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Fantasy. Fiction. Literature. HTML:"STARTLING . . . FIENDISH . . . MEMNOCH'S TALE IS COMPELLING."—New York Daily News
"Like Interview with the Vampire, Memnoch has a half-maddened, fever-pitch intensity. . . . Narrated by Rice's most cherished character, the vampire Lestat, Memnoch tells a tale as old as Scripture's legends and as modern as today's religious strife."
—Rolling Stone
"SENSUAL . . . BOLD, FAST-PACED."
—USA Today
"Rice has penned an ambitious close to this long-running show more series. . . . Fans will no doubt devour this."
—The Washington Post Book World
"MEMNOCH THE DEVIL OFFERS PASSAGES OF POETIC BRILLIANCE."
—Playboy
"[MEMNOCH] is one of Rice's most intriguing and sympathetic characters to date. . . . Rice ups the ante, taking Lestat where few writers have ventured: into heaven and hell itself. She carries it off in top form."
—The Seattle Times. show less
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This book was alright but not amazing, because the characters were not quite complex and villainous enough to carry the story.
They were all interesting, but I felt like their feelings and motivations were revealed too early and through telling instead of showing. I would have liked their fears and plans to show through their actions as the book went on rather than summed up in their first chapter. Chapter 1 literally states that Alistair wants to survive, make his family proud, but most of all does not want to die and have his brother grieve for him. Great motivation, but this would have been so much better if it was shown instead of summed up.
And for a competition for trained villains and killers, all of them had too many qualms about show more actually killing. I wanted all four protagonists to be darker to live up to the title! The current story about four teens who are just scared and conflicted and dutiful to their families was not bad in any way, but this book was advertised as something else.
Then there's the tournament. It was the kind of plot and action I wanted, but I felt like I did not know enough about this game or its rules to be truly invested. What exactly does this magic do? How many varieties are there? What are the limits? What is the difference with High Magick? There are Relics and Landmarks whose function and importance I did fully understand until later in the book.
In general, I felt like this book had so much potential, but did not use all of it. This is a world in which there is press and a media spectacle? Isobel was chosen by newspapers, so clearly they have a big influence. There are jeans and punk music and commercial airlines. People nobody knows protest against this tournament. I was hoping all these elements would be integrated a bit more. And there is a book that is banned for drawing the higher government’s attention to the town. The excerpts of it were so great at setting the scene and the world! By the end I was more invested in the mystery of that book than anything else.
The Isobel and Alistair romance felt so dumb and forced? I might read book 2 if those two don't end up together. show less
They were all interesting, but I felt like their feelings and motivations were revealed too early and through telling instead of showing. I would have liked their fears and plans to show through their actions as the book went on rather than summed up in their first chapter. Chapter 1 literally states that Alistair wants to survive, make his family proud, but most of all does not want to die and have his brother grieve for him. Great motivation, but this would have been so much better if it was shown instead of summed up.
And for a competition for trained villains and killers, all of them had too many qualms about show more actually killing. I wanted all four protagonists to be darker to live up to the title! The current story about four teens who are just scared and conflicted and dutiful to their families was not bad in any way, but this book was advertised as something else.
Then there's the tournament. It was the kind of plot and action I wanted, but I felt like I did not know enough about this game or its rules to be truly invested. What exactly does this magic do? How many varieties are there? What are the limits? What is the difference with High Magick? There are Relics and Landmarks whose function and importance I did fully understand until later in the book.
In general, I felt like this book had so much potential, but did not use all of it. This is a world in which there is press and a media spectacle? Isobel was chosen by newspapers, so clearly they have a big influence. There are jeans and punk music and commercial airlines. People nobody knows protest against this tournament. I was hoping all these elements would be integrated a bit more. And there is a book that is banned for drawing the higher government’s attention to the town. The excerpts of it were so great at setting the scene and the world! By the end I was more invested in the mystery of that book than anything else.
The Isobel and Alistair romance felt so dumb and forced? I might read book 2 if those two don't end up together. show less
I am not a fan of vampire novels - not because of the characters themselves but ... authors tend to portrait them as so blimey sensitive that it is impossible.
They are immortals (or near-immortals), they've seen empires and civilizations rise and fall, they have the urge to kill people or make them vampires by sucking their blood but they are sooo sensitive it is unbelievable.
Whenever I read about immortal men and women I compare the work against Wagner's Kane - much more believable "immortal" character, one that has been there, did that and looks at all the others as mere pawns, time-limited acquaintances. Don't get me wrong he does get in love, has passion but he is simply ..... bored because he can foresee what comes next because he show more saw it before.
