[sixnsolid]

I read all the vampire books, the mummy ones, the erotica, but my favorites were the Mayfair witches.  I know she will no longer be writing that type of supernatural genre.  I had started the first life of Christ book (DTB) when I had a house fire and never replaced it.  When I purchased my Kindle I was anxious to re-read some old favorites and was surprised so few of her earlier books are kindle ready 

For any of her old fans, have you read the new works? Did you enjoy them?  Do you think any of the old works will be released for the Kindle? How much weight does the author have in whether their books are released in an e-format? I keeping thinking of J.K. Rowling.  It seems to me a re-release or reintroduction of Anne Rice's books might go well with a whole new generation of vampire lovers reading Twilight and Sookie Stackhouse.  I am wondering since Ms. Rice has moved in a different direction her old books will sort of languish away.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Sixnsolid, I, too, am a huge Anne Rice fan! I have read all her books except two of The Beauty Series (one was enough for me) and the Christ the Lord series. I have even read several of my favorites twice! I like the Vampire Chronicles the best, with the Mayfair Witches a close second; however, I rank many more of the vampire books at the top level of my list. My favorites (in descending order) are Queen of the Damned, Lestat, The Witching Hour, Memnoch the Devil, Blood Canticle, The Mummmy, and Blood and Gold. Blood Canticle is the last one I have read, and I am not really interested in her newest series. I think Cry to Heaven deserves a lot more attention than it has received, too. I also have Katherine Ramsland's Vampire Companion and Witch's Companion. Have you read these?

I, too, was shocked to find so few of Anne's legendary books available in the Kindle format. Here is my personal speculation as to the reasons. First of all, as an author, I have all of my books available on the Kindle because I own the electronic rights to them. (You can read about me and my books in the Nonfiction in a Fictional Style thread in The Book Bazaar at http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,9245.0.html.) Anne may not own the electronic rights to certain or all of her books. I notice that the ones that are available were published by Knopf and many of the ones that are not have been released in mass market paperback by Ballantine. Quite possibly, Ballantine does not want to bother with Kindle versions since all of these are already available at cheap prices. Another thought I have is that the Kindle phenomenon seems to be mostly for us older folks, not the youngsters who cannot afford Kindles, so maybe there isn't much of an audience for her earlier books in this format.

 

[Susan in VA]

Another fan here, except that I haven't read anything of hers that came out in the last six years.  (Haven't been able to keep up with my growing reading list since becoming a mom, and some other authors took precedence.) 

I hadn't looked yet to see what's available on Kindle since I have all of her older ones in DTB, but I'm very surprised they're not available!  Is she perhaps blocking an e-release like JKR?

Just checked  --  my favorite isn't available (The Witching Hour), and because of the weight of the DTB that one would have been perfect for re-reading on Kindle.  Neither is Cry to Heaven, which should be better known than it is, nor the Eden book, which would have been nice to re-read without having to put a PBW on it.

Off to Amazon to request some of them...  who knows, if enough people ask...

 

[marianneg]

I enjoyed the first few books in the Vampire Chronicles, but I kind of got bored with them.  I would like to read some of the ones about the individual vampires from the past, though, like Armand.  I read the first Christ the Lord book, but I haven't read the second yet.  I need to get both of those for my Kindle.

 

[Leslie]

I have heard that with her life-change to Christianity, she wishes all her old books would disappear. They can't disappear, of course, but they can go out of print and become hard to come by. I am sure that with this attitude, she does not want them re-issued in Kindle format.

L

 

[AnelaBelladonna]

I LOVED The Mayfair Witches but not many of her other books.  I hope they come to the Kindle soon.  

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Leslie, can you say exactly where you read that? I have serious doubts that Ms. Rice's attitude is actually that strong, one way or the other, toward her various genres. The storyline of The Vampire Chronicles themselves inched closer and closer to the Christ the Lord subject matter as they were released, and all her work has always been steeped in her Catholic background. My opinion is that most of her genre change came about over a general need for new experience, combined with the death of her husband Stan and the need to separate herself from that part of her past. She lived in the house described in The Witching Hour, so I could easily see why she would want to leave that environment and move back to CA to be near her son with new scenery. As far as the lack of availability of her earlier books, I think the situation most likely is under the control of her publisher who owns the electronic rights.

 

[Cowgirl]

I read and loved all her older stuff..favorite being the Mayfair Witches.  But like Susan, haven't read anything of hers in years.

 

[Rasputina]

I'm not a huge fan I think in general her writing is ok. My 2 favorite books of hers are Beauty's Punishment and her autobiography Called Out of Darkness, both available on Kindle LOL although I have the print editions. Christ the Lord out of Egypt was ok, well what I read of it. I do have it on Kindle but got stuck after they left Jerusalem and haven't felt the pull to read anymore for awhile.

