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Over the course of her 45-year career, novelistAnne Ricepenned a multitude of books including a variety of series and standalone titles. She is probably best known for writing theVampire Chroniclesseries, which has been adapted to the screen in various formats including the moviesInterview with the VampireandQueen of the Damned. AMC’sInterview with the Vampireshowis the latest incarnation of the property, part of a line of adaptations that has drawn prominent stars over the years, including Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Christian Slater, Antonio Banderas, Aaliyah, and Ben Daniels.
Rice’s other novels are also gaining more notoriety after the success of AMC’sInterview with the Vampire. The show spawned an interconnected franchise known asAnne Rice’s Immortal Universe that also includesMayfair Witches, which is a spinoff starring Alexandra Daddario, Tongayi Chirisa, Jack Huston, and Harry Hamlin, in addition to anupcoming Talamasca spinoff. However, over the course of penning 37 novels and one nonfiction book, she also spread her wings by exploring other genres, including biblical fiction and erotica. Before her death in 2021, she also briefly dabbled with co-writing novels alongside her son Christopher.
1976
Interview with the Vampire
1979
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1988
1989
The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned
1990
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
Servant of the Bones
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
Blood and Gold
2002
2003
2005
2008
2009
2010
Of Love and Evil
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis
2017
2018
2022
The Vampire Chronicles Books In Order (Release & Chronological)
Anne Rice Wrote 13 Vampire Chronicles Books
Many of Anne Rice’s most popular novels were part of the seriesVampire Chronicles. This only became more true after the production of theInterview with the Vampiremovie, which was the eleventh highest-grossing movie of 1994 and was eventually nominated for two Oscars. In addition to featuring some of her most iconic characters and storylines, theChroniclesnovels dominated her bibliography as Rice delivered installments in the seriesfrom the beginning of her career until just three years before her death.
The Vampire Chronicles Books In Release Order
The Vampire Chroniclesis Anne Rice’s most ambitious series. While there were nine years separating the first two installments, during which time the author largely focused on erotic fiction, she returned to the universe at full steam, releasing novels at a relatively steady clip between 1985 and 2003 before another hiatus of more than a decade. Overall, there were13 books in the primaryVampire Chroniclesseries, which can be seen in release order below:
Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat
The Vampire Chronicles Books In Chronological Order
TheVampire Chroniclesbooks can sometimes contain multiple or overlapping timelines, as indicated by the fact that inInterview with the Vampire, the titular interview takes place in the modern day while the story Louis tells about his life and undeath spans centuries. While a full timeline of each scene in the series would be more complicated, the novels otherwise all follow roughly one after the other, even when they focus on the exploits of characters who weren’t the leads of the previous installments. Thus,the release order is still likely the best option, as detailed below:
Lives Of The Mayfair Witches Books In Order (Release & Chronological)
Anne Rice Wrote 3 Lives Of The Mayfair Witches Books
One of the other most important series that Anne Rice ever wrote wasLives of the Mayfair Witches, which kicked off in 1990. The series, which frequently intermingled withThe Vampire Chronicles,followed a family of witches who are connected to the spirit Lasher. Although only three books were published in the series, several characters and elements would appear in later Rice novels.
The Lives of the Mayfair Witches Books In Release Order
TheLives of the Mayfair Witchestrilogy was published in reasonably quick succession between 1990 and 1994. In fact, of the Rice series that included more than two novels,Mayfair Witcheshadthe shortest span between its beginning and its end. Below, see their exact titles and release dates:
Taltos
The Lives of the Mayfair Witches Books In Chronological Order
Because of how tightly the release dates and storylines are connected, theLives of the Mayfair Witchesbooks have a reasonably strict chronology. Thus,they should be read in release order,which is as follows:
The Two Anne Rice Series Are Deeply Interconnected
Because of the ways that the stories are interconnected, the reading order for Rice’s two most prominent series can be complicated. The first sixVampire Chroniclesbooks and the originalMayfair Witchestrilogy function reasonably well separately and can be read without knowledge of the other series. However,all nine novels should be read before openingMerrick,Blackwood Farm, orBlood Canticle, which all feature crossovers between the two series.
