Photo: Courtesy Geffen Pictures.He's been a wealthy landowner, a complete recluse, a rock star, and, for a brief, odd period, Tom Cruise. Now, according to his creator, the vampire that set off modern literature's bloodsucker fetish, Lestat de Lioncourt, is returning to the printed page.
In an interview on her son Christopher Rice's internet radio show, The Dinner Party Show, author Anne Rice announced that, after a nine-year break, she'd be adding a new book to her Vampire Chronicles series this fall. More importantly, it'll mark the return of Lestat, her most famous and beloved creation. This time, instead of referencing Lestat indirectly or using him as a narrative tool, the new book, Prince Lestat, will pick up exactly where Rice's massively successful Queen of the Damned left off. This makes the forthcoming novel a far more exciting prospect than the last few Chronicles entries.
Moviegoers will remember Lestat from Interview With The Vampire and Queen of The Damned (in which he's portrayed by Tom Cruise and Stuart Townsend respectively). But, we've truly seen the popularity of vampires take off at the hands of movies and books, like Twilight, The Vampire Diaries, and about 20,000 other properties. Still, that's due in large part to Rice and Lestat.
Come October 28, we'll be able to see for ourselves whether Rice can finally tap into the publishing trend she's responsible for, but hasn't been a part of for years. We'd say she — and her pioneering vampire — deserves it. (Examiner)