I guess i spent so many time look for this book that I end up a little disappointed.

It has little vampire action to my taste.
I think that in my conception of the Vampire Chronicles universe is easier to believe in vampires than in soul migration.

I cant imagine Lestat as other than this bond arrogant French-American (I see him as a true immigrant).

But in the end it was a Lestat kind of story and it wasn't to hard to read. ( )

The Tale of the Body Thief is the fourth in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. Most people would rate this book as the worst in the series (so far) and I would tend to agree.

Our main character, Lestat de Lioncourt, is now based in Florida. Since the last book, The Queen of the Damned, all the vampires, both old, and very old, have now gone their separate ways. Lestat is now alone again, and tiring of the life he is leading. As a result, he resolved to commit suicide by flying into the sun above the Gobi Desert.

Whilst other vampires would burn to nothing if they did the same thing, Lestat is not other vampires; he has drunk the blood from the first Vampire - Akasha - and is now more or less the most powerful of all the vampires alive. As a result, his attempt to kill himself, is a failure. Instead of dying, he gets a nice golden tan. Which, ironically, helps him to fit in with mortals.

Throughout the beginning of the book he is followed and accosted by a man who claims that he has the power to make Lestat human again. He explains that he is a body thief. In fact, the very body he is inhabiting has been stolen, and he is offering this body to Lestat as a trade.

Lestat's incredible vampire enhanced powers, for a human body. Suffice to say, he can't refuse. The deal is made, two full days where he and the body thief swap bodies. But, what will he do when the body thief lives up to his name and steals Lestat's body?

That's what the novel is about.

Whilst the book is well written, it meanders a lot. You find yourself wanting to skip through large chunks of the novel, not because you're desperate to know what happens, but because it's just, plain, boring.

If you've read the other vampire chronicles, you owe it to yourself to read this book, but don't expect the same grandeur or plot that you've read in the previous three books in the series. ( )

Oh Anne Rice... How deliciously dark and mind boggling. After the dismal experience of trudging through Queen of the Damned, it took me a while to pick this one up. It didn't take long before I got sucked into it and I ended up really enjoying it. Maybe its a little bit more on the guilty pleasure side, but still a pleasure ;) ( )

I love Anne Rice's writing and that kept me from a DNF. I just didn't like this. It was ok. It just wasn't great. ( )

I think I was starting to loose interest by the time I got to this book in the series. ( )

Okay, yes, Lestat is super whiny and it's annoying as hell. But I can live with that, since it's also kind of a core point of his character that he always wants what he can't have, especially if it's dangerous.

What I could not deal with was him being constantly distracted by the stupidest things. I mean, David (whom Lestat allegedly loves deeply) is here coming up with plans and doing all the work and Lestat goes from "I want my body back and will do everything in my power, this is my only goal" to "So... can we have sex now?" several times in five minutes.

I blame lack of editing.

I blame lack of editing for a lot of things in this book.
Because it is an intriguing story, the characters are great, it's something fresh and new and a great book to write after the first three in the Vampire Chronicles. The story is very urban fantasy, in a good way, I like the antagonist and I love everything with David in it. Lestat is not only whiny, but an immense a**hole at times, but since he never was a likeable protagonist, so that's fine with me. I love the fact that he wants to be human at all costs and then absolutely hates it, not out of glee, but because I find it a believable reaction from a being that is so absolutely removed from being human and enjoys it.

There are a lot of meaningful conversations in this book, as always with Anne Rice, but also a lot of back and forth and repetitions of the same thing over and over, so it could definitely have benefited from some editing. And it could have been a lot shorter.

All in all, in my "great and possible several years-long re-read of the Vampire Chronicles and maybe the Mayfair Witches completely out of order", this book ranks below "Pandora" (the first book I re-read, this being the second) because of lack of editing and focus.
Next up: Memnoch the Devil ( )

The fourth Vampire Chronicles book is as far as I ever intend to go, and boy is it a doozy. Lestat is quite possibly the dumbest immortal alive, and would 100% fall for email scams about bitcoin. It's a fun romp through the brat prince realising that actually, no, he does NOT want to be human again, and causing problems for all his loved ones along the way. ( )

Took me a long time to get into this one...this happens sometimes when I vaguely remember a book or read a review that says something that gives me a negative dread. I knew he would triumph but I really dreaded reading the how and the aftermath. I loved the resolution once I got over the hump. This has nothing to do with how good the story as a whole and everything to do with my own mental landscape and what I can and cannot tolerate from my reading. ( )

Anne Rice is the author to go to when you want to read a really good vampire novel. Not the type of vampire novels where vampires sparkle and are just too over the top (eye roll). This is vampires done well, with all the rich details and history to go along with them. I love this series and need to pick it back up again - I got stuck on the 6th one and need to push through it! ( )

In a gripping feat of storytelling, Anne Rice continues the extraordinary Vampire Chronicles that began with the now-classic Interview with the Vampire. For centuries, Lestat—vampire-hero, enchanter, seducer of mortals—has been a courted prince in the dark and flourishing universe of the living dead. Now he is alone. And in his overwhelming need to destroy his doubts and his loneliness, Lestat embarks on the most dangerous enterprise he has undertaken in all the years of his haunted existence.

