Are their any well-known/iconic vampire novels where the lead character/heroine is the vampire?
I don't know if it's well-known or iconic, but Steven Brust's Agyar might qualify.
Wash: Don't fall asleep now. Sleepiness is weakness of character. Ask anyone. You're acting captain. Know what happens you fall asleep now? Zoe: Jayne slits my throat, and takes over. Wash: That's right. Zoe: And we can't stop it.
'Shindig'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Calli - Jan 02, 2009 7:56:40 am PST #8225 of 28431
I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul—Calvin and Hobbs
Jessica - Jan 02, 2009 7:56:50 am PST #8226 of 28431
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
Other than Anne Rice, you mean?
[Or did you mean specifically books with female protagonists?]
Barb - Jan 02, 2009 8:00:35 am PST #8227 of 28431
“Not dead yet!”
[Or did you mean specifically books with female protagonists?]
Where the female protagonist IS the vampire. When you say Anne Rice, do you mean Queen of the Damned?
Jessica - Jan 02, 2009 8:02:21 am PST #8228 of 28431
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
That's trickier, then. I did just see a really good movie with a female vampire as the lead, but I can't think of any books off the top of my head.
[eta: According to IMDB, Let The Right One In IS based on a Swedish book of the same title.]
Calli - Jan 02, 2009 8:03:37 am PST #8229 of 28431
I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul—Calvin and Hobbs
Oh, I read "lead character" but not the "heroine" part. Agyar's from a male PoV, sorry.
Jessica - Jan 02, 2009 8:04:21 am PST #8230 of 28431
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
Oh, I read "lead character" but not the "heroine" part.
This. Even QotD is mostly a Lestat book.
Barb - Jan 02, 2009 8:05:05 am PST #8231 of 28431
“Not dead yet!”
This. Even QotD is mostly a Lestat book.
That's what I thought.
Consuela - Jan 02, 2009 8:10:16 am PST #8232 of 28431
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix
Barb, that precise issue is the key point in a recently-released novel. It's also a spoiler for the story so I'm going to name the book and author in spoilerfont:
Evernight by Claudia Gray
Fay - Jan 02, 2009 8:57:00 am PST #8233 of 28431
"Fuck Western ideologically-motivated gender identification!" Sulu gasped, and came.
OMG, people, I have to rec The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, because I've been wolfing through it for the past couple of days and it is Just So Good. And, look, Mr Rothfuss is clearly One Of Us. Seriously - I've only a little of the book left unread, and I'm in that OMGWhatHappensNext,WhatHappensNext frame of mind, whilst also in that NoNoNoDon'tFinish frame of mind. Gah. But, anyway, yes - if you have a fondness for the books of Robin Hobb (...er, the good ones, not the Soldier Son trilogy, which is, I regret to say, bollocks and dull), or of Scott Lynch, or indeed if you loved The Princess Bride, then this is liable to be Your Cup Of Tea.
In addition to the fact that it's a dazzlingly original take on standard fantasy tropes (the dragon slaying sequence in particular), and beyond the fact that it introduces us to a hero as disarming, heartbreaking, poetic and ass-kickingly splendid as Cyrano De Bergerac, there is also the fact that Rothfuss himself is clearly head over heels in love with story, and storytelling. There are stories within stories within stories here, tales told by firesides and songs sung on stages, and I'm head over heels in love with half the characters or more.
Actually, it's probably better if I just give you the back cover blurb, because it's pretty damn concise and evocative:
"I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Falurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.
"My name is Kvothe. You may have heard of me."
This book is, in short, Made. Of. Awesome.
DavidS - Jan 02, 2009 9:18:47 am PST #8234 of 28431
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
How do you pronounce "Kvothe"?
::is a little dubious about an unpronouncable protagonist::