by Anne Rice
Mekare--Maharet's twin sister, the powerful red-haired witch who communed with the invisible and potentially destructive spirit Amel, who later went into the body of Queen Akasha, creating the first vampire. The story of Mekare and Maharet is first told by Maharet in The Queen of the Damned. Mekare figures in Blood and Gold and in Prince Lestat.
Memnoch--A powerful spirit claiming to be the Judeo-Christian Satan. He tells his story to Lestat in Memnoch the Devil.
New Orleans--Figures prominently in the Vampire Chronicles as the home of Louis, Lestat, and Claudia for many years during the nineteenth century, at which time they resided in a townhouse in the Rue Royale in the French Quarter. This house still exists and is in the possession of Lestat today, as it has always been. It was in New Orleans that Lestat encountered Louis and Claudia and made them vampires.
Notker the Wise--A monk and a musician and a composer brought into the Blood by Benedict around A.D. 880, maker of many boy-soprano vampires and other vampire musicians yet unnamed. Living in the Alps. Introduced in Prince Lestat.
Raymond Gallant--A faithful mortal scholar of the Talamasca, a friend to the Vampire Marius, presumed dead in the sixteenth century. Appears again in Prince Lestat.
Rhoshamandes--A male from ancient Crete, brought into the Blood at the same time as the female Sevraine, about five thousand years ago. A powerful and reclusive vampire obsessed with operatic music and performances, and the lover of Benedict. Lives in his castle on the island of Saint Rayne in the Outer Hebrides, traveling the world from time to time to see different operas in the great opera houses.
Rose--An American girl, rescued as a small child by Lestat from an earthquake in the Mediterranean around 1995. His ward. Lover and later spouse of Viktor. Introduced in Prince Lestat.
Saint Alcarius, Monastery of--The secret residence of Gremt, Teskhamen, and other supernatural elders of the Talamasca in France, near the Belgian border.
Saint Rayne-- The island on which Rhoshamandes lives.
Santino--An Italian vampire made during the time of the Black Death. Longtime Roman coven master of the Children of Satan. Presumed dead.
Seth--The biological son of Queen Akasha, brought into the Blood by her after a youth of roaming the ancient world in search of knowledge in the healing arts. He is introduced in Prince Lestat and is the maker of Fareed and Flannery Gilman.
Sevraine--A remarkably beautiful Nordic female vampire, made by Nebamun (Gregory) against Akasha's rules. Sevraine maintains her own underground court in the Cappadocian Mountains. A friend to female vampires. Introduced in Prince Lestat.
Sybelle--A young American pianist, beloved friend of Benji Mahmoud, and Armand, brought into the Blood by Marius in 1997. Introduced in The Vampire Armand.
The Talamasca--An ancient order of psychic detectives or researchers, dating back to the Dark Ages--an organization of mortal scholars who observe and record paranormal phenomena. Their origins are shrouded in mystery until they are revealed in Prince Lestat. They have Motherhouses in Amsterdam and outside of London, and retreat houses in many places, including Oak Haven in Louisiana. First introduced in The Queen of the Damned and figuring in many Chronicles since. Vampires Jesse Reeves and David Talbot were mortal members of the Talamasca.
Teskhamen--Ancient Egyptian vampire, the maker of Marius as told by Marius in The Vampire Lestat. Presumed dead until modern times. Connected with the origins of the Talamasca. First named in Prince Lestat.
Theatre des Vampires--A boulevard theater of the macabre, created by the refugees from the Children of Satan, funded by Lestat, and managed for decades by Armand, who had once been the coven master of the Children of Satan.
Thorne--A red-haired Viking vampire, made centuries ago in Europe by Maharet. Introduced in Blood and Gold.
Trinity Gate--A coven dwelling made up of three identical townhouses just off Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side of New York. Armand is the founder of Trinity Gate. And it functions now as the American Court of Prince Lestat.
Viktor--An American boy, biological son of Dr. Flannery Gilman. His story is revealed in Prince Lestat. Lover and later spouse of Rose, Lestat's ward.
Appendix 2
An Informal Guide to the Vampire Chronicles
1. Interview with the Vampire (1976)--In this, the first published memoir of a vampire within his tribe, Louis de Pointe du Lac tells his life story to a reporter he encounters in San Francisco--Daniel Molloy. Born in the eighteenth century in Louisiana, Louis, a rich plantation owner, encounters the mysterious Lestat de Lioncourt, who offers him immortality through the Blood, and Louis accepts--beginning a long spiritual search for the meaning of who and what he has become. The child vampire Claudia and the mysterious Armand of the Theatre des Vampires are central to the story.
2. The Vampire Lestat (1985)--Here, Lestat de Lioncourt offers his full autobiography--recounting his life in eighteenth-century France as a penniless provincial aristocrat, a Parisian stage actor, and finally as a vampire in conflict with other members of the Undead, including the Coven of the Children of Satan. After a long physical and spiritual journey, Lestat reveals ancient secrets about the vampire tribe that he has kept for more than a century, emerging as a rock star and rock video maker, eager to start a war with humankind that might bring the Undead together and end in vampiric annihilation. Lestat survives his brash self-destructive ambitions and is the undisputed hero of the Vampire Chronicles.
