The Vampire Lestat
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The Vampire Lestat is a novel by Anne Rice, and the second in her Vampire Chronicles, following Interview with the Vampire.
Set in the late 18th Century to the late 1980s, the story follows the 200 years long life of the vampire Lestat, and his rise from humble beginnings as a penniless aristocrat to become the "Brat Prince" of the vampires.
[edit] Synopsis
The story opens in 1984 with the dazzling Lestat de Lioncourt, feeble and near death, awakened from years of coma-like slumber. As he acclimates himself to modern times, he reads the novel dictated by his friend Louis de Pointe du Lac, Interview with the Vampire. Partly because he is infuriated by his depiction in Louis' book, Lestat decides to make his own tale clear.
Lestat explains that as a young man of 20 years, he was a rebellious and frustrated youth, the youngest son of the Marquis d'Auvergne, and the sole provider of meat for his family's table.
When despair from the knowledge of the triviality of his life nearly takes away his sanity, Lestat's mother, Gabrielle, urges him and his friend, Nicolas, to go to Paris in search of a new life. Lestat and Nicolas (Nicki) soon find work in a playhouse where the former becomes an actor and the latter, a violinist.
Within a few months, Lestat is kidnapped by Magnus, an elder vampire who seeks an heir, and forcibly made a vampire in Magnus' tower. Magnus leaves Lestat an orphan fledgling and heir to a fortune, as the old vampire destroys himself by going into a huge bonfire on the night of Lestat's making. For the next several months, Lestat disguises his vampiric nature under the pretense of a wealthy gentleman in the courts and palaces of Paris, while discovering the basics of vampirism on his own.
When Gabrielle (dying from tuberculosis), arrives at Paris to discover what has befallen him, Lestat grants her the "Dark Gift" to save her life. This and several other blasphemies lead him to a confrontation with Armand, and the coven vampires of Paris.
Lestat scorns the absurdness of the coven's religious-driven ideas and rituals and shocks them with the sensibility of his new ideas. These actions leave the Parisian coven in disarray and Armand disillusioned. After the coven dissolved, Nicolas, who was held captive by the coven, is made by Lestat into a vampire. Armand seeks to destroy his coven. The four vampires (Eleni, Laurent, Félix, Eugénie) who escape and survive his killing spree go to Lestat for guidance on how they can live in the open and disguise themselves as mortals, something which they had never done before in their vampiric lives. Lestat suggests that they disguise themselves as mummers and gives them a Theatre which he owned, which becomes the Théâtre des Vampires. Nicolas joins the theatre as well, and contributes heavily to its success.
Armand comes to Lestat, lost without the frenzied beliefs of his coven, begging to join him and Gabrielle along their travels. Lestat refuses. After learning the story of Armand's beginnings, Lestat leaves Paris in search of Marius, Armand's Maker. Meanwhile, Armand takes part in the Theatre des Vampires.
Despair once again threatens Lestat's existence. Gabrielle leaves Lestat to explore the world, and Nicolas is burned on stage, unwilling to continue "living". Lestat goes "down into the earth" in his misery.
Marius rescues Lestat and brings him to his home on an island in the Aegean Sea. This is where Marius tells Lestat the story of his life, and in doing so gives a brief and vague explanation on the origins of the vampires. He then offers Lestat an opportunity to drink from Akasha, the Mother of all vampires, which Lestat does. Lestat also manages to wake Akasha (by playing the violin) and drink from her while she drinks from him. When Enkil, Akasha's King, knows that they were mortals, is greatly angered and moves in an attempt kill Lestat. Marius rescues Lestat from Enkil but is forced to send Lestat away to quell Enkil's rage.
From Greece, Lestat travels to New Orleans, and after the events in Interview with the Vampire, he "goes into the earth" again in 1929 (This contradicts 'Interview', in which Louis and Lestat meet in the 1970's. Lestat calls into doubt the accuracy of Louis' account within his own story. claiming that Claudia's death has skewed Louis' version of the past). In 1984, Lestat emerges to become a rock star with a mortal band that consists of Alex, Larry and Tough Cookie. With the eyes of the world on him, Lestat seeks to start a war between humanity and vampires. Just before the night of the concert, Lestat reunites with Louis, who fills him in on the Vampire Connection.
The book ends on a cliffhanger after Lestat's debut concert in San Francisco, and leads directly into the third volume, The Queen of the Damned.
| The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice |
|---|
| Interview with the Vampire | The Vampire Lestat | The Queen of the Damned | The Tale of the Body Thief | Memnoch the Devil The Vampire Armand | Merrick | Blood and Gold | Blackwood Farm | Blood Canticle |
| New Tales of the Vampires |
| Pandora | Vittorio the Vampire |
| Characters |
| Lestat | Gabrielle | Louis | Claudia | Armand | Magnus | Those Who Must Be Kept | Maharet and Mekare | Marius | Pandora Bianca | David | Jesse | Khayman | Daniel | Mael |
