Those things in the new book: Atlantis, aliens, our vampires, etc. are intriguing separately. There’s no doubt about that.
When I was 11 years old, I loved choc. syrup and baloney sandwiches, and let me tell you… choc. syrup ON a baloney sandwich? My brother and tried it and…../no/. We didn’t like it, but I am sure that there’s someone out there who probably LOVES choc. syrup on baloney sandwiches! I hope they use potato bread, at least, it’s cake-ier than white bread.
I always advise people to read the books before they judge them, but as I pointed out in that post w/ Michael Gavin’s review, some people do judge before they read. Gavin read it, and that was his opinion. I shared that link and excerpt bc a friend had shared it w/ me, and also, many of the other reviews I’ve seen so far are recaps which may contain spoilers.
BTW, I’ll be making a masterpost of PLROA recaps, please send me an ask/message me if you did/are doing recaps!
[X Louis has an easy checklist for a good evening.]
This is just a fandom blog, and yes, I do share criticism of the books on here. Criticism =/= censorship. I’m sorry that one bad review could prevent you from reading a book. There are other VC blogs (#VC fandom hunters) that you can reach out to, maybe they’ll respond differently.
The thing is, yes, you actually might hate it! BUT, there may be one line in it that you love, and that will have made the book worth reading.
It’s just a book though. It’s not the end of the world.
That’s a valid opinion. But I don’t like the word “should” when it deals with fandom, even about negativity. The resistance to this book is completely understandable.
[^Louis read PLROA and this was his response to Lestat]
People judge things before they read them, people judge other people before they meet them, people judge anything that can be judged w/o experiencing them. So much judgment out there. I’m certainly not going to demand fair treatment for a book.
Just bc an author is excited about their work does not mean we can’t still judge it on its merits as a novel, and we all have our own ideas about what makes a great novel/story. Dr. Frankenstein was very excited about his creation, other people decided it was a monster.
People’s resistance to this book, specifically, is not coming out of nowhere. Those of us who have read the prior books, or have the slightest knowledge of the characters and stories, and every fan in between, there was something that drew us into VC, and from what I’m seeing, it’s nearly impossible to believe that this book is remotely part of what preceded it unless you had only read PL and/or seen movie!QOTD, in which case, I guess it must be all smooth sailing for ya.
“…The latest of the series, a follow up to 2014’s Prince Lestat, is making waves (pun intended) over the Atlantis story element (and all that goes along with that). Tying the story to characters in her third book, Queen of the Damned, Rice completely upends the myths and lore woven into the Chronicles (almost to the point of jumping the shark IMHO). The characters we love, like Lestat, Louis, Armand and others are still who they are, yet the surprises tucked into Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis feel like they cheapen the fabric of the series’ mythos.”
Upending the canon myths and lore, jumping the shark, cheapening the fabric of the series’ mythos? That all sounds like something that fans would put up some resistance about. Can you blame them if they feel betrayed? If they feel like their beloved characters have been thrown into a blender w/ aliens and the lost city of Atlantis? I can’t blame them.
I don’t blame them for reacting w/ the exaggerated Tumblrand Hyperbole™ either, bc some of that is probably real emotion. Some of it is for effect, the exaggeration tends to get more notes than rational analysis. But I think it’s both.
I can empathize with the negativity. I wish I could blindly support AR in every choice she makes, but I can’t do that, either. I try not to criticize her myself bc she has given us an incredible gift already in the earlier books. I hope we can trust her to faithfully adapt them to TV/film as how they were originally written, and not try to wedge in this more recent provocative material.
this picture of anne rice at a book signing in the 90s feels reeeeally important
thats it, thats exactly the experience of reading an anne rice book. You even make the same face.
^TRUTH
^im sorry for this
Booksigning today in NYC for PLROA! I will report back… but given the avalanche of news we’ve had recently, I am pretty sure there won’t be anything new that hasn’t already been covered wurwulf crossover next I just know it plz no 2016 stahp but yes I do need to catch up on all the news bc there has been A METRIC TON
I was 2 yrs old when it came out, lol, so we’d have to ask someone who would be old enough to have that answer… @gothiccharmschool and @vampchronfic might know of someone?
But I am about 99.99% sure the reaction in the ‘80s was alot more accepting, and even hungry for Lestat’s story, than our collective and understandable freakout reaction to this… thing… we’re getting now.
At least Lestat was just tryna have a rock career and explain his fuckups before he even met Louis side of the story, it wasn’t ALIENS + ATLANTIS + WHO EVEN KNOWS WHAT ELSE FFS!
ooc; So, I finally pre-ordered PL & The Realms of Atlantis, and I just noticed the description on Barnes & Noble’s website.
