The Queen of the Damned

The third instalment to the Vampire Chronicles series (that I am absolutely obsessed with) and one of the best (excluding "Interview with the Vampire"). There were times when I thought that it couldn't live up to its predecessor - but, with it's violence, turbulent and tragic themes - I'm quite close to admitting that it is my second favourite.

Characters: 

My favourite character (out of the entire series) is Lestat. Okay, yes I'm team Lestat - if you're team Louis, we cannot be friends. TEAM LESTAT. Anyways, enforcing that Stuart Townsend did a great job of playing the brat prince would be an understatement. I understand that it wasn't as good as Tom Cruise (because he was awesome beyond belief) - but they were from two different eras. Also, I loved Akasha in the book - she was brilliant, devious, cunning and even (at times) extremely violent without redemption. But, I have to say, Lestat will always be one of my favourite literary characters ever!

Themes:

The theme and symbol of the living and the dead really hit me in this novel. Not so much in the others, but it is really Akasha's interest in killing both the living world - and the vampire world that surprises me. She seems to just have no general care for anyone and this vampire on vampire combat in the scene where we encounter Lestat and Akasha is exactly the climax everyone waits for. 

Storyline:

Okay, Lestat's little debrief to Louis at the end of the book is probably my favourite part. We go through the whole book believing that Lestat is turning into a good and well-maintained vampire - but in reality, he hides his true cunning and saves it for future books. I got quite happy when he did that little speech to Louis because we really got the true Lestat coming back to us. (Laughs in evil)

Verdict:

I give this book 9

100% for characters: Lestat is the most likeable kind of pure evil soulless vampire you could ever encounter. What a brutish beast he is - the Brat Prince is truly a force not to be reckoned with. 

100% for themes: The Living and the Dead aren't much explored to this extent in any of the previous books (saying this, I think it is explored more as the series progresses, with The Vampire Lestat creating more of the relation between the two rather than the difference. I quite enjoy the preference of it). 

100% for storyline: If you read an Anne Rice novel and don't like the storyline - you read it wrong.