Lestat is similar character, rebel in soul, adventurer and murderer but vampire with doubts regarding the religion .... vampire in spiritual crisis. Interesting premise and interesting story - I enjoyed it.
What I cannot understand is why is Lestat's character so emotional - he kills people for centuries in order to survive but suffers immensely every time he draws blood? Little silly in my opinion but OK. I don't say he has to be a brute, a killer - there are numerous novels about similar characters who end up in spiritual crisis but who have a stand, a look at the world, who did horrible things and know it - you don't have to like them but you can understand them and their views. But Lestat is so emotional, so unstable that when everybody around him remembers his feats and adventures you simply cannot link those events to Lestat character.
Story is OK, plot is interesting (especially like the twist) but Lestat's character and pretty rushed ending kinda ruin it a bit for me. show less
They are immortals (or near-immortals), they've seen empires and civilizations rise and fall, they have the urge to kill people or make them vampires by sucking their blood but they are sooo sensitive it is unbelievable.
Whenever I read about immortal men and women I compare the work against Wagner's Kane - much more believable "immortal" character, one that has been there, did that and looks at all the others as mere pawns, time-limited acquaintances. Don't get me wrong he does get in love, has passion but he is simply ..... bored because he can foresee what comes next because he show more saw it before.
Lestat is similar character, rebel in soul, adventurer and murderer but vampire with doubts regarding the religion .... vampire in spiritual crisis. Interesting premise and interesting story - I enjoyed it.
What I cannot understand is why is Lestat's character so emotional - he kills people for centuries in order to survive but suffers immensely every time he draws blood? Little silly in my opinion but OK. I don't say he has to be a brute, a killer - there are numerous novels about similar characters who end up in spiritual crisis but who have a stand, a look at the world, who did horrible things and know it - you don't have to like them but you can understand them and their views. But Lestat is so emotional, so unstable that when everybody around him remembers his feats and adventures you simply cannot link those events to Lestat character.
Story is OK, plot is interesting (especially like the twist) but Lestat's character and pretty rushed ending kinda ruin it a bit for me. show less
The last in the series of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, but the first I’ve read. An extraordinarily ambitious novel in which the author attempts to describe and explain not only Creation but Heaven and Hell; Memnoch is told in the words of the Vampire Lestat, a brilliant device in itself. The novel begins with Lestat stalking a prospective victim and becoming aware that he himself is being stalked. This first section features some characters from the previous books in the series and unfolds fairly slowly; the author drops in many references to past events – perhaps too many – I wondered at one point if she was trying to hook new readers into buying previous books.
The Victim and his daughter, Dora, a televangelist, are both show more wonderfully over-the-top and well imagined, and Lestat himself manages to be engaging in spite of the horror of his acts. But it’s the wondrously imagined and worked out central section of the book – Lestat’s guided tour of Heaven and Hell by Memnoch (a contemporary Divine Comedy) – that kept me turning the pages, and I had the feeling that this was the heart of the novel and could almost have stood alone, that the beginning and end of the story were there merely to serve it, and might even have been written quite separately at a later date.
Memnoch himself is wonderfully seductive, far more so than God, but both are ambiguous; this is an incredibly clever novel that actually offers answers to those persistent questions and contradictions about the nature and existence of God himself – no mean feat. show less
The Victim and his daughter, Dora, a televangelist, are both show more wonderfully over-the-top and well imagined, and Lestat himself manages to be engaging in spite of the horror of his acts. But it’s the wondrously imagined and worked out central section of the book – Lestat’s guided tour of Heaven and Hell by Memnoch (a contemporary Divine Comedy) – that kept me turning the pages, and I had the feeling that this was the heart of the novel and could almost have stood alone, that the beginning and end of the story were there merely to serve it, and might even have been written quite separately at a later date.
Memnoch himself is wonderfully seductive, far more so than God, but both are ambiguous; this is an incredibly clever novel that actually offers answers to those persistent questions and contradictions about the nature and existence of God himself – no mean feat. show less
Unfortunately, I just could not enjoy this book. I loved the original Vampire Chronicles trilogy, but this wasn't even close to the standard they set. It may be because I am Catholic; I can easily envision Satan "making a case" for his actions against God. There's a reason he's called the Prince of Lies by so many. Also, I found Lestat's character totally out of sync with his actions and personality from the previous novels. It seemed that Rice was trying to wax philosophical here, and I just didn't care. I want the fun, unrepentant Lestat back, please.
