The Queen of the Damned

The Vampire Chronicles #3

by Anne Rice

Did you ever wonder where all those mischievous vampires roaming the globe in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles came from? In this, the third book in the series, we find out. That raucous rock-star vampire Lestat interrupts the 6,000-year slumber of the mama of all bloodsuckers, Akasha, Queen of the Damned.

Akasha was once the queen of the Nile (she has a bit in common with the Egyptian goddess Isis), and it's unwise to rile her now that she's had 60 centuries of practice being undead. She is so peeved about male violence that she might just have to kill most of them. And she has her eye on handsome Lestat with other ideas as well.

If you felt that the previous books in the series weren't gory and erotic enough, this one should quench your thirst (though it may cause you to omit organ meats from your diet). It also boasts God's plenty of absorbing lore that enriches the tale that went before, including the back-story of the boy in Interview with the Vampire and the ancient fellowship of the Talamasca, which snoops on paranormal phenomena. Mostly, the book spins the complex yarn of Akasha's eerie, brooding brood and her nemeses, the terrifying sisters Maharet and Mekare. In one sense, Queen of the Damned is the ultimate multigenerational saga. --Tim Appelo

Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Vampires, Fiction, Paranormal, Supernatural, Urban Fantasy

491 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Anne Rice (born Howard Allen Frances O'Brien) was a best-selling American author of gothic, supernatural, historical, erotica, and later religious themed books. Best known for The Vampire Chronicles, her prevailing thematic focus is on love, death, immortality, existentialism, and the human condition. She was married to poet Stan Rice for 41 years until his death in 2002. Her books have sold nearly 100 million copies, making her one of the most widely read authors in modern history.

Anne Rice passed on December 11, 2021 due to complications from a stroke. She was eighty years old at the time of her death.

She uses the pseudonym Anne Rampling for adult-themed fiction (i.e., erotica) and A.N. Roquelaure for fiction featuring sexually explicit sado-masochism.

Reviews

[Danielle Sepulveda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all of the vampire chronicles this is by far my favorite. If you have seen the movie and were not impressed. It's ok because neither was I. The movie is nothing like the book in any way. The book goes into detail and answers a lot questions. Goes into detail of the family tree and tells you how Akasha and Enkil became to be. I love every single part of this book and it really was a page turner for me. I love everything from the twins, to Armand and Daniel. Everything! All of these characters are so beautifully put together I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reading about vampires.

[D · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the book that pretty much killed my desire to read anything more by Rice. Only 3 books into the Chronicles and I was already weary of her style. As it was, the book was so dull that it took me ages to finish it.

I despised a great deal of the new characters and their stories, but as usual, I enjoyed the history (particularly Egypt) where certain stories took place. I could not stand the inclusion of the whole Talamasca thing and found myself rolling my eyes whenever that mess came into play. And Louis fan that I am, I was disappointed to see so little of the character I had bonded with in the first book.

Not a book I would care to ever read again.

[Apatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a lot of Anne Rice in the 80s, both her Vampire Chronicles and her Mayfair Witches series. I always find her very readable and there is always some dark beauty in her prose. However, like most series the quality tend to drop off after three or four volumes, the authors either begin to repeat themselves or try something radically different or experimental which does not work. As far as The Vampire Chronicles is concerned I think Ms. Rice has done a bit of both, and I lost interest after the fifth volume Memnoch the Devil.

Most readers of The Vampire Chronicles agree that the first three books of the series are the best. I would go as far as to say that these are the best vampire fiction I have ever read. Bram Stoker has nothing on Anne Rice as far as literary talent is concerned. Stephenie Meyer does not even deserve to be mentioned in the same breath.

OK, enough useless preamble. I reread The Queen of the Damned as part of my Halloween horror binge. I have long neglected the horror genre in favor of sci-fi, fantasy and even mainstream fiction. It never occurred to me to reread the first two Vampire Chronicles books Interview with the Vampire and The Vampire Lestat because I still remember the stories very well even decades after reading them (the Tom Cruise movie adaptation is even more fresh in my memory). The Queen of the Damned however, is only remembered in term of broad plot outline, and I the denouement totally escaped me. I think this is because there is so much in this book. It is more epic is scale and more complex in structure and characterization.

Akasha. Art by by Klodia007

In the previous book The Vampire Lestat Lestat, the rebellious star of the Chronicles has become a rock star with hit albums (I think he made some kind of hair metal with weird lyrics). His vampiric brand of metal mayhem has the unfortunate effect of waking up Akasha the original vampire, with megalomaniac tendencies. Soon she is dispatching young (or crappy) vampires left and right with her mental powers and human males in general are on her (s)hit list. Who can stop the most powerful vampire ever? I won’t spoil it for you, but it is probably not whoever it is you are thinking of.

There are long flashback chapters where the narrative is set in ancient Egyptian time where the human queen Akasha is turned into the first vampire almost by accident. This part of the tale involves good and evil spirits, cannibalism and curses, it really is quite riveting. The sections set in the modern world is almost as exciting, Anne Rice’s world building and vampire mythos is some of the most vivid fantastical creation ever. I particularly like the Talamasca, the secret society for investigation of the paranormal where Fox Mulder would feel right at home.

Anne Rice’s prose always go down well with me, I particularly like her description of the elation and shame of vampire feeding:

“When they drank the blood they felt ecstasy. Never had they known such pleasure, not in their beds, not at the banquet table, not when drunk with beer or wine. That was the source of the shame. It hadn't been the killing; it had been the monstrous feeding. It had been the pleasure.”

Akasha by Deathstars69

Her descriptions of characters are always quite vivid:

“Her skin was white and hard and opaque as it had always been. Her cheek shone like pearl as she smiled, her dark eyes moist and enlivened as the flesh puckered ever so slightly around them. They positively glistered with vitality.”

The Queen of the Damned is definitely worth rereading if you have read it ages ago like I have, of course if you have not read it before it is even more of an imperative though I would recommend reading the previous two books in the chronicles first. This should not be much of a hardship as they are seriously gripping reads. That said if you were to read it as a standalone I think it would still be quite understandable.

A great read from first page to last.

