At the novel's center is the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt: hero, leader, inspirer, irresistible force, irrepressible spirit, battling (and ultimately reconciling with) a strange otherworldly form that has somehow taken possession of Lestat's undead body and soul. This ancient and mysterious power and unearthly spirit of vampire lore has all the force, history and insidious reach of the unknowable Universe. It is through this spirit that we come to be told the hypnotic tale of a great sea power of ancient times --- a mysterious heaven on earth situated on a boundless continent --- and how and why this force came to build and rule the great legendary empire of centuries ago that thrived in the Atlantic Ocean.