What do you think?
Rate this book
The Talamasca, documenters of paranormal activity, is on the hunt for the newly born Lasher. Mayfair women are dying from hemorrhages and a strange genetic anomaly has been found in Rowan and Michael. Lasher, born from Rowan, is another species altogether and now in the corporeal body, represents an incalcuable threat to the Mayfairs. Rowan and Lasher travel together to Houston and she becomes pregnant with another creature like him, a Taltos. Lasher seeks to reproduce his race in other women, but they cannot withstand it. Rowan escapes and becomes comatose as her fully-grown Taltos daughter is born. The Mayfairs declare all-out war on Lasher and try to nurse Rowan back to heatlth.
Michael remains entwined in the Mayfair family and learns how he comes by his strange powers. Michael's ghostly visiting from a long-dead Mayfair reveals the importance of destroying Lasher. In the investigation, Lasher's origins are revealed, the new Taltos Emaleth returns, and the climax of death and life engulfs the family.
--annerice.com
Michael remains entwined in the Mayfair family and learns how he comes by his strange powers. Michael's ghostly visiting from a long-dead Mayfair reveals the importance of destroying Lasher. In the investigation, Lasher's origins are revealed, the new Taltos Emaleth returns, and the climax of death and life engulfs the family.
--annerice.com
896 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1993
About the author
Anne Rice
317 books25.8k followersAnne Rice (born Howard Allen Frances O'Brien) was a best-selling American author of gothic, supernatural, historical, erotica, and later religious themed books. Best known for The Vampire Chronicles, her prevailing thematic focus is on love, death, immortality, existentialism, and the human condition. She was married to poet Stan Rice for 41 years until his death in 2002. Her books have sold nearly 100 million copies, making her one of the most widely read authors in modern history.
Anne Rice passed on December 11, 2021 due to complications from a stroke. She was eighty years old at the time of her death.
She uses the pseudonym Anne Rampling for adult-themed fiction (i.e., erotica) and A.N. Roquelaure for fiction featuring sexually explicit sado-masochism.
Anne Rice passed on December 11, 2021 due to complications from a stroke. She was eighty years old at the time of her death.
She uses the pseudonym Anne Rampling for adult-themed fiction (i.e., erotica) and A.N. Roquelaure for fiction featuring sexually explicit sado-masochism.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,320 reviews
January 2, 2022
A saga of witchcraft.
Mesmerizing, sensual, and deliciously gothic, Anne Rice created her queendom with her lush prose.
After the enthralling introduction of the witching hour, the book Lasher is another immersive read.
The story of Julian, the birth of Lasher, the name of Taltos…
After the brewing storm of darkness, the Truth was finally being uncovered. Inspired by Hungarian mythology, Anne Rice knew how to weave everything together to make you feel the chill of the unthinkable horror.
I was halfway through this book when I heard that Anne Rice had passed away.
She was such a dazzling and magical storyteller that If she had written a 5000-page long book, I would still devour it with ease.
The smoothness of her story always made me forget that I was reading; the journey was more like an enchanting dream.
She was an elegant magician who I wish I had known earlier.
R.I.P Anne Rice.
My love and respect to the queen of gothic novels.
Mesmerizing, sensual, and deliciously gothic, Anne Rice created her queendom with her lush prose.
After the enthralling introduction of the witching hour, the book Lasher is another immersive read.
The story of Julian, the birth of Lasher, the name of Taltos…
After the brewing storm of darkness, the Truth was finally being uncovered. Inspired by Hungarian mythology, Anne Rice knew how to weave everything together to make you feel the chill of the unthinkable horror.
I was halfway through this book when I heard that Anne Rice had passed away.
She was such a dazzling and magical storyteller that If she had written a 5000-page long book, I would still devour it with ease.
The smoothness of her story always made me forget that I was reading; the journey was more like an enchanting dream.
She was an elegant magician who I wish I had known earlier.
R.I.P Anne Rice.
My love and respect to the queen of gothic novels.
October 12, 2009
Boy was this a letdown after reading The Witching Hour. It was really long and drawn out. I felt like the entire book was just two very long rehashings of the first story with a couple of blanks filled in. It was almost like re-reading the first book and became quite tedious at times. I guess it was important to develop the character of Lasher, but I think it could have been done effectively by just adding another chapter or two to the already long first book. I haven't read the Queen of the Damned yet, but my feeling was that this book was the filler book until she could come up with a plot for the third book. I liked hearing Lasher's story, Julien's story could have been pared down alot. Way too much repetition from the first book. I'm also a bit disturbed by Anne Rice's apparent obsession with kinky and illegal sex (with minors) It's an obvious theme in both books so far and would make me wary of leaving my children alone with her. I don't think it is necessary to write about sexual encounters with children - I don't care if they are witches. It didn't add anything to the story. I think I would have been more impressed if Lasher treated them with kindness as children therefore encouraging loyalty. That part was a little too sordid for me. I'm going to give it a break for a while before I read the last book.
November 27, 2011
This book kind of surprised me. As I wrote in my review for The Witching Hour, I really loved THAT book as a young adult (13-15 I'd guess), and had for many years after considered it one of my favorite novels ever written. However, re-reading it at age 31 revealed a number of fatal flaws that I could not get over.
I was not expecting much from Lasher by consequence, as I read it as a young adult too, though I do not believe I ever finished it.
Imagine my surprise when I re-read it and found Lasher to be more compelling than the first novel in the series.
Now this does not mean the book doesn't have its flaws. I find it hilarious the way one of the protagonists (Mona Mayfair) talks about her computer; it's obvious that the author sat down for a five minute conversation (in the 90s) with someone who knew computers and simply copied his interview words into her book. She is painfully inexperienced with computers and it's obvious from the dialogue she creates for her tech-savvy savant, who says ludicrous things like "I'm going to boot up my directory," and "it has max hard drive and max memory."
Mona presents other problems for me as a protagonist as well. She is supposed to be this genius of a thirteen year old, but it's obvious that she's being used as a voice through which the author's own idealized personality and opinions are expressed; what ends up happening (to me, anyway) is that when Mona (a thirteen year old girl) starts waxing haughtily about the failure of modern architecture as compared to ancient, or about how she hates modern music or modern culture or modern clothing, all I can envision is a stunted version of Anne Rice, looking tired and old, spouting these things herself.
The idealization of author-as-protagonist-Mona is also apparently intended to make it easier for us to condone the rampant paedophilia that goes on throughout this book, mostly in relation to Mona herself. A character that was so faultless, who was literally "too good" (as the first book repeated numerous times over its hundreds of pages) cannot help himself but to fall dick-first into a thirteen year old girl because she kissed him on the lips. He expresses some MILD concern that he's just raped a child, presumably so that we know he's still all moral and junk, and then he promptly rapes her again and again, because clearly thirteen-year-old vagina is much like heroin in that one taste is all you need to be hooked. This character, by the way, is about 50 years old if I remember right. And we're supposed to just wink and say "Oh those Mayfairs," as he repeatedly rapes his niece in his marriage bed shortly after his own wife has been abducted.