Notes:
• Fans of Twilight may find this interesting:


• The 2002 movie adaptation is indeed a mess, but Aaliyah actually did a good job, and she died soon after the movie's release, poor girl 😢

Aaliyah as Akasha

[Repellent Boy · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Entrevista con el vampiro" fue un libro que me voló la cabeza, principalmente porque me encontré algo totalmente diferente a lo que me esperaba, me tope con una narración super reflexiva, con tintes filosóficos, que constantemente daban lugar a la reflexión. Cuando leí "Lestat el vampiro" volví a sorprenderme, ya que esta segunda parte era totalmente opuesta a la anterior. Pese a que mantenía en ciertas partes ese tono reflexivo, incluía una gran parte de aventura, agrandando el mundo bastante reducido del primer volumen. Así que empecé "La reina de los condenados" sin saber muy bien que me iba a encontrar, pero el resultado ha sido el descubrimiento de otra joyita dentro del universo de las "Crónicas vampíricas".

Uno de los grandes puntos fuertes que tiene esta parte es la explicación que le da al origen del vampirismo, como se inició todo y cual fue la razón que lo originó Me ha gustado mucho como ha sido explicado, ya que pese a meterse en un gran jardín del que podía salir mal parada, Anne Rice ha logrado darle un motivo interesante, creíble y apasionante. De hecho ha sido una de las partes que más he disfrutado de la novela.

En esta tercera entrega el mundo se expande de una manera brutal, al elenco de personajes reducido de la primera parte y el secundario de la segunda, se le unen una gran variedad de personajes que enriquecen muchísimo la historia. Y además mucho de estos personajes son femeninos, lo que para mí es un gran punto a favor. Y es que las anteriores partes pecan un poco de centrarse especialmente en personajes masculinos. Akasha, Maharet o Pandora son personajazos al mismo nivel de Lestat, Louis o Armand, pero que normalmente no tienen tanto reconocimiento, cosa que no tiene sentido. Y este libro se centra bastante en estas mujeres. De hecho, el mejor personaje de este tercer libro es, sin duda, Akasha.

Siguiendo con Akasha, debo confesar que he sentido una gran apego por este personaje, que es temido y odiado, ya que representaba de alguna manera a la gran villana de la historia. Sin embargo, para mí ha sido la más coherente de todos los personajes, y la única que basaba sus actos en motivaciones reales y entendibles. Me he enamorado mucho de este personaje. Junto con Claudia y Lestat, mi favorita de todo el universo, al menos por ahora.

En definitiva, que vaya maravilla de saga, probablemente la mejor que hay sobre vampiros. En cada libro encuentro cosas diferentes de las que encontré en el anterior, pero todos forman un conjunto maravilloso y se complementan entre ellos. Además, como la historia siempre continua justo donde lo dejaron, mantiene ese efecto de considerarlo todo una misma cosa. En este punto, me toca intercalar ya esta saga con la de "Las brujas de Mayfair" y solo espero que sea la mitad de buena que esta. Ojalá.

[Nicola · Rating 1 out of 5]

I like books. I like reading them, writing them, sleeping with every word I have ever read staring down at me in a legacy of comforting language. I have only ever in my life put down two books without finishing them, and throughout this whole torturous affair I had to continuously remind myself that I don't want that figure to reach three. In short, this was slow, painful and pointless, more of an elongated love affair with Rice's beloved Lestat than any honest attempt to, y'now, educate or entertain her audience. I wish I hadn't started it, because then I could have read something else.

Plot? There is effectively none. The whole thing is told through a series of side-stories and flashbacks, with the actual conflict resolved in a handful of pages at the back end of the book, about two or three hundred after I started actually, verbally yelling at the thing to get to the point already. Nothing at all is accomplished; Rice cleans up her mythology a little bit and injects a bit more vampiric superpowers into her fictional crush Lestat. This, more than anything, is what grates about the story. Every character spends far too much time worrying over Lestat. It is an elongated aggrandizing, a chance to reiterate just how attractive, devilish, powerful and irresistible the irritating little godlet is. Every other character spends far, far too much time worrying over him, and each mewling phrase sticks out of the narrative like a staple in a quiche. Even the titled Queen of the Damned herself, who at points showed the potential to be a well-realized character with a handful of villainous virtues and flaws, is inevitably defeated because Lestat is just too damned beautiful for anyone to resist. It's tiresome, it's awful, and it makes me angry - because there ARE hints, here and there, of surprising narrative potential, if only when the author pulls her head out of her own ass long enough to write a chapter that has absolutely nothing to do with her favorite dead, white masturbation fodder.

Skip it; watch the movie if you must, it's shorter.

[Fangs for the Fantasy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lestat has rocked the vampire world with his music and his book revelations. But his voice has reached far more than he imagined – it has come to the ears of Akasha, the first vampire, the Queen of the Damned. For the first time in millennia, she has woken up

And she has plans – plans for Lestat, plans for the world of vampires and plans for all humanity.

It falls for a few ancient vampires to try and stop her as she unleashes carnage to realise her vision of what the world should be.



This book is 460 pages long. And like every Anne Rice books I’ve read to date it could easily be half that or less. I cannot even begin to describe the amount of redundancy and repetition there is in this book.

Usually when we get a character, the author will describe a bit about them, give some insight into their background and let the rest develop as the story progresses. Not Anne Rice. In these books we get a character and before they do anything even slightly relevant we have to have their life history. Not just their life history, but if we’re really lucky, we get their ancestry back 3 generations (at least) as well. It’s boring, it’s dull, it’s utterly irrelevant to anything resembling the plot.

I can’t even say there’s much in the way of coherent plot here anyway. A large part of the book involves recapping the last book. We have the dreams of the twins that just serve to be ominous foreshadowing – but are repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated over and over. I really can’t stress how repetitive this book is – this same dream is recounted not just from multiple sources but then multiple times from each source. And this is a theme throughout the books, we have multiple sources all thinking about Lestat and his music – but all thinking exactly the same thing about Lestat and his music. So we get the same thing over and over

And when people finally gather together their grand plan is EPIC EXPOSITION. Seriously, people being slaughtered, Askasha raging away and the gang gathers to have 2 solid nights of storytelling. The most long winded, repetitive story telling imaginable. Face the enemy with long winded folktales!

