The Vampire Chronicles: Interview with a Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, and The Queen of the Damned (Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics Series)

Not for tweens and teens, an excellent read!

The Anne Rice vampire series is engaging and excellent. If you expect a tween/teen "Twilight" series, then definitely don't read these. This series is for mature readers, it is detailed, interesting, and you will wonder if vampires were real. The settings and time periods are meticulously accurate and contributes to the dark possibility of the actual existence of vampires. Anne Rice's books pique interest in the reader to the historical origins of the concept of vampires, and her interpretation adds a current perspective to the mystique of the classic "Dracula" vampire. I read the series when they were published, many years ago, and still maintain the series as one of my favorite reads.

23 out of 24 people found this review helpful.

Wonderful Vampire Tales By Rice In GORGEOUS Leather Collection!!!

This is one for the permanent collection. I got it as a gift for a friend and decided to keep it. I had to buy an extra one for her! Three of Rice's best novels are together so you can read one and go straight to the next. The book itself is so lovely - it really looks fabulous on the shelf (with a New Orleans feel to the wrought-iron engraved on the leather). I have several of these collectible edition titles and this one is my favorite.

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

"Real" Vampires!!!

Unfortunately, I have to agree with a couple of people here who have stated that if not for Anne Rice's reinvention of the vampire, we would not have Twilight, True Blood, and The Vampire Diaries right now. That said, we can not hold it against Miss Rice to have written a stunning series of novels on what is possibly the greatest creature of the night: the Vampire.

Rice's vampires are as genuine as you could imagine for what they are. They deal with the curse of eternity the way most human beings would: very bitterly. They present a very unique situation in that they are humans trying to come to terms with not being human anymore. Modern vampires just don't spark on this extremely essential issue; the rules have been so switched around that there isn't a vampire story out there that isn't about a "forbidden" romance that is no more forbidden or impractical that Hugh Hefner and his Bunnies. Rice presents the real meat and potatoes of what a vampire is, and she presents it brilliantly.

Both of Rice's main characters have to deal with the pain of not being able to live and behave like a normal human being. Louis despises his condition; he is totally averse to murdering a human being for survival, and spends his time trying to atone for the way of "life" he is forced to live. Lestat, on the other hand, is perfectly comfortable with the essential rules of being a vampire, and even goes so far as to openly walk among human beings bearing the truth of what he is (fortunately for him, very few take him at his word). The constant prevelance of sex in modern vampire literature is totally absent; Rice's vampires actually state fairly regularly that the satisfaction of their bloodlust is far better than human intimacy, and that they have no sexual drive whatsoever.

The Vampire Chronicles (mind you, this is only the first three books of it, although they are the most essential ones) are a timeless presentation of the dark world of a vampire. They remind us to value our time on earth as what we are, and when the time comes, to value that we will eventually die. Extremely humanistic in nature, they are a tragic and yet compelling observation of many of the themes of human nature. They are a challenging but worthwhile read, and their stories stay with you long after you set them down. Five out of five, and in my opinion, an absolute necessity to take in at some point in your life.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

The book that started it all

If it was not for Anne Rice and her redemption of what the life of a Vampire is really about then we would not have Twilight, True Blood and the Vampire Diaries. If you have never read the books and was just satisfied with the movies that were based on the book - then your missing out. Take a step back from all the new stuff and read the original.

I am a huge Anne Rice fan and even though she has left the supernatural. Her style of story telling is classic and has carried with her into the new books about Jesus.

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Great book

I love collecting books. Especially classics in Leatherbound. Great for collecting and saving for children who loves books too.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

The Vampire Chronicles are back in a hardcover and leather-bound edition!

Read Interview With a Vampire as Louis tells his story of being turned and struggles with the loss of his humanity; or The Vampire Lestat, his maker, who has reasons of his own for becoming the monster he is; or the mother of them all in Queen of The Damned. Beautifully written! For those who haven't read Anne Rice, she is the author who started this phenomenal genre that has since taken the world by storm by writing The Vampire Chronicles and The Mayfair Witches. She literally brought them to life on the page and captivated most of us with their tales.

I've read all of The Vampire Chronicles but in paperback. I decided it would be great to have them in a leather bound edition for my collection, so I bought this beautiful classic edition for my personal library. For those who haven't read them this would be a good way to collect and read them for yourselves. However, I must alert you to the fact that this volume doesn't contain all of the vampire stories written by Anne Rice. But it can be a nice addition to any library, or a great gift for that Anne Rice fan. I don't know if the publisher will be turning out other volumes with the rest of the stories or not. Let's hope so. It would be a shame not to.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

A must have!

This is a big book containing Anne Rice's best works, incl. Interview with the Vampire". I had read these when I was younger and once this came out, I had to have it for it's vintage look. It's a great book and looks nice, too, sitting on the bookshelf. However, it's got some marvelous novels inside that anyone interested in vampire reading should definetely get.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

This is what vampires are all about not sparkly like a fairy.

This is what vampires are all about not sparkly like a fairy.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Truthfully a timeless book

This is my first time reading Anne Rice vampire stories and I am blow away. I love vampires and stories make them feel so real. I can't ask for more and I couldn't put down the book till I read all the way through. Truthfully great original stories. The book it self is great and I love the look of it next to my "leather" bound Dracula book. Someone said something about getting black on there hand from the cover and I have not had that happen to me nor do I think that will happen. the cover is really cool, while it's not real leather, it is pretty cool looking and will hold up really well. Also last thank you to B&N for making this great book(s) available in such a cool format.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

If you like vampires...and I mean the true history of vampires this is the series to read, and to own! I love that they have put all the books into one and the perment red satin bookmark completes the remake of an amazing Author...Anne Rice...