And then there are other characters that have sexual encounters with Mona, including Randall, an ancient and elderly old Mayfair whom we are supposed to believe was a poor victim in an act of seduction initiated by this precocious thirteen-year-old girl. Poor Randall didn't stand a chance, because this CHILD vixen, this inescapable Anne-Rice-as-an-early-teen Lolita decided she wanted to sleep with an old man and of course men are not able to resist the sexiness of a pre-teen.
Then there's Yuri, who is described as in his early twenties perhaps, and as soon as he sees Mona he wants to tear off her clothes even though she's a baby; the same is true of her cousin Pierce, in his twenties as well, who cannot bring himself to stop staring at Mona's thirteen-year-old legs WITHIN HOURS of his own mother's brutal murder.
It's a normalization of paedophilia that kind of bothers me; it seems that the author believes that all men are secretly attracted to pre-pubescent girls, and that all pre-pubescent girls are just raging sluts, and sexualizing them causes no harm at all. It makes me shudder whenever it comes up, which is disturbingly often.
Also, the end of the book is absolutely absurd. Making historical connections to incredibly famous kings and queens, Rice jumped the shark with her main character Lasher. I don't want to give any spoilers, but when it came time that he revealed his origins (again in Rice's typical, boring thirty-pages-of-expositional-monologue style) I rolled my eyes so hard that I think I strained them.
Not very highly recommended really, but better than The Witching Hour.
I was not expecting much from Lasher by consequence, as I read it as a young adult too, though I do not believe I ever finished it.
Imagine my surprise when I re-read it and found Lasher to be more compelling than the first novel in the series.
Now this does not mean the book doesn't have its flaws. I find it hilarious the way one of the protagonists (Mona Mayfair) talks about her computer; it's obvious that the author sat down for a five minute conversation (in the 90s) with someone who knew computers and simply copied his interview words into her book. She is painfully inexperienced with computers and it's obvious from the dialogue she creates for her tech-savvy savant, who says ludicrous things like "I'm going to boot up my directory," and "it has max hard drive and max memory."
Mona presents other problems for me as a protagonist as well. She is supposed to be this genius of a thirteen year old, but it's obvious that she's being used as a voice through which the author's own idealized personality and opinions are expressed; what ends up happening (to me, anyway) is that when Mona (a thirteen year old girl) starts waxing haughtily about the failure of modern architecture as compared to ancient, or about how she hates modern music or modern culture or modern clothing, all I can envision is a stunted version of Anne Rice, looking tired and old, spouting these things herself.
The idealization of author-as-protagonist-Mona is also apparently intended to make it easier for us to condone the rampant paedophilia that goes on throughout this book, mostly in relation to Mona herself. A character that was so faultless, who was literally "too good" (as the first book repeated numerous times over its hundreds of pages) cannot help himself but to fall dick-first into a thirteen year old girl because she kissed him on the lips. He expresses some MILD concern that he's just raped a child, presumably so that we know he's still all moral and junk, and then he promptly rapes her again and again, because clearly thirteen-year-old vagina is much like heroin in that one taste is all you need to be hooked. This character, by the way, is about 50 years old if I remember right. And we're supposed to just wink and say "Oh those Mayfairs," as he repeatedly rapes his niece in his marriage bed shortly after his own wife has been abducted.
And then there are other characters that have sexual encounters with Mona, including Randall, an ancient and elderly old Mayfair whom we are supposed to believe was a poor victim in an act of seduction initiated by this precocious thirteen-year-old girl. Poor Randall didn't stand a chance, because this CHILD vixen, this inescapable Anne-Rice-as-an-early-teen Lolita decided she wanted to sleep with an old man and of course men are not able to resist the sexiness of a pre-teen.
Then there's Yuri, who is described as in his early twenties perhaps, and as soon as he sees Mona he wants to tear off her clothes even though she's a baby; the same is true of her cousin Pierce, in his twenties as well, who cannot bring himself to stop staring at Mona's thirteen-year-old legs WITHIN HOURS of his own mother's brutal murder.
It's a normalization of paedophilia that kind of bothers me; it seems that the author believes that all men are secretly attracted to pre-pubescent girls, and that all pre-pubescent girls are just raging sluts, and sexualizing them causes no harm at all. It makes me shudder whenever it comes up, which is disturbingly often.
Also, the end of the book is absolutely absurd. Making historical connections to incredibly famous kings and queens, Rice jumped the shark with her main character Lasher. I don't want to give any spoilers, but when it came time that he revealed his origins (again in Rice's typical, boring thirty-pages-of-expositional-monologue style) I rolled my eyes so hard that I think I strained them.
Not very highly recommended really, but better than The Witching Hour.
February 7, 2023
This book is basically Anne saying “Oh you thought the last book was crazy? Hold my beer…”
October 19, 2022
Here she knows how to capture and retain interest. You think: "Well, okay, I'm going to finish the next volume of epic, and I'll say goodbye to this story." You're annoyed with yourself for having taken up this "Lasher" at all - it's clear that everything was moving by leaps and bounds towards becoming a soap opera.
Yes, compared to the strength of Anne Rice cocktails, they are risky, but relatively within the framework of "Fifty Shades of Grey" like beer next to whiskey. To be fair, she doesn't bet as much on sex as James, who wrote her bestseller twenty years later. Although there are enough different kinds of strawberries on the pages. and incestuous and perverse motives more than make up for the lack of a descriptive moment.
But now I would like to say not about why "a decent person will not read this," but about why it is still being read.
Печальный демон, дух изгнанья
Прискорбно, но один человек способен принести неисчислимый вред - особенно если этот человек облечен властью.
Вот умеет она захватывать и удерживать интерес. Ты думаешь: "Ну ладно, домучаю очередной том опупеи, и распрощаюсь с этой историей". Досадуешь на себя за то, что вообще принялась за этого "Лэшера" - ясно ведь, что все семимильными шагами двигалось к превращению в мыльную оперу.
Чего стоит эпизод с Марди Гра, когда безутешный Майкл, соломенный вдовец. потерявший жену, которая не то сбежала с демоном, захватившим тело их новорожденного, не то похищена им - когда Майкл выбирается на карнавал и сажает на плечи девчушку из числа племянниц Роуан. А в следующей сцене эта детка, "которой скоро исполнится 13" пробирается в особняк и буквально насилует его. Чи-во? Ага!
И ты думаешь с брезгливым удивлением, какой только херни не придумает успешная писательница для удержания рейтинга. А потом картинка переключается на Роуан, которой кажется, что она сбежала со странным существом, но на самом деле похищена им. К Роуан, которая испытывает к обретшему плоть Лэшеру смешанные чувства: материнскую нежность и стремление защитить, звериную тягу любовницы, фаустианский интерес естествоиспытательницы.
