Howdy. I've never read anything by the infamous purveyor of alternative chick lit. By my derogatory tone i'm sure you can tell i've already pigeon-holed her. But i've decided i'm going to make the effort as my current project seems to be dipping it's toes tentatively into her territory so ... where do i start chaps and chapettes?
I've never considered Anne Rice chick lit, at least none of her books that I've read were chick litty. Personally I loved her vampire chronicles, so maybe start with that. Interview With The Vampire is the first one in that series.
"Interview with the Vampire" is something that you should start with. However, I think "The Vampire Lestat" was probably the best work in the Vampire Chronicle series. I loved the Lestat character. However, I did read her latest werewolf somethingorother book and found it to be one of the worst stories I've ever read and can only believe her name on the cover is the only thing that got that work published. That's saying a great deal... But, there is no denying that she is a good writer and that the Vampire Chronicles series is a hallmark piece of urban fantasy. Rice has also written some "blue" novels under another pen name. They're in the BDSM genre, IIRC. I assume you don't want any of those. I haven't read them. But, that work might have easily prefaced her evolution into urban fantasy and vampire themes. As far as "Chick Lit", I would have to strongly disagree with that appellation being applied to the Vampire Chronicles. They are definitely not "Chick Lit." All my male friends have read and enjoyed many of them. (Though, all did get a bit tired of them as did I.)
Interview with a Vampire is a must read. The first 5 books of the Vampire Chronicles were amazing, my personal favourite being Memnoch the Devil. I loved Lestat and Claudia, and I loved Anne Rice's vampire origin story. Anne does vampires well but I found her most recent vampire novels to be tiring. I'm glad you mentioned this. I almost stumbled into the trap of buying it because I love were wolves and I enjoyed Anne's vampires and witches.
I'm not a fan of Anne Rice's vampire novels. I much preferred her Mayfair Witch books and would recommend them over the vampire stories.
I agree that Anne Rice isn't chick lit. I would know, because as it happens I read a lot of chick lit. The Mayfair Witch books are pretty awesome, but maybe mostly for nostalgic reasons, my favorite books are Interview with the Vampire, Lestat, and Queen of the Damned. I borrowed all three books at once, and I finished them in five days. A lot of her later books have had this issue that the story doesn't really start before a hundred pages in, which can be annoying if you're impatient, but it's usually worth the effort.