Where to Watch Mayfair Witches
Where can you watch Mayfair Witches? Find out more about the wickedly good series.
Otherwise,reading the series in publication order is probably the best option, so readers can follow along with Rice herself as she develops the world surrounding the characters. Certain elements including the Talamasca and characters like Aaron Lightner cross over even sooner thanMerrick. The release date reading order option is detailed below:
Anne Rice Wrote 6 Additional Book Series
The Sleeping Beauty Quartet
The Sleeping Beauty Quartet, which Anne Rice wrote under the pseudonym A. N. Roquelaure, isa series of erotic novels. Loosely inspired by the fairy taleSleeping Beauty, the series contains elements of BDSM, fetishism, and role-playing as well as various expressions of sexuality. The four-part series, which is not directly connected to any other Rice works, should be read in release order, which is as follows:
Beauty’s Kingdom
Ramses the Damned
Ramses the Damnedmarked Anne Rice’sfirst foray into a series following a type of classic monster other than vampires. After publishing the original book in the series in 1989, Rice made good on her promise of a sequel decades later with two novels co-written with her son Christopher, the latter of which was released just months after her death. Because the sequels explore the mythology of the original novel, they should be read in release order, which is as follows:
Ramses the Damned: The Reign of Osiris
New Tales of the Vampires
New Tales of the Vampiresisa series ofVampire Chroniclesspinoff novelsthat bookended the sixth installment,The Vampire Armand. Both told the stories of vampires who were not primary characters in the novels. However, there is some intersection between the series, including the title character ofPandorabeing featured inPrince Lestat. See their release order below:
Vittorio the Vampire
WhileVittorio the Vampireis largely a standalone, it would help if a chronological readthrough of theVampire Chroniclesnovels includedPandorabeforeThe Vampire Armand.
Christ the Lord
TheChrist the Lordnovels are biblical fiction where Ricedepicts brief periods in the life of Jesus Christ. The first book follows him from age 7 to 8, while the second takes place during the winter before his baptism. Though they were originally meant to be a four-part series, the below duology is all that was ever published:
Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana
Songs of the Seraphim
Songs of the Seraphimisa duology that follows assassin Toby O’Dare. The novels contain elements of time travel and while they feature Christian themes, they are unrelated to theChrist the Lordbooks. See the release order for the twoSeraphimbooks below:
The Wolf Gift Chronicles
The final series ever written byAnne Ricebegan in 2012, just nine years before her death. Centered ona werewolf in Northern California, the duology was originally meant to be a single self-contained narrative before the author saw fit to continue the story the following year. See the details of both installments in the series below:
Which Anne Rice Books Are The Best?
The Vampire Chronicles & Mayfair Witches Reign Supreme
Regarding the Anne Rice books series,the Vampire Chronicles and Mayfair Witches stand high above all others.While there are interesting stories in her books based on Christianity (both Christ and the angels), they lacked a little in the creativity of her earlier books about vampires and witches. TheSleeping Beautybooks were very popular for people who love erotic fiction. TheRamses the Damnedseries was also incredibly entertaining, but with almost 30 years between the first and second books, it was mostly forgotten.
The Mayfair Witcheswas the best Anne Rice series when she wasn’t writing about vampires. However, the one thing that holds it down is that only three books are in the series, with the last one coming out 30 years ago.When ranking the Vampire Chronicle series, the books all have positive qualities, but the first book,Interview with the Vampire,remains the best overall and the most influential, followed byThe Queen of the DamnedandThe Vampire Lestat. However, all books deserve a read.
Cast
Based on Anne Rice’s novel series that began in 1976, Interview with the Vampire is a gothic horror fantasy series that explores the life of Louis de Pointe du Lac through an interview with a journalist. Told through flashbacks of Louis' life during the interview, the series examines Louis' relationship with the vampire that turned him, Lestat de Lioncourt, and a teenage girl named Claudia, whom he turns. The series is the first of Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe media franchise.