Да, в сравнении с крепостью коктейлей Энн Райс рискованные, но относительно в рамках "Пятьдесят оттенков серого" как пиво рядом виски. Справедливости ради, она не делает такой ставки на секс как Джеймс, написавшая свой бестселлер двадцатью годами позже. Хотя разного рода клубнички на страницах хватает. а инцестуальные и перверсивные мотивы с лихвой восполняют недостаток описательного момента.
Но теперь хотелось бы сказать не о том, почему "приличный человек такое не станет читать", а о том, почему это все-таки читается спустя треть века, со всем винтажным антуражем, вроде восторгов перед мощью 386 компьютера. У Райс есть одно свойство: увлекшись сама, она рассказывает замечательно интересно. Ты буквально видишь это: вот елозит тему Моны (той самой тринадцатилетки), ее прабабки Эвелин, члена ордена Таломаски Юрия, подыхая от скуки сама и не умея сделать интересным читателю, вот приправляет рассказ нетрадиционным сексом, но ей самой ску-у-учно.
А вот Роуан, угодившая в ловушку токсичных отношений. И это уже не ведьма-демон, в которых писательница все обернула, "чтоб интереснее", но женщина которая вливает свою жизнь в чудовище, высасывающее ее досуха. и примеров таких отношений мы все видели во множестве. Не в термальной стадии, с побоями и удержанием в рабстве, но последнее придает линии Роуан-Лэшер остросюжетность триллера. Интересно писательнице - интересно читателю.
Финал отличный, никаких клиффхэнгеров, все четко, ясно, по полочкам, все хвосты подобраны, хотя девочку, конечно, жаль.
Yes, compared to the strength of Anne Rice cocktails, they are risky, but relatively within the framework of "Fifty Shades of Grey" like beer next to whiskey. To be fair, she doesn't bet as much on sex as James, who wrote her bestseller twenty years later. Although there are enough different kinds of strawberries on the pages. and incestuous and perverse motives more than make up for the lack of a descriptive moment.
But now I would like to say not about why "a decent person will not read this," but about why it is still being read.
Печальный демон, дух изгнанья
Прискорбно, но один человек способен принести неисчислимый вред - особенно если этот человек облечен властью.
Вот умеет она захватывать и удерживать интерес. Ты думаешь: "Ну ладно, домучаю очередной том опупеи, и распрощаюсь с этой историей". Досадуешь на себя за то, что вообще принялась за этого "Лэшера" - ясно ведь, что все семимильными шагами двигалось к превращению в мыльную оперу.
Чего стоит эпизод с Марди Гра, когда безутешный Майкл, соломенный вдовец. потерявший жену, которая не то сбежала с демоном, захватившим тело их новорожденного, не то похищена им - когда Майкл выбирается на карнавал и сажает на плечи девчушку из числа племянниц Роуан. А в следующей сцене эта детка, "которой скоро исполнится 13" пробирается в особняк и буквально насилует его. Чи-во? Ага!
И ты думаешь с брезгливым удивлением, какой только херни не придумает успешная писательница для удержания рейтинга. А потом картинка переключается на Роуан, которой кажется, что она сбежала со странным существом, но на самом деле похищена им. К Роуан, которая испытывает к обретшему плоть Лэшеру смешанные чувства: материнскую нежность и стремление защитить, звериную тягу любовницы, фаустианский интерес естествоиспытательницы.
Да, в сравнении с крепостью коктейлей Энн Райс рискованные, но относительно в рамках "Пятьдесят оттенков серого" как пиво рядом виски. Справедливости ради, она не делает такой ставки на секс как Джеймс, написавшая свой бестселлер двадцатью годами позже. Хотя разного рода клубнички на страницах хватает. а инцестуальные и перверсивные мотивы с лихвой восполняют недостаток описательного момента.
Но теперь хотелось бы сказать не о том, почему "приличный человек такое не станет читать", а о том, почему это все-таки читается спустя треть века, со всем винтажным антуражем, вроде восторгов перед мощью 386 компьютера. У Райс есть одно свойство: увлекшись сама, она рассказывает замечательно интересно. Ты буквально видишь это: вот елозит тему Моны (той самой тринадцатилетки), ее прабабки Эвелин, члена ордена Таломаски Юрия, подыхая от скуки сама и не умея сделать интересным читателю, вот приправляет рассказ нетрадиционным сексом, но ей самой ску-у-учно.
А вот Роуан, угодившая в ловушку токсичных отношений. И это уже не ведьма-демон, в которых писательница все обернула, "чтоб интереснее", но женщина которая вливает свою жизнь в чудовище, высасывающее ее досуха. и примеров таких отношений мы все видели во множестве. Не в термальной стадии, с побоями и удержанием в рабстве, но последнее придает линии Роуан-Лэшер остросюжетность триллера. Интересно писательнице - интересно читателю.
Финал отличный, никаких клиффхэнгеров, все четко, ясно, по полочкам, все хвосты подобраны, хотя девочку, конечно, жаль.
March 23, 2017
This is a difficult book to write a review about. I've been an avid fan of Anne Rice's books since I was in junior high, since I love her style of writing and of course her gothic themes (vampires, demons, witches).
Lasher is the second novel of the Lives of the Mayfair Witches trilogy. The first is "The Witching Hour" and the third is "Taltos". I guess I have to find Taltos a.s.a.p. in order to complete this whole er...journey.
Lasher is a Taltos, which is an almost extinct super-human race who lived on a tropical island north of the British Isles, but forced to flee to Scotland, where they established their own kingdom, which was finally overthrown by the Christians. Lasher and the Mayfair witches shared a long history, full with weird mysterious occurrences, including incest and struggle to find their true identity. Lasher was summoned by Suzanne Mayfair, the first Mayfair witch, to help her establish a strong, wealthy family. That fatal decision made her descendants to carry the family legacy/curse of having the "obligation" to conceive Lasher's children (other Taltos).
In this novel, Rowan Mayfair, the 13th designee of the Mayfair clan (also the most powerful witch, was kidnapped by Lasher, and her suffering was like....between heaven and hell. The description of her "tortures" was...so enthralling. If you've read Rice's novels, you'll see what I mean, hahaha...This book also introduced to the 14th designee, Mona Mayfair, whom I must say, a very er...courageous little girl.
Anyway, what I love about this book is that it provides clearer explanation on the history of the clan itself. I was a bit shocked when I read the part about Julien Mayfair's life story. He is the only male "witch" in the family, yet very powerful and influential. Moreover, as always, Rice uses historical events & real people to decorate her story on how Lasher came into being and the journey of Mayfair witches in dealing with this sensual demonic character.
And I thank God because Rice did not put her (in)famous Lestat de Lioncourt in this novel. I do not really like when she mixed her vampires with the Mayfair witches. It is just too much. I guess I won't be reading "Blood Canticle" then.
Lasher is the second novel of the Lives of the Mayfair Witches trilogy. The first is "The Witching Hour" and the third is "Taltos". I guess I have to find Taltos a.s.a.p. in order to complete this whole er...journey.
