the descriptions of the south. You really get a solid vivid image of where and when the story is taking place. Excellent characters and details about them. Story moves along well and you can't wait to start the next one.
Nightcrawler avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 207 more book reviews
Classic Anne Rice. My most favorite of her books ever.
Ericabearb avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 6 more book reviews
This book was slow in a few parts but held my interest overall
shanna71 avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 145 more book reviews
This is a great book. The best one!!!!! five star
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 636 more book reviews
I actually enjoyed this quite a bit - mostly because I grew to like the characters of the first book and the material was all new to me. As much as I didn't care for Lestat in the film, he was surprisingly charming in the book. This book had a more immediate feel than _Interview With The Vampire_ and that made it more enjoyable. Anne Rice's husband's poetry makes annoying chapter openers and I'm rather tired of the dragging nature of her writing and the way she skips over parts that I would like to hear more about. Still, I did enjoy it quite a bit - more than I thought I would.
DustBunnie avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 19 more book reviews
Anne Rice shows you why we love that bad boy Lestat.
shukween avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 118 more book reviews
The second title in Rice's classic and elegant take on those who drink the blood, this novel is a worthy prequel to Interview with the Vampire. It ably answers many of the questions raised in IWTV, and sets the stage for the third and final novel of the trilogy, The Vampire Armand. Ann Rice's style is easy to read, her details hang together and leave the reader satisfied that he has gotten a complete recitation of the story. Quite a satisfying read.
jenni7202 avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 42 more book reviews
This is the second book in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. My fiancee wanted me to read this series very badly, and I'm glad that he did. I absolutly LOVED this book, and couldn't seem to put it down. It took me 2 days to read it, but if I didn't have to work I'm sure I would have found it easier to finish it within that first day! Lestat is easily one of my favorite characters of all time now, as are many of the other characters in Rice's Vampire Chronicles.
lestat avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on
This book only made me love Anne Rice even more and the Vampire Lestat
SciFiFan avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 69 more book reviews
Great series! Anne Rice was the originator of the Vampire craze that has swept the book world in Urban Fantasy...but with a literary flair. If you want your vampires with a little more oomph to them along with great writing, then these books are for you!
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 10 more book reviews
I really enjoy this book. Could not put it down
ladyofavalon avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 88 more book reviews
I just re-read this one, and I forgot how much i enjoyed Rice's writing style. She creates characters through lots of dialogue and personal exchanges, but it creates the Brat Prince Lestat SO well, i couldn't help but fall for the book in its entirety.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 63 more book reviews
This book is a smaller size hardcover book (7" x 4").
luv2cnewthings avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 55 more book reviews
Well, you'd have to love Lestate to love the book! Similar to many of Anne Rice's characters - sometimes the fiend once had a heart too. No, not necesserily a love interest. Dreams, hopes and a way out...

If you want a better understanding of what made Lestat de Lioncourt a rockstar of a vampire, please read the book.
hollycoffeebean avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on
For years I have been saying this is my MOST FAVORITE book, and that still stands.

This isn't just about vampires at all, it is the life of a kid who has a "dark moment" when he realizes that death is real and could be the end of everything for him... then becomes a vampire and spends years trying to come to terms with the loneliness that comes with living forever and never finding someone who wants to stay his side as long as he wishes they would, not even his mother.

