Bitten by Books
Welcome back, dear readers.
In case you missed it, we are in the middle of celebrating the exciting upcoming release of Prince Lestat by Anne Rice. This is the second installment in our nine-week series where we are chatting about all things Anne Rice and Vampire Chronicles-related. If you want to catch up click here for our first chat. Please check back with us between now and 10/27. Our last Convo will be a fun vampire/Halloween-themed giveaway!
This week we will be discussing The Queen of the Damned (both the novel and the movie) and The Tale of the Body Thief. Lay it on me! Did you keep up with the 6,000 year narrative? Did the movie make you cry (it made me cry, just not in a good way)? Would you switch bodies if you could? Remember to keep it respectful and fun. I’ll be around all week to keep things going.
Here are some thoughts to get us started:
1. Did anyone who read the book actually enjoy the The Queen of the Damned movie?
2. Universal optioned the collective body of the Vampire Chronicles and also have the rights to Christopher Rice’s (Anne’s son) screenplay for The Tale of the Body Thief. Your thoughts?
3. How do you feel about the vampire origin story as presented in Queen of the Damned?
There is a lot to talk about between these two books, so let’s get started.
“One tiny flame could make so many other flames; one tiny flame could set afire a whole world.”
The Vampire Chronicles in the order they should be read:
Interview with a Vampire
The Vampire Lestat
The Queen of the Damned
The Tale of the Body Thief
Memnoch the Devil
The Vampire Armand
Merrick (Crossover with Mayfair Witches)
Blood and Gold
Blackwood Farm (Crossover with Mayfair Witches)
Blood Canticle (Crossover with Mayfair Witches)
Prince Lestat
The New Tales of the Vampires series in the order they should be read:
Pandora
Vittorio the Vampire
The Lives of the Mayfair Witches series in the order they should be read:
The Witching Hour
Lasher
Taltos
I still haven’t read the series…I remember being vaguely interested in the movie because I had enjoyed Stuart Townsend so much in SHOOTING FISH (which, of course, was totally different). There are so many factors you can’t really predict, because the whole film production will always be tied into Aaliyah’s untimely death and all…
I think initially- the Aaliyah thing is what made me watch it. I like Stuart Townsend but just could not see him in the role so I didn’t really have any interest initially. Then when I finally watched it what upset me most was what they cut out.
I don’t think he did a bad job - the production just gutted the heart of the story. I am looking forward to a new adaption of the series though. Although, I would prefer a GoT treatment (because I don’t know that the series has the juice to sustain a series of films the way HP did.)
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Hi Paula!
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Queen of the Damned is my favorite book of the series. I loved the story of how the vampires came to be and the story of Maharet’s family tree. I didn’t get to see the movie until it was released on video. I knew before hand that the movie did not follow the book, but I had no clue how much they changed till I watched it. I have only watched it once. I can’t bring myself to watch it again, things might get thrown at the screen. There was so much of the story that they left out. Anne packed a lot of information in that book and I don’t think you could do it any justice with just one movie. There was no Louis, no Mekere(sp?) and Marius and Armand….laughable. Neither one of them came close to the characters they were supposed to portray. David from the Talamasca…not even close to what I pictured in my head. Aaliyah was the only one, I think, that came close to capturing the role she played. Stuart Townsend as a rockstar yes. Stuart as Lestat, no.
Tale of the Body Thief wasn’t my favorite of the series. I remember struggling to get into it. I don’t know if it was because QotD was just so packed with the lore and I was expecting more of that and I didn’t get it in TofBT. I did enjoy some parts of it. Lestat learning to be human again, taking care of his bodily functions for the first time in 200+ years. That was kind of funny.
You pretty much nail how I feel about the adaption. The whole lore of the vampire origin story is so rich and colorful (no to mention one of my very favorite origin stories in vamp fiction) and it is just gone in the movie. That’s not even saying anything about what they did to Marius, who is my favorite character. I’m in the same boat- I don’t think I can bring myself to watch it again.
I loved Anne Rice’s Queen of the Damned, but the movie version was so disappointing. The vampire origin story was fascinating. Unfortunately the movie adaptation didn’t explore that storyline.
That is one of the biggest issues I had with the movie- it just ignored so much rich history and I really loved the origin story that Anne came up with.
I so seldom watch a movie that is based on a book that I love as I tend to pick apart the film and gripe about what they left out. If I see the movie before I read the book, I’m much more likely to have a chance to enjoy it.
I really try to keep them isolated as separate identities in my mind because there really are some wonderful adaptions out there but I think I might have to steal your idea & just see the movie first.
I did actually like the movie. Not as much as I liked the book, but I still REALLY liked it! And it had aan amazing soundtrack.
I have to catch up on this series, I read them so long ago I can’t even rember if i read this one… I don’t think I did So I guess I am gonna have to add this to my tbr list and get it soon, I would love it again, I have a horrible memory so even if i read it I would not rember… lol
I haven’t read the book yet, but I did lamentably see the movie when it first came out. Oh, if only to go back in time and trip myself outside the theater.
I did see parts of this movie but it was a DNF (Did not Finish). I read a book instead lol
Queen of the Damned was one of my least favorite among the ones I read. I remember being somewhat bored. Maybe it was a pacing issue? I wanted to see the movie, but never got around to it. (This is a statement I make about A LOT of movies.)
I can see that- there is a lot of info in that particular novel and I did find some pacing issues as well.
I really did love the vampire origin story in Queen of the Damned. I thought it was brilliant!
I think Queen of the Damned was my favorite of the original Vampire Chronicles novels, or of those that didn’t have the name of one of the vampires for the title of the book.
My favorite aspects of this book though, were all the rock ‘n’ roll elements to it. Hmm, thinking about it so much has got me missing it. I my have to reread it again soon.
I am right there with you Shawna! I feel like I really need to just reread all of them (if I can find the time)!
Sorry I didn’t read the book
I’ve read Interview with a Vampire
I really enjoyed the book Queen of the Damned. A lot. I have been SOOOOOOOOO disappointed so many times by movies after I have read the book and so sometimes if I know a movie is coming out I will wait and NOT read the book until after the movie. At any rate, I saw through the hype and somehow just had a feeling that the movie was NOT going to be able to match this book. I have never seen it…