Lasher is a Taltos, which is an almost extinct super-human race who lived on a tropical island north of the British Isles, but forced to flee to Scotland, where they established their own kingdom, which was finally overthrown by the Christians. Lasher and the Mayfair witches shared a long history, full with weird mysterious occurrences, including incest and struggle to find their true identity. Lasher was summoned by Suzanne Mayfair, the first Mayfair witch, to help her establish a strong, wealthy family. That fatal decision made her descendants to carry the family legacy/curse of having the "obligation" to conceive Lasher's children (other Taltos).
In this novel, Rowan Mayfair, the 13th designee of the Mayfair clan (also the most powerful witch, was kidnapped by Lasher, and her suffering was like....between heaven and hell. The description of her "tortures" was...so enthralling. If you've read Rice's novels, you'll see what I mean, hahaha...This book also introduced to the 14th designee, Mona Mayfair, whom I must say, a very er...courageous little girl.
Anyway, what I love about this book is that it provides clearer explanation on the history of the clan itself. I was a bit shocked when I read the part about Julien Mayfair's life story. He is the only male "witch" in the family, yet very powerful and influential. Moreover, as always, Rice uses historical events & real people to decorate her story on how Lasher came into being and the journey of Mayfair witches in dealing with this sensual demonic character.
And I thank God because Rice did not put her (in)famous Lestat de Lioncourt in this novel. I do not really like when she mixed her vampires with the Mayfair witches. It is just too much. I guess I won't be reading "Blood Canticle" then.
February 24, 2022
I truly enjoyed reading this! Anne Rice's writing is simply exquisite. The amount of detail in this book is tremendous. The characters are stunningly written. Some parts of this book are really slow moving but I didn't really mind it. I felt like it was all necessary in order to get a true sense of all the emotions that pour out of this book. Anne Rice's descriptions and world building are very intricate which is what makes this such a fun book to read. I thought this book worked well as the sequel to The Witching Hour which I absolutely loved! We get some more history on the Mayfair family in this book. It's a very sordid history and I still have lots of questions. Luckily there's still one more book to read in the series so hopefully I can get some more answers. Anne Rice is a masterful storyteller and I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys her writing!
April 25, 2016
My hatred of this book knows no bounds.
January 30, 2023
Although I did not find Lasher quite as enjoyable as The Witching Hour, it was damn close and since TWH has become my second all-time favorite book, Lasher, in my humble opinion, was fantastic.
Granted, the content isn’t going to be for everyone. By the 1% mark, we are introduced to a new character, Mona Mayfair. She’s brilliant. She’s precocious, ambitious, articulate and strong and knows her own mind. Buuuut…. she’s also 13. And also shortly after her introduction Mona is such a great character; I hope she has a big part of the next book. She’s like the Wesley of the Mayfair family. Smart beyond all belief and as the reader you know everyone should be listening to Mona and I repeatedly found myself saying to my kindle, dudes…LISTEN to Mona! Geez!
If you’ve read TWH you know what this family is like. It’s got a lot of ickiness to it and some downright disturbing bits. Let’s just say Lasher has forced me to reevaluate my love for milk, cheese, and damn near everything dairy. Thank you very little for that, Auntie Anne. Yeesh. There are a lot of chapters that have a LOT to unpack.
But you know what? That’s what makes this such great literature that (hopefully) American Lit course delve into for generations and generations to come. What a world this is! Damn! So rich with detail and emotion and sensation. The fact that it challenges the reader and their boundaries should be a good thing. The series so far offers up a subtle, understated darkness. I love that about it. There’s so much mixed love/hate/dependency, the story made my head spin. But I was so engrossed. It also had some subtle suspense as to
I haven’t gotten through all the Vampire Chronicles. But dang, I gotta say, I love the Mayfair Witches trilogy so much, it’s hard to imagine the rest of Lestat, Louis, and the crew measuring up. Those vamps have got some big literary shoes to fill. And one thing I thought of as a cross over issue I will be interested to see relates to
I also enjoyed getting Lasher’s back story from his perspective. Dude’s still a monster in my humble opinion, but he’s not some unidimensional, mustache twirling baddie. I don’t think Auntie Anne could create such a character, but she offered up a compelling story that I could not have imagined for him. I love that because then I had to examine whether the really was a bad guy and I was motivated to reach my own conclusion. To me, Others might reach a different conclusion but that is what is so awesome about Lasher as a protagonist and about the story. It’s so nuanced and complicated and nothing is clear cut you get to have your own journey irrespective of what others might experience. But it also, to me, interplayed nicely on the idea that humans are at least as big of monsters as anything else when it comes to our capacity for cruelty and rationalizing damn near anything we want to see as our reality.
Anywhoo…this was, to me, an awesome book and I love it and I love love love love love, Anne Rice and I can’t wait to delve into Taltos. Soon. I won’t be waiting a year like I did between The Witching Hour and Lasher.
Granted, the content isn’t going to be for everyone. By the 1% mark, we are introduced to a new character, Mona Mayfair. She’s brilliant. She’s precocious, ambitious, articulate and strong and knows her own mind. Buuuut…. she’s also 13. And also shortly after her introduction Mona is such a great character; I hope she has a big part of the next book. She’s like the Wesley of the Mayfair family. Smart beyond all belief and as the reader you know everyone should be listening to Mona and I repeatedly found myself saying to my kindle, dudes…LISTEN to Mona! Geez!
If you’ve read TWH you know what this family is like. It’s got a lot of ickiness to it and some downright disturbing bits. Let’s just say Lasher has forced me to reevaluate my love for milk, cheese, and damn near everything dairy. Thank you very little for that, Auntie Anne. Yeesh. There are a lot of chapters that have a LOT to unpack.
But you know what? That’s what makes this such great literature that (hopefully) American Lit course delve into for generations and generations to come. What a world this is! Damn! So rich with detail and emotion and sensation. The fact that it challenges the reader and their boundaries should be a good thing. The series so far offers up a subtle, understated darkness. I love that about it. There’s so much mixed love/hate/dependency, the story made my head spin. But I was so engrossed. It also had some subtle suspense as to
I haven’t gotten through all the Vampire Chronicles. But dang, I gotta say, I love the Mayfair Witches trilogy so much, it’s hard to imagine the rest of Lestat, Louis, and the crew measuring up. Those vamps have got some big literary shoes to fill. And one thing I thought of as a cross over issue I will be interested to see relates to
I also enjoyed getting Lasher’s back story from his perspective. Dude’s still a monster in my humble opinion, but he’s not some unidimensional, mustache twirling baddie. I don’t think Auntie Anne could create such a character, but she offered up a compelling story that I could not have imagined for him. I love that because then I had to examine whether the really was a bad guy and I was motivated to reach my own conclusion. To me, Others might reach a different conclusion but that is what is so awesome about Lasher as a protagonist and about the story. It’s so nuanced and complicated and nothing is clear cut you get to have your own journey irrespective of what others might experience. But it also, to me, interplayed nicely on the idea that humans are at least as big of monsters as anything else when it comes to our capacity for cruelty and rationalizing damn near anything we want to see as our reality.
