The Queen of the Damned begins where The Vampire Lestat ends. It carries that earlier plot to its resolution, resolving many of the unanswered questions. It develops the character of the interviewer, Daniel, from Interview with the Vampire, and gives a fascinating explanation of how the first vampires came to be. It is considered by critics to be gorier and less erotic than the previous Vampire Chronicle novels.

The novel champions the modern world, even with its failings, seeing it as proof of human evolution to a higher ethical and spiritual plane.