Then there’s the characters – all of who’s point of view we are treated to in ridiculous length – most of which are utterly irrelevant. At least Louis and Gabrielle and Armand have some history in the story and we don’t see too much from their POV, they’re recognised as being spectators. But the rest? What exactly was the point of Khayman? He just kind of sat in a corner and was ineffably sad. But we got pages and pages from his POV. Jesse? What did Jesse actually do? What was the point of her? What was the relevance of her Great Family? But she was there, her POV, her chapters worth of backstory was dragged up, we roped in the Talamasca for more pages of pointlessness – because none of it was relevant. None of it added to the overall plot. None of it added to the ending. None of her history or story was really relevant. And Daniel – another character inserted with a painfully long backstory and history with Armand who, like Louis and Gabrielle and Armand and Jesse, ended up being nothing more than a spectator for the – and I use the term loosely – action. These characters are not part of the story, they’re spectators, it’s like stopping a play in the middle so we can hear the biography of Mrs. Jones in the 3rd row of the theatre. It doesn’t matter, I have no reason to care, it’s pure padding

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[Beckie Shotwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the best one of them all. It fills in all the holes and makes for a fascinating read. The only character who didn't seem to fit in with the story was the Baby character who killed her mother and father. The only thing I could figure out was that she gave us Anne Rice's ideas of the afterlife. That you just go up into a wonderful loving place with all the people in your life even if you were a horrible person. The rest was sheer creativeness. That a vampire could be so ancient and complete he/she didn't need to kill anymore was cool. The idea that an ancient making a new vampire made a "super" vampire was cool also. And Lestat was right, Louis does whine a lot! :)

[Elle (ellexamines on TT & Substack)]

redeeming your villain by having them do bdsm with the narrative framing device is basically a classic literary move

[Nicola O. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I kept waiting for it to get interesting but it never did. It got stupider and stupider until I thought my brains were leaking out. If I were on a desert island with nothing to read but this book, I would scratch out old 80's pop lyrics with a twig in the sand before trying to read this dreck again.

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started my reading adventure with Anne Rice vampire novels and I'm still very much enjoying them. However the news of her death made it a little difficult to finish this book and do a review. Had to take a little break not to get influenced by my feelings for the real events and wait a little until i could get fully invested in the story itself. I enjoyed her writing and that it wasn't has romance heavy and cringy as I thought the series was before reading it. Will definitely continue on with the series

[Miquel Reina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Queen of the Damned is the third book of the successful "Vampire Chronicles" saga by the author Anne Rice. For me, it's a novel that is impossible to understand without reading "Lestat, the vampire". In this chapter, Rice immerses you in the bowels of the origin of vampires and the myths and legends of the ancient Egypt. Akasha is The Queen of the Damned, an exotic, dangerous and trapped in a remote time character. Rice guides us in a world of strong contrasts where darkness and evil mix in an almost inseparable way with hope and kindness. The Queen of Damned is a book that I recommend to all fans who have begun to discover the books of Anne Rice and for those who have not yet done so! (PD. If you have watched the film try to forget it, in my opinion, is one of the worst book adaptations of all time! ;D)

Spanish version:
La Reina de los condenados es el tercer libro de la exitosa saga "Cronicas Vampíricas" de Anne Rice. Para mi es una novela que es imposible de entender sin haber leído "Lestat, el Vampiro". En esta novela Anne Rice nos sigue sumergiendo en las entrañas del origen de los vampiros y de sus mitos y leyendas más ancestrales hasta transportarnos a épocas tan remotas como las del antiguo egipto. Akasha es la reina de los condenados, un personaje exótico, peligroso y atrapado en un tiempo remoto. De nuevo Rice consigue hacernos sumergir en un mundo de fuertes contraposiciones en el que las tinieblas y la maldad se mezclan de forma casi indisoluble con la esperanza y la bondad. Un libro que recomiendo a todos los fans que hayan empezado a descubrir los libros de Anne Rice y para los que aún no lo hayan hecho! (pd. Si has visto la película intenta olvidarla, para mí es una de las peores adaptaciones que nunca se han hecho de un libro).

[Lotti · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not give a single fuck about anything that happened in this book

[Tony Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

La reina de los condenados ha despertado finalmente, Akasha la madre de todos los vampiros ha dejado su letargo y tiene una misión en mente, acomodar todo el caótico mundo en el que vivimos, pero como los humanos que han tenido esa idea, y que padecen de un terrible exceso de soberbia, ella tiene una solución radical, extrema y simple, ¿de quién es la culpa de que el mundo esté tan mal? ¿Sera de los judíos? ¿Sera de los ricos? ¿Será de los inmigrantes? No, ya todo eso se ha dicho, para Akasha es más simple aun, la culpa es de los hombres, si del sexo masculino, así que su maravillosa idea es matar a todos los hombres, dejando aproximadamente uno de cada cien, y para ello usara como instrumento a las mujeres, que a través de sus poderes compulsión obligara a asesinar a sus hermanos, padres, hijos, hasta librar al mundo de lo que ella cree es la razón de todo mal.

En todo esto entra Lestat, su príncipe querido, que mostrando bastante hipocresía por parte de Akasha, si merece vivir, y no solo eso, lo hace su compañero, y otra de sus armas, volviendo a Lestat uno de los vampiros más fuertes que existen, pero a la vez mas inútil como personaje, prácticamente Lestat no hace nada en el libro, es superman con la mente de Bizarro, un tonto con poderes que van de lo asombroso a lo estúpido.

¿Qué puedo rescatar de este libro? La historia de las gemelas, desde el principio del libro varios personajes irán contando un sueño en el que ven un ritual con unas gemelas pelirrojas, esto puede parecer repetitivo, pero al desarrollarse es lo mejor del libro, se sabrá finalmente el origen exacto de los vampiros, además Rice incluye brujas en su historia. También el consejo de los vampiros que trataron de razonar con Akasha, sus argumentos fueron muy buenos, y por ultimo el final, no me apena decir que disfrute la muerte de Akasha y que toda su misandria y plan se fueran al traste, me recordó esta frase de Tyrion :3

No sé si seguiré leyendo los libros de Rice, su primer libro me encanto, su segundo libro me gusto, y ya este es aceptable, creo que tengo problemas con Lestat como protagonista, extraño a Louis con toda su melancolía, que por cierto si sale en este libro, pero como personaje secundario, y para profundizar su relación con Lestat.

