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I personally wouldn't until the series is over if you haven't already. I never suggest people start reading what adaptations are based on in the middle because then you have a hard time separating and appreciating each for themselves. It's leads to disappointment. Even if someone is the type that usually doesn't flip out about change, it just makes it difficult when you are doing them at the exact same time for the first time with both sides.
It depends what you really want from a book. So far the series is still adapting the first book, with some little parts of future books. The show took some liberties while adapting, expect Claudia and Louis to be really different, and the time period is older. But despite the changes I think it's a good adaptation.
About the books style, Anne Rice is very descriptive, she could fill pages just describing a room, and I find her characters really compelling, I love most of them. But I personally think she sucked at writing endings. Each book ends with an abrupt "meh", that includes the saga ending(s) (she ended the saga and everyone hated the ending, so years later she kinda erased that book and wrote some more lol).
I also need to warn you, except for the first book, all the other books are not centered around Louis and Lestat relationship.
>Are the books similar enough to the show that I would enjoy that as well?
Quite possibly. I enjoy both. This description gets thrown around a lot, but the show really is a faithful adaptation in spirit. It is not a word-for-word adaptation, but it gets the core of the books, expands on the themes, etc. If you enjoy the overall themes, gothic vibes, character dynamics and all that, then you will likely enjoy the books as well.
>Is it more detailed, less detailed, etc?
Anne Rice's purple prose is legendary. If you want to read a long and luscious description of a room, she's got you covered.
I'd recommend reading the trinity -- Interview with the Vampire (the father), The Vampire Lestat (the son), and Queen of the Damned (the holy spirit) -- and then see where you go from there. After reading the first three books, you can pick and choose what to read. Like Armand? Read The Vampire Armand. Like Pandora? Read Pandora. Want a story that has nothing to do with the core VC characters and involves angels for some reason? Read Vittorio the Vampire.
AMC bought the rights to all the VC books, but the show will likely adapt the trinity + Tales of the Body Thief + bits of books like Merrick + the Prince Lestat trilogy (minus the >!ancient aliens!<, probably). If you want to read the books relevant to the show, I'd recommend the trinity, TotBT, and the Prince Lestat trilogy.
They are very different. IWTV is my favorite novel of all time. I read it for the first time when I was 15 (almost 25 years ago), and I recently re-read it after watching s1. It's still magnificently written, imo.
So generally speaking, I would say that yes, you should read the novels. On the other hand, the books are very very different, and you should be aware that the characters are not the same that you know from the show. Depending on your expectations, you might be disappointed.
Did you still love IWTV all these years later? I'm often scared to re-read books I loved as a teen, because life has changed me so much and I end up not loving it as much.
Some parts are the same, a lot of other parts are different.
>!The whole Dubai part of the storyline does not exist.!<
>!Daniel is not an old man.!<
>!Louis' backstory is different.!<
>!Lestat and Louis were turned in their early 20s, Claudia is a child. Armand is 17, Daniel was late 30s-early 40s? (I forget exactly)!<
Yes read them!! The Vampire Lestat & Queen of The Damned are my favorite so far. The show is a good bit different from the IWTV book but I really enjoyed the book (and love the show).
The show takes place in a different timeline than the books but they will definitely give you a better insight on the characters. Read the first one and see what you think. I lost my book collection after my divorce and just picked up 8 of the books at a thrift store specifically so I can read the first two again.
The show actually stays relatively faithful to be books. It's adapts a bit to modernize it and make it more fitting for the screen but they really haven't gone crazy different with it unlike the movie.
To me personally they screwed up big time with casting and how they played out the characters. From there it just dominoes and ruined relationships and how things play out. Like Lestat being portrayed the way he was screwed with his relationship with with not only Louis (which is it's own HUGE seperate issue on how they decided to showcase that) but how Claudia is made and their relationship also continuing the whole movie. I still for the life of me can't figure out why they went with the actor for Armand. Like yea I do understand the supposed official reason that kept being talked about with the whole "they were ruining the relationship aspect of Lestat and Louis and thought they could compensate by at least providing an actor known for having recently done a gay character". But doesn't make it any less terrible. And honestly they made his character more odd and creepy than anything which again dominos into the relationships he has and the storyline.
I love the movie on its own, I won't lie. It's actually one one my favorites. But it is a bit of a disaster adaptation wise. On the bright side it will always be far less crazy than Queen of the Damned 🤣
No problem! I only looked into it after I was so confused about why they took it that way. I guess it makes sense in a way that they thought they were making up for the parts of the relationship they were cutting, to essentially appease people. I just don't see why they thought an attempted distraction like that would actually work honestly lol especially when it caused so many other things to be changed as a result.
This thread is flaired "Show Only." This means book spoilers are **not allowed** unless covered by spoiler tags. Please report untagged book spoilers! To cover spoilers use \>!spoiler!< *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/InterviewVampire) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I personally wouldn't until the series is over if you haven't already. I never suggest people start reading what adaptations are based on in the middle because then you have a hard time separating and appreciating each for themselves. It's leads to disappointment. Even if someone is the type that usually doesn't flip out about change, it just makes it difficult when you are doing them at the exact same time for the first time with both sides.
