The complete Vampire Chronicles reading order for the best experience
The complete and best Vampire Chronicles reading order, including every Anne Rice book in this universe. Where should you start if you came from the show?
If you finished The Vampire Lestat and you are staring the Anne Rice book stack wondering where on earth to begin, take a breath. I have been reading Anne Rice since the 90s and the Vampire Chronicles reading order is not nearly as scary as it may look. Lestat is one of my favorite characters in anything he ever appears, so I have walked this path sometimes multiple times. So here is the whole map, in order, to get you started.
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How These Books Actually Connect
Here is the thing nobody warns you about. What people call the Vampire Chronicles is really three interwoven series sharing one universe. You have the main Vampire Chronicles, the story of Louis, Lestat, Armand, and the whole vampire mythology. You have the Lives of the Mayfair Witches, a separate trilogy about a New Orleans witch family. And you have New Tales of the Vampires, a pair of companion books. They start apart and blend together.
That is why publication order is the order I give people. Rice wrote the crossovers to land after you have met both casts, so reading as the books were released means the connections hit the way she built them to. All that to say that a witch book showing up at number four on this list is not a mistake, it is the setup to pay off later.
Vampire Chronicles Reading Order
We’re going to start at the beginning and if you’ve watched the show (or movies) you already know we start with Louis.
The Original Run (1976 to 1995)
1. Interview with the Vampire (1976): (Vampire Chronicles, book one) Louis tells his life to a reporter, and everything starts here. This is the book AMC adapted for its first two seasons. Louis, Lestat, and the making of Claudia. This was also adapted into a movie in the 90s with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.
2. The Vampire Lestat (1985): (Vampire Chronicles, book two) Lestat grabs the mic and sets the record straight, and it recontextualizes everything Louis told you. His mortal life, his making, his rock-star turn. This is the book behind the season retitled The Vampire Lestat. Lestat’s POV is always superior in my opinion and this is the book that proves it. The origin story for one of my favorite characters ever. The AMC show season 3 is based on this book.
3. The Queen of the Damned (1988): (Vampire Chronicles, book three) Akasha wakes, and the mythology blows wide open. Multiple points of view, the origin of every vampire, and Those Who Must Be Kept. This is the big lore book. This was also made into a movie in the early 2000s by the same name, and it will be the based of the AMC show season 4.
4. The Witching Hour (1990):Â (Mayfair Witches, book one.)Â The witches enter the chat. This is the Mayfair family, Rowan, the Talamasca, and the spirit Lasher, and it is a doorstopper. It appears here by publication order because of what it sets up later. And you can also watch this adaptation as a TV series, out now.
5. The Tale of the Body Thief (1992): (Vampire Chronicles, book four) Back to Lestat, smaller and more personal. He swaps bodies with a mortal (you actually met him in the AMC show season 3) and, being Lestat, regrets it spectacularly. A more character-driven entry after the mythology of book three.
6. Lasher (1993):Â (Mayfair Witches, book two.)Â The Mayfair saga deepens, Rowan and Lasher at the center of this one. We are deep in witch territory.
7. Taltos (1994):Â (Mayfair Witches, book three.)Â This closes the original witch trilogy and answers the questions Witching Hour and Lasher raised. If you loved the New Orleans years of IWTV, you can’t miss these.
8. Memnoch the Devil (1995): (Vampire Chronicles, book five) Lestat gets taken on a tour of Heaven and Hell by the Devil himself. This is the most divisive book in the whole series, theological and strange.
The Companions and the Crossover Years (1998 to 2003)
9. Pandora (1998):Â (New Tales of the Vampires, book one.)Â Pandora’s origin, ancient Rome, and her ties to Marius. You also met Marius in the Vampire Lestat season 3. A companion book in the same world, and a good one if you want the deeper history.
10. The Vampire Armand (1998): (Vampire Chronicles, book six) Armand’s full story at last, his making by Marius, Renaissance Venice, all of it. If the show has you fixated on Armand, this is where he comes into focus.
11. Vittorio the Vampire (1999):Â (New Tales of the Vampires, book two.)Â The one true standalone in the whole universe. It is the same world, but it has nothing to do with the main story or the characters you know up to now. You can choose to read it whenever you like, or skip it and lose nothing from the main arc. Totally your call.
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12. Merrick (2000): (Vampire Chronicles, book seven) The crossover officially begins. Merrick Mayfair, a witch, walks into the vampires’ world, and the two series start to blend together.. We got an early glimpse of her character in the Vampire Lestat season 3.
13. Blood and Gold (2001): (Vampire Chronicles, book eight) Marius tells his own long history, his art, his centuries, Those Who Must Be Kept from his side of it. Rich, slow, rewarding if you love the lore.
14. Blackwood Farm (2002): (Vampire Chronicles, book nine) Quinn Blackwood, a haunting, and the Mayfair Witches pulled deeper into the vampire world. Lestat also in there. This is a nice blending of the two series.
15. Blood Canticle (2003): (Vampire Chronicles, book ten) Lestat and the Mayfairs fully converge now. Originally written as the send-off before Rice stepped away from the series for over a decade.
The Prince Lestat Trilogy (2014 to 2018)
16. Prince Lestat (2014): (Vampire Chronicles, book eleven) The revival after an eleven-year gap. Lestat is pulled toward ruling the vampire world. It’s modern-set, and it gathers the entire cast.
17. Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis (2016): (Vampire Chronicles, book twelve) We get into expanded origins, a huge mythology swing that not everyone loves.
18. Blood Communion (2018): (Vampire Chronicles, book thirteen) The last book Anne Rice published in the series, Lestat as ruler, a closing note on the whole saga.
Shop the whole series: Grab the full reading list of the whole series.
Is the Vampire Chronicles Worth Reading
As an Anne Rice lover since my high school years, of course I’m going to say yes. She was foundational to my enjoyment of reading and all things paranormal. These books are the reason I added New Orleans to my bucket list of places to visit. I was happy to check that off the list a decade ago, and even happier that I saw Anne Rice in person at one of my first ever book signings. It was like seeing a literal unicorn, I was just in awe. So that should tell you the impact these books had on me.
However, it is worth saying that they are dark. They don’t shy away from red flag and problematic behavior and the prose may not be the easiest to follow if you’re not used to reading. But if you’re ok with the problematic, then this is a must read series in my eyes. An iconic world that feels extremely real, very gothic and atmospheric, and always dangerous.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to read the Mayfair Witches?
I mean, technically no. But you will be left wondering who are these characters and maybe questioning about their lore once they cross over to Vampire Chronicles. I personally think all the worlds and spin off series feed off each other and should be considered one overarching universe. Basically one series.
Can I start by reading The Vampire Lestat?
I think Interview with the Vampire will do a better job to give you a beginner glimpse into the world than you would get by starting with The Vampire Lestat.
Can I skip Vittorio? It’s not really part of the series.
Some may say that the New Tales of the Vampires are the most “skippable” of the whole lot if you are trying to reduce the number of book commitment this series is putting on you. Vittorio is one that is not related to anything else going on in the series and can be skipped.
Are there more books with the same vibe?
Absolutely! And in fact I have a whole list of books like Interview with the Vampire that you can dive into if you’ve already finished these and need more.
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