Anywhoo…this was, to me, an awesome book and I love it and I love love love love love, Anne Rice and I can’t wait to delve into Taltos. Soon. I won’t be waiting a year like I did between The Witching Hour and Lasher.
March 26, 2018
The follow-up to The Witching Hour, 1993’s Lasher, continues the masterful world-building of that precious volume while fully standing on its own: it is a cold, horrifying treat filled to the brim with Anne Rice’s signature gothic, sensual overtones.
The daemon that is Lasher — He who has bestowed wealth and punishment upon the Mayfair clan for centuries — wants nothing more than to reproduce, but it has been a challenge. In Rowan, the most powerful Mayfair witch yet and current keeper of the ancestry, He has found his vessel, the would-be bearer of his spawn. And He will force her to keep trying, if attempts prove unsuccessful — no matter the cost.
Though this book did not immediately grab me, unlike its predecessor, I did soon fall into its groove and could not put it down. As is Rice’s way, I was spellbound by her luscious prose, the unfolding, understated horrors; I was once more captured by the Mayfair family history (and future). This a more than worthy follow-up to the first novel in the Mayfair Witches trilogy, and I will soon read the finale.
The daemon that is Lasher — He who has bestowed wealth and punishment upon the Mayfair clan for centuries — wants nothing more than to reproduce, but it has been a challenge. In Rowan, the most powerful Mayfair witch yet and current keeper of the ancestry, He has found his vessel, the would-be bearer of his spawn. And He will force her to keep trying, if attempts prove unsuccessful — no matter the cost.
Though this book did not immediately grab me, unlike its predecessor, I did soon fall into its groove and could not put it down. As is Rice’s way, I was spellbound by her luscious prose, the unfolding, understated horrors; I was once more captured by the Mayfair family history (and future). This a more than worthy follow-up to the first novel in the Mayfair Witches trilogy, and I will soon read the finale.
March 26, 2013
This is the worst book I have ever read. If you are considering reading this book, please do not read it. I will never ever get those hours of my life back again- please do not waste yours! I would honestly rather gouge my own eyes out with a rusty fork than read this again. My husband read the book before me, hated it, but mischievously encouraged me to read it even though he knew I would hate it, as some sort of psychological test of endurance. I have never forgiven him for this.
If you think that all sounds rather melodramatic I don't blame you, but Lasher really is that bad.
I have never read an Anne Rice book before, and quite honestly if Lasher is typical of her output then I am at a loss to understand how she is so popular. I would like to assume that Lasher is atypical though.
The plot (well, what plot there is) is ludicrous. Now obviously Anne Rice specialises in a genre that isn't exactly ground in realism, so I was willing to overlook the notion of a family ghost (the eponymous Lasher), and even the idea that various family members would regularly have sex with said ghost, despite the physical impossibility of an actual human being and a supernatural being being able to do so. However, the book is poorly-written miss-mash of miscarriages, deaths, and historical detours that never actually seems to go anywhere.
It's far too long. There are too many pointless, meandering descriptions of stuff that isn't anything to do with the plot (or perhaps they are in there to distract from the utterly nonsensical plot. The incest/underage sex subplots are ridiculous. I mean, I know they're witches and all, but really, a 13 year old girl has sex with an 80 year old granduncle and no-one bats an eye? Really? Even if she did 'seduce' him?
I read afterwards that Anne Rice had a very strict Catholic upbringing, and the overabundance of pseudo-risque sex makes a little sense in that it seems like she is still rebelling against that upbringing. However, I think an adult would be a bit past that though- there's nothing wrong with sex, but the way Anne Rice writes about it come across as a sniggering 12 year old boy going: 'Look everyone- sex! No, look, sex! SEX!!! SEX!!! SEEEEEX!!!!'
Looking back, I should have given up when my instincts told me to about 100 pages in. Instead, I persevered, thinking it had to get going some time. I was wrong. It never gets going. Also, my husband (see above) kept saying stuff like 'Oh, no, you just haven't got to the good part yet, it starts to get really good!'. The lying scoundrel. i don't know what happens in at the end though because I eventually gave up with about 100 pages to go (only then did my husband finally admit he thought it was a s*** book too).
I reiterate: this is the worst book ever. I have only given it one star because I cannot give it none.
If you think that all sounds rather melodramatic I don't blame you, but Lasher really is that bad.
I have never read an Anne Rice book before, and quite honestly if Lasher is typical of her output then I am at a loss to understand how she is so popular. I would like to assume that Lasher is atypical though.
The plot (well, what plot there is) is ludicrous. Now obviously Anne Rice specialises in a genre that isn't exactly ground in realism, so I was willing to overlook the notion of a family ghost (the eponymous Lasher), and even the idea that various family members would regularly have sex with said ghost, despite the physical impossibility of an actual human being and a supernatural being being able to do so. However, the book is poorly-written miss-mash of miscarriages, deaths, and historical detours that never actually seems to go anywhere.
It's far too long. There are too many pointless, meandering descriptions of stuff that isn't anything to do with the plot (or perhaps they are in there to distract from the utterly nonsensical plot. The incest/underage sex subplots are ridiculous. I mean, I know they're witches and all, but really, a 13 year old girl has sex with an 80 year old granduncle and no-one bats an eye? Really? Even if she did 'seduce' him?
I read afterwards that Anne Rice had a very strict Catholic upbringing, and the overabundance of pseudo-risque sex makes a little sense in that it seems like she is still rebelling against that upbringing. However, I think an adult would be a bit past that though- there's nothing wrong with sex, but the way Anne Rice writes about it come across as a sniggering 12 year old boy going: 'Look everyone- sex! No, look, sex! SEX!!! SEX!!! SEEEEEX!!!!'
Looking back, I should have given up when my instincts told me to about 100 pages in. Instead, I persevered, thinking it had to get going some time. I was wrong. It never gets going. Also, my husband (see above) kept saying stuff like 'Oh, no, you just haven't got to the good part yet, it starts to get really good!'. The lying scoundrel. i don't know what happens in at the end though because I eventually gave up with about 100 pages to go (only then did my husband finally admit he thought it was a s*** book too).
I reiterate: this is the worst book ever. I have only given it one star because I cannot give it none.
Read
April 29, 2016Can't rate this one, since I'm still weirded out I buddy-read it with my father. *ahem* Lots of sex in this one.
On to Taltos. ALONE this time!
On to Taltos. ALONE this time!
August 18, 2022
So rapey ghosts who have diddled all your ancestors isn't enough. Now, there's Mona, a 13-year old girl who is intent on banging all her male cousins to rate which ones were best in bed. Oh, and reading other reviews to try to jar some memories loose of this reminded me that our MC sleeps with her too, cheating on his girlfriend/wife, the other MC, in the process. WTF? I found this disturbing enough in my youth. Now? I'd never had read this ridiculous tripe.