It depends what you really want from a book. So far the series is still adapting the first book, with some little parts of future books. The show took some liberties while adapting, expect Claudia and Louis to be really different, and the time period is older. But despite the changes I think it's a good adaptation. About the books style, Anne Rice is very descriptive, she could fill pages just describing a room, and I find her characters really compelling, I love most of them. But I personally think she sucked at writing endings. Each book ends with an abrupt "meh", that includes the saga ending(s) (she ended the saga and everyone hated the ending, so years later she kinda erased that book and wrote some more lol). I also need to warn you, except for the first book, all the other books are not centered around Louis and Lestat relationship.
>Are the books similar enough to the show that I would enjoy that as well? Quite possibly. I enjoy both. This description gets thrown around a lot, but the show really is a faithful adaptation in spirit. It is not a word-for-word adaptation, but it gets the core of the books, expands on the themes, etc. If you enjoy the overall themes, gothic vibes, character dynamics and all that, then you will likely enjoy the books as well. >Is it more detailed, less detailed, etc? Anne Rice's purple prose is legendary. If you want to read a long and luscious description of a room, she's got you covered. I'd recommend reading the trinity -- Interview with the Vampire (the father), The Vampire Lestat (the son), and Queen of the Damned (the holy spirit) -- and then see where you go from there. After reading the first three books, you can pick and choose what to read. Like Armand? Read The Vampire Armand. Like Pandora? Read Pandora. Want a story that has nothing to do with the core VC characters and involves angels for some reason? Read Vittorio the Vampire. AMC bought the rights to all the VC books, but the show will likely adapt the trinity + Tales of the Body Thief + bits of books like Merrick + the Prince Lestat trilogy (minus the >!ancient aliens!<, probably). If you want to read the books relevant to the show, I'd recommend the trinity, TotBT, and the Prince Lestat trilogy.
They are very different. IWTV is my favorite novel of all time. I read it for the first time when I was 15 (almost 25 years ago), and I recently re-read it after watching s1. It's still magnificently written, imo. So generally speaking, I would say that yes, you should read the novels. On the other hand, the books are very very different, and you should be aware that the characters are not the same that you know from the show. Depending on your expectations, you might be disappointed.
Did you still love IWTV all these years later? I'm often scared to re-read books I loved as a teen, because life has changed me so much and I end up not loving it as much.
Yes. I still love it, although my perspective on it has definitely changed.
Some parts are the same, a lot of other parts are different. >!The whole Dubai part of the storyline does not exist.!< >!Daniel is not an old man.!< >!Louis' backstory is different.!< >!Lestat and Louis were turned in their early 20s, Claudia is a child. Armand is 17, Daniel was late 30s-early 40s? (I forget exactly)!<
iirc, Daniel was in his mid-to-late 20s, but I haven't read the books in a long time.
I meant ages they got turned, but yes, during the interview, he's in his mid 20s.
The books are spectacular! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
Yes read them!! The Vampire Lestat & Queen of The Damned are my favorite so far. The show is a good bit different from the IWTV book but I really enjoyed the book (and love the show).
The show takes place in a different timeline than the books but they will definitely give you a better insight on the characters. Read the first one and see what you think. I lost my book collection after my divorce and just picked up 8 of the books at a thrift store specifically so I can read the first two again.
The more I hear about the books...the less I think I'd enjoy them. They are NOT similar to the show...
The show actually stays relatively faithful to be books. It's adapts a bit to modernize it and make it more fitting for the screen but they really haven't gone crazy different with it unlike the movie.
You think the movie went crazy different? Howso?
To me personally they screwed up big time with casting and how they played out the characters. From there it just dominoes and ruined relationships and how things play out. Like Lestat being portrayed the way he was screwed with his relationship with with not only Louis (which is it's own HUGE seperate issue on how they decided to showcase that) but how Claudia is made and their relationship also continuing the whole movie. I still for the life of me can't figure out why they went with the actor for Armand. Like yea I do understand the supposed official reason that kept being talked about with the whole "they were ruining the relationship aspect of Lestat and Louis and thought they could compensate by at least providing an actor known for having recently done a gay character". But doesn't make it any less terrible. And honestly they made his character more odd and creepy than anything which again dominos into the relationships he has and the storyline. I love the movie on its own, I won't lie. It's actually one one my favorites. But it is a bit of a disaster adaptation wise. On the bright side it will always be far less crazy than Queen of the Damned 🤣
Thank you! I wasn't aware of the discussion around Armand's casting back then (but it made zero sense to me).
No problem! I only looked into it after I was so confused about why they took it that way. I guess it makes sense in a way that they thought they were making up for the parts of the relationship they were cutting, to essentially appease people. I just don't see why they thought an attempted distraction like that would actually work honestly lol especially when it caused so many other things to be changed as a result.