The third book in Rice's vampire trilogy....and the most loosely crafted and weakest story. This book is a tougher read than the previous two; parts of it show Rice's classic gripping story-telling style, while other parts of it aren't so much plot-driven as existential quest/relgious aplogetics. Armand's story starts as do those of Louis and Lestat, with his making and 'vampire childhood', but Armand's path bobs and weaves and unlike Lestat, he is never at ease with his vampire nature. Consequently he struggles to square his vampire-killer-destroyer nature with his eastern orthodox religious upbringing, and only at the novel's very end is his quest answered. I think Rice tries to convey Armand's own unawareness and the subconsciousness of his quest, which would mimic life, but in doing so she loses the reader from time to time for chapters on end. I had trouble piecing it all togehter into a cohesive story of one protagonist.

Share/Like this Review?