Let's not even talk about the Taltos, who pop out of the oven full grown and are basically grown babies *and* sex machines to boot.
🤢🤮
Let's not even talk about the Taltos, who pop out of the oven full grown and are basically grown babies *and* sex machines to boot.
🤢🤮
August 26, 2011
!!WARNING!! This review can contain spoilers if you haven't read The Witching Hour!!
In Lasher, Anne Rice immediately picks up where she left me in The Witching Hour. The first half of the story there are lots of events rapidly following each other. Of course things happen which are dark, which stretch the boundaries and speak of untold mysteries. Especially the erotic encounter between Michael and teenager Mona may go against the grain for some readers. The storytelling holds this fusion of distinctive, edgy characters in a strange situation that defies logic, which is all happening against the lush setting of New Orleans that ensnares me so. The vibe Anne Rice creates is unlike anything I have ever read! Michael, Rowan, Aaron, Lasher, Mona all come alive via this authors voice. I may not always understand their actions, I may not always agree with them but the affect me nonetheless.
As the title of this episode suggest the focus is on Lasher. Not only did I get his present but I also got his past. While he may have held me between love and hate for his persona in The Witching Hour, he has tipped that scale to hate in his own story. Even when he relays his own past he fails to redeem himself. And believe me, Anne Rice gradually laid all of him bare for me to take in. Weighing his past, his present, his feeling and his actions. But his actions are so self-served. The contempt Lasher shows for life and for the Mayfairs, the very people he claims to love and serve, is despicable. He uses them as he sees fit and it made him an SOB of the first order! I could only take in the strife and anguish he rained down on the Mayfairs in the hope he would get his comeuppance. He was truly one of those formidable adversary who makes me cheer for the other side.
Anne Rice keeps adding or deepening the backstory of the main cameo of characters. Especially all powerful Mayfair, Julien, has an important role to play. His life intrigued me so in The Mayfair Hour but it wasn't told in depth until now. Satisfying my everlasting curiosity. In the second half of the story she peels away layers of mystery and secrets in a more languid pace of storytelling. It weaves its own kind of magic with rich settings, various time periods and again the mesmerizing characters. The mythology behind this second story in The Mayfair Trilogy speaks to my imagination. I love Celtic lore and though I don't know if it is based on an actual lore, Anne Rice makes me believe it is so.
The Mayfair family have a lot to deal with but they also discover some truths about their own lineage. Michael, the tragic hero was a true Irish bleeding heart. His convictions and his love for Rowan burns fierce, even if he has his weak moment. I wanted him to succeed, to be reunited again because faults and all, he is a man who is the veritable rock in the ocean. I thought he could weather it all and through sheer tenacity could achieve his hearts desires. All the other characters tribute to Michael and Rowan's journey in one way or another. Even when Mona becomes a key characters in the future storyline, even with other Mayfair women paying a steep price, it is Michael and Rowan's love for each other that becomes a shining beacon amidst all the hurt, darkness and power play.
Lasher has quite a plan and part of the suspense is; will he succeed or not? There are three big parties involved, namely Lasher himself, the Talamsca and the Mayfairs. Each has an own agenda and wants to find out certain truths. And if they get in the way of one another, well violence is also a part of Anne Rice's storytelling. Casualties will fall but it only got me more emotionally invested and rooting for various characters. The Talamasca, for all that I knew about them, there was so much more I didn't! They definitely triggered my conspiracy button and I never trust them further then I can see them. They are just as much an integral part as the Mayfairs and Lasher but only till the end truths were revealed that shed a different light on the Talamasca. I may not like it but it gives fuel for thought and probably story # 3; Taltos.
With Lasher, Anne Rice gave me an attention grabbing story that takes me even deeper in to the world of the Mayfairs. It may not have made me eat, sleep and breathe the story like The Witching Hour did but it was a worthy successor!
February 13, 2022
(Warning: this book contains graphic and violent action towards women. Violence, rape, incest, statutory rape and horror to do with childbirth and miscarriage. Be warned.)
This is the worst book I have ever read. No exaggerating, no humour. I am appalled. Where to start.
Every single character in this book is irredeemable. Even Michael the only character I liked in the first novel has been reduced into a horrible person, cheating on his wife due to having been seduced by and repeatedly having sex with a THIRTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL. The child in question, Mona is no saint either, being incestuous as well.
Poor Rowan, who did the least wrong here. Having sex with a ghost is nothing compared to this books plot. In the previous book, the spirit Lasher killed her unborn baby and crawled inside her to be reborn in the fetus' body. You then find out hes a freaky humanoid baby thing called a Taltos. They drink milk from a breast into adulthood, so it was disturbing having the full grown Lasher facial hair and all breastfeed on an non consenting Rowan and have it described as sexual.
Oh, and the main plot of the story is Lasher having sex with every female member of Rowans family in an attempt to create a female of his species. But he ends up killing every woman brutally via vaginal hemorrhage or miscarriage. He kills at least five woman violently this way. AND ANNE RICE HAS THE AUDACTIY TO TRY TO MAKE HIM SYMPATHETIC
Thats not all this monster does. He kidnaps and brutally tortues Rowan, not letting her eat for days and tying her up to the bed. He repeatedly rapes her trying to impregnate her and she suffers from many miscarriages because of it, it almost kills her. When this happens Lasher beats her horribly. He finally impregnates her (while unconscious) and forces her to have his kid, a female of his species. Her birth almost kills Rowan.
Lasher tells his story about being alive in Medieval times or some shit and how he was religious and viewed as a saint to Michael, Rowans husband. And luckily he isn't immediately charmed by the "special little sympathetic and fascinating and religious creature" that Anne is trying to portray him as. Even Michaels colleuges refuse let him murder the demon at first cause they think hes too historically or scientifically important. SCREW YOU GUYS.
Michael killing Lasher with a hammer was the greatest part of this book and gave me immense joy at seeing the little bastard smashed to bits with a hammer to the fontanel (DID I MENTION TALTOS ARE ESSENTIALLY SEVEN FOOT TALL BABIES. HAHAH GROSS)
Never read this book. Even out of morbid curiousity like I did. Burn every copy and scream in terror if its ever brought up to you.
One I finish the third in the series "Taltos" I am donating these books to curse another poor innocent victim.
I gave it one star because thats the minimum rating you can give. Real rating is NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO/5
This is the worst book I have ever read. No exaggerating, no humour. I am appalled. Where to start.
Every single character in this book is irredeemable. Even Michael the only character I liked in the first novel has been reduced into a horrible person, cheating on his wife due to having been seduced by and repeatedly having sex with a THIRTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL. The child in question, Mona is no saint either, being incestuous as well.
