SERIES READING ORDER UPDATED July 19th 2023!!
Thanks to Melissa for pointing out a very important (yet missing) series from my list. What was I thinking!? Especially considering I’ve already collected a bunch of these for my own reading pleasure 😉
About the series:
Here are the confessions of a vampire. Hypnotic, shocking, and chillingly erotic, this is a novel of mesmerizing beauty and astonishing force–a story of danger and flight, of love and loss, of suspense and resolution, and of the extraordinary power of the senses.
SERIES READING ORDER:
(updated per Jason’s comment below, and I’ve included all of his details in between – all the series and crossovers as they should be read, and why they are important to the series as a whole – Thank you Jason!!!! This is incredible!) 😀
He says:
The Vampire Chronicles / The Lives of the Mayfair Witches (and The Mummy) should be read in the order they were written / published. The series crossover much earlier than people seem to realize.
- 1976 – Interview with the Vampire (The Vampire Chronicles, Book 1)
- 1985 – The Vampire Lestat (The Vampire Chronicles, Book 2) <— Lestat wakes from his long slumber and reads Interview with the Vampire.
- 1988 – The Queen of the Damned (The Vampire Chronicles, Book 3) <— Picks up from the cliffhanger ending of “Lestat”; introduces the Talamasca, Aaron Lightner and David Talbot. Ramses the Damned is mentioned.
- 1989 – The Mummy or Ramses the Damned: A Novel. <— (mentioned in the vampire books)
- 1991 – The Witching Hour (Lives of Mayfair Witches Book 1) <— The Talamasca and Aaron Lightner return; their study of vampires is mentioned. During the novel Aaron Lightner orders a painting so that another character may see it.
- 1992 – The Tale of the Body Thief (The Vampire Chronicles, Book 4) <— Lestat stays with with David Talbot of the Talamasca and is with him when he receives an order for the painting from Aaron Lightner.
- 1993 – Lasher (Lives of Mayfair Witches Book 2) <— Sequel to “The Witching Hour”.
- 1994 – Taltos (Lives of Mayfair Witches Book 3) <— Sequel “Lasher”.
- 1995 – Memnoch the Devil (The Vampire Chronicles, Book 5) <— Sequel to “The Tale of the Body Thief.
- 1998 – Pandora (New Tales of the Vampires Book 1) <— Sequel to “Memnoch the Devil”; set after the events of that novel. What will be the backstory for the Talamasca is introduced here. sort of a spin-off of her “Vampire Chronicles” as it references Vampire Chronicle characters and is part of the “same world” – Pandora should be read at this point in the series as it is integral to the next book
- 1998 – The Vampire Armand (The Vampire Chronicles) Book 6 (Sequel to “Memnoch” & “Pandora”; the ending of “Pandora” leads into this novel.)
- 1999 – Vittorio, the Vampire (New Tales of the Vampires Book 2) (<— A mostly stand alone novel but it does take place after several of the Vampire Chronicles have been released to the public and was released here.)
- 2000 – Merrick (The Vampire Chronicles, Book 7) <— Merrick Mayfair (a descendant of the witch characters) interacts with the vampires.
- 2001 – Blood and Gold (The Vampire Chronicles, Book 8) <— Justice is sought for past wrong as Marius’s past is given more detail and while the story is book-ended in the present.
- 2002 – Blackwood Farm (The Vampire Chronicles, Book 9) <— Set after the others, this book brings in several of the Mayfair characters from the witch novels.
- 2003 – Blood Canticle (The Vampire Chronicles, Book 10) <— Intended to be the last novel in the series (at the time) this is a direct sequel to “Blackwood Farm” and features the main characters of the vampire and witch books interacting at a level never accomplished before – giving some amount of closure to both series and resolving the cliffhanger ending of “Taltos”.
- 2014 – Prince Lestat: The Vampire Chronicles <— Picks up years after the last novel and brings back nearly all the vampire characters, placing the history of the vampires in a larger context.
- 2016 – Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis: The Vampire Chronicles
- 2017 – Ramses the Damned: The Passion of Cleopatra
- 2018 – Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat (Vampire Chronicles Book 13)
- 2022 – Ramses the Damned: The Reign of Osiris
I really need to go back and reread these, it’s been so many years!
I need to just read ’em. My friend LOVES the series and can’t believe as much as I’m into the whole vampire thing, that i haven’t even started these yet… shameful, really *blush*
Have you read them yet? Haha I’m guessing yes since it’s been about 10 years
I hope u have now
How can I get all the books
Hi Nikki! The books above are linked directly to Amazon (where they sell the Kindle versions or print versions). I hope that helps!
Didn’t answer that all important question, Maryse! Have you started reading? I need to reread. Thanks for this, it’ll come in handy. Going to bookmark you, as I find myself searching for book orders quite often, even on rereads.
LOL!!! I have not yet read the series. I know, it’s crazy. 🙄 😜
My issue is that soon after my crazy paranormal romance and vampire addiction, I fell hard for contemporary romance and that’s all I would devour for years. I left my beloved vampires, but I’m starting to feel that need again. 😉
Well since its been 20 years since I read interview, it’ll be like the first time for me too!
I’m reading The Vampire Lestat and I absolutely love these books.
why does every Anne Rice novel AND every list on the web have a completely different order? I have NEVER run into so much confusion regarding a series before! In my experience, authors always list their series in reading order (inside the next novel) so their readers have no confusion on which book to read next. The year it was written isn’t necessarily the order it is meant to be read in. I am totally frustrated! Are you sure you have the vampire chronicles reading order correct? Please respond, I would very much appreciate it! Thanks,
Cheryl
I’m reading the last book in the series. I don’t want to know how I’m going to feel after I flip to the last page. These books have been written tremendously well. I love Anne Rice!!!
