Product Description

Magnificent and electrifying, this new volume in the "Vampire Chronicles" returns to the glittering story of Armand Lestat, mesmerizing leader of the vampire coven at the eighteenth-century Theater des Vampires in Paris. Snatched from the steppes of Russia as a child, and sold as a slave in Renaissance Venice, Armand's story sweeps through several hundred years, to New Orleans at the end of the twentieth century, where he lies waiting for immortality, and the legend continues to grow...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13524 in Books
• Published on: 1999-10-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 520 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
In The Vampire Armand, Anne Rice returns to her indomitable Vampire Chronicles and recaptures the gothic horror and delight she first explored in her classic tale Interview with the Vampire . The story begins in the aftermath of Memnoch the Devil. Vampires from all over the globe have gathered around Lestat, who lies prostrate on the floor of a cathedral. Dead? In a coma? As Armand reflects on Lestat's condition, he is drawn by David Talbot to tell the story of his own life. The narrative abruptly rushes back to 15th-century Constantinople, and the Armand of the present recounts the fragmented memories of his childhood abduction from Kiev. Eventually, he is sold to a Venetian artist (and vampire), Marius. Rice revels in descriptions of the sensual relationship between the young and still-mortal Armand and his vampiric mentor. But when Armand is finally transformed, the tone of the book dramatically shifts. Raw and sexually explicit scenes are displaced by Armand's introspective quest for a union of his Russian Orthodox childhood, his hedonistic life with Marius, and his newly acquired immortality. These final chapters remind one of the archetypal significance of Rice's vampires; at their best, Armand, Lestat, and Marius offer keen insights into the most human of concerns.

The Vampire Armand is richly intertextual; readers will relish the retelling of critical events from Lestat and Louis's narratives. Nevertheless, the novel is very much Armand's own tragic tale. Rice deftly integrates the necessary back-story for new readers to enter her epic series, and the introduction of a few new voices adds a fresh perspective--and the promise of provocative future installments. --Patrick O'Kelley

From the Author
Anne Rice's feelings on the reviews
This message is from Anne Rice through her assistant Scott Zebley. Anne has read these reviews and is pleased that the novel created such controversy. Not since the 19th century has there been such a real potential for critical debate and discussion of current novels as that which appears here. Anne may post her own comments soon.

Customer Reviews

I could not put this book down!!!!
Before i read the Vampire Armand, i was not very aware of Armand - of course Rice mentions him in the other chronicles, but i never really felt a connection with him like i do with Lestat or louis (or any of the other famous characters). However when i read this book, i fell in love with Armand - he is beautiful, sexy and very attractive. The 'moments' he describes between Marius and him are amazing, the reader can really feel the strong love felt between them. The book is very describtive, i felt like i was there - with the characters. Ann Rice is amazing!
I loved the book, and i recommend it to any Ann Rice fan - you are sure to love it!!!

vichi placzek
Out of the many vampire chronicles i have read, i find 'The vampire Armand' is by far the best. It involves the reader emotionally with the feelings between Marius and Armand, so when they are torn apart you can feel the loss greatly. I suggest to any Anne Rice,Vampire lover that they must read 'Armand' it is a complete overview of what vampires strive for. I rated it a four because although it is the best i have read, it has a lot of emotion at the beginning which draws you in but it is not carried on as strongly through the whole book. Definately one of the most brilliant books ever written!

Best of the Chronicles...
Anyone who says this book isnt good didnt read it write. But maybe i am biased i have loved Armand since i first saw him in the film version of interview with the vampire, though Antonio Banderas's portrayal was perfect he didnt look the part. The Auburn haired Angelic Vampire Armand suffered through most of the chronicles until his apparent suicide in Memnoch the Devil, it was only the knowledge that she hadnt truly killed him off that stopped me from doing something very stupid and childish. With high expectations i sat down to read about armand and was not dissapointed, the more she writes the more Anne Rice knows about her characters and though they are imaginary they appear so real and humane. A Vampire is supposed to be an inhuman killer like Dracula, which i loved but gods i do prefer the modern sensitive vampire who hates the death he causes and either takes those who want to die (like Armand) or takes only the evil doer. The majority of the book is spent with Armand as a mortal youth in Marius's home, a vampire and painter, millenia's old. Who loves Armand dearly and sets about molding him into the perfect companion, but fate intervenes and Armand must be made before his time. Some people do not appreciate the significance of the relationship between the adult vampire Marius and the seventeen year old Armand. Love is love and this type of love is not perverted as some people say but truly marvelous, as Marius a dead being can only kiss and embrace the one he loves, overcoming such odds as those presented in the book shows that this is nothing less than unconditional love and those who think less cannot have experienced it for themselves. Armand enjoys one year of Vamparic bliss with Marius before Santiago's Coven comes to destroy them and the little world they created in Venice. Brilliant also for its history, the vampire Armand takes us through Russia, the land of Armands birth, through the fall of Constantinople to the sweeping beauty of Italy in all its glory and on to the present day. Anne Rice truly created a character in Armand, and we now can see for the first time (apart from the little snippet in the vampire Lestat, another good one)how Armand the lovable child fell out of good fortune and Marius's embrace into a dark coven where he was greatly changed, so much so that he will never again be the Amadeo (beloved of God) we all came to love.
Truly exceptional...