Definitive Reading Order for Vampire Chronicles and Lives of the Mayfair Witches

I figured it would be helpful to post this separately (instead of just a response as I previously posted). A lot of people ask me for my recommended reading order for the Vampire Chronicles and Lives of the Mayfair Witches. Updated to incorporate Anne’s other novels, written during her husband Stan’s life.

Here it is:

A breakdown of how the books tie together:

• 1st Sequence, Books 1-5 (considered The Vampire Chronicles proper for many years.)

Interview with the Vampire (1976)

The Vampire Lestat (1985)

The Queen of the Damned (1988)

The Tale of the Body Thief (1992)

Memnoch the Devil (1995)

• At this point stop and get your bearings. I strongly recommend reading The Witching Hour (1990, see below) before Memnoch or at worst immediately after. And I also recommend reading Prince Lestat (Chronicle 11, 2014, see below) before deciding whether to move on and read the rest of the books. If you stop there at least read Vittorio before calling it quits.

• In 1998 Anne started a new series called New Tales of the Vampires which was short-lived and includes two novels: Pandora, published same year but prior to Armand (#6), and Vittorio (1999) published immediately after Armand. Vittorio is a stand-alone novel with no connections to other vampires from the Chronicles but still a part of the same universe. Pandora is not a standalone novel. It is connected to established character Marius. Chronicles 6 (Armand) and 8 (Blood and Gold) are similar to New Tale #1 (Pandora) in terms of their connection to/focus on Marius, and form a rough thematic trilogy (i feel Armand and Blood and Gold fit better into the New Tales series but they aren’t about new characters so were still labelled as Chronicles).

• I recommend this reading order:

NT#2. Vittorio the Vampire (1999)

Chr#6. The Vampire Armand (1998)

NT#1. Pandora (1998)

Chr#8. Blood and Gold (2001)

• Chronicle #7, Merrick (2000) is a crossover novel between the Vampire Chronicles and the 3 Lives of the Mayfair Witches novels. It is essential to have read The Witching Hour (1990) before reading Merrick, I don’t recommend rhe sequels Lasher and Taltos but Lasher does introduce a key character who is integral in Chronicles 9 and 10. I personally recommend reading Witching Hour between Chronicles #4 and 5. The crossover between series continues in Blackwood Farm (which is its own attempt at a new franchise but doesn’t get up off the ground) and everything culminates in Blood Canticle (Vampires, Witches, Blackwood Farm characters) which was intended to end all the series together.

• I recommend this reading order:

W#1. The Witching Hour (1990)

W#2. Lasher (1993)

W#3. Taltos (1994) SKIP AND TRUST ME ON IT

Chr#7. Merrick (2000)

Chr#9. Blackwood Farm (2002)

Chr#10. Blood Canticle (2003)

• The final 3 Chronicles are the revival series. As mentioned above I recommend reading Chronicle 11 (Prince Lestat) after Memnoch because its pretty good, and then determine if you want to go back and read the others.

• I recommend this reading order:

Chr#11. Prince Lestat (2014)

Chr#12. Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis (2016) SKIP ALSO

Chr#13. Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat (2018)

• Other Anne Rice novels: I recommend reading, at some point the other “Anne Rice” novels (meaning those not written under the pen names Anne Rampling, or A.N. Rocquelaire). Especially the ones written during Stan’s life, i.e. before the Christ the Lord series.

• I recommend the following reading order:

Feast of All Saints and Cry to Heaven: consider reading back to back if you can wait long enough after Interview and before picking up The Vampire Lestat. Ideally. But at least on a second run. Consider pairing these books and reading Cry before Feast. These, along with Interview, provide an incredible one-two-three punch, and pave the way to The Vampire Lestat though Feast and Cry are strictly historical not supernatural novels. Thematically though contextually similar themes and characters and beautifully haunting prose permeate all three books.

The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned: read after Queen of the Damned, as it was written. It provides an interesting point-counterpoint to not only Anne’s concept of Vampires, but to the character of Akasha in QotD. Plus it’s canonical to the Vampire Chronicles though exists independently of those characters.

Servant of the Bones and Violin: read after you’ve read Memnoch, Lasher and (if you must) Taltos. Consider pairing with each other. Both expand on the themes/concepts presented in Memnoch, Lasher and Taltos related to spiritual/incorporeal entities. I love the historical setting in the first half of Servant, though the last half of the book seems unfinished and is a bit of a slog. Violin is an enjoyable enough standalone novel, an intriguing ghost story. A lesser work but worth a read.

**Anne really loved the classic Universal Horror movies. She wrote a series called the Wolf Gift about nice werewolves, unrelated to the Vampire or Witches novels. She also really enjoyed a movie called Frankenstein: The True Story (1973) with Jane Seymour. WATCH IT- It’s like Louis and Lestat starred in Frankenstein. Totally feels like an Anne Rice version of Frankenstein but in reality it clearly inspired her portrayals of the vampires in Interview.