The Vampire Armand
Anne Rice
6th book in The Vampire Chronicles, tells the story of Armand, born in
15th-century Constantinople, and made a vampire by Marius, in Renaissance
Venice.
Recommendation: Standard vampire fare Cover: Hardcover Category: Fiction
# Pages: 388 Date Purchased: 25-Dec-2003 Finished: 7-May-2004
Anne Rice can continue writing vampire novels for years and years if she
continues the tactic of devoting new novels to individual characters that
we've
met in other books. In Interview With the Vampire, we met the vampire
Louis, but also were introduced to an antagonist in the person of Lestat, as
well
as Armand, the leader of the coven in Paris. In The Vampire Lestat, we saw
things from Lestat's perspective, learned a bit more of Armand, and were also
introduced to Marius, a man who became a vampire in the time of Ancient Rome.
We got a lot more Lestat in the next three books, but were also fed a
steady diet of new vampiric characters like Pandora, Santiago, the sisters
Mekare
& Maharet, Maal, and a host of others.
In The Vampire Armand, after meeting him in earlier books, we finally get
Armand's own story. Older than Lestat, though not one of the "Children of the
Millenia", Armand was born in Kiev in the 15th century and received his
education in Venice under the tutelage of Marius, ancient Roman and keeper of
Those Who Must Be Kept. We learn how Marius' home was attacked by a group of
vampiric religious zealots and how Armand was abudcted, became one of them,
and
ultimately ended up the leader of the coven in Paris.
The book is mainly a record of Armand's spiritual development, from his
human life as a child painter of religious icons, to his secular education at
the
hands of Marius in Venice, and his ultimate acceptance of the religious
self-punishment of the vampire Santiago and his coven. His spiritual life,
described in The Vampire Armand, becomes the context for his reaction to
seeing
the true veil of Veronica, brought back by Lestat at the end of Memnoch the
Devil.
Rice doesn't disappoint in presenting yet another deep character study of
one of her vampire characters. Armand isn't nearly as engaging as Lestat, or
as intriguing as Marius, but is still one of the central characters in Rice's
pantheon, and a satisfying read.
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