Set in the late 18th Century to the late 1980s, the story follows the 200 years long life of the vampire Lestat, and his rise from humble beginnings as a penniless aristocrat in France to become the "Brat Prince" of the vampires after his creation by the vampire Magnus who orphans him on the night he is made. It details his adventures with his mother Gabrielle, who eventually leaves him due to irreconcilable differences when he searches out the vampire Marius, the existence of whom he learns from the teenage vampire Armand.