Finally unabridged! Excellently read, great listen

This has always been my favourite novel from the Vampire Chronicles series (even though Interview with the Vampire is more popular) but I've always held off downloading it from Audible because it was only available abridged (aka butchered) but when this edition became available I downloaded this, Interview and Queen of the Damned immediately!

I've read the paperback edition of this book many times but Simon Vance narrates very well and captures the cheeky, elegant character of Lestat very well and brings out some subtleties that I've missed before.

This novel stands alone very well if you haven't read the other Anne Rice books since it only makes a few references to Interview with the Vampire.

I hope Audible will release more unabridged Anne Rice books (The Mayfair Witch novels!).

55 people found this helpful

Vance does Anne Rice justice

What did you love best about The Vampire Lestat?

There are no sparkly vampires here. If you are looking for another run of the mill vamp book, this is not it. Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles are in a league all their own. Predating the modern craze with Twilight-esque vampires, the supernatural creatures you will encounter in Lestat are far from anything resembling Edward or Bella.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Vampire Lestat?

There are many moments that drew me in during the listening of this book. The memories of Lestat as a human birthed so many emotions within me. Anne Rice's talent truly shines through in this novel.

Have you listened to any of Simon Vance’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is the first of Simon Vance's performances that I've listened to. I was very pleased and impressed. His speech is fluid and dynamic, easy to follow, and engaging.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This book brought forth a full range of emotion for me. While there are times when I cannot help shedding a tear and letting out a giggle, the emotional response to Lestat is much greater than simple happiness or sadness. Anne Rice engages her audiences with complex, realistic characters.

19 people found this helpful

ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS VAMPIRES EVER! LESTAT!

This is the one vampire that EVERYONE on this planet knows the name of: LESTAT. He is Anne Rice's finest hour, her most famous creation and the beginning of her other vampire books even tho he came from Interview with the Vampire originally. This book shocked me at first, even tho I can recite the words nearly verbatim from the written word; I have read them so often. But I was astonished and DELIGHTED to hear the narrator speak in the French accent that was WHAT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE! Reading the story never gave me the actual mental image of the French accent even tho we are told that Lestat is French and from the late 1700's, it just never came across in the written words! But the Audible version shocked and DELIGHTED me to be so AUTHENTIC with the French accent and it surely made the OLD STORY TO ME almost brand new! This narrator does such an excellent job of reading the story I simply cannot tell you how wonderful it is! You must experience it for yourself! You MUST! Lestat is so famous, the movie with Stuart Townsend was excellent, as was Akasha (actress Aaliyah) and Marius and the others was very very good; but the Audible version of the story is so much better. You will hear and understand so much more and the authentic French accent is so very original, it was not used in the movie! but it really "makes" the story so perfectly original. I highly recommend this Audible book to any Anne Rice fan, any Vampire fan and any fan of good books! There is really nothing better than classic vampire stories!

15 people found this helpful

STILL LOVED IT

This book was not at all like i thought it would be...the story from this point of view just blew me out of the water. To be made out to be the bad guy in the first book but then for the twist was just awesome

12 people found this helpful

Even better than the first one.

amazing story with compelling characters and great story development. if you like twilight this book is way to good for you

10 people found this helpful

Modern Queen of Goth

Anne Rice is the modern Queen of Gothic literature. Not pulp, not softcore written for the hopeful serialisation on a Cable channel, not gratuitous violence - just good literature. This second installment of the Vampire Chronicles is as good as the first ("Interview with a Vampire") and, in my opinion, better. It considers those deep questions of lore and longing and compels you to keep listening because, just possibly, you will understand the origins of these dark and evil creatures. Yes, it's fiction, but fiction real enough to bite. I especially enjoyed the adventure back to the deep origins sandwiched between the rock and roll of Lestat's re-awakening. The post modernist meets the goth. Terrific.
And Simon Vance is one of my favourites. If he can do wrong (which I doubt), then it can't be when reading this genre.

10 people found this helpful

The History and Detail "Interview" Left Out

"Lestat" is a deeper more satisfying explanation of the vampire world that was revealed in "Interview". I enjoyed the examination of the conflict between living eternally but only as a serial killer. Apparently even vampires, however bad, have moral limits. I've listened to this series while driving to and from work in the dark and get lost in them completely.
This second book is great but I must say the last chapters feel tacked on - as if the book company stepped in and said to Anne Rice , "Sweet heart, you've got to write an ending that leads to a sequel, and make sure you include a car chase. Any old ending will do." Additionally, Simon Vance gets a little Bella Lagosi here and there but he is forgiven.

10 people found this helpful

best vampire story, EVER. Period.

this is my favorite vampire story of all vampire stories I've ever read. many of Anne Rice books can be think with dialogue and description making be fight to read at points before I get to the good parts again. this isn't so with The Vampire Lestat. every bit of this book is fun to read.

4 people found this helpful

Better than Interview with the vampire

I found this book more entertaining and engaging than Interview with the Vampire. Lestat has a certain charisma and emotion that make him a great main character to follow through time. You feel connected to Lestat and sympathize with his story.
The narrator- Simon Vance did a fantastic job of creating a narration that was full of life and easy to follow.
If you liked Lestat in Interview with the Vampire you will most likely enjoy the story of his life in this book.

12 people found this helpful

Too little action, too much description

The narrator is 5/5.

The story, tl; dr: Lestat is a vampire, he is immortal and he can do whatever he wants.

The story is boring. With 7 hours remaining, I stopped the torture and decided to quit. Everything feels so dragged out most of the times, as well as too fast other times. Didn't care about Lestat, nor the other characters, not even a little, as they are there just to contribute to the plot (might as well be insects), naming Gabriel, Armand and whatever her name was - they don't really matter.

If you like to hear memoires of someone who is inlove with his words, this book is perfect for you. Might as well be a story about nothing, like the Seinfeld tv-show or Friends, without the humour and only the audio version (and all the characters have the same voice).

1/5, worse than "Interview with a vampire". I will not continue with "Queen of the Damned", as most recent reviewers didn't like it and also, based on the almost 2 books i read/listened.

3 people found this helpful