Back in the day, I read the first three books of Anne Rice’s THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES, followed by THE MUMMY, and then, though I had multiple books by her on my shelf, I stopped reading her for no good reason. I’ve always been a horror fan, one who has tried their hand at writing some vampire fiction on my own, but Anne Rice and I just went our separate ways. That is until recently, when I picked up my copy of THE TALE OF A BODY THIEF and got back into her world of bloodsucking immortals.

As a writer, I have always had great respect for Anne Rice, not just for her writing, but for the way she promotes herself and her work; she is the classic example of the scribbler who came up with a new take on an old genre and then struck a chord with an audience. Back in the 1970’s, she had the notion to write a novel told from the vampire’s point of view, this coming at a time when vampire lovers mostly had to make do with paperback copies of DRACULA, or hybrids like Richard Matheson’s I AM LEGEND. Then came INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE in 1976, which introduced us to Lestat De Lioncourt, a young French nobleman from the late 18th Century, the first of a whole cast of Undead characters inhabiting a unique universe. INTERVIEW was followed by THE VAMPIRE LESTAT, and QUEEN OF THE DAMNED, and a literary juggernaut was launched. Rice’s books appealed not only to traditional horror fans, but also to readers of romantic fiction and the burgeoning Goth culture, while developing a large gay fan base, and a following among those who just wanted something different. It helped that New Orleans native Rice proved to be a hell of a salesman for own work, becoming a distinct personality in her own right after many appearances on TV talk shows which highlighted her long raven black hair, and equally dark attire; many fans thought she was a vampire herself; detractors said she was so deluded she actually thought she was creature of the night. Anyway, through good hard work, she made herself into a mini industry that has produced 35 books and sold nearly a 100 million copies. And her influence has been enormous, without Rice, there would never have been an Angel or Spike, nor Edward Cullen either for that matter.

THE TALE OF THE BODY THIEF came out in 1991, a couple of years after THE QUEEN OF THE DAMNED, and at the time, many fans thought it was something of a letdown after the epic arc of the first three novels, still, it was a huge bestseller. For me, diving back into the Vampire Chronicles after all this time, BODY THIEF was an easy entrance back into Rice’s world, as it does not force the reader to get back up to speed with the huge cast from the earlier books. Lestat is back front and center, and there is an appearance by Louis, a New Orleans bloodsucker made by Lestat two centuries before, along with the ghost of Claudia, the vampire child they created and then lost. It seems that after the near apocalyptic events of QUEEN, Lestat has fallen into despair and disillusionment with his vampire existence, cutting himself off from his fellow bloodsuckers; his only friend is the elderly mortal David Talbot, the leader of the Talemasca, a group that studies the supernatural. The lonely Lestat is approached by Raglan James, a young man who claims he has the ability to switch bodies, telling Lestat that he is really a 70 some year old man who has purloined the young body he now inhabits after hijacking it in a British mental institution, where it was in a fatal coma. James has a proposition for Lestat, they switch bodies for a few days, so that Lestat may regain his humanity, while James can enjoy being inside the immensely powerful body of a vampire for a short time. What could possibly go wrong? Though Lestat is warned by Louis and David that this is the worst of all possible ideas, and the reader can clearly see that James is bad news, the offer prompts an itch that Lestat just has to scratch.

The best part of the book is the middle part where Lestat, now in a human body, finds that being a mortal is not quite what he remembered it to be; not with a bout of pneumonia, and learning how to take a dump again, among other indignities. But he also finds love with a nun on leave from her order, and gets to enjoy some good hot sex. Of course James is a kleptomaniac with no intention of returning the vampire’s body; Lestat turns to his Undead compatriots for help and is spurned, only his mortal friend, David, will aide him, and together they set out to track James down and return Lestat to his rightful body. But no plan ever works out as anticipated, and the plot takes some twists and turns before it is all resolved. There is one ending, where the reader is warned that they may regret going any further, but it is in this final chapter where we are reminded why Lestat is one of modern fictions most renowned anti-heroes.

A lot of this book is Rice at her best, especially when Lestat and David have lengthy conversations about God and the Devil, and the nature of good and evil, this is something Rice is famous for, and it is clear Lestat is her alter ego, especially when he talks about what he has learned after observing the human condition for two centuries. Truly her vampires have a marvelous gift of gab; it is one of the hallmarks of her style. I may not always agree with what Rice is saying through her characters, but it is always worth hearing. The other secret to the success of her vampire books is that she surreptitiously makes the reader feel as though they are one of the beautiful immortals themselves, that when Lestat is talking to them in the first person, he is conversing with one of his own kind.

