The Vampire Chronicles: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
David Gerard (talk | contribs) m Removing redundant per Wikipedia:Spoiler - using AWB |
m /*MAJOR overhaul, see talk page for specifics. |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
'''''The Vampire Chronicles''''' is a series of [[novel]]s by [[Anne Rice]] that revolves around the [[fictional character]] [[Lestat de Lioncourt]], a [[France|French]] [[Nobility|noble]]man made into a [[vampire]] in the [[18th century]]. |
'''''The Vampire Chronicles''''' is a series of [[novel]]s by [[Anne Rice]] that revolves around the [[fictional character]] [[Lestat de Lioncourt]], a [[France|French]] [[Nobility|noble]]man made into a [[vampire]] in the [[18th century]]. |
||
The chronicles have gained a large fanbase since the publication of the first volume in the [[1970s]]. The first five books, which feature Lestat prominently, are especially popular; the later books have been criticized as having lost some of the sparkle and vitality of the earlier works. |
The chronicles have gained a large fanbase since the publication of the first volume in the [[1970s]]. The first five books, which feature Lestat prominently, are especially popular; the later books have been criticized as having lost some of the sparkle and vitality of the earlier works. Most of the books are in [[First-person narrative|first-person]] persepective(particularly those 'written' by Lestat), with only a few being in [[Third-person narrative|third-person]]. [[Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles|Interview With the Vampire]] was made into a [[1994]] film starring [[Tom Cruise]] and [[Brad Pitt]], while portions of ''The Vampire Lestat'' and ''Queen of The Damned'' both were used for the [[2002]] film [[Queen of the Damned (film)|Queen of the Damned]], starring [[Stuart Townsend]] and [[Aaliyah]]. |
||
==Books in the series== |
==Books in the series== |
||
| Line 22: | Line 22: | ||
==Vampiric properties== |
==Vampiric properties== |
||
Anne Rice's vampires are different in several ways from classic vampires like [[Dracula]]. Rice's creatures are not affected by the usual weapons against classic vampires: [[garlic]], [[cross]]es or [[silver]], and they cannot be killed with wooden stakes. |
Anne Rice's vampires are different in several ways from classic vampires like [[Dracula]]. Rice's creatures are not affected by the usual weapons against classic vampires: [[garlic]], [[cross]]es or [[silver]], and they cannot be killed with wooden stakes. In ''Interview With The Vampire'', Louis de Pointe du Lac sums these myths up as "bullshit." |
||
They need blood, but not every night. Human blood is preferred as it is more nutritious, but animal blood |
They need blood, but in some cases not every night. Human blood is preferred as it is more nutritious, but animal blood can also be drunk. They do not age physically (instead becoming more "statuesque" as they age, developing very smooth, white skin), and in all but a few cases, vampires younger than a thousand years old can usually be killed by exposure to sunlight or fire. |
||
They do not possess stereotypically "vampiric" [[magic (paranormal)|magical]] powers, such as changing into bats or casting spells, but some of the stronger, older ones do have the power to fly. Most of them also have the power to read thoughts of mortals and weaker vampires. They have other physical abilities: they can move very quickly (faster than human eyes can see), possess great strength and extremely keen senses. Very old vampires or ones who have been made or strengthened by feeding on blood that is close to the root of the vampiric mother may have additional gifts like the ability to move matter with the mind and the ability to set things ablaze by the force of will. They have many [[art]]istic talents, like singing, painting and acting. |
They do not possess stereotypically "vampiric" [[magic (paranormal)|magical]] powers, such as changing into bats or casting spells, but some of the stronger, older ones do have the power to fly. Most of them also have the power to read the thoughts of mortals and weaker vampires. They have other physical abilities: they can move very quickly (faster than human eyes can see), and possess great strength and extremely keen senses. Very old vampires or ones who have been made or strengthened by feeding on blood that is close to the root of the vampiric mother may have additional gifts like the ability to move matter with the mind and the ability to set things ablaze by the force of will. They have many [[art]]istic talents, like singing, painting and acting, and a preternatural "understanding" of any type of problem, puzzle or machine. |
||
The main characteristic of Rice's vampires is that they are all excessively emotional, sensitive, and sensual, being easy prey to intense [[Pain and nociception|emotional suffering]] and [[aesthetics|aesthetic]] [[passion (emotion)|passion]]s. They are usually |
The main characteristic of Rice's vampires is that they are all excessively emotional, sensitive, and sensual, being easy prey to intense [[Pain and nociception|emotional suffering]] and [[aesthetics|aesthetic]] [[passion (emotion)|passion]]s. They are usually quite attractive, even beautiful, as vampires tend to make fledglings from humans they have grown to love. |
||
The physical changes are apparent-- their eyes become luminous, their fingernails like glass, and their hair will grow back |
The physical changes are apparent-- their eyes become luminous, their skin pale and reflective, their fingernails like glass, and their hair will grow back during their sleep if it is cut. As they lose all natural bodily fluids, they are essentially rendered sexless. |
||
In ''Pandora'' and ''The Vampire Armand'', David Talbot |
