The Queen of the Damned
Encyclopedia
The Queen of the Damned (1988) is the third novel of Anne Rice
Anne Rice
Anne Rice is a best-selling Southern American author of metaphysical gothic fiction, Christian literature and erotica from New Orleans, Louisiana. Her books have sold nearly 100 million copies, making her one of the most widely read authors in modern history...

's The Vampire Chronicles
The Vampire Chronicles
The Vampire Chronicles is a series of novels by Anne Rice that revolves around the fictional character Lestat de Lioncourt, a French nobleman turned into a vampire in the 18th century....

series. It follows Interview with the Vampire
Interview with the Vampire
Interview with the Vampire is a vampire novel by Anne Rice written in 1973 and published in 1976. It was the first novel to feature the enigmatic vampire Lestat, and was followed by several sequels, collectively known as The Vampire Chronicles...

and The Vampire Lestat
The Vampire Lestat
The Vampire Lestat is a novel by Anne Rice, and the second in her Vampire Chronicles, following Interview with the Vampire. Many events in the two books appear to contradict each other...

. This novel is a continuation of the story that ends in a cliffhanger
Cliffhanger
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction...

 in The Vampire Lestat and explores the rich history and mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...

 of the origin of the vampires, which dates back to Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

.

Plot summary

Part One follows several different people over the same period of several days. Several of the characters appear in the two previous books, including Armand, Daniel
Daniel Molloy
Daniel Molloy is a fictional character in the Vampire Chronicles universe created by Anne Rice. He first appeared in the novel Interview with the Vampire, but also makes appearances in The Queen of the Damned, and briefly in Blood and Gold....

 (the "boy reporter" of Interview with the Vampire
Interview with the Vampire
Interview with the Vampire is a vampire novel by Anne Rice written in 1973 and published in 1976. It was the first novel to feature the enigmatic vampire Lestat, and was followed by several sequels, collectively known as The Vampire Chronicles...

), Marius
Marius de Romanus
Marius de Romanus is a fictional character in The Vampire Chronicles novels written by Anne Rice. He is the primary character in the novel Blood and Gold.- Fictional biography :...

, Louis
Louis de Pointe du Lac
Louis de Pointe du Lac is a fictional character in Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles series. He began his life as a mortal man, and later became a vampire. He is the protagonist and antihero of Interview with the Vampire, the first book of The Vampire Chronicles...

, Gabrielle and Santino. Each of the six chapters in Part One tells a different story about a different person or group of people. Two things unify these chapters: a series of dreams about red-haired twin sisters, and the fact that a powerful being is killing vampires around the world by means of spontaneous combustion.

Pandora
Pandora (novel)
Pandora is a novel and a vampire in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. Her story is told in the book Pandora, one of two novels in the New Tales of the Vampires series.-Plot summary:...

 and Santino rescue Marius, having answered his telepathic call for help. Marius informs his rescuers that Akasha
Those Who Must Be Kept
Those Who Must Be Kept are fictional characters in Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles. They are portrayed as the progenitors of all vampires, and are thus regarded as the "King and Queen of the Vampires"....

 has been awakened by Lestat, or rather his rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

, for he has joined a rock band of mortals named Alex, Larry and Tough Cookie. Having been awakened by Lestat's rebellious music, Akasha destroys her husband Enkil
Those Who Must Be Kept
Those Who Must Be Kept are fictional characters in Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles. They are portrayed as the progenitors of all vampires, and are thus regarded as the "King and Queen of the Vampires"....

 and plots to rule the world. Akasha is also revealed as the source of the attacks on other vampires.

Part Two takes place at Lestat's concert. Jesse
Jessica Miriam Reeves
Jessica "Jesse" Miriam Reeves is a fictional character in the Vampire Chronicles universe created by Anne Rice.-Character Background and Biography:Jesse is a descendant of Maharet, and a member of the Great Family...

, a member of the secret Talamasca
Talamasca Caste
The Talamasca Caste is a fictional secret society described in the works of Anne Rice.- Background :The Talamasca Caste is described as a secret society set up to watch over and keep track of the paranormal, in particular, witches, spirits, werewolves and vampires...

 and relative of Maharet
Maharet and Mekare
Maharet and Mekare are two characters from Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles.- Story as told in The Queen of the Damned :Maharet and Mekare were twin sisters and powerful witches living in a beautiful valley not far from Egypt six thousand years ago. They had curly red hair and green eyes. They...

, is mortally injured while attending the concert, and is taken to Maharet's Sonoma compound where she is made into a vampire. The vampires from Part One later congregate in the Sonoma compound. The only vampires not present are Akasha and Lestat. Akasha has abducted Lestat and takes him as an unwilling consort to various locations in the world, inciting women to rise up and kill the men who (they feel) have oppressed them.

