Complete Vampire Chronicles (Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, The Queen of the Damned, The Tale of the body Thief)

Great way to introduce yourself to Rice's world, but it must be noted that since "Memnoch the Devil" (the final book in the original "Interview" series - before the new "Vampire Chronicles" or crossovers . . .)is absent from this collection, you're missing a great literary exloration of theology.

These stories making up The Vampire Chronicles are not about vampires, really, as one might first perceive. The main characters, and really all of them, are vampires, yes, but there is a much, much deeper essence to the stories. These books are not about vampires, but about understanding of life, love, loss, and survival of mind. If you want to look at it like this, you could say that these stories are about regular human life, human strugle and human passion. The only differences are that the stories are dragged out over hundreds of years, and they contain the understandings of generations and generations, and feelings and understandings are magnified by thousands to attain the grove of vampire characteristics.

Interview With the Vampire is the only reason this set gets 4 and 1/2 stars... the other three books are outstanding! There is a reason that Lestat, not Louis, becomes the main character of the series. He is so much more enjoyable, and the writing style of the other three books is much more engaging. Still, Interview is not a bad book... it just can't live up to Lestat!

Though not complete, add to it Pandora & the 1st half of Armand & THEN you have her "glory before the fall." Personally, if you like the ones I mentioned & don't like any I didn't mention, PLEASE take my advice & don't read her latter works...or the 2ed half of Armand. Like millions of others, you'll live to regret it.

These were the GOOD books that made me wish she'd never taken action against her fanfic writers. (they had better sequils)

Anne, I think you are so succesfull but not than your characters.
I recommend to all people Lestat and Marius. They are full of knowladge and blood like father & son. I wonder why the mother is (Lestat's) so backgraunder? She is the woman that everywoman wants to be her, full of more blood.