These series are one that you should have in your collection. If you are into reading about Vampires, and the history that goes into them then this is a series you will def. want!
Anne Rice is a very talented author she keeps you wanting more each page that you read...she is very discriptive when it comes to describing each character, feeling, back ground, that it takes you into the book and wanting more!
My favorite out of all the three in this collection book is the Queen of the Damned...
Vampires have always and should always be portrayed as what they really truly are, and Anne Rice captures that in every aspect!
You will not be dissapointed in this series!

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A great collection of novels that looks so pretty...

I'm really happy that they made this collection of Anne Rice's vampire saga with Lestat. Not only is the book really pretty but it got me to finally be able to read Queen of the Damned along with the other two. Her tales are sensual and beautiful - her writing is poetic. It's not teenager fiction, although when I first read the first two books I was a teenager. Recommended for all mature ages (but there isn't lots of sex or anything; just great stories). Great for gift-giving, too.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Leather Binding leaves much to be desired!

The leather binding leaves black smudge marks on your hands while holding the book. Beware!!

1 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

A Great Gift

I haven't actually read from this book, but I have read all of the Anne Rice novels. All of them are great. This book was an excellent gift for students who follow the vampire craze. I thought they would enjoy reading from one of the classic writers. She's no Dracula, but she made vampires hot. A great book to help broaden the horizons of your student.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles is awesome!

This is an amazing book of three of Anne Rice's best Vampire stories. I loved it. The characters are geat! If you love details and worlds of luxery and elegance and Dark fantasy, then you will love these books. The leather bound cover on this trilogy will look great in anyone's library collection. These are fnatastic books that i would reccommend to anyone who is an Anne Rice or Vampire lover.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

the vampire chronicles

i enjoy reading anne rice's books ... her vampire stories are great ... i love the plot ... even the details within the stories ... these are great reads, i consider this volume to be part of my classic reads collection ...

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I love these "collector edition" books

I love the classical design of these books. It was a little disappointing to find the new "colorful" covers compared to the traditional black/maroon ones, but I have since got over that and enjoy the quality of the design in these series. The book/author speak for themselves. I absolutely recommend!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Not for Everyone!

I checked these books out on a whim, because I have met a lot of people who swore by them and I thoroughly enjoyed the movies.

If you like easy reads, as I do, these books might not be for you. They are very exposition heavy. I find the prose to be stifled and mired down with details. The characters are well developed. Yet they are too introverted, insecure, neurotic, morose, contrite and self-absorbed for my taste. The last place I ever wanted to be was stuck in the mind of introverted, insecure, neurotic, morose, contrite and self-absorbed vampires; who have done little with their extended-lives but exist in their own heads for centuries and brood. I'm sorry; but tall, dark and brooding is nothing that I find at all attractive. I found myself cringing. At least reading these books made me feel very glad to be an extrovert. I mean, Lestat, whom is supposed to be extremely gregarious...he seems so in the movies, at least...seemed introverted, almost painfully so in the books.

I also found there to be very little humor, sarcasm and satire in these books; which is something I strongly desire in a novel. They also seemed to be lacking in the romance department, another element that I find myself drawn to. This book is a little too much delodrama, not enough har-dee-har. I don't like drama. I don't let drama into my life and I certainly don't want to escape into a book that is chock full of it to the point it becomes Drama Stew where the veggies are first simmered in lard. There's a recipe I don't want.

I found myself extremely bored while attempting to read these. I found there to be no real story-arch or overall plot. I mean, I felt like I kept reading and reading and reading and thinking to myself, "Get on with it," especially since absolutely nothing was happening. Granted, it's very original, but who wants to take the road less traveled if it's a long road leading to nowhere? It takes its time getting to any real action and the action is so very anti-climatic that by the time I got there, I threw in the towel and gave up on these tomes.

I swear by fantasy and paranormal romance for teens and adults!

1 out of 20 people found this review helpful.

screw twilight anne rice's vampire chronicles is the way to go!

screw twilight anne rice's vampire chronicles is the way to go! I have the complete series, even the ones that follow into the mayfair witches collection and thinking about getting this as well. these stories are amazing- almost to the point where you are questioning, thinking, are they sure vampires aren't real? it almost seems like a diary, from interview with the vampire being louis' point of view. blown away by the vampire lestat. defiantly would recommend these to anyone who enjoys a great goth novel- as beautiful as the vampire chronicles is you wont be disappointed!

The best vampire stories ever written.

The best vampire stories ever written.

I think this product is amazing!  I want to collect ALL the leat

I think this product is amazing!  I want to collect ALL the leatherbound collections in this series.  And, Anne, if you read this... I have read almost all of your books ( that I know of) including, Belinda, which I thought was awesomely!  Very well written.  I truly learned so much about myself while following your writings.  Thank you - 
My favorite, I think, is the Mayfair Witches, and Lasher - scary dude!  Taltos, the Glen, very interesting!  Will continue to read... going hunting for the ones I don't have yet.  Will add them to my collection.  I also read your book about Jesus - LOVED IT! 
Salute!  Anne Rice.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.