- The Good: A dark, blasphemous conversation between Lestat and the Devil
- The Bad: More theology than vampires; Lestat is lost among the pages
- The Literary: Loosely based on the 19th-century Gothic novel Melmoth the Wanderer
Lestat de Lioncourt is a hunter, this time stalking a mobster and his beautiful, charismatic televangelist daughter. He pursues Roger and his daughter Dora for nearly a year, before he finally kills Roger. Lestat never intends to harm Dora, but after killing Roger, Roger’s ghost appears to Lestat, begging him to take care of his daughter.
Lestat himself is also being hunted, by someone who eventually introduces himself as the Memnoch, as name he prefers over The Devil. This terrifying creature gives Lestat a choice. Lestat can align himself with the Devil against God. In doing so, the Memnoch will show Lestat the birth of creation, as well as heaven and hell. But after all these centuries, Lestat isn’t sure he believes in God or the Devil anymore.
Though this is the fifth installment in the Vampire Chronicles, it’s much less of a vampire novel and much more of a cosmological and theological account. In fact, this book could well be called Interview with the Devil, as it takes the form of a long-winded exposition with Lestat serving as the interviewer. The new expanded worldview does seem appropriately set up in previous books, including that David once saw God and the Devil in a cafe in Paris (The Tale of the Body Thief), and that vampires fit neatly into the history of man and spirit (The Queen of the Damned).
I really like how imaginative and blasphemous this novel is, in all the best ways. Rice isn’t churning out another installment in a successful series; instead, she’s reinventing herself with each book, traveling down a new rabbit hole, and pushing the boundaries of this world she’s created. I really respect her for that.
However, the story does drag. It doesn’t hold the same weight as some of the others because much of it isn’t personal to Lestat, who gets lost in the narrative. In fact, Lestat doesn’t always feel like himself, but instead seems like some vague stand-in, receiving the wonder of all Memnoch has to say. That said, there are some moment when Lestat is his old self, and he’ll shock you with his monster reasoning, whether that’s drinking the blood of Christ or the menstrual blood of a prophet, but those moments are far and few between.
Recommended for fans of theological fiction. This is a worthy installment on your journey through the Vampire Chronicles series, but it’s not exactly what you’d expect.