Okay, as I said before I really liked The Vampire Armand.
As all the vampires gather in an abandonded chapel in New Orleans to take a look at lifeless Lestat who's lying there, David Talbot, who wants to collect all the vampires' lifestorys asks Armand to tell him about his story.
So Armand starts telling about his early childhood in Kiev, how he was kidnapped and sold as slave to the Venitian vampire painter Marcus. As Armands acts as a model to Marcus a love relationship between the two of them takes its course. But after he is changed into a immortal, he starts reflection about his life, his belief and all the other great issues of life one can agonize about.
Although that doesn't sound like much fun Armand's story about love, lust and life is a great and faszinating novel. ( )

My favorite Vampire Chronicle. Armand is the best vampire in the series. I was ecstatic to get a book devoted to him. ( )

Armand gets a lot of flack from people who've not read this one, blaming him for the horrible things that The Theatre do. This is his story though, and gives insight into the world he was dragged into and his desperation to leave it behind, ( )

After the horror that was Memnoch the Devil I was looking for Anne Rice to redeem herself in The Vampire Armand. In some ways I was gratified in this hope while in others I was utterly disappointed. Though The Vampire Armand echoed back to the magnificence of Anne Rice’s earlier work which I so loved and longed for it also incorporated Memnoch the Devil and all the vices of the Christian religion.

Though this novel is in many respects a retelling of past events already relayed by Louis and Lestat I still found myself captivated by the beauty of Armand’s tale told from his own point of view. It has been years since I read the novels in which the vampire child Armand first appeared and I was delighted to revisit the tales that had so enchanted me, however, all this was so besotted with religion and theology that the enjoyment was somewhat diluted.

Unlike most people who seemed to dislike the rampant sexual scenes that permeated the first half of the novel as Armand luxuriated in Marius’s lavish attentions, I was entranced. I did not merely enjoy it for its eroticism but for the passion and love which blossomed from Armand and Marius, so uninhibited by societal judgments of gender or age. After these happy years spent in Venice the novel seemed to decline into another ludicrous argument of theology and worship of Christ. I found myself agreeing with the words spoken by Pandora near the end of the novel: “Christ was never my god”. I do not believe in God or Jesus and I do not believe that I ever have or that I ever shall. For me all of this talk of “Our Living Lord” was offensive and rather dull. I am sure that many Anne Rice fans will find The Vampire Armand captivating but I myself was inhibited by my own personal beliefs from enjoying this book thoroughly. In the end it did surpass Memnoch and it was not without its charms. If you are a fan of Anne Rice this is still a must read. ( )

The 'autobiography' of the Vampire Armand, from his birth in Kiev Rus up to and including the events of Memnoch the Devil.
While Armand's life and history were interesting, and something I've been curious about since I read Interview with the Vampire, I was not entertained by the theological discourses Rice has seen fit to engage her characters in more and more frequently in the last couple Vampire Chronicles. Also, an odd juxtaposition, a lot of the description of Armand's sexual relationships with Marius, Bianca, and others. Overall, it was okay, and I suppose essential to the series. ( )