The first four books of the Vampire Chronicles are the best of the series, but Memnoch the Devil had its good points. Even with the religious aspect of this book, it still represents some of Ms. Rice's finest work, even if Lestat is not quite the same as he was previously. Memnoch/Lucifer/Satan's own story was entertaining and interesting to read, and I genuinely liked his character and what Ms. Rice did with him and the angels and God.
For those of you who enjoyed the earlier Vampire Chronicles, you may enjoy this book, but be forewarned - this book has a distinctly different note than its predecessors, and was a sign of Ms. Rice's changing beliefs, because the Vampire Chronicles would never be the same again...
For those of you who enjoyed the earlier Vampire Chronicles, you may enjoy this book, but be forewarned - this book has a distinctly different note than its predecessors, and was a sign of Ms. Rice's changing beliefs, because the Vampire Chronicles would never be the same again...
I read the first three book of Anne Rice’s VAMPIRE CHRONICLES many years ago, along with THE MUMMY, and thoroughly enjoyed all of them, but for some reason or another, I put her works aside, even as she churned book after book as the 90’s moved into the 2000’s, giving her readers more adventures by her vast cast of blood drinking immortals, witches, and in recent years, werewolves. Some of those books ended up on my shelf, but only recently have I picked them up and found out what I had been missing out on.
MEMNOCH THE DEVIL, published in 1995, was the fifth book in her vampire series, and it was certainly the most ambitious of her works to that date, in that her most beloved character, the Vampire Lestat, meets God and Devil, show more learns about Heaven and Hell, and is offered a job by the Fallen Angel himself. In these pages, we get a view of creation and human history from the title character, one that does not square with Christian teachings at all. If you are a fundamentalist or a materialist, this book is probably not for you, but if you are willing to indulge in something provocative, then MEMNOCH THE DEVIL should be a great read.
But if you are expecting another adventure with Lestat and her large cast of the Undead, it may not be your book either, for MEMNOCH was her most atypical work up to that date. In the opening chapters, we meet, Roger, a cultured drug kingpin, who has been marked for killing and feeding by Lestat, and his daughter, Dora, a young TV evangelist. I agree with most reviewers who say these new characters are far from Rice’s most compelling, but once Lestat does away with Roger, he appears before the vampire as a ghost, an encounter that is the preamble for the book’s main act, where Lestat is confronted by a supernatural entity whom he has sensed following him for some time. It turns out be an angel named Memnoch, who reveals himself to be the Big Bad of Christian theology, and after watching Lestat for some time, he has a job offer for the vampire to come to work for him in opposition to God the Creator. It seems Memnoch and the Almighty are not on as bad a terms as the Good Book would have us think, instead they have a deep philosophical difference as to what God’s plan entails and the significance of human suffering. Memnonch wants Lestat to join him in Hell, or Sheol, to enlighten the souls there that God has seemingly abandoned, for according to the Gospel of Anne Rice, it is the one who walks with goat’s hooves who really loves humankind the best, because, though God created them, he can never truly understand the suffering he puts his most beloved creations through, even after assuming the flesh and blood of a man in the person of Jesus and dying on the cross.
To many, this middle section is make or break for the book, profound to many readers, absolutely boring to just as many others. This is where Rice slips into her habit of having characters just sit and talk, and talk, and talk, recounting events they have participated in and observed, while giving us the action second hand. This might just be Rice’s ultimate conversation sequence, one that I found it riveting, as it we meet a version of God and a recounting of historical events from a unique perspective. What works in this section is Rice’s well developed skill at description; I could smell the trees and dirt of the primeval forest and the stench of the streets of Jerusalem at the crucifixion. The ending feels a bit anti-climatic, as there is a reveal that hints at the possibility that everything Lestat has been told is far less than the truth.
Rice has been very up front with her own spiritual journey over the years, and it has infused much of her work, and though I have not read all of her works, I think MEMNOCH is her most personal work. So much so, that many think she went too far when Lestat encounters Christ carrying the cross on his way to Golgotha; I will say that what ensues does not offend me, but that is only in the way Rice handles it.
There have been plans for TV series based on VAMPIRE CHRONCILES, I would sure be interested to see how they will tackle MEMNOCH THE DEVIL, which I feel is Anne Rice’s most ambitious book. All in all, a book that was well worth my time. show less
MEMNOCH THE DEVIL, published in 1995, was the fifth book in her vampire series, and it was certainly the most ambitious of her works to that date, in that her most beloved character, the Vampire Lestat, meets God and Devil, show more learns about Heaven and Hell, and is offered a job by the Fallen Angel himself. In these pages, we get a view of creation and human history from the title character, one that does not square with Christian teachings at all. If you are a fundamentalist or a materialist, this book is probably not for you, but if you are willing to indulge in something provocative, then MEMNOCH THE DEVIL should be a great read.
