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Cover of The Tale of the Body Thief
The early Chronicles · the early 1990s

The Tale of the Body Thief

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Tired of immortality, Lestat agrees to swap bodies with a mortal for a day

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Yes. It's in the Main story, the list of only what moves the plot forward to the end of the saga.

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  • Main story4 of 13
  • Chronological5 of 18
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Quick recap

Lestat is tired of immortality and tries to die in the Gobi Desert sun, with no luck. He visits his friend David Talbot, the aging head of the Talamasca, who turns down his blood. A mortal named Raglan James offers to swap bodies with him for a day. Lestat agrees, feels cold, hunger and sickness, and is nursed by Gretchen, a nun. James disappears with the vampire body. Louis refuses to help. With David, Lestat chases James onto the Queen Elizabeth 2 and gets his body back. In the swap, David ends up in a young body, and James dies in his friend's old one. At the end, Lestat turns David into a vampire against his will.

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2 what changed on screen

What changed on screen

  1. ReferenceBlake's tiger

    William Blake's poem "The Tyger" keeps coming back in the book. By the end, Lestat figures out who the tiger in his visions was.

    source ↗
  2. Behind the scenesAnne's father

    Anne Rice said her father's death shaped Lestat's bond with David Talbot. She wished she could make her dying father young again.

    source ↗
No spoilersThe easter eggs give away parts of the title. They open once you mark it as seen.

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