¿Qué me recomiendan los lectores de Rice, debería seguir con la saga?

la historia es una retahíla de injusticias, nadie lo niega. Pero ¿cuándo una simple solución no ha sido sino perjudicial? Sólo en la complejidad podemos encontrar las respuestas. A través de la complejidad el hombre lucha hacia la claridad; es un proceso lento y lleno de obstáculos, pero es el único camino. La simplicidad exige demasiados sacrificios. Siempre los ha exigido

[Cody | CodysBookshelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Vampire Chronicles — Anne Rice’s seminal work — keeps getting better. While I was lukewarm on Interview With the Vampire (though my reading of its sequels has deepened my appreciation of that dark little novel), I quite enjoyed The Vampire Lestat and was blown away by The Queen of the Damned. This novel shows Rice getting a firm grip on her vampires; she juggles action and exposition (and angst — oh, the angst!) expertly here, never allowing the story’s pace to flag. Not once was I bored or wanted to skim, as has been the case at times in the previous two Vampire books.

At the end of book two, Lestat awakened Akasha, the Queen of the Undead, from a six thousand-year slumber, and upon wakening she yearns to rule with an iron fist. The worlds of the mortal and immortal alike are in peril; some Vampires are spared from certain death . . . why? What is She saving them for? Read and find out.

This book features, on top of many exquisitely horrific moments, some superb character development. Marius, Armand, Pandora, Jesse, Daniel, the Twins . . . I loved these characters, one and all, and can’t wait to read about them in future volumes. Lestat and Louis’s relationship is also brought full circle in a heartbreaking callback scene to Interview With the Vampire. I was choking back the tears when reading that.

What can I say, I had a blast with this book. I will soon be starting volume four!

[Kit (Metaphors and Moonlight) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars

Review:
So, my review is once again… really long. I can’t help it! I have so many thoughts! I’m trying to at least divide these up as much as possible so that you all can choose which sections interest you and just read those if you don’t want to read the whole thing :-)

Things I Disliked/Things I Didn’t Mind but Others Might Dislike:

– A lot of the writing choices in this series are strange. For example, the book started off with Lestat breaking the fourth wall, explaining how he was going to tell us the story of what happened since the ending of the last book. He even explained how he was going to jump to other characters’ perspectives (though that made more sense when I got to the end). And in every book so far, at least one character has explained their entire life story out loud to someone else.

– There’s also a lot of fluff. The characters really like to wax lyrical and over-explain things. But I’m guessing this is just Anne Rice’s style.

– There were a lot of POVs, not all of which seemed necessary. BUT while I didn’t care for some of the POVs (Jesse’s, Pandora’s), I loved others (Daniel’s, Khayman’s), and I did enjoy getting such a well-rounded view of events and getting to know everyone better.

– The book was slow and meandering, and not a lot actually happened. We didn’t even get to the concert until like halfway through. Then things got interesting at the concert. Then things slowed down again. This book seemed to be mostly backstory about various different vampires and how vampires came into existence.

Things I Liked:

– Not only are all the characters so complex, these vampires are so not-human. They masquerade as human, but they’re not. The way they think and feel is so different.

– All the relationships are so complex too. I also find it so interesting the way all the vampires are psychically connected. That makes for interesting connections and interactions among them. And it’s nice when they actually care about each other, like how Pandora and Santino both cared about Marius enough to trek through the frozen tundra to save him.

– It was cool getting to see the characters from other perspectives, to see the way other characters saw them. It helped me understand and get to know all of them better. Especially since every POV is so deep and biased that I sometimes don’t even realize something about a character until another points it out. It’s like every new POV causes me to reconsider my thoughts and feelings about things.

– This has got to be the most unique, complex, well thought-out explanation for vampirism, how it started, why it works the way it does, etc. that I have ever seen.

– I loved the ending. Well, part of it— *SPOILER* The way they all overcame issues among themselves and came together, agreeing to always meet up again. *END SPOILER*

– This is more of a neutral thing than a like or dislike, but all these characters are so forgiving. I mean, I don’t know that I’d have forgiven them for some of the things they’ve done to each other. But I guess, when you’re immortal and have a limited choice of fellow immortal beings to befriend and keep away the loneliness and madness, it makes sense.

My Thoughts on the Characters (there might be *SPOILERS* in this section):

– Armand. I stand by my assessment that Armand is awful. However, he’s also the most entertaining of the vampires so far because of how Anne Rice really plays with the whole “old immortal who can’t keep up with changes and doesn’t understand modern times” thing. Like, on one end of the spectrum, you have Lestat who can seemingly adapt to anything; he rises from the ground after who knows how long, and within a couple weeks, he’s decked out in leather, riding a motorcycle, joining a band, writing songs, planning out music videos, typing up his own memoir, and basically taking over the human world as a rockstar. Meanwhile:

Once Armand had dragged Daniel out of bed in New Orleans and shouted at him: “That telephone, I want you to dial Paris, I want to see if it can really talk to Paris.”

Technological inventions began to obsess Armand, one after the other. First it was kitchen blenders, in which he made frightful concoctions mostly based on the colors of the ingredients; then microwave ovens, in which he cooked roaches and rats. Garbage disposers enchanted him; he fed them paper towels and whole packages of cigarettes.

