Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis

At some point reading an installment in Anne Rice’s “The Vampire Chronicles,” I ask, “Why am I reading this?”

The question is typically raised often. 

The vow is made: This is the last one.

Then, then, a new one is published and it’s in my hands and again in my library. And again and again, the same question followed by the same vow.

Repeat.

There’s just something about Anne Rice’s vampires, especially the main protagonist the Vampire Lestat. 

But there’s much to get through, and the latest, “Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis,” is no different.

Here, as the title suggests, the vampire prince meets creatures connected to the mythical realm that met a watery doom.

In the last book, “Prince Lestat,” the title character became the leader of the vampires by embracing the ancient spirit that gave birth to vampirism.

In the latest book, Lestat still shares his body with the spirit Amel. A group of strange creatures arrive. A vampire could drink their blood forever without killing the creatures; the creatures are immortal; they are ancient and seek their elder. The elder who created and ruled Atalantaya, which became known as Atlantis. The elder who is now the spirit dwelling within Lestat.

There’s plenty to make “Realms” readable and even page turning, but as is often the case with “The Vampire Chronicles,” the narrative gets in the way of the story: There are about a hundred pages of one of the creatures over-explaining their origins; there are the overly emotional vampires who mightily love one another but are forever trying to survive their various spats; with each book, it seems the vampires have less and less to do with the real world which serves as a touchstone of reality within the fantasy, etc.

At times, vampires are tedious.

Yet, with so many of these books, several have been good: “The Vampire Lestat,” “The Tale of the Body Thief,” etc. So, I come back looking for a new page-turner in the installment. 

Then questions of why.

The vow.

Then the realization that I will likely buy the next one, too.