Reading it today, there are some things about BODY THIEF that badly date it, such as mentions of faxes and laser disks, and the absence of cell phones and the internet; there is a sexual encounter between Lestat and a waitress that might not pass muster today, and I doubt it would get past an editor in its present form.

But for me, reading THE TALE OF THE BODY THIEF was like getting reacquainted with members of a family you knew years ago, Lestat being a brother with many siblings to catch up with, while at the center is a matriarch, her hair a little grayer with the passage of time. Anne Rice’s writing has taken some interesting turns in the years since BODY THIEF came out, and now that I’m back in the coven, so to speak, I look forward to reading them all. ( )

I didn't expect to like this book after reading the blurb and some of the reviews- however I was pleasantly surprised! Lestat is such an interesting character that I think it would be difficult for me not to like his stories at this point; though I'm told things go downhill from here.. I suppose I'll see for myself. David quickly became a favorite character of mine, I adore his wisdom and patience with such a bratty vampiric friend. Seeing Lestat go through being mortal, both suffering and enjoying certain things, it's all wonderfully written. The question of mortality is such a fun theme in my opinion, as is the struggle for the inhuman power our main character loves so.

The only reason this book didn't get the full 5 star rating from he is that I am left wondering about our baddie, Raglan James. I suppose part of the charm is that he was mysterious and that we knew little about him, however I find myself wanting some more explanation. Who was he and why exactly was he capable of this body switching feat? The same goes for David's psychic lessons to Lestat. If I remember correctly we haven't really mentioned humans being able to tap into this sort of thing much in the history of this series, so it ended up feeling like it was sort of added in just because it was needed for this plot.

I would recommend this book to anyone that loves the Vampire Chronicles, and this series to anyone who is interested in Vampire characters that break the modern stereotype of teenage romance. ( )

I think I was starting to loose interest by the time I got to this book in the series. ( )

Got a little too complicated with all that body changing ( )

Oh Lestat, "The brat prince". So perfect a nickname that you never know whether to wrap your arms around him or punch him square in the face. Even though this installment in no way surpassed the last, it was an interesting little story with a good amount of adventure and drama. Not to mention the usual melancholy sadness that only the great Vampire Lestat can make appealing. Very good for a quick read. ( )

This was a good one -- more actual story and less exposition than some of her stuff. Good basic story told at a decent pace. ( )

amazing, just like any other Anne Rice novel I've read. Makes me want to run to the store to buy the next one.
( )

The most erotic of all the Vampire Chronicles (so far). The endless passion between David and Lestat kept me reading more than anything else. She handled their relationship beautifully. I don't know if I can pick a favorite of all the books I've read of her's so far, but I know I love this one just as much as the first three. ( )

Lestat has become thoroughly disillusioned with his life as a vampire. Isolated, bored and generally dissatisfied he tries to end it all – which doesn’t work out as planned given his incredible power level

When someone makes him an offer he can’t refuse, though he really really really should as multiple people tell him. But since when has the Brat Prince listened to the advice of others?

He agrees to the Body Thief’s proposal – he will swap his incredible vampiric body for that of the Body Thief’s human one – letting Lestat experience humanity while the Body Thief, Raglan, a deeply unsavoury character, plays around with Lestat’s amazing powers

It does not go well.

I love that Lestat becomes human and hates it! Especially since this follows both Louis and Lestat playing the “woe, I wanna be human!” game – and since Louis is probably responsible for an entire genre worth of vampires moodily staring into the night and cursing their immortal super powers. I love how perfectly Lestat sums up just how much better it is to be a vampire, how awesome being a vampire is, how incredible his powers are – and no, getting to see the pretty sunshine does not make up for having to do all the nasty organic things that he hasn’t had to deal with for the best part of two centuries. I love how gross he finds the daily life of being a human. I love how hard he finds it, how painful, how difficult.

Yes, he looks hellaciously whiny when he complains to Louis about it, but it is a powerful moment – Lestat (and Louis) have reached such a power level that being human is beyond their conception. The struggles of humanity are insurmountable tortures to Lestat because he is so separated from them.

The real world parallels for this are many and deep (for example, the number of extremely privileged, wealthy people putting marginalised cultures, experiences et al on shiny pedestals without even beginning to understand what it actually means to be those people) and it’s an extremely well maintained theme throughout.

Are there things about being human Lestat likes? Yes. Is being a vampire an inherently lonely experience? That’s extremely clear as the human Lestat makes his connections (which fall apart when he becomes a vampire) but it has become clear over and over (and is overtly stated in this book) that the few remaining vampires in the world simply cannot get along for any great length of time. Of course there are attractions, but those can only be realised by ignoring a huge wealth of pain and hardship and difficulty that being a human brings compared to the vast abilities of vampiredome.

