It is difficult to rate the first four of this series as one... Interview (vol. 1) is one of the most sensuous, moving, and mesmerizing tales I have had the good fortune to lose myself in. Louis is a beautiful hero torn between a passion for a life he chose but now cannot condone and the paralyzing fear of dilerberately ending it. Lestat (vol. 2) is an interesting history, at times engaging, and written tolerably well. Queen (vol. 3) ossilates between being an insane jumble of unimportant characters and a blast of miserably heavy-handed metaphor. Its only redemption being the new character, Khaymen. Body Thief (vol.4) is simply another mundane pulp fiction story among thousands.
It was in Interview that I fell so deeply in love with Louis, Claudia, and Armand. Now, besotted, I plod through the rest of the series hoping for glimpses of the characters for which I developed such a passion. Rice's fatal mistake was in abandoning her original passionate and philosophical hero (Louis) for the excessively prideful and narcissistic Lestat who becomes more intolerable as the series progresses. He, as a character, commits the cardinal sin of not only failing to continually develop, but actually dissolves into something two dimensional and utterly predictable. As for the beloved characters, they make obligatory appearances in which they are nearly unrecognizable compared to their former selves, only occasionally living up to the standards set in Interview. The worst of this begins in Queen.
As to the criticism regarding religious soapboxes and homosexuality. Ignore most of it. Enter the world of these vampires with an open mind and allow yourself to wonder at the possibilities presented. You'll probably find that you opened a door into parts of your own well-hidden world.
The descriptive writing never fails to be intricate, erotic, and intoxicating. Rice, at least, manages to keep that fairly well intact. There are two more after these four and so far nothing as good as Interview. Regardless, if you do choose to delve into this realm of beautiful and sumptuous prose, be sure to read them in order..
