Just tried to read some of Anne Rice's books last week because I was enchanted by the AMC adaptation of Interview with the Vampire.
I can't even adequately express how much I dislike her writing and "story telling", if you can even call it that. Her vampire lore/rules for her vampires are cool, but that's pretty much all she has going for her.
I enjoyed the books because I enjoyed thinking about the sort of author who would write something like that. Kind of getting into her head even though she didn't intend it. Especially Queen of the Damned.
And I love the idea that elder vampires are easily strong enough to reveal themselves and conquer the world, but they just don't because they're too lazy and decadent to rock the boat.
I prefer the White Wolf / World of Darkness setting though. "We don't reveal ourselves because humans would wipe the floor with us and then hunt us to extinction, like they've always done with everything that's ever threatened them. Despite our power, we can't beat their industry."