While I generally find the endless philosophical debates in this series incredibly, painfully dull, I actually really liked Lestat and Gretchen (not so much the fever dreams) with their delving into what is goodness, what makes a life worthwhile, what is a good life. It’s a big, meaty, thought provoking topic which was handled quite well – albeit long windedly. I also liked Gretchen’s point about her celibacy – she views celibacy as a way of ensuring all of her life can be dedicated to helping others without the ties or distractions of a relationship. As her growing preoccupation with her celibacy and desire to have sex grew, she recognised that as a distraction in and of itself and therefore the moral choice was, basically, to scratch the itch. It’s a fascinating moral viewpoint – the whole conversation really works (except for the repetition).

I like the development of the antagonist as well, for all his cunning his flaws are written large – and there’s a lot of thought gone into the whole concept of stealing a body; after all, would we really know how to move a body that is a different shape from our own? Let alone a body with super powers? I imagine, given Lestat’s incredible abilities, the only sensible response at controlling that power for the first time is some kind of terror – like a new driver suddenly behind the wheel of a Maserati.

Then there’s the negative. Firstly, the standard problem I’ve complained about with every book in this series – this book doesn’t need an editor, it needs to be assaulted by a drunk man with a chainsaw who’ll just chop huge chunks of it away quite randomly. Again, this book could have been half, a third as long as it actually is. We had a lot of random Claudia hallucinations that just seem to be there to fill up space. Lestat begins the book all suicidal which we’re told about at length, including his suicide plan… he then gets over it. After an interminable amount of time bemoaning his existence and trying to end it all, he decides he’s done that now and moves on – the whole thing feels like a painfully pointless way to give Lestat a tan.

In fact, the whole beginning of the book is like some kind of test of reader dedication to see if they have the mettle to keep reading. Beyond the Claudia hallucinations, unnecessary recaps and random not!suicide, we have a truly horrendously long conversation between David and Lestat that covers nothing of any real relevance – except maybe to try and tell us that these two are bestest buds ever, even though none of the books felt the need to develop that. Oh and Lestat kills serial killers and romances and kills old people for some unknown reason which, despite having zero plot relevance, required so many many many pages to describe. I also have a repeated notes with a growing number of exclamation marks saying “ENOUGH WITH THE BLOOD REMBRANDT!” I think a full quarter of the beginning of this book is spent on utter pointlessness.

Unfortunately this book moved Lestat from a character I found somewhat intriguing to one I found infuriating in the extreme. If something were to brutally murder Lestat I wouldn’t feel sad, I would smugly declare he got what was coming to him.

Lestat has the impulse control of a small child – no, small children show greater restraint. And not just in agreeing to Raglan’s deal – but in the end with David, in his interactions with Louis, most of what he did as a human, his early book angst, in fact, just about everything Lestat does, he does on a whim with little to no thought of the consequences. And he always has (Claudia is a classic example).

I could handle that – if he learned. If for one millisecond he learned. If he once decided to plan or consider or look back on his past mistakes or if he showed even a modicum of character growth. He doesn’t. Ever.

Read More ( )

The more I read of Lestat's tales, the more I start to question exactly how much I like him. Now, the reader doesn't need to 'like' the narrator in order to enjoy the book, but it can make the reading pass more quickly.

This is the story of how Lestat gets tricked into switching bodies with someone--what he thinks will be an excellent idea, but soon learns that he doesn't like the weakness that comes with being human--or the bodily functions!

A fun read however, and I look forward to the rest of the series. ( )

This is a Lestat novel and the "brat prince" is in trouble again. Lestat decides he wants to be human again and agrees to swap bodies with someone who wants to know what it's like to be a vampire. Parts of it are very funny; parts are very sad. If you're a Lestat fan, you'll love this book. ( )

This was my least favourite Vampire Chronicle, hands down.

However, after listening to the unabridged audiobook, I think I misjudged it the first time. I'm rather fond of it now. And I'm especially fond of the relationship between David and Lestat. Can I fangirl David Talbot? :) ( )

There are lots of suspense, drama and actions but it's not really as profound and meaningful as "The Vampire Lestat", although it's a better read than "The Queen of the Damned" in my opinion. David is one of my favourite characters of "Vampire Chronicles". ( )

This book is my favorite so far. I loved the theme of the story and the concept. Still had brooding vampires in it but not so much as usual. Also a much better adventure then any of the other stories in this series. Hopefully the series stays as interesting through the rest of it. ( )

This book is my favorite so far. I loved the theme of the story and the concept. Still had brooding vampires in it but not so much as usual. Also a much better adventure then any of the other stories in this series. Hopefully the series stays as interesting through the rest of it. ( )