Anne Rice books: Series, publication order and where to start

Contents7

• Anne Rice books by series
• A selected publication bibliography
• Where to start with Anne Rice books
• Crossovers without plot spoilers
• Editions and collections
• Questions about starting Rice
• Verdict on choosing a series

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Anne Rice books don't form one long series. For vampires, start with Interview with the Vampire. For witches, choose The Witching Hour. The Wolf Gift begins her werewolf fiction. You don't need to finish one series before trying another.

Choose a series first, then find a copy. Read that series in the order its books came out. The vampire and witch books later overlap. You can still start Interview with the Vampire without reading the witch novels. Check which works a set includes before you borrow or buy it. A matching cover doesn't mean you need every book.

Anne Rice books by series

Rice's official book list splits these groups. This page covers her fiction with vampires, witches and other strange beings. It isn't a list of all her work. Her books about history and faith fall outside this horror route. It also leaves out erotica under other names.

The dates above are for the first release of each work. A new paperback may have a much later date. That doesn't move the story to a later place in the series.

A selected publication bibliography

Use these dates to spot a first book in a series. The full vampire list has its own reading-order guide. Keeping it on that page leaves room here for witches and books that stand alone.

• 1976, Interview with the Vampire: The starting point for the core vampire novels.
• 1985, The Vampire Lestat: The second core vampire book, rather than a separate series opener.
• 1988, The Queen of the Damned: The third core volume.
• 1989, The Mummy: The opening Ramses novel.
• 1990, The Witching Hour: The first Mayfair Witches novel.
• 1993, Lasher: Continue the Mayfair sequence here.
• 1994, Taltos: Read after Lasher, rather than as an unrelated folklore novel.
• 1996, Servant of the Bones: A supernatural standalone, listed outside the main series on Rice's site.
• 1997, Violin: Another standalone route through supernatural fiction.
• 2012, The Wolf Gift: The werewolf series begins here.

This list is selective. It doesn't include every work or pen name. For the full list, use the author's site. Check who wrote each book and which series it belongs to.

Where to start with Anne Rice books

Choose Interview with the Vampire if you want a vampire to tell his own story. You meet the cast here. You don't have to learn the later lore first. Try this book before you decide to read the rest.

Choose The Witching Hour for witches and a family story. It starts a new series. Rice wrote vampire novels before it, but that doesn't make them required reading. Treat this as the first step on the Mayfair route.

Choose The Wolf Gift for werewolves. Read its sequel next. It is a shorter series to plan for than the vampire books. That tells you how many titles lie ahead. It doesn't tell you how scary they will feel.

For a book that stands alone, try Servant of the Bones or Violin. You don't need to follow the vampire order for either one. Check the book's own description before you choose. Two ghostly premises can still lead to very different books.

These routes use the series lists and published premises. They don't claim firsthand reading. What scares you will depend on your own tastes.

Crossovers without plot spoilers

Rice's list groups Merrick, Blackwood Farm and Blood Canticle as vampire/Mayfair crossovers. They stay in the core vampire order. A crossover joins the fiction of two series. It doesn't move a later book to the start.

You have two choices. Stay with the vampire order and accept some links to another series. Or read the Mayfair trilogy before the crossover books. The longer route is an option. You don't have to use it.

Don't sort a first-time list by when events take place. A later book can go back to an earlier time. It may still assume you know the books that came out before it. Release order avoids that trap.

Editions and collections

An omnibus puts more than one work in a single book. Check its contents against the titles you already have. A trilogy set may contain just the first three novels. The full series can run much longer.

Check audio on its own record. Find the narrator's name and whether the text is cut or complete. A publisher's audio listing doesn't prove what is in a different recording. Similar covers can hide those differences.

Page counts also belong to a specific copy. Large print can take more pages. An ebook may use a different layout. A high page count doesn't prove a set includes a missing novel.

Questions about starting Rice

Do I need to read the witches before the vampires?

No. Interview with the Vampire begins the vampire sequence, and The Witching Hour begins the Mayfair sequence. Their later overlap doesn't make the witch books prerequisites for the first vampire novel. If you want more background before the crossover books, add the Mayfair trilogy at that point.

Are Pandora and Vittorio part of the numbered order?

Rice's bibliography groups them as New Tales of the Vampires. This guide keeps that label separate from the thirteen core Vampire Chronicles novels. You can add them as companion reading without treating them as missing numbered volumes. Check a set's contents before assuming it includes either title.

Can I start with a standalone book?

Yes. Servant of the Bones and Violin give you supernatural fiction outside the main series sequences. Choose between them by the published premise and a sample. Reading one doesn't commit you to the vampires or witches, and it won't tell you whether every Rice series will suit you.

Why do catalogue dates differ?

A catalogue may list the release date of a particular paperback, ebook or recording. This guide uses original-work years to explain sequence. Match a modern edition by title and author, then check its format and contents. A new cover or later release date doesn't create a new story.

Verdict on choosing a series

For Anne Rice books, make the series choice first. Start the vampires with Interview with the Vampire and the witches with The Witching Hour. Use the Vampire Chronicles order for the complete core sequence and optional detours. Return to Horror Books if you'd prefer a different kind of dread.

The series groupings follow Anne Rice's official grouped bibliography and the publisher's Vampire Chronicles catalogue. The author site's older series heading stops at 2016, while its navigation and bibliography include Blood Communion in 2018. The individual records take precedence over that heading.