But if you are expecting another adventure with Lestat and her large cast of the Undead, it may not be your book either, for MEMNOCH was her most atypical work up to that date. In the opening chapters, we meet, Roger, a cultured drug kingpin, who has been marked for killing and feeding by Lestat, and his daughter, Dora, a young TV evangelist. I agree with most reviewers who say these new characters are far from Rice’s most compelling, but once Lestat does away with Roger, he appears before the vampire as a ghost, an encounter that is the preamble for the book’s main act, where Lestat is confronted by a supernatural entity whom he has sensed following him for some time. It turns out be an angel named Memnoch, who reveals himself to be the Big Bad of Christian theology, and after watching Lestat for some time, he has a job offer for the vampire to come to work for him in opposition to God the Creator. It seems Memnoch and the Almighty are not on as bad a terms as the Good Book would have us think, instead they have a deep philosophical difference as to what God’s plan entails and the significance of human suffering. Memnonch wants Lestat to join him in Hell, or Sheol, to enlighten the souls there that God has seemingly abandoned, for according to the Gospel of Anne Rice, it is the one who walks with goat’s hooves who really loves humankind the best, because, though God created them, he can never truly understand the suffering he puts his most beloved creations through, even after assuming the flesh and blood of a man in the person of Jesus and dying on the cross.
To many, this middle section is make or break for the book, profound to many readers, absolutely boring to just as many others. This is where Rice slips into her habit of having characters just sit and talk, and talk, and talk, recounting events they have participated in and observed, while giving us the action second hand. This might just be Rice’s ultimate conversation sequence, one that I found it riveting, as it we meet a version of God and a recounting of historical events from a unique perspective. What works in this section is Rice’s well developed skill at description; I could smell the trees and dirt of the primeval forest and the stench of the streets of Jerusalem at the crucifixion. The ending feels a bit anti-climatic, as there is a reveal that hints at the possibility that everything Lestat has been told is far less than the truth.
Rice has been very up front with her own spiritual journey over the years, and it has infused much of her work, and though I have not read all of her works, I think MEMNOCH is her most personal work. So much so, that many think she went too far when Lestat encounters Christ carrying the cross on his way to Golgotha; I will say that what ensues does not offend me, but that is only in the way Rice handles it.
There have been plans for TV series based on VAMPIRE CHRONCILES, I would sure be interested to see how they will tackle MEMNOCH THE DEVIL, which I feel is Anne Rice’s most ambitious book. All in all, a book that was well worth my time. show less
Well, this was an interesting read; again, like that other Vampire Chronicles, I read this more than 20 years ago. And, wow, back then I thought this was the best book I ever read.
Now, not so much. Perhaps I've grown as a reader? Perhaps I expect more as a reader. Perhaps my (limited) experience as a fiction writer, has made plotting and structure easier to understand. Who knows?
The premise is interesting, but it's disjointed. It felt like Anne had a great idea that took up 150 pages, but to make it standard book length she filled it in with fluff and subplots which added nothing to the story.
You could easily cut it down to novella length and have a much more concise and easy to read book. I can't count the number of times that her show more religious, confusing, ramblings read more to me like, "blah, blah, blah".
The premise is based around Lestat being asked by The Devil to become his lieutenant to teach us poor mortals how to forgive God for bringing us so much pain - basically.
The Devil - Memnoch (not Satan, he hates that name) - takes Lestat on a "journey of discovery" that takes him to Hell, Heaven, and Jesus' death in Jerusalem.
The best part of the novel is when Memnoch explains how the universe/world came to be, through evolution to today, where Heaven and Hell, the Angels, and God and the Devil fit in. But again, this great story felt clunky. It was as if Anne was plotting using bullet points. And then this happened and then that happened and then this happened. Etc.
Overall, not the experience I remembered from my past. Back then this book was in my Top 5; now, perhaps the Top 30... Perhaps. show less
Now, not so much. Perhaps I've grown as a reader? Perhaps I expect more as a reader. Perhaps my (limited) experience as a fiction writer, has made plotting and structure easier to understand. Who knows?
The premise is interesting, but it's disjointed. It felt like Anne had a great idea that took up 150 pages, but to make it standard book length she filled it in with fluff and subplots which added nothing to the story.
You could easily cut it down to novella length and have a much more concise and easy to read book. I can't count the number of times that her show more religious, confusing, ramblings read more to me like, "blah, blah, blah".
