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Released in 1998
Foreign translations
Armand der Vampir(German)
Le Vampire Armand (French)
O Vampiro Armand (Portuguese)
Notable characters
Armand, Bianca, Marius,
In her latest bewitching volume of the Vampire Chronicles, Anne Rice summons up dazzling worlds to bring us the story of Armand - eternally young, with the face of a Botticelli angel - who appeared as the flamboyant leader of the Theatre des Vampires in Interview with the Vampire.
Armand begins his story against the dark, dramatic backdrop of the New Orleans convent where Lestat still lies in Endymion like sleep. The first memories he can conjure up are brutal ones - of himself as a boy, filthy and degraded, on a slave ship bound from Constantinople for Renaissance Venice. There in a magnificient palazzo he becomes the catamite and pupil of a rich, reclusive artist - Marius, the greatest vampire of them all.
Later, in a duel with an English lord, Armand receives a fatal wound, from which only Marius's dark gift can save him. Near death, he relives memories of an earlier, half forgotten childhood in Kiev in Russia - a city under Mongol dominiation - and of Constantinople, where Tartar raiders sold him into slavery.
The novel rises in a glorious crescendo, moving through scenes of luxury and decadence, of ambush, fire and devilworship to nineteenth century Paris and finally to present day New Orleans. Summoned there by the playing of impassionaed music and visions of lost childhood, Armand, the eternally vulernable and romantic hero, is forced to choose between his twilight immortality and the salvation of his immortal soul. Teeming with richness, sensuality and light, The Vampire Armand weaves an extraordinarily powerful spell, building to a climax and a thrilling moment of epiphany in the convent in New Orleans.
- My opinion -
So it appears Armand did not die...news which I am sure made all Vampire Chronicle fans breathe a sigh of relief. I enjoyed this book a lot up until the climax. I simply do not see why Marius decided to make Sybelle and Benji immortal - Sybelle perhaps but Benji, a 12 year old immortal strikes me as ridiculous. One might expect Lestat to do such a thing but it does not seem to be in Marius' character. Since Anne's next novel Blood and Gold is Marius' story, I fear we may be witness to a marked change in his character. It may not be such a bad thing and I wait with anticipation for the next novel.
If The Vampire Armand is your favourite novel vote for it.
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