In ''Pandora'' and ''The Vampire Armand'', David Talbot makes the wry comment that with his entry into the pantheon, vampires have "evolved" somewhat, as David can see spirits, while other vampires such as Armand and Pandora cannot. This can perhaps be attributed, however, to David's limited control over [[Candomble]] spirits that he learned as a young mortal man. |
||
===Vampiric gifts=== |
===Vampiric gifts=== |
||
Those who have lived for more than a thousand years are by far the most powerful of the vampires; they are called the '''Children of the Millennia''' (including Marius, Pandora, Mael, and Santino). After several hundred years, and depending on their maker, vampires begin to exhibit special |
Those who have lived for more than a thousand years are by far the most powerful of the vampires; they are called the '''Children of the Millennia''' (including Marius, Pandora, Mael, and Santino). After several hundred years, and depending on the strength of their maker, vampires begin to exhibit special powers, referred to by most of them as "gifts". |
||
*Mind Gift (the combined abilities of [[telepathy]] and [[telekinesis]]). This is the ability to communicate and read thoughts, especially of humans, and to move objects with the mind. This gift is used largely to obtain |
*Mind Gift (the combined abilities of [[telepathy]] and [[telekinesis]]). This is the ability to communicate and read thoughts, especially of humans, and to move objects with the mind. This gift is used largely to obtain blood - since via telepathy a criminal or amoral human can be sensed, and many of Rice's vampires refuse to feed on the innocent, this allows them to identify their prey. It is impossible for a maker or fledgling to contact each other directly, although in some cases it is possible for a vampire to seek out their master/fledgling by looking through the eyes of those near their fledgling, or by hearing the thoughts of their master/fledgling through others in a relay effect. A vampire of sufficient power or age may also unwillingly 'hear' the thoughts of all the humans within range of this power, leading to an old vampire saying: "If you do not learn to silence the voices, they will drive you mad." Khayman of the First Brood possessed this level of telepathic power, but had trained himself to hear the multitude of thoughts as "one annoying noise." Older vampires may also possess the ability to move objects with the mind, as witnessed through Akasha's destruction of the Elder, or Akasha's habit of opening the doors to the tabernacle, and Marius' opening and unlocking the doors to Akasha's shrine in [[Blood and Gold]]. |
||
*Spell Gift. Mentioned in [[Blood and Gold]] and [[Queen of the Damned]], this gift allows a vampire to cloud the mind of a human, bending the human to his or her will. Marius employs the Spell Gift often, especially when employing humans to move Enkil and Akasha to a new location. |
*Spell Gift. Mentioned in [[Blood and Gold]] and [[Queen of the Damned]], this gift allows a vampire to cloud the mind of a human, bending the human to his or her will. Marius employs the Spell Gift often, especially when employing humans to move Enkil and Akasha to a new location. Armand uses it almost exclusively to draw those who "wish to die" to him. |
||
* |
*Enchanced physicality and senses. All vampires have superhuman senses(sight, hearing, etc) and strength, and are able do things many times faster than humans can, with little or no effort (for example, her superhuman strength allowed Baby Jenks to handle a large [[Harley-Davidson]] motorcycle without difficulty, despite possessing the body of a rather slight 14 year old girl). Eidetic memory from the moment of becoming a vampire seems to be natural, as Lestat tells David in ''Memnoch The Devil'', however, memories of their humans lives, particularly those relating to sensation, fade over the years. They can move faster than the human eye can detect, see in the darkest of nighttime, pick one sound out of even the noisiest area, and raise the volume of their voice to painfully loud levels. |
||
*Fire Gift |
*Fire Gift. Another power usually only developed by a ''Child of the Millennia''. This gift is known to be possessed by Marius, Akasha, Khayman, Lestat, Mekare and Maharet, and later the vampires Merrick Mayfair and Quinn Blackwood. With the Fire Gift, a vampire can set alight an object or being of their choice, for example, in [[Blood and Gold]], when Akasha destroyed Eudoxia's body by fire, or in the film when she set fire to the vampires in bar and at the concert. The power is only shown to affect vampires or inanimate(and flammable) objects. No vampire has ever been mentioned to set a mortal human directly on fire, as the ability ignites the "changed" blood found within a vampire. |
||
*Cloud Gift (flight). Depending on |
*Cloud Gift (flight). Depending on the novels or the cinematic depiction, not all vampires have this ability. According to the books, [[Lestat de Lioncourt|Lestat]], though young by vampire standards, gains this ability after repeatedly drinking Akasha's blood. Quinn Blackwood was given the strength to use this gift by his maker, Petronia. Otherwise, flight is a power only exhibited by the Children of The Millenia. Louis, Gabrielle, Santino and Armand are among a few that do not have this gift or are never mentioned having it. Most if not all vampires dislike or even hate flying, as they find it extremely unsettling. |
||
*Killing Gift: Believed to be possessed by the eldest Children of the Millennia, like most gifts it comes with age. Known holders of this power are Akasha, Marius, Lestat, Maharet, Mekare, Khayman and Mael. This power was originally combined with the Fire Gift in ''Queen of The Damned'', but by ''Blood & Gold'' Rice had decided the two powers should be made seperate abilities. The exact nature of the power is unknown, but it seems to cause numerous fatal ruptures in the entire [[cardiovascular system]]. |
|||
*Super Strength: vast, unlimited, super strength in Akasha's case due to her being the most powerful. |
|||
