Memnoch the Devil (Vampire Chronicles) Mass Market Paperback – May 28, 1997

I have read this for perhaps the tenth or even twentieth time. It is, in my most humble opinion, one of Anne Rice's best novels. She does an exquisitely beautiful work of literature and adventure that only she could make dear to one's heart.There are those who have criticized this enthralling addition to the Vampire collection, which I find to be most strange. She takes on all of Creation and Its Creator with brave and gifted tales that are astonishing in their depth and simplicity.Our beloved Brat Prince is the perfect character to hold such a weighted ideology, and does so with excellent panache and heart. The story is as important today as it was two decades ago. Rice has such skill as a writer, with lush and vivid imagination that are imbued in every word of this journey of the soul and through history.I couldn't be more pleased with a novel, to recommend it to those who seek to read for both pleasure and enrichment. It is one of my favorite books, both by Anne Rice and in general. It's utterly fascinating and very thought-provoking. I love it dearly. I think many others will, also.As Always I Wish Happy Reads to All From, The Unapologetic Book Junkie!

What a fantastic book, her best in my opinion. I would suggest this to anyone .The imagery of heaven and hell were almost dante-esque.Read this one for sure

This book took me forever to read. Its not that it was bad. It just went on and on. I love Anne Rice but it was almost like she was showing off in this book. Just endless s*** that didnt need to be there. I actually put the book down and wasnt going to read the rest but needed to know the end. Good book intelligent and insteresting but lots and lots of on going extra filler stuff. Maybe just me but I have never had this before with her books. I would say read it and if you can put up with all the redundantancy you will enjoy it far more then I did.

Drop into a fantastic world and experience the beautiful side of evil.

Clarifying my review to be, actually, useful.This book, as others have put it, really made one re-look at Christianity. I am an atheist, but I believe if religion was presented this way to me originally, today I might be either agnostic or a believer. This book, honestly, I viewed as an examination of Christianity with Lestat thrown in for fun. :) Even now, years after I have read it, I -still- think of it often. As a matter of fact, if one listens to the song 'Almost Human' by Voltaire, it almost sounds a bit like this books soundtrack. I can't listen to that song and not play the book in my mind like a movie.The Devil is not just "evil" and God isn't just "Good." This book, if it had NO vampires and just had a single stand-alone party, would still be amazing... maybe more so. This is one of the must reads of the Vampire Chronicles, just for the quality of the writing and the questions that must be asked. Anne Rice clearly has a very solid view of Christianity that is based on the writings, not the Church. She is a rarity, and I certainly appreciated it. I might buy a few more as a matter of fact.. a nice hard cover and a few paper backs for my storage and loaners. Seriously, buy the book. If nothing else, the entertainment value is certainly worth the $4-$5 you will spend on a used copy, or the $8 you will spend for a brand new one.

Long time Anne Rice reader, but I have waited many years to get to this one. I've heard MANY great things about the book. I tried to lower my expectations. Honestly, I found the book to be just ok. I wanted to read a dark subject matter so I went back to Anne Rice. I love the character Lestat, but in this book he really takes a passive role. *SPOILERS AHEAD*What I did not like: I did not like the first 30% of the book, which follows Lestat's prey Roger and Roger's daughter Dora. I could care less about those characters or their story. I felt it really dominated the first portion of the book to no end. I was like "Ok, get to the REAL story!". After reading, I still think the real story had very little to do with the Roger story and it could have been left out. In the main story, I feel Lestat is merely along for the ride, hearing the Devil's version of the world, heaven, and hell. There is very little action or anything happening until the very end of the book. Speaking of which, I did like the ending of the book just fine!What I did like: If you didn't realize this, Rice is essentially a romance author. What another author describes in 1 sentence "He sat down." for example, Rice will take 3 paragraphs to write about. No one just "sits down" in a Rice novel, they sit on the velvet which reminds them of their childhood in France with hearty aromas of burning leaves and pine... Her descriptions are rich, thick, and full bodied. Want to increase your vocabulary or learn new usage of words? Anne Rice. It's what I want from her and she delivers. I like her version of the Devil and the plot between God and the Devil. I also liked her description of heaven and hell. The character Memnoch is complex and you want to read more and more about him, truly. I really enjoyed him as a character and Rice's description of the events leading to how he became the Devil.I will likely continue to read Rice's vampire novels. However, I really enjoyed The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned more than any other in the series thus far.