Over the past about 40 years I have purchased most of the Anne Rice books and they stand mostly as first edition reading in my collection pirvate library. Now that the Vampire Chronicles is being revisited with Prince Lestat I decided to read the whole series again probably for the 3rd time. Presently I am reading “Queen of the Damned”. At this time my favorite Young Fledgling Vampire, all of you know him as “The Boy” in Interview, then introduced as “Daniel” who as a mortal built the “Night Island” with Armand has survived the old queens firery onslaught and with his lover Armand have escaped the scene of the Vampire Lestat Concert somehow simply being passed over. So I need advice from any of you who are reading the chronicles what book should be # 4? if any of the others are mentioned in the newest Prince Lestat Book. I guess that I would expect that David Talbot’s adventures in the Body Thief might need a reading and maybe Blackwood Farm. I have this feeling that some of the other individual books just describe the characters in more detail but I am really going to put my foot down and say no way will I ever read Memnoch again it really sucked. So what will I miss if I go straight to Anne’s latest Vampire Novel?
The Vampire Chronicles / The Lives of the Mayfair Witches (and The Mummy) should be read in the order they were written / published. The series crossover much earlier than people seem to realize.
1976 Interview with the Vampire
1985 The Vampire Lestat
Lestat wakes from his long slumber and reads Interview with the Vampire.
1988 The Queen of the Damned
Picks up from the cliffhanger ending of “Lestat”; introduces the Talamasca, Aaron Lightner and David Talbot. Ramses the Damned is mentioned.
1989 The Mummy (or Ramses the Damned)
1991 The Witching Hour
The Talamasca and Aaron Lightner return; their study of vampires is mentioned. During the novel Aaron Lightner orders a painting so that another character may see it.
1992 The Tale of the Body Thief
Lestat stays with with David Talbot of the Talamasca and is with him when he receives an order for the painting from Aaron Lightner.
1993 Lasher
Sequel to “The Witching Hour”.
1994 Taltos
Sequel “Lasher”.
1995 Memnoch the Devil
Sequel to “The Tale of the Body Thief.
1998 Pandora (New Tales of the Vampires)
Sequel to “Memnoch the Devil”; set after the events of that novel. What will be the backstory for the Talamasca is introduced here.
1998 The Vampire Armand
Sequel to “Memnoch” & “Pandora”; the ending of “Pandora” leads into this novel.
1999 Vittorio the Vampire (New Tales of the Vampires)
A mostly stand alone novel but it does take place after several of the Vampire Chronicles have been released to the public and was released here.
2000 Merrick
Merrick Mayfair (a descendant of the witch characters) interacts with the vampires.
2001 Blood and Gold
Justice is sought for past wrong as Marius’s past is given more detail and while the story is book-ended in the present.
2002 Blackwood Farm
Set after the others, this book brings in several of the Mayfair characters from the witch novels.
2003 Blood Canticle
Intended to be the last novel in the series (at the time) this is a direct sequel to “Blackwood Farm” and features the main characters of the vampire and witch books interacting at a level never accomplished before – giving some amount of closure to both series and resolving the cliffhanger ending of “Taltos”.
2014 Prince Lestat
Picks up years after the last novel and brings back nearly all the vampire characters, placing the history of the vampires in a larger context.
A sequel, rumored to be titled “Blood Paradise”, has been said to be in the works.
What order do they go in cause I want to get them and read them in order cause I’m weird like that
They generally take place in the order released but they also crossover with other series. The complete order (IMO) goes like this:
1976 Interview with the Vampire
1985 The Vampire Lestat
1988 The Queen of the Damned
1989 The Mummy (mentioned in the vampire books)
1990 The Witching Hour (Witch books crossover several times)
1992 The Tale of the Body Thief
1993 Lasher
1994 Taltos
1995 Memnoch The Devil
1998 Pandora
1998 The Vampire Armand
1999 Vittorio the Vampire
2000 Merrick
2001 Blood and Gold
2002 Blackwood Farm
2003 Blood Canticle
2014 Prince Lestat
2016 Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis
Question: why read The Mummy as part of the Vampire Chronicles? I understand The Lives of the Mayfair Witches as I have read them but I have Googled everywhere and cannot find a link between the Mummy and the Chronicles.
The Mummy is mentioned in the vampire books. I hope that helps!
What Maryse said.
Ramses the Damned is mentioned several times in “The Vampire Lestat”. I would not have been able to tell you in what title but I just did a search for Ramses in my Kindle version and it lists 6 mentions; one of the most notable references is in Part VII: Ancient Magic, Ancient Mysteries – Chapter 14 when they are discussing other types of immortals:
“There are at least two in Europe who do not and have never drunk blood. They can walk in the daylight as well as in the dark, and they have bodies and they are very strong. They look exactly like men. There was one in ancient Egypt, known as Ramses the Damned to the Egyptian court, though he was hardly damned as far as I can tell. His name was taken off all the royal monuments after he vanished.”
Rice, Anne. The Vampire Chronicles Collection: 1 (p. 978). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
This is why I included “The Mummy” series as part of the same continuity. Of course now there are 3 more sequels, with:
Ramses the Damned: The Passion of Cleopatra (2017)
Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat (2018) &
Ramses the Damned: The Reign of Osiris (2022).
I’ve not read any of these sequels so I’m not sure what order they should go in.
It’s because of you, Jason, that I was able to make such a massive and meaningful update to this list. So a HUGE thank you!!
Thanks Maryse! That was both unexpected and appreciated. I compulsively make lists of reading / viewing / listening orders, often for complicated fictional universes. I find it fun. I’m happy that it helped someone other than myself.