The Vampire Chronicles reading order

A plan for the whole series

13 volumes, 6,533 pages, about 120 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 5 months.

• From volume 2 on, the number of ratings falls most before volume 9, “Blackwood Farm” (by 38%). Plan your break after volume 8, before the series plans it for you.
• Readers scored volume 3, “The Queen of the Damned”, below its predecessor (7.5 after 7.9). If you slow down there, that is on the book, not on you.

Stages

8 stages, with 7 short books from outside the series between them. You finish around May 16, 2027, about 6 weeks later than in one go.

1. 1
   Stage 118 habout 3 weeksby November 21, 2026

   • 1. Interview with the Vampire1976 · 352 pages · 6 h
   • 2. The Vampire Lestat1985 · 606 pages · 11 h
2. Short breakThe Fire Next Time · James Baldwin · 120 pp. · score 8.82 h, by November 25, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
3. 2
   Stage 211 h14 daysby December 9, 2026

   • 3. The Queen of the Damned1988 · 573 pages · 11 h
4. Short breakOn Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century · Timothy Snyder · 128 pp. · score 8.42 h, by December 13, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
5. 3
   Stage 317 habout 3 weeksby January 6, 2027

   • 4. The Tale of the Body Thief1992 · 520 pages · 10 h
   • 5. Memnoch the Devil1995 · 432 pages · 8 h
6. Short breakTo Be Taught, If Fortunate · Becky Chambers · 153 pp. · score 8.33 h, by January 10, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
7. 4
   Stage 418 habout 3 weeksby February 3, 2027

   • 6. The Vampire Armand1998 · 520 pages · 10 h
   • 7. Merrick2000 · 447 pages · 8 h
8. Short breakA Room of One's Own · Virginia Woolf · 144 pp. · score 8.23 h, by February 8, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
9. 5
   Stage 511 h14 daysby February 22, 2027

   • 8. Blood and Gold2001 · 591 pages · 11 h
10. BreakMaus · Art Spiegelman · 295 pp. · score 9.05 h, by March 3, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
11. 6
    Stage 619 habout 4 weeksby March 29, 2027

    • 9. Blackwood Farm2002 · 640 pages · 12 h
    • 10. Blood Canticle2003 · 412 pages · 8 h
12. BreakBorn a Crime · Trevor Noah · 304 pp. · score 8.96 h, by April 7, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
13. 7
    Stage 710 h14 daysby April 21, 2027

    • 11. Prince Lestat2014 · 560 pages · 10 h
14. Short breakThe Screwtape letters · C. S. Lewis · 106 pp. · score 8.22 h, by April 25, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
15. 8
    Stage 816 habout 3 weeksby May 16, 2027

    • 12. Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis2016 · 608 pages · 11 h
    • 13. Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat2018 · 272 pages · 5 h
16. The end of the series

    May 16, 2027

We count 1.1 min per page, the pace of an average novel reader. Faster? Move the slider.

Does the series hold up

Shape of the series: best at the start. Readers scored the first volumes (7.7) above the last ones (7.4).

Best volume: The Vampire Lestat (7.9, 561 ratings). Weakest: The Tale of the Body Thief (7.1). From volume 2 on, the biggest drop in the number of ratings is between volume 8 and 9: 38%. The series is complete; you can read it start to finish with no waiting. The last volume (7.2) scores close to the series average or above it.