VITTORIO THE VAMPIRE: NEW TALES OF THE VAMPIRES

By: J.A. Hitchcock
Date: Monday, June 18, 2001

I could almost hear the main character, Vittorio, speaking with an Italian accent as I read this wonderful book. A slight departure from Rice's other vampire books, VITTORIO THE VAMPIRE: NEWS TALES OF THE VAMPIRE, tells the sad, haunting tale of a young man living in 15th century Italy, in his own words. Descriptions of life at that time are exquisitely delightful and interesting, almost like being there.

Vittorio's family life is happyhe hails from wealth, lives in a lovely castle, his siblings are as beautiful as he is handsome and life is one big rainbow filled with sunshine. That is, until the night vampires raid his home and kill everyone in his family. As he waits for the deathblow, one of the vampires, Ursula, decides she likes the handsome young man and makes her his undying lover...and how. The descriptions of their lovemaking sessions rival those that Rice wrote under the pen names of Anne Rampling and A.N. Roquelaire. You may need to take a cold shower after reading them!

Vittorio escapes (or thinks he does) to a really odd town called Santa Maddalana, kind of like an Italian Sleepy Hollow. The town fathers have decided to sacrifice their young to Ursula's gang of vampires, headed by Lord Florian. But if Vittorio has his way, he will end this child sacrifice, remembering the night his family was slaughtered like sheep and he was left to live forever those memories etched in his mind until the day he may finally die. But when Vittorio goes to the Court of the Ruby Grail (which refers to blood), he finds he is torn between lust, rage, his thirst for blood and doing what he feels is the right thing.

Vittorio battles not only his inner soulthat he feels he still hasbut also his love and lust for Ursula, as well as his hate for her making him what he has become. His words are at once sad and haunting and at other times filled with wonder at his supernatural abilities the look of fear in the eyes of those who are not undead when they realize what he is and the shame that he can never be normal again.

Rice aficionados may not be thrilled with this book, as it doesn't have familiar characters in it and it is a bit different. Whether you've read her books before or not, you do need to like stories about vampires to truly appreciate the plot. I liked the historical feel, the exquisite descriptions of 15th-century Italy and the historical lesson I was getting, albeit subliminally. It may not be all historically factual, but it makes for a darned good read.


This is a wonderful book and promises to be the start of 'new tales of the vampires,' as it reads on the front cover. I hope that Rice keeps the tone of upcoming books the same as VITTORIO. They don't all have to be in first person, but I loved how she made me feel like Vittorio was right next to me, telling me his tale. And the thought of being 16-years-old forever, well, wouldn't you want to be?

VITTORIO THE VAMPIRE

Grade: A-

Author(s): Anne Rice

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Price: $7.99