In this spellbinding novel, Lestat, rebel outlaw, addresses the tribe of vampires, directly, intimately, and passionately, telling the mesmerizing story of the formation of the Blood Communion and how he became prince of the vampire world, the true ruler of this vast realm, and how his vision for all the Children of the Universe to thrive as one came to be. The story spills from Lestat's heart, as he speaks first of his new existence as reigning monarch—and then of his fierce battle of wits and words with the mysterious Rhoshamandes, proud Child of the Millennia, reviled outcast for his senseless slaughter of the legendary ancient vampire Maharet, avowed enemy of Queen Akasha. As the tale unfolds, Lestat takes us from the towers and battlements of his ancestral castle in the snow-covered mountains of France to the verdant wilds of lush Louisiana with its lingering fragrances of magnolias and night jasmine; from the far reaches of the Pacific's untouched islands to the 18th-century city of St. Petersburg and the court of the Empress Catherine. Ultimately, Lestat will have to determine how to deal with Rhoshamandes, who refuses to live in harmony at court and threatens all Lestat has dreamt of.