Back to him being awful though, I’ve talked about the things he did in previous books already, and in this one, he basically ruined Daniel’s life and sanity (before he finally turned him). First, he basically just told Daniel that he was going to stalk him and possibly kill him, unless he proved to be interesting. That went on for a while, and poor Daniel lived in constant fear, on the verge of madness. Then he stopped for a bit, Daniel started feeling sane and well again, only for Armand to swoop back in and tell Daniel he loved him and that Daniel was his now and that, from now on, he could do what he wanted during the day but would spend his nights with Armand. He even made Daniel have sex with people while he watched. I really don’t think I’d call it consensual given how controlling Armand was of Daniel, and Daniel himself said he would be aroused during but feel resentful after. Armand was horribly manipulative (but that’s nothing new), and Daniel was horribly exhausted from years of being dragged around, made to go along with all of Armand’s whims. However, I think Armand cares more about Daniel than he’s ever cared for any other living being (there was Marius, of course, but he literally belonged to Marius, and I think he only felt love for Marius because he was beautiful and otherworldly and the first one to treat him with compassion, so I’m not really sure how I feel about that). And that’s… kind of sad. That this is love to him. That this is how he treats the person he cares about most. And I can’t help but wonder if Daniel actually loves him back or if he just feels what he feels because of his obsession with immortality/vampires and the crazy way Armand essentially took over his life. But now that Daniel is vampire, Armand seems to be treating him better at least.

Oh, and let’s also not forget that Armand treated Lestat horribly in the past, but as soon as Akasha woke and started killing vampires but sparing the ones closest to Lestat, Armand wanted Lestat’s protection.

But like I said, he’s entertaining. And complex. And some strange part of me likes him despite everything he’s done. I guess I feel for him. In a way, he’s a bit like Claudia in that he never really got to have a normal human life before being turned.

– Daniel. I found Daniel just as complex and interesting as all the others, but he was a bit of a hot mess. As a human, he was obsessed with immortality and vampires and then Armand to the point that he’d just stop eating and wander around a city half-mad and/or near-death until Armand sent someone to rescue him. Once he got what he wanted, I have to agree with Marius’s description that Daniel was basically drunk. He was just perpetually fascinated and amused by everything. He didn’t even have the sense to feel worry when Akasha was incinerating all the vampires around them.

– Khayman. I felt bad for him. Khayman was so old, one of the oldest, and he was just so lonely. The poor man just kept trying to be friends with every vampire he came across. He offered his name freely, he tried to help them, etc. He did a terrible thing in the past, absolutely, but he admitted that and regretted it and only did it because he would’ve been killed otherwise and someone worse would’ve just been commanded to do it anyway, so I was able to like him for who he is now. I’m happy he finally has a coven of sorts.

– Marius. I felt bad for him too, for different reasons. He took on this heavy, thankless burden of watching over Akasha and Enkil for so many years. Then, when she woke, she mocked him, destroyed his home, and nearly destroyed him but spared him only because of her feelings for Lestat. I could understand why Marius felt bitter. But he was still kind-hearted and couldn’t even hold onto that bitterness for long, plus he still didn’t want anything bad to happen to Lestat or to anyone. I like his compassion, patience, and wisdom.

– Maharet. To put it bluntly, Maharet has been through some shit. Yet she never let it break her. She even found a way to avoid the despair and madness that claims all the other vampires, either causing them to go into the fire or into the earth. I don’t know that I felt much connection with her, but I admired her.

– Lestat. I’ll give Lestat credit—he stood up to Akasha and told her that what she was doing was wrong, knowing full well that she could and might kill him. But then, so did Marius, Gabrielle, Louis, and Maharet, so this act of morality doesn’t really make him special. He wasn’t really my favorite person in this novel, I guess, since more than ever it was apparent how reckless Lestat was. He wanted to have attention and to start a war and never actually stopped to think how many innocents might harmed in the process. And he said himself that when he wants to do something, he’s going to do it, regardless of rules or anything. In a way, I relate to his rebelliousness, the way he won’t just sit back and accept it if he doesn’t agree with someone. But I’m also a fairly rule-following person the rest of the time, so sometimes I find his rebelliousness annoying. I also didn’t understand how he could love Akasha (then again, he didn’t know the whole backstory). But he does bring all the drama and fun to these books.

– Akasha. I hated Akasha. Her ways of twisting everything around and creating delusions out of desperation to make herself seem better, to make things go her way, to make things fit with what she wanted to believe, was taken to an extreme because of what she is, but it was a realistic mindset. And that was what made her even more awful to read about.

– Gabrielle. Oddly enough, despite hardly having a part in this book, Gabrielle has grown on me. She’s fiercely loyal to Lestat; she even did little things just to try and make him happy at the end. And really, she goes off into the wilderness and keeps to herself, not causing problems with anyone (other than those she kills, which I can accept since she needs blood to survive).

– Louis. I feel like a lot of people don’t like him, but I do. I like how human Louis is, and I too would be the one scolding Lestat for being too rebellious. I feel like we could get along.

Overall Thoughts:

Yes, there were some negatives to this book, mostly that it was slow with a lot of fluff, but I still think it was worth it. I think all three books so far have been worth it because these are some of the most unique and complex characters I have ever read about!

*I’ve read this book multiple times. This review was written after my 2nd read.*

Reread Ratings:
No Rating (1st Read – mid/late 2000s)
3 Stars (2nd Read – 2017)

Recommended For:
Fans of Books 1 and 2 in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. Anyone who likes beautiful yet deadly vampires, descriptive writing, and amazingly complex characters.

Original Review @ Metaphors and Moonlight

[Ashley Daviau · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as the first two in the series but it is a thoroughly entrancing read nonetheless! Rice has such a way with words, she writes so beautifully and it amazes me more with each book I read by her. I enjoyed the more historical aspect of this one, getting to know the background of the vampires and how they came to be was incredibly interesting. My only complaint is the shifting POVs, normally I’m a fan of multiple POVs but it just didn’t work with this book for me!

[Flo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the moment when Anne Rice takes the Marvel route. The lead characters stories have already been told, so they aren’t sure what they’re supposed to do now. The new characters are only minor ones. For a series that started without villains, this time there unfortunately is one. And the end, of course, must come with a tease for the next installment.

I continued with the series, and it has its good moments, but I still wish The Vampire Lestat had been the last one.

[Edith Romero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Qué maravilla de mundo creado tan sublimemente por Anne Rice. Es fantástica su manera de narrar, describir, deshilar una historia, estos tres libros que he leído de Las crónicas vampíricas son una verdadera joya. Me fascina y me transporta a esos lugares mágicos, lúgubres, tétricos, de muerte, de esperanza y desafios.