The premise is based around Lestat being asked by The Devil to become his lieutenant to teach us poor mortals how to forgive God for bringing us so much pain - basically.
The Devil - Memnoch (not Satan, he hates that name) - takes Lestat on a "journey of discovery" that takes him to Hell, Heaven, and Jesus' death in Jerusalem.
The best part of the novel is when Memnoch explains how the universe/world came to be, through evolution to today, where Heaven and Hell, the Angels, and God and the Devil fit in. But again, this great story felt clunky. It was as if Anne was plotting using bullet points. And then this happened and then that happened and then this happened. Etc.
Overall, not the experience I remembered from my past. Back then this book was in my Top 5; now, perhaps the Top 30... Perhaps. show less
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132+ Works 189,697 Members
Anne Rice was born Howard Allen O'Brien on October 4, 1941 in New Orleans, Louisiana. She received a bachelor's degree in political science in 1964 and master's degree in English and creative writing in 1972 from San Francisco State University. She published her first short story in 1965 called October 4, 1948. Her first book, Interview with the show more Vampire, was published in 1976. It was made into a film starring Brad Pitt, Kirsten Dunst, and Tom Cruise in 1994. She wrote various series in the same genre including the rest of the Vampire Chronicles, the Mayfair Witches books, and The Wolf Gift Chronicles. Her novel, Feast of All Saints, became a Showtime mini-series in 2001. Her other works include Cry to Heaven, Servant of the Bones, and Violin. In 1998, Rice returned to the Catholic Church and for some time only wrote for Christ or about Christ. These works include Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana, and Called Out of Darkness. Anne Rice died on December 11, 2021 at the age of 80. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Is contained in
9 Book Collection of Anne Rice: The Queen of the Damned, The Tale of the Body Thief, Interview With The Vampire, Memnoch by Anne Rice
Interview with the Vampire / The Vampire Lestat / The Queen of the Damned / The Tale of the Body Thief / Memnoch the Devil by Anne Rice
Lasher / Cry to Heaven / Pandora / The Feast of All Saints / The Mummy / Memnoch the Devil / The Tale of the Body Thief / Taltos / Servant of the Bones by Anne Rice
Vittorio the Vampire / The Vampire Lestat / Interview With the Vampire / The Vampire Armand / Queen of the Damned / Merrick / The Witching Hour / Blood Canticle / The Mummy / Memnoch the Devil / Taltos by Anne Rice
Interview With the Vampire / The Vampire Lestat / The Queen of the Damned / The Tale of the Body Thief / Memnoch the Devil / The Vampire Armand by Anne Rice
Anne Rice 3 Pack- The Tale of the Body Thief / Memnoch the Devil / The Vampire Armand (The Vampire Chronicles, 4, 5 & 6) by Anne Rice
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Memnoch the Devil
- Original title
- Memnoch The Devil
- Original publication date
- 1995-07-03
- People/Characters
- Lestat de Lioncourt; David Talbot; Armand; Memnoch, the Devil; Dora; Roger, the Victim (show all 7); Maharet
- Important places
- New York, New York, USA; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
- Epigraph
- What God Did Not Plan On. Sleep well, Weep well, Go to the deep well As often as possible. Bring back the water, Jostling and gleaming. God did not plan on consciousness Developing so Well. Well, Tell Him our Pail is full And... (show all) He can Go to Hell. Stan Rice 24 June 93
The Offering. To the somethingness Which prevents the nothingness Like Homer's wild boar From thrashing this way and that Its white tusks Through human beings like crackling stalks And to nothing less I offer this suffering o... (show all)f my father. Stan Rice 16 Oct 93 - Dedication
- For Stan Rice, Christopher Rice and Michele Rice. For John Preston. For Howard and Katherine Allen O'Brien. For Katherine's brother John Allen, Uncle Mickey and for Uncle Mickey's son, Jack Allen, and all the descendants of J... (show all)ack. And for Uncle Marian Leslie, who was in Corona's Bar on that night. With live for you and for all our kith and kin this book is dedicated
- First words
- Lestat Here.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Let me pass now from fiction into legend.
- Original language
- English
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 813.087381
- Canonical LCC
- PS3568.I265
Classifications
- Genres
- Horror, Fiction and Literature, Fantasy, General Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 813.087381 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English By type Genre fiction Adventure fiction Horror fiction; Ghost fiction Horror fiction Vampires and the undead
- LCC
- PS3568 .I265 — Language and Literature American literature American literature Individual authors 1961-
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 9,053
- Popularity
- 1,173
- Reviews
- 75
- Rating
- (3.50)
- Languages
- 12 — Danish, English, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 57
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 29