*Immortality: Unless killed by one of the vampire's weaknesses, namely sunlight and fire, or an elder vampire's powers, it is said that they have the potential to live eternally. As they age they become more powerful and slowly their skin becomes whiter, smoother, and more reflective, resembling [[marble]] as seen with Akasha and Enkil, Maharet, Mekare, and Khayman. Lestat and Jesse Reeves share much of this ancient appearance due to receiving blood from Akasha and Maharet, respectively. During their immortality, vampires will sometimes go into a kind of hibernation, either because they have become mentally unbalanced from knowing what they have become, or because their surroundings have changed to much for them to cope with. This is hinted to usually happen within 100-200 years of being created, and is mentioned as the "dangerous time" by the elders. Many vampires commit suicide if they continually exist in the world, leading to Marius' telling Lestat that he should live out one lifetime pretending to be human and watching the world change. Maharet is the only vampire explicitly said to have never "gone underground"; she has lived, night by night, for over six thousand years, mainly by keeping the records of her mortal daughter's descendants. |
|||
*Killing Gift: Believed to be possessed by the eldest Children of the Millennia, like most gifts it comes with age. Known holders of this power are Akasha, Marius,Lestat, Maharet and Mekare, Khayman, Mael. With a mere thought they could kill mortals with this dark gift by liquefying their internal organs. |
|||
*Rapid Healing: Vampires are immune to most attacks other than their known weakness and even then are apparently able to heal quickly, especially if they feed or are covered in vampire blood. All vampires can potentially heal from any non-fatal wound, but time and blood are needed. A bullest wound, for instance, would heal within seconds, but serious burns from a fire would require decades, if not centuries, to heal. |
|||
*Immortality: Unless killed by one of the vampire's weaknesses, namely sunlight and fire, or an elder's Dark Gift, it is said that they live eternally. As they age they become more powerful and slowly their skins turn to marble, or a marble-like substance, as seen with Akasha and Enkil, Maharet, Mekare, and Khayman. In this time they become detached from their flesh and gain flight and astral projection. Lestat and Jesse receive these gifts after feeding on Akasha and Maharet, respectively. During their immortality, vampires go into hibernation, momentarily becoming insane with the fact that they will live forever. Usually this happens after two hundred years of being created. This time is mentioned as the "sensitive time" by the elders. Many commit suicide if they do not try to live out one lifetime pretending to be human. Maharet and Louis are the only one who are not mentioned to hibernate, mainly because Maharet stays "grounded" by her mortal daughter's descendants, all of whom she keeps in contact with. Louis wanders about taking out evil people. |
|||
*Rapid Healing: Vampires are immune to most attacks other than their known weakness and even then are apparently able to heal quickly, especially if they feed or are covered in vampire blood. All vampires can heal, but time is needed. Serious wounds and broken hearts need more time. Lestat was burnt badly and betrayed, he took many years to recover and was depressed for a while. |
|||
==Synopses== |
|||
===The Vampire Chronicles=== |
|||
====''Interview with the Vampire''==== |
|||
{{main|Interview with the Vampire}} |
|||
This is the story of the vampire Louis, as told in his own words, of his journey through mortal and immortal life. Louis recounts how he became a vampire at the hands of the radiant and sinister Lestat and how he became indoctrinated, unwillingly, into the vampire way of life. His story ebbs and flows through the streets of New Orleans, defining crucial moments such as his discovery of the exquisite lost young child Claudia, wanting not to hurt but to comfort her with the last breaths of humanity he has inside. Yet, he allows Lestat to make Claudia a vampire, trapping her womanly passion, will, and intelligence inside the body of a small child. Louis and Claudia form a seemingly unbreakable alliance and even "settle down" for a while in the opulent French Quarter. Louis remembers Claudia's struggle to understand herself and the hatred they both have for Lestat that sends them halfway across the world to seek others of their kind. Louis and Claudia are desperate to find somewhere they belong, to find others who understand, and someone who knows what and why they are. |
|||
Louis and Claudia travel Europe, eventually coming to Paris and the ragingly successful Théâtre des Vampires—a theatre of vampires pretending to be mortals pretending to be vampires. Here they meet the magnetic and ethereal Armand, who brings them into a whole society of vampires. But Louis and Claudia find that finding others like themselves provides no easy answers and in fact presents dangers they scarcely imagined. |
|||
Originally begun as a short story, the book took off as Anne wrote it, spinning the tragic and triumphant life experiences of a soul. As well as the struggles of its characters, ''Interview'' captures the political and social changes of two continents. The novel also introduces Lestat, Anne's most enduring character, a heady mixture of attraction and revulsion. The book, full of lush description, centers on the themes of immortality, change, loss, sexuality, and power. |
|||
====''The Vampire Lestat''==== |
|||
{{main|The Vampire Lestat}} |
|||