Aquí, nuevamente, vemos la historia de varios personajes ya conocidos, y algunos nuevos. Para mí, de los personajes más emblemáticos, y que fascinan, sin lugar a dudas, es Akasha, La Madre, hermosa, poderosa, misteriosa, que hiela la sangre y que en ocasiones no sabía si sentir temor, horror, o lástima y compasión por ella. El propósito que la mueve, en lo que ella cree, lo que desea crear, se me ha hecho sumamente interesante, para reflexionar, meditar y analizar en profundidad. Hubo momentos en que la apoyé, si no es que todo el tiempo lo hice, pero también sentía que no era lo correcto. Maharet y su historia, junto con su hermana, Mekare, son otros dos personajes importantes que crean una especie de magia y misterio. Jesse, un personaje fresco y jovial, la parte de su historia, relacionada con Maharet, muy mágica. Pandora, un personaje misterioso, cautivante. Hasta Khayman que, a pesar de ser un personaje secundario, en su momento llegó su parte de historia atrapante.

El hecho de profundizar en el origen de todo, cómo lo narra Rice en Lestat el vampiro, aquí hace uso de todo un derroche detallado de sucesos, de acontecimientos que explican tal cual fue el motivo y el porqué se llegó a la inmortalidad, hechos que para mí han sido muy creíbles e increíbles, los motivos que plantea Rice, son totalmente diferentes a los ya conocidos anteriormente en la literatura. Y la verdad es que me ha gustado sobremanera, me ha llenado y cautivado.

La Reina de los condenados es, cómo los anteriores volúmenes, una obra repleta de reflexiones filosóficas, existenciales, morales y condenatorias, todo a lo que Anne Rice nos tiene acostumbrados.

Ahora, espero ansiosa continuar con ésta saga, sin importar que, según las críticas, comienza a decaer.

[Димитър Цолов · Rating 4 out of 5]

Радвам се, че препрочетох Интервю с вампир, преди да посегна към втория и третия роман от хрониките на Ан Райс, защото има доста препратки между тях, та такива видни късопаметници и разпилени читатели като моя милост, пък и не само, е хубаво да се запознават с книгите от серията в последователността им на излизане.

Царицата на прокълнатите започна директно оттам, където свърши Вампирът Лестат, направи лека ретроспекция, обясняваща случилото се на финала на споменатия роман и продължи напред.

Харесаха ми няколко неща:

- тук имаше повече разказвачи, респ. различни гледни точки към едни и същи събития;
- обосновката на феномена вампиризъм, преплетена с египетската митология се оказа доста добре изградена;
- р��верансът на авторката към съпруга ѝ, поетът Стан Райс - всички части на романа започваха с фрагменти от негови произведения. Не че ги разбрах де, но ми се стори доста сладурско;
- почти шеговитото намигане към собственото ѝ творчество с мистификацията на предните две книги, които (това редовно се споменаваше) за непросветените люде може да са художествена литература, но в действителност наистина са интервю, взето от един кръвопиец и автобиография на друг такъв. Сладурско на квадрат!

В заключение, номинациите за наградите Брам Стокър и Л��кус, съответно през 1988 и 1989, са напълно заслужени.

[Jess The Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am completely in love with this series. I love the way that Anne Rice weaves a tale, her writing is so hypnotic.

This book continues from the events of the Vampire Lestat, which gave an introduction to Akasha, the Queen of the Damned, and her back story in ancient Egypt. This book takes the tale further and explains the supernatural origin of vampires as a species. The book stepped away from Lestat's point of view in the Vampire Lestat, and takes us through the minds of various vampires as they tell the story of Akasha and the mystery of the redheaded twins.

What a great story, I can't wait to continue with the rest of the books in this series.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did buy this book because I had just read "The vampire Lestat" and found a review of the next instalment in an American magazine. I cut it out of the magazine and took it to my local bookstore and even if they did not have it in their catalogues they had enough information through the article to try and order this. And what I got was a 1st limited edition, which explained when th bookstore phoned me when it arrived that they stressed the fact that I was not bound to buy it from them as it was a wee bit more expensive as I would expect. They had other buyers if I would decline buying it. As it turned out those were employees of the store that knew the series and were impressed by this edition. Needless to say I bought it. And stll treasure it as a beautifull book.

This is the closing chapter of Lestats first three books. The first one being a description of Lestat through the eyes of another vampire made by Lestat. The second one is the tale of Lestat from his point of view and how he started a carreer as a rocksinger essentialy telling his version of the story of his live through music.
This book tells about the first vampires of whom the female gets woken by the behaviour of Lestat and his music. She takes action to preserve the world of vampires by a wee bit of genocide among the bloodsuckers, of whom the ranks have grown beyond handling their affairs in the darkness of the night.

It is in my humble opinion one of the better tales in the Vampire series by Anne Rice. However her writings have become a bit tedious for me these days, perhaps due to the overkill of similar vampires in the media. Anne Rice was perhaps one of the earlier authors together with Chelsea Quinn Yarbro in writing this gothic and romantic bloodsucker, these days they are copied to death.

I still have this book because it is such a beautifull version.

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars. That last scene between Lestat and Louis was worth reading this book alone. What a way to end a book!

Also, this movie tie in cover is my favorite cover of this book just for the fact that the beautiful Aaliyah (R.I.P) is on it and yes I went out of my way to get this particular edition. I have no regrets.

Aside from that ending this book was damn good. It wasn’t as good as book two, The Vampire Lestat (I honestly don’t think any other book in this series will be able to touch that one for me personally) but it was still very much every bit of a five star read for me. I loved that we got a lot of Armand and his progeny, Daniel and I was absolutely fascinated with everything they had going on. I adore Armand and am very excited to get to his book in the series.

A lot of reviews say that you should really stop after this book since it’s the last good one but I can’t. I am obsessed with these characters, this world, and Rice’s writing. I’m sure there will be a lot of flops along the way but I cannot quit. I’m probably going to regret this in the end but whatever.