Beautifully written, I could read it over and over... and I probably will!
b-frank avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 6 more book reviews
All Ms. Rices' vampires are kinda gay. Just eat somebody you wuss!
GemGirl avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 37 more book reviews
The childhood and history of Anne Rice's most popular vampire. This one is a fabulous choice.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on
This was the best of the vampire chronicles. The imagery was amazing and the story line and character development were great. Ive read this book a few times and every time one reads it one discovers something that one missed on the previous reading. Its a great book and really enjoyable to read. Time just flies and its a very easy read due to the content.
dannie8684 avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 12 more book reviews
Love it! The story of lestat before louis. From France to New Orleans and beyond. Check it out!
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 2 more book reviews
I LOVE this book!
vamp avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on
Thought it was a little far out for me. hard to keep up with all those names
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on
I really like these books. But I just felt like Anne over explained Lestat. The book just went on and on about the same thing. Not my favorite book in the Lestat series.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on
This is my favorite!!
bran-flakes14 avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 72 more book reviews
In her continuation of 'The Vampire Chronicles', Anne Rice explores the life and death of her main character Lestat, giving readers an anchor to which to tie his later experiences in other books while expanding on his dualistic nature. Told as more historical novel than straight vampire horrorfest, this novel sheds light, per se, on Lestat's compelling character and introduces amazing new ones, all while expanding the universe in which these tales are set. A chilling climax briefly reveals a disturbing aspect concerning the history of all vampires, told in its entirely in Book 3, but mostly this book is concerned with setting Lestat up as a more fully-realized character and as a bridge between Books 1 and 3. A great read!
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 54 more book reviews
Written from Lestat's point of view, about a successful weak vampire. A long read, but continues to give the reader back story to understanding the vampires.
Bibliocrates avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 252 more book reviews
I enjoyed this book far more than 'Interview with the Vampire,' where Lestat was made out to be the villain. We learn more about Lestat in this book and can't help but feel sorry for him. This story begins with the early education and adventures of Lestat, his coming of age, his fearlessness, his passion. We are with him as he receives The Dark Gift. We are with him as he passes The Dark Gift on to those he loves in order to save them, only to lose them in the end. We learn more about the ancient ones and Those Who Must Be Kept, as we follow Lestat throughout the centuries in search of answers, in search of love. We learn why he has so many enemies. The Vampire Lestat, the damnedest creature indeed. What will become of him?
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 292 more book reviews
Anne Rice is considered one of the best Vampire authors of the day. This is a continueation of Interview with the Vampire. Some don't consider it to be as good. I think it develops her characters nicely. Joalice
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 15 more book reviews
Thrilling and dark. In the series of Anne Rice vampire books.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 23 more book reviews
I am not an Anne Rice fan but again, many people love her books.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on
I'm just not in to Anne Rice the book is in great shape
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 10 more book reviews
I love what I've read of The Vampire Chronicles so far, they really are wonderful reads. One thing however turns me off is the way she seems to take forever to get somewhere. One day I will finish them, but for now they are not at the top of my reading list...
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on
A classic; read it again- add it to your collection. :)
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 74 more book reviews
Great vampire novel. Lestat is a wonderful character! Anne Rice at her best.
VJay avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 49 more book reviews
I love Anne Rice and I love Lestat!
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 16 more book reviews
Frightening and surprising!
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 302 more book reviews
Second book about Lestat the vampire.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 43 more book reviews
2nd book in the Vampire series. Tells of Lestats life and a large amount of the Vampire history
CorsetKitten avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 6 more book reviews
This is an awesome book, as a long time reader of Anne Rice I consider this her best Vampire book.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 40 more book reviews
Love Ann Rice, Love this book!
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 5 more book reviews
Love Anne Rice.. book is wonderful and exciting.
Handlebars avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 153 more book reviews
Amazon.com
After the spectacular debut of Interview with the Vampire in 1976, Anne Rice put aside her vampires to explore other literary interests--Italian castrati in Cry to Heaven and the Free People of Color in The Feast of All Saints. But Lestat, the mischievous creator of Louis in Interview, finally emerged to tell his own story in the 1985 sequel, The Vampire Lestat.

As with the first book in the series, the novel begins with a frame narrative. After over a half century underground, Lestat awakens in the 1980s to the cacophony of electronic sounds and images that characterizes the MTV generation. Particularly, he is captivated by a fledgling rock band named Satan's Night Out. Determined both to achieve international fame and end the centuries of self-imposed vampire silence, Lestat takes command of the band (now renamed "The Vampire Lestat") and pens his own autobiography. The remainder of the novel purports to be that autobiography: the vampire traces his mortal youth as the son of a marquis in pre-Revolutionary France, his initiation into vampirism at the hands of Magnus, and his quest for the ultimate origins of his undead species.

While very different from the first novel in the Vampire Chronicles, The Vampire Lestat has proved to be the foundation for a broader range of narratives than is possible from Louis's brooding, passive perspective. The character of Lestat is one of Rice's most complex and popular literary alter egos, and his Faustian strivings have a mythopoeic resonance that links the novel to a grand tradition of spiritual and supernatural fiction. --Patrick O'Kelley
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 14 more book reviews
This book was wonderful. It made me laugh, cry, and, at one point, cringe. I'll let you guess what it was that made me cringe. A must for any fan of vampire novels and/or Anne Rice.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 21 more book reviews
If you're an Anne Rice fan, this is a "must read"
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 66 more book reviews
This is the best book of the Vampire Chronicles, at the end you truly embrace LeStat.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 4 more book reviews
It's a classic!
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 55 more book reviews
Lestat is one of the most charismatic characters of vampire lit.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 215 more book reviews
Lestat is the vampire hero--once an aristocrat in pre-revolution France, now a rock star of the 80's, searching for others like himself. He seeks answers to how he came to be, and what he should do
for the rest of eternity.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 22 more book reviews
Very good continuation of The Vampire Chronicles.

From the back: Lestat. The vampire hero of Anne Rice's enthralling new novel is a creature of the darkest & richest imagination. Once an aristocrat in the heady days of pre-revolutionary France, now a rock star in the demonic, shimmering 1980s, he rushes through the centuries in search of others like him. seeking answers to the mystery of his eternal, terrifying existence. His is a mesmerizing story - passionate, complex, and thrilling.
ladyofavalon avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 88 more book reviews
classic anne rice. my most favorite of her novels EVER.
tracey13 avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 310 more book reviews
A good follow up to the Interview with a Vampire. Keeps the story racing along.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 30 more book reviews
One of Anne Rice's best books
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 14 more book reviews
Lestat. His is a mesmerizing story passionate, complex, and thrilling.
Tribefan avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 56 more book reviews
This was a wonderfully entertaing book!

