The Vampire Lestat (Vampire Chronicles) Paperback – November 29, 1997

I loved this novel. It's so dark and penetrating, so descriptive, developed and downright demonic. What more could one ask for? I think Anne Rice is a genius and that this is a masterpiece. I'm happy to have finally read it. Lestat and everyone else's backstory is superb, fascinating, enthralling, historically contextual and, most importantly, meaningful. So much thought was put into this book and, in that, not enough praise can be given to Rice. The way everything comes together is so profound and so beautifully romanticized. It should be enjoyable to any lover of the Goth genre. If they're not already fans of this kind of fiction, however, it could very well convert them. Lestat is an absolutely awesome character, with humour, the inexorable exuberance of life, relentless rebellion, love, courage and a ceaseless will to power, I find him to be absolutely riveting—a true Prince of Darkness.

ヴァンパイヤレスタトがヴァンパイヤになる前の話が語られるのは、この本しかない。この本を読み終わると、あなたはレスタトの虜になってしまっている自分を発見するに違いない。この本の中で登場するアーマンやマリウスは、多くを語られていないが、私はこの The Vampire Chronicles の番外編である Blood and Gold を先に読んだので、アーマンやマリウスが出てきた時に非常に親近感を覚えた。やはりヴァンパイヤの魅力や周辺知識を得るために、この本より先に Blood and Gold を読むことをお勧めしたい。楽しさが１０倍増すことは間違いない。もちろん、この本を読んでから Blood and Gold に進むのも悪くない。そういう楽しみ方ができる人がうらやましいとも思うこの頃。