[Matthew Leeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book and all the interwoven stories and characters. I actually liked Akasha until she kept blabbing on and on about her 'plan' of killing all the men of the world. I can see why they killed her... She should have just went along with them, maybe she would have lived longer. I liked Jesse a lot, her character was really interesting. The Claudia cameo was awesome, and the diary excerpt was cool. Kind of made me want Anne to write a full length Claudia diary. This book was a really good addition to the series. I wished Lestat's musical career would have lasted longer. Louis and Gabrielle being in this book was good also, I never get tired of those characters. They rank up there for me. I also liked Maharet and her twin sister was pretty bad-ass. All she had to do was push Akasha into a glass wall to kill her, the glass chopped her head off. Then... they ate her brain and heart to keep the vampires alive. GOOD GOOD book. I could write a whole lot more, but yeah.

READ THIS BOOK!!!

[Sheri · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am so unbelievably glad to be done with this series. Let me re-iterate here (in case it is not apparent), if I had not checked out a large e-volume that contained all three novels, I would never have started this one (given that The Vampire Lestat was so unappealing). Unfortunately, my kindle said I was only 63% done with the book after that one and I felt compelled to finish (sometimes I really hate my OCD). The third book was hands down the worst of the set. I can't believe she really kep writing more in this series and that people actually bought them.

First of all, let me correct this misconception that all is nicely explained in volume 3. I say this not because there is mystery and unsolved intrigue. I say this because despite being a dreary 600+ pages long THERE IS NO NEW MATERIAL HERE. In #2, we got the story of Armand and Marius and even the legend of how the blood drinkers came to be. In #3, we just get a few more details. And my god, is it boring.

Second, I am still befuddled as to why the vampires care about humans at all. I get that the blood drinking is really unnecessary but fills them with ecstasy (kind of like amazing sex EVERY TIME) and so they are all guilty. I get that they used to be humans and can appreciate the beauty created by and the limitations set upon a mortal, human, life. I understand that they have some regret. I even get that Lestat and Akasha (to the most extent, but all of these vamps to some extent) crave attention and want to be worshiped (again a vain and human characteristic). BUT WHY THE FUCK DO THEY REALLY CARE ABOUT THE HUMAN RACE?? We are supposed to believe that Akasha has spent the last 6000 years sitting quietly in a tomb pondering how to improve humanity and after falling in love with Lestat she finally has the gumption to get off her ass and implement her plan. Really? Really? Why would anyone spend 6000 years pondering this question? It would have been so much more believable if she was just a power hungry blood drinker looking for more victims (kind of like Azim in the mountains), but no...we are supposed to believe she is altruistic.

And then, of course, we have to stomach the ridiculousness of her plan. Yes, this is not a new argument (Rice is coming straight out of the feminist movement of the 70s with this one; give all the power to the women and there will not be war), but it has never been a believable one to me for a couple reasons. First, women and men are not dichotomous creatures. For those of you who don't believe me, read some of the stuff on intersexed babies: about 5% of all people are born with ambiguous genitalia. Masculine and feminine are created cultural gender roles that we assign to people with specific sex characteristics. In modern times we are becoming more accepting of the middle area (people with mixed sex characteristics or people who have one type but are emotionally attached to being the other gender). You can't kill 90% of the people with penises and just declare that you have eliminated the men. Some of the people that you treat as women will actually be men. Secondly (and partly because of this), women not inherently less violent than men. People within a group struggle for domination and acceptance. If a group is all women, there are still power dynamics and struggles between members. Women can be just as ruthless as men in trying to get what they want. Thirdly, the lack of men will not eliminate rape. I found this to be the most ridiculous point of Akasha's: Mekere and Maharet were raped not because Enkil wanted to do so (after all, he passed the job on to Khayman) and certainly not because Khayman wanted to do it: THEY WERE RAPED BECAUSE AKASHA ORDERED IT DONE!!! As Queen, she demanded that a man dominate these women on her behalf. If there had been fewer men in the kingdom, this rape would have still occurred. In fact, the creature in the book responsible for the most deaths (including the destruction of the twins' village) is Akasha!

I was also annoyed at a small but significant timeline point in this book. It opens with Lestat talking to the reader as if the reader just finished #2; it is set up as Lestat's sequel (which was left with a cliffhanger at the end of Halloween night after Lestat's concert). Lestat then explains to the reader that he must go back in time to before the concert to give us insight to all of these character's thoughts and feelings, etc leading up to the big night. Fine, I'm with you there. BUT THEN...each of the characters describes their thoughts about the concert and Lestat's book. We learn that the book was released along with the record a few days before the concert. Huh? How could #2 contain information about what happens on the night of the concert, and how could all of these creatures have read it prior to the night of the concert? Rice wants it to be a continuous chain so badly, but really #2 could only contain information leading up to six months (or maybe not even that close) before the concert. Otherwise, how the hell could the book have been edited and published and distributed and read before the big day. I know that this is sort of silly but it bothered me the whole time I was reading and every time someone new talked about how they felt when they read about the night.

As an aside, I also thought the fact that Anne used her hubby's poems as epigraphs for each chapter very annoying.

Overall, this is not worth reading. The series is a complete waste of time; run from these books as if they were going to squeeze your head like a grape and suck your blood.

[Stepheny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prior to reading the Queen of the Damned I only knew a handful of things about it. I knew that everyone RAVED over the book. I knew that Aaliyah had been cast for the movie and died during the filiming of it. But mostly, being the metal junky that I am, I knew that the soundtrack was the bee’s knees featuring Korn, Static-X, Deftones, Disturbed, Lincoln Park and other awesome bands that rocked my world at the time the movie was coming out. I actually never watched the movie- being the purist that I am- I wanted to read the book first. But I listened to that soundtrack a whole lot.

This book is jam-packed with information. As an audio book it was a little hard to follow and overwhelming at times. I am not ashamed to admit I had to look it up on Wikipedia to make sure I was getting the story straight before trying to write this review.

I’ll skip over most of the details and give the rundown of what really got my motor going.

OHMYGODTHEAWESOMENESSTHATISTHEBEGINNINGOFVAMPIRES.

Yup.

And in case you want that in English- the creation of vampires was the coolest fucking thing on the face of the planet. Pre-Egyptian royalty, witches, cannibalism, evil spirits, heads being severed, brains being eaten. I mean come ON people. Shit does not come cooler than that. It just doesn’t.