You can read her essay regarding her previous works ( IE the Vampire Chronicles ect ) here on her website where she sets the record straight.

http://www.annerice.com/Bookshelf-EarlierWorks.html

 

[Leslie]

Leslie, can you say exactly where you read that? I have serious doubts that Ms. Rice's attitude is actually that strong, one way or the other, toward her various genres. The storyline of The Vampire Chronicles themselves inched closer and closer to the Christ the Lord subject matter as they were released, and all her work has always been steeped in her Catholic background. My opinion is that most of her genre change came about over a general need for new experience, combined with the death of her husband Stan and the need to separate herself from that part of her past. She lived in the house described in The Witching Hour, so I could easily see why she would want to leave that environment and move back to CA to be near her son with new scenery. As far as the lack of availability of her earlier books, I think the situation most likely is under the control of her publisher who owns the electronic rights.

No, I can't say exactly where I read it, but I know it has come up in various fanfiction discussion circles that I have participated in. Anne Rice is absolutely opposed to fanfic and refuses to allow any of her characters to have fanfic stories written about them. That's fine, I respect her decision on this matter. But apparently she has an army of lawyers who scour the net for any fanfic stories that may appear (and stories do, despite her stated request to not write them). It was in conjunction with that conversation that the discussion turned to how she regretted much of what she had written in the past, especially some of the erotica.

And as we know with JK Rowling, even if the publisher owns the electronic rights, if the author is big enough and famous enough s/he can call the shots about ebooks. I am sure Anne Rice falls into the big/famous enough category to make her wishes known and followed.

L

 

[r0b0d0c]

"The Vampire Chronicles" exemplifies what frustrates me about Kindle Books - the first 6 books in the series are NOT Kindleized, but books 7-10 are.

Is the publisher just asking the non-Kindle books to be pirated (as is rampant with popular series such as Harry Potter)? Criminy! PLEASE let me be a good eBook citizen and give you money to read an entire series on the Kindle!!!

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Thanks for the complete response, Leslie. Yes, she does despise fan fiction utilizing her characters! When you say she regrets the erotica, yes, that I can believe. It's the early Vampire Chronicles that I do not think she regrets. As far as her having enough clout to get all her books released in the Kindle format, I agree that that is likely; however, as robodoc just said, the early Chronicles have not been released, but the later ones have. That leads me to believe the choice comes more from the publishers making money from the mass market paperbacks. This is all just my two cents, of course, as a longtime fan.

 

[Susan in VA]

When you say she regrets the erotica, yes, that I can believe.

She should have gone with her first instinct of keeping those separate (as Rampling and Roquelaure) from her other books. And not gone public with her pen names when the other books became bestsellers.

 

[NessaBug]

I am a huge fan of the Vampire Chronicles. I have read most of them. I'm work on nine I think. (I can't figure out which box I put the DTV in when I moved.) I would love to have the early ones on Kindle because I often reread parts of them when I get in the mood for them.

 

[cheerio]

I remember reading something of hers a few years ago, love the whole fairy tale side of the vampires

 

[klrodrigues]

I'm another Anne Rice fan.  I absolutely loved the Mayfair Witches!!  Also Liked the Vampire Chronicles.  But I haven't read any of her new works.

 

[Anita]

I am a huge fan of the Vampire Chronicles.  Every few years I read through all of them during the summer...I never get tired of them.  I would *love* to have all of them on Kindle!

I loved the Mayfair Witches too.

I was not a fan of her erotica and I confess that I haven't read any of her recent works so I really can't comment on those.

 

[Brendan Carroll]

I am a huge fan of the Vampire Chronicles. Every few years I read through all of them during the summer...I never get tired of them. I would *love* to have all of them on Kindle!

I loved the Mayfair Witches too.

I was not a fan of her erotica and I confess that I haven't read any of her recent works so I really can't comment on those.

I used to love Anne Rice and wanted to be just like her... well not just like her. I wanted to write like her, when I was a kid, well not really a kid and she certainly inspired me to keep my windows closed and locked at night, but like you, I was not an erotica fan and was quite surprised to learn that she had written those. Not that there is anything wrong with erotica... I mean, well, not that there is anything more I can really say without sticking my pen in my mouth or my toe in my mouse... oh, and don't get me started on the Mayfair Witches My friend just told me that was sciatica I was thinking of... sorry.

 

[Andasibe]

I, too, am an Anne Rice fan.  First books of hers I ever read were the Beauty series (in high school!  Imagine what that conversation was like with my Mom when she figured that out?!?!).  I also love the Mayfair stories, so much so that on my many trips to NOLA I walk the garden district just to see the places she describes (the First Street home can not even be accurately described in words, its beauty is breathtaking).
 
However, my favorite ever is The Feast of All Saints.  If you have not read that book and have interest in the relationships between Whites and Free Colored in the mid-1800’s this is a wonderful novel.  Painfully accurate and eye-opening.

 

[Susan in VA]

the Beauty series (in high school! Imagine what that conversation was like with my Mom when she figured that out?!?!)

LOL! Unless you have a really open-minded mom, she probably wanted to have you committed...