Poor Rowan, who did the least wrong here. Having sex with a ghost is nothing compared to this books plot. In the previous book, the spirit Lasher killed her unborn baby and crawled inside her to be reborn in the fetus' body. You then find out hes a freaky humanoid baby thing called a Taltos. They drink milk from a breast into adulthood, so it was disturbing having the full grown Lasher facial hair and all breastfeed on an non consenting Rowan and have it described as sexual.
Oh, and the main plot of the story is Lasher having sex with every female member of Rowans family in an attempt to create a female of his species. But he ends up killing every woman brutally via vaginal hemorrhage or miscarriage. He kills at least five woman violently this way. AND ANNE RICE HAS THE AUDACTIY TO TRY TO MAKE HIM SYMPATHETIC
Thats not all this monster does. He kidnaps and brutally tortues Rowan, not letting her eat for days and tying her up to the bed. He repeatedly rapes her trying to impregnate her and she suffers from many miscarriages because of it, it almost kills her. When this happens Lasher beats her horribly. He finally impregnates her (while unconscious) and forces her to have his kid, a female of his species. Her birth almost kills Rowan.
Lasher tells his story about being alive in Medieval times or some shit and how he was religious and viewed as a saint to Michael, Rowans husband. And luckily he isn't immediately charmed by the "special little sympathetic and fascinating and religious creature" that Anne is trying to portray him as. Even Michaels colleuges refuse let him murder the demon at first cause they think hes too historically or scientifically important. SCREW YOU GUYS.
Michael killing Lasher with a hammer was the greatest part of this book and gave me immense joy at seeing the little bastard smashed to bits with a hammer to the fontanel (DID I MENTION TALTOS ARE ESSENTIALLY SEVEN FOOT TALL BABIES. HAHAH GROSS)
Never read this book. Even out of morbid curiousity like I did. Burn every copy and scream in terror if its ever brought up to you.
One I finish the third in the series "Taltos" I am donating these books to curse another poor innocent victim.
I gave it one star because thats the minimum rating you can give. Real rating is NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO/5
August 20, 2009
So stunningly bad is the first third of this book that only the lunatic and the true devotee are likely to get beyond it. It is actually a riot of Rice's worst sins: strained and wooden characterizations, the abandonment of plot for the sake of a tangled and murky history, and a sort of mutant prose stumbling between a modern person's idea of old-fashioned elegance and an old-fashioned person's idea of how people actually talk in the 1990s. Part of the purpose of this 200-page cancer is to make the transition from the novel's progenitor, The Witching Hour (1990), but this could have been accomplished in 10 or 15 pages. Well, let's say you made it through. What you get now is the best of Rice: a deliciously perverse image of an infant, Lasher, who grows to sexual maturity within days of his birth and immediately starts copulating with his mother even while she swoons with the pleasure of his suckling. Of course, it's always nice to read about sex, and Rice's romantic imagination doesn't let her down: Lasher is dark, handsome, sadistic, childlike, and tender. His mother cannot resist him even after she has twice miscarried in the space of three months. But Rice cannot quite bring home the promising story of Lasher's desire to repopulate the earth with his own kind, and the story limps to an unsatisfying conclusion. By the end, then, we've had a bit of everything: the good, the bad, and the truly ugly. Indeed, without her reputation, Rice would never have found a publisher for this wretched mess.
***Rate this 3 out of 5 by comparing it to The Witching Hour. Too much in depth on backgrounds of the characters, including Lasher. However, I will continue to read her books as they are so well-written and entertaining.
***Rate this 3 out of 5 by comparing it to The Witching Hour. Too much in depth on backgrounds of the characters, including Lasher. However, I will continue to read her books as they are so well-written and entertaining.
February 3, 2014
Oh Anne, I wanted to love your Mayfair witches so very much but I just can't.
We pick up right where The Witching Hour left us. Running after Rowan and piecing together an extencive family history from every possible angle.
On and on we trudge, listening to Julian then Little Mona even Lasher himself. So many stories about the same events from different points of view.
I almost shelved this as DNF when reading about Mona. I didn't finnish Lolita because I don't like reading about pre teen (yes she was 13 but still) sexuality. It is just ~yick~ to me.
The story of Lasher and Rowan also had me making ~icky~ faces. He calls her 'Mother' all the time and then swaps between beating her to 'loving' her to acting like a baby.
I do love Anne's passion for the South. The sounds, the sights and the feelings that you get just walking to the flower shop on the corner. The way the warm nights call to you, enticing you to play under the stars and dance in the streets. That is what keeps me reading.
This will be my last visit to the Mayfairs. I will not enter the house again and wander the rooms. I am off to other adventures. My questions have been answered to my satisfaction and I have no desire to learn any more about the Taltos.
We pick up right where The Witching Hour left us. Running after Rowan and piecing together an extencive family history from every possible angle.
On and on we trudge, listening to Julian then Little Mona even Lasher himself. So many stories about the same events from different points of view.
I almost shelved this as DNF when reading about Mona. I didn't finnish Lolita because I don't like reading about pre teen (yes she was 13 but still) sexuality. It is just ~yick~ to me.
The story of Lasher and Rowan also had me making ~icky~ faces. He calls her 'Mother' all the time and then swaps between beating her to 'loving' her to acting like a baby.
I do love Anne's passion for the South. The sounds, the sights and the feelings that you get just walking to the flower shop on the corner. The way the warm nights call to you, enticing you to play under the stars and dance in the streets. That is what keeps me reading.
This will be my last visit to the Mayfairs. I will not enter the house again and wander the rooms. I am off to other adventures. My questions have been answered to my satisfaction and I have no desire to learn any more about the Taltos.
February 15, 2009
I'm a huge fan of Anne Rice, and loved The Witching Hour along with many of her other books, but for some reason had never gotten around to reading Lasher. When I first started it, I was fully absorbed. I love Rice's detailed and luscious writing style, and her ability to create fully fleshed-out, interesting characters. These are some of this book's best elements, along with a additions to the Mayfair history in the back stories of Julian and Evelyn, and new, engaging characters like Mona and Yuri. In pieces, this is a great book, but unfortunately, the parts never really come together. The pacing becomes awkward and slow, and the story's best characters don't get enough page time. The book took me forever to finish, because I would get bored, and after putting it down would not go back to it for several days. Most of all, the title character, Lasher, as he develops to show his true flaws, fostered a deep loathing in me, despite his sympathetic characteristics, and I became overly anxious for him to meet his end. When his back story is finally revealed, it should have been a dramatic moment, because his story is the great mystery that the saga of the Mayfair witches is founded on, but I found myself not caring at all.
I wish this was a better book since it has so many great elements, and the writing, as usual for Rice, is beautiful, but because of the poor pacing it was a rather tedious read.
I wish this was a better book since it has so many great elements, and the writing, as usual for Rice, is beautiful, but because of the poor pacing it was a rather tedious read.
April 22, 2009
Utterly mesmerising from start to finish (to the point that I actually took a day off work just to read it!), and brings yet more depth and complexity to the series than I previously thought possible.