The Vampire Lestat, whom we first met in Interview With the Vampire, has his own story to tell. Anne Rice's second book in The Vampire Chronicles follows Lestat through the ages as he conducts his own search for his origins and to find meaning in what has happened to him. Unlike the cruel and dark Lestat we saw in Interview, this book reveals a sympathetic figure with his own blend of morality, romanticism, and bravery. Lestat has been asleep for fifty-five years and awakes entranced with the modern world. He becomes a superstar rock musician and millions of fans fall under his spell. Breaking the vampire code of silence, Lestat reveals himself to the world in the hopes that the world's immortals will rise and join together to solve the mystery of their, and his, existence. |
|||
The novel moves back in time to eighteenth century France, the world of Lestat's childhood artistocracy, as he tells his story. From his childhood struggles against his father through free and easy eighteenth century Paris as an actor, and his making into a vampire. We travel with Lestat as he searches for other vampires, sometimes alone, sometimes with the haunting Gabrielle, sometimes with the devastating Nicolas. Lestat circles Europe searching for his origins, and for clues to the birth of the vampire, but he finds that the seminal answers elude him. Through his travels and searches, Lestat also makes enemies of vampires who are terrified that his wanderings and searchings will disrupt their coexistence with mortals, or that he will attempt to rule them all. And when Lestat finds the very first vampires, he finds his seminal truths, but also unleashes ancient forces and the wrath of his enemies. Lestat, hunter, has become the hunted. |
|||
====''The Queen of the Damned''==== |
|||
{{main|The Queen of the Damned}} |
|||
The third book in The Vampire Chronicles, Queen of the Damned, follows three parallel storylines. |
|||
The rock star Vampire Lestat prepares for a concert in San Francisco, unaware that hundreds of vampires will be among the fans that night and that they are committed to destroying him for exposing them all. Their secret has been kept for centuries and must not be risked. |
|||
The sleep of a group of men and women, vampires and mortals, around the world is disturbed by a mysterious dream of red-haired twins who suffer an unspeakable tragedy. The dreamers, as if pulled, move toward each other, the nightmare becoming clearer the closer they get. Some die on the way, some live to face the terrifying fate their pilgrimage is building to. |
|||
Lestat's journey to a cavern deep beneath a Greek Island on his quest for the origins of the vampire race, awakened Akasha, Queen and mother of all the damned, from her 6,000 year sleep. A furious Akasha plans to save mankind from itself by elevating herself and her chosen son/lover to the level of the gods in a male-free world. |
|||
As these three threads wind together, the origins and culture of vampires are revealed. The threads are brought together in the twentieth century when the fates of the living and the living dead are rewritten. |
|||
====''The Tale of the Body Thief''==== |
|||
{{main|The Tale of the Body Thief}} |
|||
Returning to Lestat as the main character, the fourth part in the Vampire Chronicles series finds Lestat impulsive and careless in the pursuit of what he wants: a serial killer in Southern Florida. Lestat is surrounded by mortals in this tale, and a new worthy counterpoint character to Lestat is introduced, Raglan James. James used to work for the Talamasca and was kicked out for using his telepathic powers for personal gain and great evil. He murdered scores of people by entering their minds and killing them. James offers Lestat the opportunity to switch bodies temporarily with a young mortal. Against Louis' and David's advice, Lestat accepts this and discovers he hates everything about being human. He has forgotten that there are problems like needing to eat and having to go to bathrooms with being human. Then he finds that James has disappeared with Lestat's powerful vampire body. Louis refuses to help Lestat become a vampire again, so Lestat turns to David Talbot to help him trick James into switching souls back. This journey comprises many countries, Florida, London and Peruvian jungles. The ageless vampire wrestles with his morality, deep love and Raglan James.How does he triumph over this cunning adversary and conquer David with his sincerity? |
|||
====''Memnoch the Devil''==== |
|||
{{main|Memnoch the Devil}} |
|||
In the fifth Vampire Chronicle, Lestat is searching for Dora, the beautiful and charismatic mortal daughter of a drug lord. Dora has moved Lestat like no other mortal ever has, and he cannot get her out of his visions. At the same time, he is increasingly aware that the Devil knows who he is and wants something from him. While torn between his vampire world and his passion for Dora, Lestat is sucked in by Memnoch, who claims to be the Devil himself. Memnoch presents Lestat with unimagined opportunities: to witness creation, to visit purgatory, to be treated like a prophet. Lestat faces a choice between the Devil or God. Whom does he believe in? Who does he serve? What are the elements of religious belief? Lestat finds himself caught in a whirlpool of the ultimate choice.<br><br>From Anne: "As of August, 2000, I can tell you sincerely that Memnoch the Devil is my favorite of the Vampire Chronicles. Have any of you connected [[Veronica's Veil]] to Lestat's unusual assault on Dora after his freedom from Memnoch? I am speaking of the folklore of the veil. I am speaking of a blood connection. Of course, Lestat's blood lust is also connected to the blood of Christ in this novel. Much as I love all my books, this is—I repeat—my favorite of the Chronicles." |
|||
====''The Vampire Armand''==== |
|||
{{main|The Vampire Armand}} |
|||
In this installment of The Vampire Chronicles, Anne Rice brings us the story of Armand—eternally young, with the face of a Botticelli angel. We travel with Armand across the centuries to the Kiev Rus of his boyhood—a ruined city under Mongol dominion—and to ancient Constantinople, where Tartar raiders sell him into slavery. And in a magnificent palazzo in the Venice of the Renaissance we see him emotionally and intellectually in thrall to the great vampire Marius, who masquerades among humankind as a mysterious, reclusive painter and who will bestow upon Armand the gift of vampiric blood. |
