The best-selling author (and former atheist) Anne Rice has announced that there will be another installment in her Vampire Chronicles novels, which include Interview with the Vampire and The Queen of the Damned. But there's a catch: according to Time magazine, since Rice has rediscovered religion, the new book will "have a definite Christian framework and a focus on the theme of redemption".
So instead of being the neo-Gothic, blood-spattered dark stuff that channeled my pre-adolescent erotic fantasies, the new book has a serious chance of being watered down... not sure that Lestat can stay sexy without a few vices.
How can this have happened? It was Lestats evil playfulness that made him such a great gothic hero, I can't see how it will work if the repression of morality enters the fray .Where Are we supposed to go to find our decadent literature now?
Posted by: charlie | Wednesday, 27 February 2008 at 09:27 AM
Well this one will be crap.
To bad.
Posted by: John | Wednesday, 27 February 2008 at 04:12 PM
Well I am definately going to boycott this one then. I would have loved the idea of another book but it just makes a mockery of the previous books. I mean aren't vampires supposed to be dark and evil how can you have a god loving vampire it's just well.. wrong!!
Posted by: alix | Thursday, 28 February 2008 at 02:55 PM
How disappointing...I haven't read the book but it was the film version that fuelled my sexy vampire fantasy at the age of 13. Somehow I can't imagine the same feelings being stirred up with a religiously infused plot :( At least we've still got Bram Stoker.
Posted by: Sexica | Friday, 29 February 2008 at 01:36 AM
Always preferred the lesser-known Mayfair Witch books myself. Read the first one when I was 13, after my parents bought it for me during a spectacularly boring caravan holiday, mistaking it for a run-of-the-mill horror text. My mum got a bit of a shock when I told her what the book was actually about (admittedly, a few years later).
Posted by: witch | Friday, 29 February 2008 at 02:30 PM
From Anne Rice; Has ever an author had a more contentious and argumentative readership? Why do you people bother to talk about an author whom you don't like and don't trust? Why don't you simply move on? I just don't get it. Anyone who's read the Vampire Chronicles knows the hero wrestles with the question of salvation. That's the main theme of the series. That the series would have a Christian and redemptive ending makes perfect sense. Does one have to be a complete idiot in order to post opinions about me on a website? Let me thank you for taking an interest in the question, and assure you that there are thousands of readers of these books who do value them for their spiritual dimension. Take care and all blessings, Anne Rice, Rancho Mirage, California.
Posted by: Anne Rice | Friday, 29 February 2008 at 07:30 PM
Although I am very fond of your works dealing with The Vampire Chronicles, whether you may be the real Mrs. Rice or another with identical names it matters to me not at the current moment, I would like to bring up a few comments in defense to the recent negative opinions targeted by your post. First of all, please understand that I know not of many authors who pretty much pulls a 360 on the genre of books they were initially writing for therefore, I can see where most of these comments are coming from. Yes, there were elements of salvation throughout the entire series, but it also appealed a lot to the horror fans who wanted a different yet still chilling outlook on one of the greatest and popular beings of that genre, Vampires. Also, there is the notion of fear that you may be restricted by your religious beliefs to not go as far you did before returning to the Church. A Christian salvation ending would be a nice finish towards the series, but it still has to fit with the overall theme and feelings of the previous novels and perhaps the way you described how the new book would be (if the time comes there shall be one) could lead to a little uneasiness among the gothic and horror fans. But I no doubt have faith you can pull it off easily and I look forward to it. To end it off though, I would like to point out that I don't believe just blatantly calling posters "idiots" a great idea for professional writers such as yourself, no matter how much they may deserve it in your opinion, nor does it strengthens your overall faith and beliefs. Thus are my opinions and take it whichever way you wish.
- JJB
Posted by: JJB | Saturday, 01 March 2008 at 11:54 AM
Im sooo happy to find out she is writing a one more book. But it makes me mad to find out what it is going to be about. Dont get me wrong i beleive in god but, i have a very hard time imageining Lestat trying to find god. He is a vampire for the love of pete, its going to be awful. She is such a fantastic writer, watering it down to this is such an embarrasment to her and her career.
Posted by: Mercy Buton age 17 | Sunday, 16 March 2008 at 01:37 AM