“When any of the 12,000-year-old self-cloning aliens called Replimoids take center stage, there are interesting sparks. They soon fade, though, as Lestat and his confidants (and the reader) wait for anything to happen. But when Kapetria, who speaks for the Replimoids, begins to give real information to Lestat and members of his court about Amel and the Replimoids’ origins, the book finally catches fire. Initially, the concept of adding aliens to vampires, spirits, and witches is an eye roller, but Rice exhibits tremendous skill in making the impossible seem not only possible but logical.”
I have literally been joking for two years that the next book would involve aliens vs. Lestat, because it feels like shit’s gotten that insane
“Having perhaps bled all the possibilities out of earthly children of the night, Rice (Prince Lestat, 2014, etc.) takes a bite out of two big bodies of myth.Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. Pity poor Prince Lestat; he was once able to roam the world without a care, nipping and frolicking, but now he has administrative duties and, with them, fresh enemies seeking a shot at power. One constant source of irritation is the stately Rhoshamandes who has suddenly come into an all-day sucker of a captive whose ever flowing juice has “nutrients that human blood does not have.” A fine thing for a vampire’s inventory, to be sure, but a portal as well into a world whose technology, as so often happens, has outpaced its morals. Down in that watery realm, the denizens scorn the place where “a dreadful thing had happened in that mammals had gained self-awareness and intelligence and now ruled the planet.” The better to provide vampire chow, one might say. But the Atalantayans have their hungers, too, and the hungriest of them seems to have latched on to poor Lestat. Inner voice, nothing: Amel is much more than a haunting spirit, “as different from ghosts,” another superevolved being tells us, “as angels are from humans.” Who will prevail? Well, if Amel sometimes conjures Charlie Manson, Lestat sounds like Twiggy once the fussing and feuding between immortal domains is settled: “This is our universe,” he says, “We too are made of stardust as are all things on this planet; we too belong.” Yeah, well. Fans of Rice’s vampire fiction will feast on whatever they can of hers, but Ignatius Donnelly/Edgar Cayce aficionados may twitch at all the “kindred in the Blood” stuff uneasily mixed in with the old lost continent mythos. Rice’s latest excursion into otherly realms may leave some readers feeling overstuffed—but others, to be sure, will be hungry for more.”
I love when ppl have a visceral reaction to posts, and there is smtg kind of extra hilarious about the fact that it’s just the description for the next book, no other commentary really needed! *crieslaughs*
There is a lesson. The lesson eludes me. I, too, have alotta love for AR… whether it’s canon or AU fanfic, she is the gift that keeps on giving *u*
I read that description through 3x and was still so very confused. As Lestat would say, she’s certainly OUTDONE HERSELF. The comments/tags on that B&N description post (and another related one) are priceless, here’s a bunch:
#oh Christ on a twelve grain cracker #this shit is why I stopped at Queen of the Damned
#honestly im excited i hope theres weird alien sex #i hope its completely ridiculous itll be fun #vampire chronicles
#I WAS READY FOR MERMAIDS! #but no! #it had to be aliens
#not art #the vampire chronicles #but for srs tho ALIEMS.
#FEARLESS ANNE RICE TEACH ME YOUR WAYS
What…tha…fuck?
#what in the goddamn
#ughhh #what da hell #I will still read you
#stahp
I think Anne Rice might have liked Tom Cruise in the movie a little too much #what the hell did i just read #vampire chronicles
#what?? #:O
Pretty sure we are all conflicted.
#ooc #i’m laughing so hard is this even real
Re:
“A Thousand Kisses Deep” – Leonard Cohen, ok I will give that a listen when I get home. The title already sounds very Marius/Armand ❤
Re: My prime fave character is definitely Lestat *u* but that has changed over time, I answered this more in depth heeeere.
ooc; So, I finally pre-ordered PL & The Realms of Atlantis, and I just noticed the description on Barnes & Noble’s website.
“When any of the 12,000-year-old self-cloning aliens called Replimoids take center stage, there are interesting sparks. They soon fade, though, as Lestat and his confidants (and the reader) wait for anything to happen. But when Kapetria, who speaks for the Replimoids, begins to give real information to Lestat and members of his court about Amel and the Replimoids’ origins, the book finally catches fire. Initially, the concept of adding aliens to vampires, spirits, and witches is an eye roller, but Rice exhibits tremendous skill in making the impossible seem not only possible but logical.”
I have literally been joking for two years that the next book would involve aliens vs. Lestat, because it feels like shit’s gotten that insane
I-want-my-IWTV 