|||
As the novel races to its climax, moving through scenes of luxury and elegance, of ambush, fire, and devil worship, to nineteenth-century Paris and today's New Orleans, we see its eternally vulnerable and romantic hero forced to choose between his twilight immortality and the salvation of his immortal soul. |
|||
====''Merrick''==== |
|||
{{main|Merrick (novel)}} |
|||
At the center is the beautiful, unconquerable witch, Merrick. She is a descendant of the gens de colors libres, a cast derived from the black mistresses of white men, a society of New Orleans octaroons and quadroons, steeped in the lore and ceremony of voodoo, who reign in the shadowy world where the African and the French—the white and the dark—intermingle. Her ancestors are the Great Mayfair Witches, of whom she knows nothing—and from whom she inherits the power and magical knowledge of a Circe. |
|||
Into this exotic New Orleans realm comes David Talbot, hero, storyteller, adventurer, almost mortal vampire, visitor from another dark realm. It is he who recounts Merrick's haunting tale--a tale that takes us from the New Orleans of the past and present to the jungles of Guatemala, from the Mayan ruins of a century ago to ancient civilizations not yet explored. |
|||
Anne Rice's novel weaves a story of two worlds: the witches' world and the vampires' world, where magical powers and otherworldly fascinations are locked together in a dance of seduction, death, and rebirth. |
|||
====''Blood and Gold''==== |
|||
{{main|Blood and Gold}} |
|||
The Vampire Chronicles continue with the great vampire Marius' return. |
|||
The golden-haired Marius, true Child of the Millennia, once mentor to The Vampire Armand, always and forever the conscientious foe of the Evil Doer, reveals in his own intense yet intimate voice the secrets of his two-thousand-year existence. |
|||
Once a proud Senator in Imperial Rome, kidnapped and made a "blood god" by the Druids, Marius becomes the embittered protector of Akasha and Enkil, Queen and King of the vampires, in whom the core of the supernatural race resides. |
|||
We follow him through his heartbreaking abandonment of the vampire Pandora. Through him we see the fall of pagan Rome to the Emperor Constantine and the horrific sack of the Eternal City itself at the hands of the Visigoths. |
|||
Bravely, Marius seeks a new civilization in the midst of glittering Constantinople, only to meet with the blood drinker Eudoxia. We see him ultimately returning to his beloved Italy, where after the horrors of the Black Death, he is restored by the beauty of the Renaissance. We see him become a painter living dangerously yet happily among mortals, giving his heart to the great Botticelli, to the bewitching courtesan Bianca, and to the mysterious young apprentice Armand. |
|||
Moving from Rome to Florence, Venice, and Dresden, and to the English castle of the secret scholarly order of the Talamasca, the novel reaches its dramatic finale in our own time, deep in the jungle where Marius, having told his life story, seeks some measure of justice from the oldest vampires in the world. |
|||
====''Blackwood Farm''==== |
|||
{{main|Blackwood Farm}} |
|||
In this novel, perennial bestseller Anne Rice fuses her two strains of narrative—her Vampire legend and her lore of the Mayfair witches—to give us a world of classic deep-south luxury and ancestral secrets. |
|||
Welcome to Blackwood Farm: soaring white columns, spacious drawing rooms, bright, sun-drenched gardens, and a dark strip of the dense Sugar Devil Swamp. This is the world of Quinn Blackwood, a brilliant young man haunted since birth by a mysterious doppelganger, "Goblin," a spirit from a dream world that Quinn can't escape and that prevents him from belonging anywhere. When Quinn is made a Vampire, losing all that is rightfully his and gaining an unwanted immortality, his doppelganger becomes even more vampiric and terrifying than Quinn himself. |
|||
As the novel moves backwards and forwards in time, from Quinn's boyhood on Blackwood Farm to present day New Orleans, from ancient Athens to 19th-century Naples, Quinn seeks out the legendary Vampire Lestat in the hope of freeing himself from the spectre that draws him inexorably back to Sugar Devil Swamp and the explosive secrets it holds. |
|||
====''Blood Canticle''==== |
|||
{{main|Blood Canticle}} |
|||
Welcome back to Blackwood Farm! Here are all of the brilliantly- conceived characters that make up the two worlds of vampires and witches: Mona Mayfair, who’s come to the farm to die and is brought into the realm of the undead; her uncle, Julien Mayfair (Oncle Julien), guardian of the family, determined to forever torment Lestat; Rowan Mayfair, brilliant neurosurgeon and witch, who finds herself dangerously drawn to the all-powerful Lestat; her husband the hero of the Mayfair Chronicles, who seeks Lestat’s help for the temporary madness of his wife. |
|||
The supporting roles are Ash Templeton, a 5,000-year-old Taltos who has taken Mona’s child and Patsy, the country-western singer, who returns to avenge her death at the hands of her son, Quinn Blackwood. Delightfully, in the midst of them, is the Vampire Lestat, once the epitome of evil, now pursuing his spiritual transformation set in motion with Memnoch the Devil. He struggles with his vampiric thirst and yearns for goodness, purity and love, as he saves Patsy’s ghost from the dark realm of the Earthbound, uncovers the mystery of the Taltos and unselfishly decides the fate of his beloved Rowan Mayfair. Memnoch the devil helped Lestat to reflect what it means to know God,and this last book continues his quest for redemption from great sin. Rice shows Lestat's contrast with Dracula and traditional horror-- that vampires can win against their very nature. Through her chronicles, the author depicts that she struggles a lot through the Catholic faith and there is hope for all of us, as Lestat does. |
