What Order To Read Anne Rice's Books In

Over the course of her 45-year career, novelist Anne Rice penned a multitude of books including a variety of series and standalone titles. She is probably best known for writing the Vampire Chronicles series, which has been adapted to the screen in various formats including the movies Interview with the Vampire and Queen of the Damned. AMC’s Interview with the Vampire show is 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’s Interview with the Vampire. The show spawned an interconnected franchise known as Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe that also includes Mayfair Witches, which is a spinoff starring Alexandra Daddario, Tongayi Chirisa, Jack Huston, and Harry Hamlin, in addition to an upcoming 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.

Every Anne Rice Book In Publication Order

Anne Rice Wrote 38 Books

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 series Vampire Chronicles. This only became more true after the production of the Interview with the Vampire movie, 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, the Chronicles novels dominated her bibliography as Rice delivered installments in the series from the beginning of her career until just three years before her death.

The Vampire Chronicles Books In Release Order

The Vampire Chronicles is 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 were 13 books in the primary Vampire Chronicles series, which can be seen in release order below:

The Vampire Chronicles Books In Chronological Order

The Vampire Chronicles books can sometimes contain multiple or overlapping timelines, as indicated by the fact that in Interview 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 was Lives of the Mayfair Witches, which kicked off in 1990. The series, which frequently intermingled with The 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

The Lives of the Mayfair Witches trilogy was published in reasonably quick succession between 1990 and 1994. In fact, of the Rice series that included more than two novels, Mayfair Witches had the shortest span between its beginning and its end. Below, see their exact titles and release dates:

The Lives of the Mayfair Witches Books In Chronological Order

Because of how tightly the release dates and storylines are connected, the Lives of the Mayfair Witches books have a reasonably strict chronology. Thus, they should be read in release order, which is as follows:

Should You Read The Vampire Chronicles Before Lives Of The Mayfair Witches?

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 six Vampire Chronicles books and the original Mayfair Witches trilogy function reasonably well separately and can be read without knowledge of the other series. However, all nine novels should be read before opening Merrick, Blackwood Farm, or Blood Canticle, which all feature crossovers between the two series.

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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 than Merrick. The release date reading order option is detailed below:

Every Other Anne Rice Book Series In Order

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, is a series of erotic novels. Loosely inspired by the fairy tale Sleeping 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:

Ramses the Damned

Ramses the Damned marked Anne Rice’s first 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:

New Tales of the Vampires

New Tales of the Vampires is a series of Vampire Chronicles spinoff novels that 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 of Pandora being featured in Prince Lestat. See their release order below:

Christ the Lord

The Christ the Lord novels are biblical fiction where Rice depicts 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:

Songs of the Seraphim

Songs of the Seraphim is a duology that follows assassin Toby O’Dare. The novels contain elements of time travel and while they feature Christian themes, they are unrelated to the Christ the Lord books. See the release order for the two Seraphim books below:

The Wolf Gift Chronicles

The final series ever written by Anne Rice began in 2012, just nine years before her death. Centered on a 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. The Sleeping Beauty books were very popular for people who love erotic fiction. The Ramses the Damned series was also incredibly entertaining, but with almost 30 years between the first and second books, it was mostly forgotten.

The Mayfair Witches was 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 by The Queen of the Damned and The Vampire Lestat. However, all books deserve a read.

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.

Cast

Jacob Anderson , Sam Reid , Eric Bogosian , Bailey Bass

Release Date

October 2, 2022

Seasons

2

Showrunner

Mark Johnson