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!
I-want-my-IWTV 