The Vampire Armand: The Vampire Chronicles: Volume 6 [Paperback]

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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Mesmerizing, darkly erotic, terrifying, The Vampire Armand is an historic instalment to Anne Rice's internationally bestselling Vampire Chronicles --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

The previous volume of the Vampire Chronicles, Memnoch the Devil, was called 'a modern Paradise Lost' by the Washington Post. Taking the Vampire Lestat from fiction into legend, it left him lying in a New Orleans convent, at the edge of death. Magnificent and electrifying, this new volume in the Vampire Chronicles returns to the glittering story of Armand, mesmerizing leader of the vampire coven at the eighteenth-century Theatre des Vampires in Paris (seductively played by Antonio Banderas in the film of Interview with the Vampire). 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 Lestat lies waiting for immortality, and the legend continues to grow. . . . .

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Magnificent and electrifying, The Vampire Armand tells the tale of the mesmerising leader of the vampire coven, the Theatre des Vampires in Paris.

This angel-faced killer was snatched from the steppes of Russia as a child, and sold as a slave in Renaissance Venice. From there Armand's story spans several hundred years, culminating in a visit to New Orleans at the end of the twentieth century.

Here his victims await either death or immortality. But once there his own existence comes into question when he must chose between salvation and his immortal soul...

'Anne Rice fans will no doubt be thrilled. . . It's not just the epic plot but Rice's voluptuary worldview that's the main attraction'

Washington Post

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Born in New Orleans in 1941, the second daughter of an Irish Catholic family, Anne Rice came to international fame for 'The Vampire Chronicles', which include Interview with the Vampire (filmed by Neil Jordan, starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt), The Tale of the Body Thief and the latest volume Blood Canticle. Her other fiction includes the shorter vampire novels, Pandora and Vittorio the Vampire, as well as The Witching Hour, Lasher, The Mummy, The Feast of All Saints and Cry to Heaven. She was born in New Orleans, where she lived for many years, and now lives in Rancho Mirage, California. (19980731) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.