Amazon.com
After the spectacular debut of Interview with the Vampire in 1976, Anne Rice put aside her vampires to explore other literary interests--Italian castrati in Cry to Heaven and the Free People of Color in The Feast of All Saints. But Lestat, the mischievous creator of Louis in Interview, finally emerged to tell his own story in the 1985 sequel, The Vampire Lestat.
As with the first book in the series, the novel begins with a frame narrative. After over a half century underground, Lestat awakens in the 1980s to the cacophony of electronic sounds and images that characterizes the MTV generation. Particularly, he is captivated by a fledgling rock band named Satan's Night Out. Determined both to achieve international fame and end the centuries of self-imposed vampire silence, Lestat takes command of the band (now renamed "The Vampire Lestat") and pens his own autobiography. The remainder of the novel purports to be that autobiography: the vampire traces his mortal youth as the son of a marquis in pre-Revolutionary France, his initiation into vampirism at the hands of Magnus, and his quest for the ultimate origins of his undead species.

While very different from the first novel in the Vampire Chronicles, The Vampire Lestat has proved to be the foundation for a broader range of narratives than is possible from Louis's brooding, passive perspective. The character of Lestat is one of Rice's most complex and popular literary alter egos, and his Faustian strivings have a mythopoeic resonance that links the novel to a grand tradition of spiritual and supernatural fiction.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on
This is Book II of the Vampire Chronicles following Interview With A Vampire. Very facinating, hard tp put it down.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 9 more book reviews
Excellent Classic Anne Rice!!

Lestat. The Vampire hero of Anne Rice's enthralling new novel is a creature of the darkest and richest imagination. Once an aristocrat in the heady days of pre-revolutionary France, now a rock star in demonic, shimmering 1980s, he rushes through the centuries in search of others like him, seeking answers to the mystery of his eternal, terrifying existence. His is a mesmerizing story-passionate, complex, and thrilling.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on
I found this book very slow at first. I really didn't get into it until over halfway through it. When I did get interested in it, though, I was hooked.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 9 more book reviews
This is the best Anne Rice book I have every read It is everything an Anne Rice book should be
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 5 more book reviews
2nd in the Vampire series
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 298 more book reviews
love her books.
tapcat16 avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 150 more book reviews
This sequel to Interview with the Vampire takes the world and setting established in the previous book and pumps it up several notches. The story of Louis's sire, Lestat, takes us further back in time, as well as forward to when Lestat reawakens and decides to become a rock star. An incredibly rich character study written in beautiful prose, it is enjoyable even for those who might not consider themselves vampire fans.

Check out my full review.
Kibi avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 582 more book reviews
Je suis le vampire LeStat (du stat)

Je sais, tous les revues qui portent mon nom sont en anglais... ou presque. C'est la raison pour laquelle j'ai décidé, moi, Lestat de Lioncourt, d'arrêter d'aller me frotter le cul au panicaut (vieille expression signifiant: ne rien faire) et d'en construire un en français... ma douce langue maternelle.

Qui sois?

Lestat : C'est un homme de grande taille, ayant les cheveux blonds et des yeux gris vert. Lestat de Lioncourt est un des vampires les plus intelligents, naturellment. Il est originaire de Paris et est né dans une famille de nobles ruinés en province. Il est très fier de sa condition de mort-vivant.
Il use le don obscur d'une manière très habile et toujours à son avantage, il s'en sert pour : lire dans les pensées, dominer par son esprit, léviter... Il a tiré une grande expérience des nombreux voyages à travers le monde : Grèce, Italie, Espagne, Egypte, Roumanie, Hongrie, Etats-Unis...
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 11 more book reviews
I love all of Anne Rice's books.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 683 more book reviews
The Vampire Lestat comes to a dreadful and dazzing life, holding the power to haunt our imaginations and becking us to some sence of magic in ourselfs.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 255 more book reviews
Mass market paperback with red cover. The first sequel to Interview with the Vampire. Read more at AnneRice.com.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 189 more book reviews
Book is in good cond. Different cover than shown.
dellrosie avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 46 more book reviews
Excellent sequel.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on
Once an aristocrat in the heady days of pre-revolutionary France, now Lestat is a rockstar in the demonic, shimmering 1980s. He rushes through the centuries in search of others like him, seeking answers to the mystery of his terrifying exsitence. His story, the second volume in Anne Rice's best-selling Vampire Chronicles, is mesmerizing, passionate, and thrilling.
tommygirl avatar reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 112 more book reviews
My copy has a different cover. Book two of the Vampire Chronicles.
reviewed The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 2 more book reviews
Older front cover, but same great book.