3. The Queen of the Damned (1988)--Though written by Lestat, this story includes multiple points of view from mortals and immortals all over the planet, responding to Lestat's revealing rock music and videos, which awaken the six-thousand-year-old Queen of the Vampires, Akasha, from her long slumber. The first book to deal with the entire tribe of the Undead around the world. This novel contains the first inclusion of the mysterious secret order of mortal scholars known as the Talamasca, who study the paranormal. Prince Lestat and Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis both deal with Lestat and the entire tribe, in the manner of Queen of the Damned.
4. The Tale of the Body Thief (1992)--Lestat's memoir in which he recounts his disastrous encounter with a clever and sinister mortal named Raglan James, a sorcerer experienced in switching bodies--a battle which forces Lestat into closer involvement with his friend David Talbot, Superior General of the Talamasca, whose scholarly members are dedicated to the study of the paranormal.
5. Memnoch the Devil (1995)--Lestat narrates a personal adventure, this time filled with devastating shocks and mysteries as he confronts a powerful spirit, Memnoch, claiming to be none other than the Devil of Christian lore, the fallen angel himself, who invites Lestat to journey with him to Heaven and Hell, and seeks to enlist Lestat as a helper in the Christian realm. Many questions remain unresolved as to who or what Memnoch is and whether he is a truth teller or a liar.
6. Pandora (1998)--Published under the series title New Tales of the Vampires, this story is Pandora's autobiographical confession, recounting her life in the ancient Roman Empire during the time of Augustus and Tiberius, including her great and tragic love affair with the Vampire Marius. Though it does recount later events, the book is principally focused on Pandora's first century as a vampire.
7. The Vampire Armand (1998)--Here, Armand, a profound and enigmatic presence in earlier novels, offers his autobiography to the reader, explaining his long life since the time of the Renaissance when he was kidnapped from Kiev and brought to Venice as a boy brothel slave, only to be rescued by the powerful and ancient vampire Marius. Yet another kidnapping puts Armand in the hands of the cruel and notorious Children of Satan, superstitious vampires who worship the Devil. Though Armand concludes his story in the present time and introduces new characters to the Chronicles, most of the account focuses on his earlier years.
8. Vittorio, the Vampire (1999)--One of the New Tales of the Vampires, this is the autobiography of Vittorio of Tuscany, who becomes a member of the Undead during the Renaissance. This character does not appear elsewhere in th
e Vampire Chronicles, but he is of the same tribe and does share the same cosmology.
9. Merrick (2000)--Told by David Talbot, this story is centered on Merrick, a Creole woman of color from an old New Orleans family and a member of the Talamasca, who seeks to become a vampire during the last years of the twentieth century. This is a hybrid novel, involving a glimpse of a few characters from another series of books devoted to the history of the Mayfair Witches of New Orleans to whom Merrick is related, but it principally focuses on Merrick's involvement with the Undead, including Louis de Pointe du Lac.
10. Blood and Gold (2001)--Another in the series of vampire memoirs, this time written by the ancient Roman Marius, explaining much about his two thousand years amongst the Undead and the challenges he faced in protecting the mystery of Those Who Must Be Kept, the ancient parents of the tribe, Akasha and Enkil. Marius offers his side of the story of his love affair with Armand and his conflicts with other vampires. This novel concludes in the present but is principally focused on the past.
11. Blackwood Farm (2002)--A hybrid novel narrated by Quinn Blackwood recounting his personal history and involvement with the Talamasca, the Undead, and the Mayfair Witches of New Orleans, who figure in another book series. Set in a brief period of time in the early twenty-first century.
12. Blood Canticle (2003)--A hybrid novel, narrated by Lestat, recounting his adventures with Quinn Blackwood and with the Mayfair Witches from another series of books. This story focuses on a brief period of time in the twenty-first century.
13. Prince Lestat (2014)--Over a decade has passed since Lestat, the infamous Brat Prince, went into self-imposed retirement. The vampire world is virtually leaderless and in chaos, with vampires warring for territory in the big cities. Young blood drinker Benji Mahmoud launches a clandestine vampire radio station to call on the Undead worldwide to keep the peace, while begging the elders of the tribe to come forward and help their children. When some vampires begin hearing a mysterious telepathic voice--asking them to burn coven houses and destroy their own kindred--Lestat has no choice but to come out of exile and help the tribe face the challenges threatening to destroy it.
14. Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis (2016)--Lestat, the new Prince of the Vampires--having established his glamorous and beautiful Court at Chateau de Lioncourt in the mountains of France--is hoping to rule the Undead in peace when a new and mysterious enemy presents itself. Strange beings appear offering an unexpected dimension to the story of Amel, the spirit animating the entire vampire tribe. And Lestat must confront the very real possibility of immediate and total vampiric extinction.
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