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The Vampire Armand is the 6th novel in Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles series.
Synopsis
With The Vampire Lestat still in slumber after his adventures in Memnoch the Devil, the vampire coven is united around the brat prince, and David Talbot takes the opportunity to formulate to Armand the same request as he had the vampire Pandora. Thus, Armand, the vampire who first appeared in Interview with the Vampire, honors David Talbot's request to tell his tale.
Born somewhere in the eastern European state of Kiev, in the 16th century, Armand is spirited away from a life of prayer and devotion by slave traders and taken to Constantinople, and from there to Venice where he is purchased by the vampire Marius (whose life story is told in Blood and Gold).
In Venice, Marius lives the extravagant life of a painter and mentor. He is well thought of in the world of the Renaissance artists and even has many boys as his apprentices. In this luxuriant universe, Armand's education is made on all subjects, with his curriculum culminating in him receiving the Dark Gift.
Shortly after, Marius is destroyed by the vampire Santino and his cohorts, a coven of uneducated Children of the night who are outraged at Marius's life of luxury. Armand is spared and educated by Santino in the laws of the Coven, to later go to Paris and create the foundations to his own coven under the Cimetière des Innocents, which Lestat, years laters, would drastically impact with, resulting in the creation of the Théâtre des Vampires.
Armand also shares with David Talbot his version of the tragic events recounted by Louis de Pointe du Lac in Interview with the Vampire, the end of the Théâtre des Vampires and the time Armand and Louis shared together.
The novel ends with the recount of Armand's survival to his exposure to the sun, his rescue by Sybelle and Benji and the awakening of Lestat to Sybelle's interpretation of Beethoven's Appassionata.
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