What must be stated clearly from the beginning is that, after many years and wrong turns, Anne Rice is back, and so is Lestat. Of course, those who expect the exact same Lestat they initially grew to know, from The Vampire Lestat and The Queen of the Damned, may be disappointed, but in the end that's their fault alone. After all, not even the most resilient and rigid immortal would emerge without being deeply altered by everything Lestat went through from Queen of the Damned onward and, while admittedly on a merely mundane level, the same can be said about Anne Rice herself.
Prince Lestat may be, more than anything, a rather direct sequel to The Queen of the Damned, but also, while it doesn't particularly dwell on them, it stands firmly by the events depicted in The Tale of the Body Thief and Memnoch the Devil and includes characters and references to important moments from The Vampire Armand, Blood and Gold and Pandora. Yes, that means it completely ignores Merrick, Blackwood Farm and Blood Canticle, and also Vittorio, but that's pretty much as it should be. I don't think it exactly contradicts the events depicted in those books, but can't really say that I recall much from them, so there may be things that don't add up, especially regarding the Talamasca. Still, those parts of the series are probably better off forgotten either way, though the one somewhat unpleasant aspect of that is the lack of any reference to the Mayfairs, as depicted in Lives of the Mayfair Witches, and maybe even the Taltos.

In short, as long as expectations remain reasonable, Prince Lestat has much to offer those who enjoyed the first half of The Vampire Chronicles, as well as the story of Marius and those directly related to it. The atmosphere of those earlier books has returned, for better or worse along with Anne Rice's obsessions and her detailed descriptions of immense wealth, opulence and old-fashioned luxury and behavior. The history and lore of the Undead, as well as of the Talamasca, are presented in even greater detail than before. And readers have the chance to catch up with the old characters and understand the new ones, which are properly introduced and explained, so their presence and their connections to the others and the events make sense. In fact, the earlier books in the series are directly referenced on numerous occasions, including exact quotes and, in one case, even page numbers, both as a way to clarify those connections and to reinforce the myth the entire series relies on.
But does this mean that this book is only intended for fans of the series? Well, yes and no. Yes because properly understanding certain details and nuances does tend to require knowing everything that took place up to the end of The Queen of the Damned and quite a number of important later events, and no because pretty much the entire first half of the book is in fact an extended introduction, using the guise of presenting characters to ease new readers into the story and remind existing fans of facts they may have forgotten over the years. And yes, this means there's very little actual action for about half the book, and in fact there's not that much of that even later, and the moments that do exist do seem rather forced and rushed, but here I'll return to keeping expectations reasonable and say that a significant amount of actual action isn't the point of Prince Lestat, nor is it exactly necessary at this point in the series.

Moving on to specifics, the first thing that struck me was Rose, who immediately gave me the impression of being the author's alter ego, through which she presents how she sees her relationship with her characters, and with Lestat most of all, and also moments of her life, events that shaped her or at least her state of mind at certain points in time. Now I didn't check to see what Anne Rice herself said about this or what others dug up, in part because I don't want to be disappointed by possibly finding that she refuses to admit it, but this to me adds significantly to the impact and, for lack of a better term, the meaningfulness of Prince Lestat.
On the other hand, while I understand the need to limit the level of detail about some characters, even to the point of leaving some secondary ones rather one-dimensional, in order to focus more on recreating the overall atmosphere and presenting more of the history and lore, I must say I was unpleasantly surprised that the entire Marius and Pandora story was only very barely alluded to, and even that in a way that seemed wrong to me. Seeing as a chapter was dedicated to Marius and another, while admittedly not dedicated to her, specifically included Pandora, I expected more... Or perhaps I needed more, considering the impact that part of Blood and Gold had on me at the time and the connections that story creates in my mind.

But speaking of those one-dimensional characters, and also returning to the relative lack of action in order to explain it in another way, one must understand that Anne Rice's vampires are Romantics, with a capital "R". Sure, not all to the same extent, some perhaps hardly at all, but those she prefers and focuses on, most of those who rise to positions that make them truly significant, they live for beauty, for creativity, for art, for emotions and passions and sensations, and for the deep bonds they form with others. They can easily become extraordinarily fixated on another, or on a source, or a form, of beauty, so much so that their dedication will appear to go well beyond what the vast majority of people would consider sick obsession.
However, that definitely doesn't mean they're weak. Instead, it means their capacity to love and cherish and appreciate is so much greater. It means the emotions and sensations they're able to experience are so much more intense. It means they can focus so much better, and treasure and maintain, and possibly improve, what they have, instead of always being distracted or even actively looking for something better, or even simply something different, as most humans do. And, while at times it can definitely prove to be a weakness, overall this may well be their greatest strength.

That said, Fareed and the other scientists do seem rather out of place, but their role is properly explained, as is how they came to be. In addition, the very fact that they're out of place is pointed out quite a number of times, from both directions, but so is the fact that they're necessary. Anne Rice does tend to take the easy way out, largely skipping over any scientific and technological details that she perhaps can't properly grasp, or that she simply believes many readers won't, by stating that the main characters neither know nor particularly care about those issues, but at the same time it's stressed that no society, not even one of immortals, can continue to exist in the present day and age without embracing science and technology and the knowledge and the advances they bring.
On the other hand, it's also pointed out, repeatedly, that all this knowledge can easily be misused and new developments can also have negative consequences, both intended and unintended, and measures must be taken to reduce these risks as much as possible. And this is just one of the many considerations, opinions, pieces of social commentary, philosophy or bits of wisdom that make Prince Lestat more than a simple story. Depending on the reader's stance on the respective issues, these may be seen as either positive or negative aspects, but the different characters do, in quite a number of cases, allow for multiple different and even conflicting points of view to be presented, offering arguments in favor of each.

And now, please allow me to finish this the same way I started: Anne Rice is back, and so is Lestat. This book breathes new life, or perhaps a better term would be new unlife, into the series, pulling it together and paving the way toward a potentially exciting future. It truly belongs within The Vampire Chronicles, using many of the elements which deserve to be remembered as its foundation while ignoring those which perhaps do not. It selects characters and events which had previously been offered too little, if any, time and space and presents them properly, ensuring that they make sense both on their own and as part of the story and offering them a chance to shine or, at the very least, setting the stage for future books to do so.
True, it may be mainly intended for existing fans of the series who have forgotten some details since reading the rest, but it's written in a way that allows it to remain quite enjoyable for new readers as well, while those who, quite the contrary, need no reminders or recaps but nevertheless enjoy the style and atmosphere should also have little to complain about. So yes, as this review likely also proves, nostalgia, fond memories, mental and emotional links and just the right amount of forgetfulness definitely help improve one's opinion of it, but none are truly required in order to clearly state that Prince Lestat is simply a good book... At least as long as expectations remain reasonable and readers don't demand it to be something it neither is nor needs to be.