|||
===New Tales of the Vampires=== |
|||
====''Pandora''==== |
|||
{{main|Pandora (novel)}} |
|||
Anne Rice, creator of the Vampire Lestat, the Mayfair witches and the worlds they inhabit, now gives us the first in a new series of novels linked together by the fledgling vampire David Talbot, who has set out to become a chronicler of his fellow Undead. The novel opens in present-day Paris in a crowded cafe, where David meets Pandora. She is two thousand years old, a Child of the Millennia, the first vampire ever made by the great Marius. David persuades her to tell the story of her life. |
|||
Pandora begins, reluctantly at first and then with increasing passion, to recount her mesmerizing tale, which takes us through the ages, from Imperial Rome to eighteenth-century France to twentieth-century Paris and New Orleans. She carries us back to her mortal girlhood in the world of Caesar Augustus, a world chronicled by Ovid and Petronius. This is where Pandora meets and falls in love with the handsome, charismatic, lighthearted, still-mortal Marius. This is the Rome she is forced to flee in fear of assassination by conspirators plotting to take over the city. And we follow her to the exotic port of Antioch, where she is destined to be reunited with Marius, now immortal and haunted by his vampire nature, who will bestow on her the Dark Gift as they set out on the fraught and fantastic adventure of their two turbulent centuries together. |
|||
====''Vittorio the Vampire''==== |
|||
{{main|Vittorio the Vampire}} |
|||
Educated in the Florence of Cosimo de' Medici, trained in knighthood at his father's mountaintop castle, Vittorio inhabits a world of courtly splendor and country pleasures -- a world suddenly threatened when his entire family is confronted by an unholy power. |
|||
In the midst of this upheaval, Vittorio is seduced by the vampire Ursula, the most beautiful of his supernatural enemies. As he sets out in pursuit of vengeance, entering the nightmarish Court of the Ruby Grail, increasingly more enchanted (and confused) by his love for the mysterious Ursula, he finds himself facing demonic adversaries, war and political intrigue. |
|||
==Themes and Concepts== |
|||
===Blood=== |
|||
Blood is seen as the ultimate relief. Through blood-taking, the vampires experience the only relief and rapture that they can know. It may also be seen as a substitute for sex and other mortal pleasures that are not available to vampires, a tradition that has [[Dracula#Analysis|many precedents in vampire literature]]. In particular, vampires who are in love (e.g., Marius and Pandora) exchange their blood in a manner that suggests [[sexual intercourse]]. |
|||
With the taking of the blood, it is also possible for the vampire to learn about the lives of their victims; a kind of instant life review, the vampire can experience the key parts of the victim's life. It is commonly noted throughout the Chronicles that the vampires "know" their victims after drinking their blood. Memories and feelings come in a flood throughout. |
|||
===Emotional Effects of Time's Passage=== |
|||
Many of the vampires remain on cordial terms with their colleagues, even when they have done horrible things in the past. The reason - as related by Marius - is that the passage of time dulls anger and desires for revenge. As a result, many of the vampires become emotionally stunted, which is sometimes interpreted as [[sociopathy]]. |
|||
Practically all the vampires have counterparts that a normal person would not be able to abide. Louis remains with Lestat despite his many abusive actions towards him. Talbot proves incapable of hating Lestat for making him into a vampire against his will. Marius even forgives Santino for trying to kill him and kidnapping Armand (another vampire takes revenge on his behalf). However, the older the vampire, the less likely they are to show strong emotion as, in the long run, such things become unimportant. |
|||
An unfortunate side effect of this is that the vampires find it hard to experience "good" emotions, such as [[love]], as well as bad emotions. For example, Marius and Pandora spent several centuries as lovers; after that long together, Pandora no longer wants anything to do with Marius. Likewise, it isn't until ''Blood Canticle'' that Lestat can even experience love in the conventional sense. |
|||
===Purpose=== |
|||
Many of the vampires struggle to find some "higher purpose" in their existence. Lestat and Armand turn to religious revelation. Talbot becomes a chronicler, attempting to write the histories of all the vampires. Marius, for most of his time on earth, was the custodian of [[Those Who Must Be Kept]]. |
|||
Even more jaded characters, as the Chronicles progress, find some belief they want to cling to. Only a handful (such as Pandora) have actually embraced their entire nature, and are able to kill innocent people for blood without remorse. |
|||
===Hedonism=== |
|||
Practically all the vampires are extremely [[materialistic]], and revel in expensive houses, clothes, technology, cars, entire islands, etc. One exception would be Louis, who constantly criticizes Lestat for his crass consumerism. However, Louis is also rather unhappy with himself and has been known to have many paintings and other possessions of his own. Due to their want of understanding of the times, they wish to gather objects (and hereby information) from the time they are currently living in. This leads to an accumulation of modern objects. Which, of course, they thoroughly enjoy. |
|||
===Redemption=== |
|||