I really can’t get too much into the story without telling you all of it, so that’s all I’ll say about it.

With as confusing as it was as an audio book I still really enjoyed the story being told. I loved learning about the origin of the vampires and how it had been warped over time by the whispers of legend. It was quite fascinating. Simon Vance did an incredible job, once again, as narrator- you may have better luck reading it as a physical book rather than listening to it.

[Jeffrey Caston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this one too. I mean it is such unique storytelling and employs such unique storytelling methods I just can't help but like it. Love it, actually.

Queen of the Damned starts out with characters narrating their own little worlds and lives and perspectives that form patches for the first half or so of the book. Then Auntie Anne takes those patches and creates a marvelous literary quilt like none of the other vamp books you'll encounter. I liked the arc that Daniel the reporter has. Totally did not think that was what would happen, especially considering how different it is from the TV portrayals.

I also loved seeing some of the connections unfold to other elements of Rice's universe like the Talamasca and witches and demons. And Lestat... his growth. He still lives up to his moniker of the Brat Prince, but you see a certain level of maturity after all the stuff that goes down with Queen Akasha. And as far as Akasha goes, that was done well too in my humble opinion. You have a bad guy thinking they're a good guy and drinking their OWN Kool-Aid and wow that was a lot of talking about how they were arguing about whether the vamps should rule the world and kill all the men because, yeah sure men cause virtually all the problems is is making them all dead really the solution... all the other vamps thinking hey, ya know Akasha... kinda seems like maybe an over-correction and humanity has grown.... So basically, yes, that was a LOT of exposition in the book but I didn't mind it. It fits with how the Vampire Chronicles are constructed.

I'm looking forward to The Tale of the Body Thief pretty soon-ish. I got a big TBR and I'm just one of me. Happy reading everyone.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third installment in Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles picks up right where The Vampire Lestat left off, and - as you might be able to guess from the title - revolves around Akasha, vampire Patient Zero. As with the prior installment, another layer is added to the history of vampires and the case of characters expands greatly, this time with some very interesting additions in Khayman, The Great Family, and the Talamasca. As usual, Rice's prose is long-winded and her characters tend to be overdramatic and existentially ponderous, but this time the story is more compelling - especially when it leaves Lestat behind - and features a fitting conclusion to the arcs of the first three books.

[Shauny Free Palestine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Queen of the Damned, the third book in The Vampire Chronicles is an excellent continuation of a series that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed so far.

The story immediately takes place after the events of the second book, and our beloved protagonists face an existential threat that is far more dangerous than they ever imagined. There’s plenty of globetrotting, macabre horror, and Ancient Egyptian History.

Most consider it slightly inferior to The Vampire Lestat, due to being a little too ambitious, and not quite as sharply written, but there’s so much that Anne Rice gets right here that I didn’t mind at all. The best aspects are the additional characters and lore. All of it is perfectly woven into the what we’ve learned. The story gave me everything I wanted and more. Therefore, I consider it as great as its predecessor.

There are many more sequels, but Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat and The Queen of the Damned make for a satisfying trilogy, and Like Dune, and Tales From Earthsea, I will eventually explore further adventures at a later date.

P.s. I also highly recommend the recent TV series. A few aspects are changed but the story isn’t dimished in any way, and I can’t wait for season 3.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

5.0 stars. This is the book in which this phenomenal series reached its considerable peak. This is on my short list for best vampire novels. HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!!

Nominee: Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel (1989)
Nominee: Locus Award for Best Horror Novel (1989)

[Gabrielle (Reading Rampage) · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I can’t help being a gorgeous fiend. It’s just the card I drew.”

OK, Lestat, no need to convince anyone, we’re all already in love with you if we made it this far.


The third book of Rice’s “Vampire Chronicles” is a hugely ambitious piece of historical fantasy and horror. There is a special place in my heart for the first three books (though I might be convinced to keep reading them this time – thanks to the amazing AMC series), and this novel, which focuses on the titular Queen, Akasha, is a masterpiece. The pacing is perfect, even when it delves into historical exposition, and the characters are vivid and strongly developed. We see a little less of the Brat Prince than we did in “Vampire Lestat”, of course, as this part of the story is not always from his perspective, but here, Rice opens up her fictional universe across the world and across history in a way that keeps me glued to the page.

After leaving us on a bit of a cliffhanger at the end of “Vampire Lestat”, Rice reveals that Lestat’s music has awaken the long dormant Akasha from her torpor. Roused by his rebelliousness, she escapes the shelter in which Marius kept her and Enkil and leaves a trail of destruction on her way to find Lestat. Weaved in through this part of the story is a fascinating revelation about this historical origin of vampires: how did Akasha and Enkil becomes the creatures that Marius guarded for so long? Rice’s story involves magic, spirits, murder, cannibalism – and it’s over the top and crazy, but oh so good and so much fun to read. She opens up the world to other characters’ POVs, introducing us to new one, such as Jesse Reeves and Khayman, and revisiting familiar ones, like Marius and Daniel Molloy, digging at their stories and showing us what they were up to while Lestat prepared his grand “coming out”. We then follow him when Akasha manifest herself. I had forgotten that the title of this book comes from the curse Mekare puts on Akasha: for the sacrileges she has committed, she is now the Queen of the Damned. I do love the operatic level of drama of it all, it really is perfect if this is the sort of thing one enjoys – and I think you have to if you are going to read Anne Rice.

Of course, for Lestat fangirls such as myself, this is just the continuation of his adventures, with lots of new actors thrown in. Reading it makes me even more impressed by Sam Reid’s performance in “Interview with the Vampire”, because he clearly really understands that Lestat is an unrepentant show-pony, a thespian who delights in attention and in the act of performance, who uses those things to protect himself and whatever softness and humanity remains within him. I can’t wait to see how they work this book into the series! But if you enjoyed “The Vampire Lestat”, this is also a must-read (even if I prefer book two above all others).


I’ll be picking up copies of “The Tale of the Body Thief” and “Memnoch the Devil”, as they both from Lestat’s point of view. Whether or not I keep reading the Vampire Chronicles after that is uncertain: I obviously have a favorite, and if he’s not the focus of the story, I am not sure I’ll be all that invested. We shall see!