Part Three takes place at Maharet's home in a Sonoma forest. There Maharet tells the story of Akasha and the red-haired twins (who are, in fact, Maharet and her sister, Mekare) to Pandora, Jesse, Marius, Santino, Eric, Armand, Daniel, Louis and Gabrielle. Also present are Mael and Khayman
Khayman
Khayman is a fictional character in The Vampire Chronicles universe created by Anne Rice. One of the oldest vampires at nearly six thousand years old, he appears in very few of the books in the series, but is nevertheless considered a powerful force among their number...

, who already know the story. (see "Maharet and Mekare
Maharet and Mekare
Maharet and Mekare are two characters from Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles.- Story as told in The Queen of the Damned :Maharet and Mekare were twin sisters and powerful witches living in a beautiful valley not far from Egypt six thousand years ago. They had curly red hair and green eyes. They...

")

In Part Four, Akasha confronts the gathered vampires at Maharet's compound. There she explains her plans and offers the vampires a chance to be her 'angels' in her New World Order
New World Order (conspiracy)
In conspiracy theory, the term New World Order or NWO refers to the emergence of a totalitarian one-world government.The common theme in conspiracy theories about a New World Order is that a secretive power elite with a globalist agenda is conspiring to eventually rule the world through an...

. Akasha plans to kill 90 percent of the world's human men, and to establish a new Eden
Garden of Eden
The Garden of Eden is in the Bible's Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, lived after they were created by God. Literally, the Bible speaks about a garden in Eden...

 in which women will worship Akasha as a goddess. The vampires' refusal of her offer will result in their deaths. The vampires refuse to join her; but before Akasha can destroy them, Mekare enters. Mekare kills Akasha by severing her head. Mekare then consumes Akasha's brain and heart, thereby saving the lives of the remaining vampires and becoming the new 'Queen of the Damned.'

In Part Five, the vampires leave Maharet's compound and assemble at Armand's resort, the "Night Island," (according to Anne Rice, inspired by Fire Island) in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 to recover. They eventually go their separate ways (as told in The Tale of the Body Thief
The Tale of the Body Thief
The Tale of the Body Thief is the fourth novel in Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles series, following The Queen of the Damned. Published in 1992, it continues the adventures of Lestat, specifically his efforts to regain his lost humanity....

). Lestat takes Louis to see David Talbot in London. After their brief visit with Talbot they depart into the night, an incensed Louis and his angry words filling Lestat with glee.

The Origin of Vampires

The Queen of the Damned, the novel, deals with the origins of vampires themselves. The mother of all vampires, Akasha, begins as a pre-Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

ian queen
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...

, in a land called Kemet [which will become Egypt], many thousands of years ago. During this time two powerful witches (Maharet and Mekare) live in the mountains of an unnamed region. The witches are able to communicate with invisible spirit
Spirit
The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...

s and gain simple favors from them. During this period there is a bloodthirsty, invisible spirit known as Amel who continually asks the two witches if they need his assistance, although they prudently decline the offer. The witches' village is destroyed and they are incarcerated by the king and queen, who desire their knowledge. When the witches offend Akasha, the Queen condemns the twins. Enkil then orders his chief steward (who is Khayman as a mortal man) to rape the twins in his stead, which would prove their lack of power, before the eyes of the court. Afterward the witches are cast out into the desert. While making her way back home with a pregnant Maharet, Mekare curses the king and queen secretly with the bloodthirsty spirit. Eventually this spirit inflicts such torment on Akasha and Enkil that they again demand advice and help from the two witches.

Conspirators, unhappy with the young king's policies, assassinate the royal couple in Khayman's house whilst they were attempting to exorcise Amel, who had been tormenting Khayman. While the king and queen lie dying, the evil spirit sees its chance to ensnare the soul of the dying queen and pulls it back into her body. The spirit combines itself with the flesh and blood of the queen, transforming her into a vampire. Akasha allows the king to drink her blood, which saves his life. They then order Khayman to find the witches and bring them back to Egypt so that they could use their knowledge of spirits to help them, as they feel guilty because of their thirst for blood. However, when the witches admit that they cannot help the monarchs, Akasha orders the mutilation of the witches: Maharet loses her eyes and Mekare her tongue. Afterward, Khayman, who had been turned into a vampire by Akasha, comes to the witches' cell and turns them too. The three flee together, but are caught by Akasha's soldiers. Khayman escapes, but Maharet and Mekare are further punished. The witches are put into two separate coffins which are then set afloat on two separate bodies of water. They are only reunited near the end of the novel Queen of the Damned.

In Mekare's absence, Maharet returns to watch over her daughter and her descendants. Maharet's descendants become what she calls the Great Family. A maternal line, the Great Family includes every culture, religion, ethnicity, and race. The Great Family represents all humanity and shows the vampires what Akasha would destroy with the creation of her New World Order.

As the source of all vampires, Akasha is connected to all vampires by the blood and spirit they collectively share. In an experiment by the first Keeper, Akasha and Enkil are exposed to sunlight when they are several thousand years old. This merely darkens their skin. However, the result on all other vampires is extreme, and many of the weakest vampires die, thus confirming the legend that anything that harms Akasha will also directly affect all of her progeny.

External links

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