Redemption is a major theme running throughout the entire Vampire Chronicles. Ultimately Vampire Lestat seeks to find redemption from the very first book. The first book seems somewhat misleading since Louis carries a very negative image of Lestat and truly does not understand Lestat (furthermore, there are many characteristics of Lestat's character that Louis successfully leaves out when describing Lestat). In the second book, ''The Vampire Lestat'', ultimately the reader sees Lestat seeking redemption by becoming someone, "a star." It is Lestat's ultimate fantasy to live in the world, knowing that though he is "evil" he is still redeemable. It is in the tale with Memnoch the Devil that Lestat runs away from this redemption, from the chance to guide souls into the light, he is even offered promises by God himself and Lestat fears this redemption and runs away from it. In the final book -- the conclusion of the Vampire Lestat -- the reader sees Lestat ultimately seeking redemption as he works to be almost like a supernatural superhero working to provide good by saving the Taltos, leading Patsy's ghost to the afterlife, and helping Mona Mayfair from her disease. At the end of the book, Rice successfully brings Lestat into the present, as a wanderer, constantly seeking ways in which he can do good in the world and ultimately seek his redemption. His comparison throughout the novel to Saint Juan Diego ironically includes several interesting messages about redemption. Rice manages to finally answer the questions of good and evil and how Vampires can successfully live in the world as evil doer and redemptive soul. It is only right that the Blood Canticle serves as the last book in the Chronicle for it ends the entire series on a very optimistic note -- allowing a much settled and calm Lestat to continue on helping others and making a difference in the world. |
|||
==Trivia== |
|||
* The original manuscript for ''Interview with the Vampire'' was quite different than the final published version, as, according to the "making of" on the DVD, originally it was a short story. After the rights had been sold to Knopf, Anne rewrote the book, adding the entire Théâtre des Vampires section and bringing Lestat back after his supposed death by fire. |
|||
* The Australian music duo [[Savage Garden]] derived their name from the books. |
|||
{{Vampirechronicles}} |
{{Vampirechronicles}} |
||
Revision as of 18:06, 13 June 2007
The Vampire Chronicles is a series of novels by Anne Rice that revolves around the fictional character Lestat de Lioncourt, a French nobleman made into a vampire in the 18th century.
The chronicles have gained a large fanbase since the publication of the first volume in the 1970s. The first five books, which feature Lestat prominently, are especially popular; the later books have been criticized as having lost some of the sparkle and vitality of the earlier works. Most of the books are in first-person persepective(particularly those 'written' by Lestat), with only a few being in third-person. Interview With the Vampire was made into a 1994 film starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, while portions of The Vampire Lestat and Queen of The Damned both were used for the 2002 film Queen of the Damned, starring Stuart Townsend and Aaliyah.
Books in the series
The Vampire Chronicles
- Interview with the Vampire (1976)
- The Vampire Lestat (1985)
- The Queen of the Damned (1988)
- The Tale of the Body Thief (1992)
- Memnoch the Devil (1995)
- The Vampire Armand (1998)
- Merrick (2000)
- Blood and Gold (2001)
- Blackwood Farm (2002)
- Blood Canticle (2003)
New Tales of the Vampires
- Pandora (1998)
- Vittorio the Vampire (2001)
Vampiric properties
Anne Rice's vampires are different in several ways from classic vampires like Dracula. Rice's creatures are not affected by the usual weapons against classic vampires: garlic, crosses or silver, and they cannot be killed with wooden stakes. In Interview With The Vampire, Louis de Pointe du Lac sums these myths up as "bullshit."
They need blood, but in some cases not every night. Human blood is preferred as it is more nutritious, but animal blood can also be drunk. They do not age physically (instead becoming more "statuesque" as they age, developing very smooth, white skin), and in all but a few cases, vampires younger than a thousand years old can usually be killed by exposure to sunlight or fire.
They do not possess stereotypically "vampiric" magical powers, such as changing into bats or casting spells, but some of the stronger, older ones do have the power to fly. Most of them also have the power to read the thoughts of mortals and weaker vampires. They have other physical abilities: they can move very quickly (faster than human eyes can see), and possess great strength and extremely keen senses. Very old vampires or ones who have been made or strengthened by feeding on blood that is close to the root of the vampiric mother may have additional gifts like the ability to move matter with the mind and the ability to set things ablaze by the force of will. They have many artistic talents, like singing, painting and acting, and a preternatural "understanding" of any type of problem, puzzle or machine.
The main characteristic of Rice's vampires is that they are all excessively emotional, sensitive, and sensual, being easy prey to intense emotional suffering and aesthetic passions. They are usually quite attractive, even beautiful, as vampires tend to make fledglings from humans they have grown to love.
The physical changes are apparent-- their eyes become luminous, their skin pale and reflective, their fingernails like glass, and their hair will grow back during their sleep if it is cut. As they lose all natural bodily fluids, they are essentially rendered sexless.
In Pandora and The Vampire Armand, David Talbot makes the wry comment that with his entry into the pantheon, vampires have "evolved" somewhat, as David can see spirits, while other vampires such as Armand and Pandora cannot. This can perhaps be attributed, however, to David's limited control over Candomble spirits that he learned as a young mortal man.
