Every Anne Rice Book Series, Ranked

Pioneering horror and fantasy writer Anne Rice is best known for The Vampire Chronicles but wrote many amazing book series before passing away in 2021 at 80. Rice focused on fantasy, with historical and spiritual elements pervading many of her books. She wrestled with faith her whole life, losing it and eventually finding it again. This process inspired two religion-tinged book series and mystical themes running through The Vampire Chronicles and other novels. All Rice’s series had something unique to offer, but some may say they varied in originality and consistency, making a well-considered ranking worthwhile.

Anne Rice’s exploration of Christianity didn’t stop her from diving into erotic scenes in her books, with one series, in particular, standing out. Rice wrote a reasonably chaste first book for The Vampire Chronicles in 1976, which was adapted into AMC+’s brilliant Interview with the Vampire. However, there were explicit chapters in Rice’s work by the time of the fourth chronicle, The Tale of the Body Thief, exemplifying Rice’s increasing boldness. Nonetheless, some of Rice’s better book series were decades in the making, published across the ’80s, ’90s, and well into the 2010s.

8

The Songs Of The Seraphim

2009 – 2010

The Songs of the Seraphim is far from a bad book series, but may be the one with the narrowest appeal, considering the strengths of Anne Rice’s other work. Anne Rice wrote her Songs of the Seraphim book series after returning to Christianity, and the series’ spiritual figures reflect that. With a serious tone, this series suits lovers of historical fiction and philosophical meandering.

Redemption loomed large in this series, paralleling Anne Rice’s own spiritual healing after spending years away from her God. The assassin main character is compelling in his search for forgiveness, leaning on angels to show him the way. Anyone struggling with loss of faith would find this series interesting.

7

Ramses The Damned

1989 – 2022

Ramses the Damned only ranks higher than The Songs of the Seraphim due to how wonderfully typical it is of Anne Rice and her writing style. Ramses the Damned may be a good next step for those new to Anne Rice who have just finished The Vampire Chronicles. It echoes The Vampire Chronicles’ horromance leaning with a supernatural love interest for its protagonist, Julie.

This book series is not just entertaining in the horromance department but supplies the goods in the realm of action and adventure. These Anne Rice protagonists explored London and Egypt, allowing the novel to dive into globetrotting escapades and the myths of Ancient Egypt. Ultimately, there is excellent scope here for diving into Anne Rice as a new fan or an older one.

6

The Wolf Gift Chronicles

2012 – 2013

Anne Rice’s The Wolf Gift Chronicles offers one of Anne Rice’s best protagonists, so it may rank higher if it wasn’t for its convolution in places. All horror and fantasy demands suspension of disbelief, but sometimes the world-building in The Wolf Gift Chronicles wasn’t quite enough to carry its bizarre plot twists. Nonetheless, these books are meaningful, sexy, and fun.

Reuben Golding is the main character of The Wolf Gift Chronicles and made his heroism known at various points throughout the books. Golding is a strong hero transfigured by lycanthropy, allowing Rice to explore the books’ central tenets of freedom, sexuality, and justice. Rice saw Golding and Vampire Chronicles’ antihero, Lestat, as would-be confidants, although they never met in her books (via Screen Rant).

5

The Sleeping Beauty Quartet

1983 – 2015

The Sleeping Beauty Quartet is an extraordinary example of Anne Rice’s work and may be one of her best series if it weren’t for the incredible influence of some of her other publications. These books offer Rice’s one and only full series of erotic fiction. Since all of Rice’s series are so different, they’re very hard to compare, but these novels offer rich allegory as well as sensuality.

Rice writes in her typical flowery style here, creating some of the most unique erotic fiction around. These books aren’t devoid of Rice’s dark philosophizing, making for reading that is both passionate and enlightening. The BDSM may be too much for many, tipping into very controversial territory by most people’s standards, preventing these books from being a read for everyone.

4

Christ The Lord

2005 – 2008

Christ the Lord constitutes some of Anne Rice’s most surprising and original novels, ranking highly in a reckoning of her best book series. The novels followed Jesus Christ through his childhood and adolescence, telling his story from his perspective. Although a thoroughly Christian pursuit on Anne Rice’s part, these novels were a bold move religiously, and were met with concern and outrage from much of the religious community.

Religious consternation was nothing new to Anne Rice, having struggled with the church’s rejection of homosexuality across her life. Rice’s complicated feelings about this were manifested in The Vampire Chronicles, whereas Christ the Lord tells the story of Jesus as a paranormal hero and a teacher. His simple and childlike tone of voice may be grating to some, but it could be refreshing and inspiring to those who allow sympathy for the subject matter.

3

Lives Of The Mayfair Witches

1990 – 1994

Anne Rice’s incredible Lives of the Mayfair Witches is currently being adapted into AMC+’s Mayfair Witches, which brings Rice’s work to a global audience and lays out her story reasonably faithfully. The Witching Hour is probably the best book in the series, and one of Rice’s best books overall. This series exemplifies Rice’s strengths and favorite themes – horror and love combining to create power with huge potential for both good and evil.

The witchcraft of these novels offers some of Rice’s best gothic horror, with the New Orleans setting delving into Anne Rice’s own experience of the location. Laying out solid southern gothic writing, the novel’s oppressive heat and voodoo-tinged occult are heavily symbolic and evocative. These books would be a great start for those curious about Anne Rice and seeking a female-oriented storyline.

2

The New Tales Of The Vampires

1998 – 1999

Some consider The New Tales of the Vampires a part of The Vampire Chronicles, so by association, this can be seen as the second-best Anne Rice book series. With a couple of strong additions to Anne Rice’s vampire canon, these books build up the Anne Rice universe substantially. There is crossover between these novels, The Vampire Chronicles, and by extension, The Lives of the Mayfair Witches.

This crossover ensures a huge scope of Anne Rice’s work and an interconnectedness that enables an immersive experience. Rice’s New Tales of the Vampires creates historical worlds with beautiful imagery and intriguing detail. Pandora, especially, has period drama appeal and also sets up a huge amount of lore for The Vampire Chronicles.

1

The Vampire Chronicles

1976 – 2018

Anne Rice’s world-renowned 1976 novel Interview with the Vampire is arguably her best work, and if it isn’t, The Vampire Lestat or The Queen of the Damned may be. All three of these iconic Anne Rice books are a part of her seminal The Vampire Chronicles series. These books set a high standard for vampire fiction across the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, all the way up until 2018, when its final book was published.

The Vampire Chronicles are undoubtedly Anne Rice’s best books and show the writer at her best in the realms of horror and fantasy, with each release in the series offering a radically different perspective. The series genre-switched fluidly, providing crime thrillers, gothic horror stories, and a wide range of tragic love stories. Interview with the Vampire on AMC+ is currently adapting this book series and proves how pioneering and original it is.