Vampiric gifts
Those who have lived for more than a thousand years are by far the most powerful of the vampires; they are called the Children of the Millennia (including Marius, Pandora, Mael, and Santino). After several hundred years, and depending on the strength of their maker, vampires begin to exhibit special powers, referred to by most of them as "gifts".
- Mind Gift (the combined abilities of telepathy and telekinesis). This is the ability to communicate and read thoughts, especially of humans, and to move objects with the mind. This gift is used largely to obtain blood - since via telepathy a criminal or amoral human can be sensed, and many of Rice's vampires refuse to feed on the innocent, this allows them to identify their prey. It is impossible for a maker or fledgling to contact each other directly, although in some cases it is possible for a vampire to seek out their master/fledgling by looking through the eyes of those near their fledgling, or by hearing the thoughts of their master/fledgling through others in a relay effect. A vampire of sufficient power or age may also unwillingly 'hear' the thoughts of all the humans within range of this power, leading to an old vampire saying: "If you do not learn to silence the voices, they will drive you mad." Khayman of the First Brood possessed this level of telepathic power, but had trained himself to hear the multitude of thoughts as "one annoying noise." Older vampires may also possess the ability to move objects with the mind, as witnessed through Akasha's destruction of the Elder, or Akasha's habit of opening the doors to the tabernacle, and Marius' opening and unlocking the doors to Akasha's shrine in Blood and Gold.
- Spell Gift. Mentioned in Blood and Gold and Queen of the Damned, this gift allows a vampire to cloud the mind of a human, bending the human to his or her will. Marius employs the Spell Gift often, especially when employing humans to move Enkil and Akasha to a new location. Armand uses it almost exclusively to draw those who "wish to die" to him.
- Enchanced physicality and senses. All vampires have superhuman senses(sight, hearing, etc) and strength, and are able do things many times faster than humans can, with little or no effort (for example, her superhuman strength allowed Baby Jenks to handle a large Harley-Davidson motorcycle without difficulty, despite possessing the body of a rather slight 14 year old girl). Eidetic memory from the moment of becoming a vampire seems to be natural, as Lestat tells David in Memnoch The Devil, however, memories of their humans lives, particularly those relating to sensation, fade over the years. They can move faster than the human eye can detect, see in the darkest of nighttime, pick one sound out of even the noisiest area, and raise the volume of their voice to painfully loud levels.
- Fire Gift. Another power usually only developed by a Child of the Millennia. This gift is known to be possessed by Marius, Akasha, Khayman, Lestat, Mekare and Maharet, and later the vampires Merrick Mayfair and Quinn Blackwood. With the Fire Gift, a vampire can set alight an object or being of their choice, for example, in Blood and Gold, when Akasha destroyed Eudoxia's body by fire, or in the film when she set fire to the vampires in bar and at the concert. The power is only shown to affect vampires or inanimate(and flammable) objects. No vampire has ever been mentioned to set a mortal human directly on fire, as the ability ignites the "changed" blood found within a vampire.
- Cloud Gift (flight). Depending on the novels or the cinematic depiction, not all vampires have this ability. According to the books, Lestat, though young by vampire standards, gains this ability after repeatedly drinking Akasha's blood. Quinn Blackwood was given the strength to use this gift by his maker, Petronia. Otherwise, flight is a power only exhibited by the Children of The Millenia. Louis, Gabrielle, Santino and Armand are among a few that do not have this gift or are never mentioned having it. Most if not all vampires dislike or even hate flying, as they find it extremely unsettling.
- Killing Gift: Believed to be possessed by the eldest Children of the Millennia, like most gifts it comes with age. Known holders of this power are Akasha, Marius, Lestat, Maharet, Mekare, Khayman and Mael. This power was originally combined with the Fire Gift in Queen of The Damned, but by Blood & Gold Rice had decided the two powers should be made seperate abilities. The exact nature of the power is unknown, but it seems to cause numerous fatal ruptures in the entire cardiovascular system.
- Immortality: Unless killed by one of the vampire's weaknesses, namely sunlight and fire, or an elder vampire's powers, it is said that they have the potential to live eternally. As they age they become more powerful and slowly their skin becomes whiter, smoother, and more reflective, resembling marble as seen with Akasha and Enkil, Maharet, Mekare, and Khayman. Lestat and Jesse Reeves share much of this ancient appearance due to receiving blood from Akasha and Maharet, respectively. During their immortality, vampires will sometimes go into a kind of hibernation, either because they have become mentally unbalanced from knowing what they have become, or because their surroundings have changed to much for them to cope with. This is hinted to usually happen within 100-200 years of being created, and is mentioned as the "dangerous time" by the elders. Many vampires commit suicide if they continually exist in the world, leading to Marius' telling Lestat that he should live out one lifetime pretending to be human and watching the world change. Maharet is the only vampire explicitly said to have never "gone underground"; she has lived, night by night, for over six thousand years, mainly by keeping the records of her mortal daughter's descendants.
- Rapid Healing: Vampires are immune to most attacks other than their known weakness and even then are apparently able to heal quickly, especially if they feed or are covered in vampire blood. All vampires can potentially heal from any non-fatal wound, but time and blood are needed. A bullest wound, for instance, would heal within seconds, but serious burns from a fire would require decades, if not centuries, to heal.