The writing is absolutely spellbinding, and never more so than throughout the stories recounted by Julien and Lasher - both two characters whom I had previously thought of as unsympathetic, depraved and sinister, though seductive (when seen through the file on the witches compiled by the Talamasca in the first book). Through these stories my ideas of both of them changed completely - Julien suddenly became courageous, clever and all too human, whilst Lasher was an innocent monster. My ideas of the Talamasca went through a transformation too - no longer an institution of harmless old scholars but something altogether more mysterious and possibly dangerous.
Full of vivid characters (the two above, along with Emaleth and Mona in particular), a real sense of place and a boat-load of tension (I kept having to put the book down to catch my breath), I can't wait to read the final part of the trilogy.
I've definitely become a bit of an Anne Rice superfan, so thanks Jade for recommending!
The writing is absolutely spellbinding, and never more so than throughout the stories recounted by Julien and Lasher - both two characters whom I had previously thought of as unsympathetic, depraved and sinister, though seductive (when seen through the file on the witches compiled by the Talamasca in the first book). Through these stories my ideas of both of them changed completely - Julien suddenly became courageous, clever and all too human, whilst Lasher was an innocent monster. My ideas of the Talamasca went through a transformation too - no longer an institution of harmless old scholars but something altogether more mysterious and possibly dangerous.
Full of vivid characters (the two above, along with Emaleth and Mona in particular), a real sense of place and a boat-load of tension (I kept having to put the book down to catch my breath), I can't wait to read the final part of the trilogy.
I've definitely become a bit of an Anne Rice superfan, so thanks Jade for recommending!
May 22, 2023
2.5*
If you enjoyed The Witching Hour, please stay away from Lasher. It completely destroys whatever you liked about TWH. Be it the characters, be it the mystery, be it the story, be it the atmosphere...
I think Anne Rice misinterpreted the reasons why people enjoyed TWH as she is so focused on creating unreasonable relationships (that do not contribute to the story in any way rather make the reader extremely uncomfortable) in Lasher than concentrating on building a solid story with the gothic elements. This reads like a poor Harold Robbins novel meets sci-fi Species with more disgusting and disturbing explicit perverted content which many people will not admit to reading! I think there is something inherently wrong with Anne Rice's moral code.
I don't think I want to read Taltos. I wish Anne Rice did not write this book, left TWH as such with its incomplete ending. The magic has ended for me. I really don't know if I'll be able to enjoy TWH again. What a terrible part two to an incredible part one!!
If you enjoyed The Witching Hour, please stay away from Lasher. It completely destroys whatever you liked about TWH. Be it the characters, be it the mystery, be it the story, be it the atmosphere...
I think Anne Rice misinterpreted the reasons why people enjoyed TWH as she is so focused on creating unreasonable relationships (that do not contribute to the story in any way rather make the reader extremely uncomfortable) in Lasher than concentrating on building a solid story with the gothic elements. This reads like a poor Harold Robbins novel meets sci-fi Species with more disgusting and disturbing explicit perverted content which many people will not admit to reading! I think there is something inherently wrong with Anne Rice's moral code.
I don't think I want to read Taltos. I wish Anne Rice did not write this book, left TWH as such with its incomplete ending. The magic has ended for me. I really don't know if I'll be able to enjoy TWH again. What a terrible part two to an incredible part one!!
October 18, 2017
Having just finished 'The Witching Hour' I found myself still liking the novel, but it didn't impact me the way it did the first time I read it. I even understood the extensive details and character development for its set-up to the series. In the case of this second book of the series, not so much. This was detail and development overload.
I can only imagine what it would be like to see a ghost, or to actually hear one speak, but what I can't seriously imagine is someone nonchalantly sitting by while a ghost spends 4 hours relaying their past life story... especially when the ghost sounds like a whiny bitch.
I've read about 20 of Rice's novels, and though I was smitten with her work in the beginning, there is one pattern with her writing that I have noticed and one which has really turned me off; most of her characters are whiny bitches. And by 'whiny bitches' I am mostly referring to the male characters in her stories.
I will complete the series with 'Taltos' but I don't think I can handle any more of Rice for awhile. As it is, I feel like Don Corleone wanting to slap the weeping Johnny Fontaine and tell him to act like a fucking man! Or like Mona Mayfair! Sheesh, she's only 13 years old, but she's the toughest character in the whole story. This book is dead without her.
I can only imagine what it would be like to see a ghost, or to actually hear one speak, but what I can't seriously imagine is someone nonchalantly sitting by while a ghost spends 4 hours relaying their past life story... especially when the ghost sounds like a whiny bitch.
I've read about 20 of Rice's novels, and though I was smitten with her work in the beginning, there is one pattern with her writing that I have noticed and one which has really turned me off; most of her characters are whiny bitches. And by 'whiny bitches' I am mostly referring to the male characters in her stories.
I will complete the series with 'Taltos' but I don't think I can handle any more of Rice for awhile. As it is, I feel like Don Corleone wanting to slap the weeping Johnny Fontaine and tell him to act like a fucking man! Or like Mona Mayfair! Sheesh, she's only 13 years old, but she's the toughest character in the whole story. This book is dead without her.
May 24, 2021
Si después del primer tercio el libro hubiese seguido con la misma tónica creo que lo hubiese dejado. Pero no, se volvió más interesante la trama, aunque claro, más interesante que dos personajes mayores contando sus vidas mientras en el presente Rowan Mayfair está desaparecida y el bicho que parió en el libro anterior anda a sus anchas por el mundo, pues no era muy complicado.
Aunque el pasado, la Historia, el árbol genealógico de los Mayfair, son la columna vertebral de esta historia, a mi a veces se me hace muy cansino. Pero, una vez superado este escollo, entramos en una parte de la narración más activa e interesante, aunque con muchos peros.
Partimos de la novela anterior, Rowan Mayfair ha desaparecido con el "hijo" al que dio a luz, no se sabe si por propia voluntad u obligada. Michael está destrozado, todo el clan Mayfair está destrozado y están removiendo cielo y tierra para dar con ella. Mientras tanto, Rowan está viviendo un calvario, su historia es desgarradora y cruel, me pareció la mejor parte del libro y la más creíble, así como el dolor y la angustia de Michael. Entra en escena un Mayfair nuevo, Mona, había sido nombrada en el libro anterior pero aquí tiene mucho protagonismo. Es una chica de trece años, preciosa, inteligente (este adjetivo se queda corto), pelirroja y muy desarrollada. Intuyo que será muy importante en el tercer libro.
Mi descontento con este libro viene dado por la poca credibilidad que tienen varios personajes o situciones. Empezaré por la propia Mona Mayfair: al principio me pareció un personaje muy interesante, es muy inteligente y tiene ideas muy interesantes, utiliza su cuerpo joven aunque muy desarrollado para embaucar sexualmente a miembros de su familia (el sexo entre los Mayfair de cualquier edad es una constante en la historia de la familia), aunque no me ha quedado claro el propósito. A medida que avanzaba en la trama había algo de este personaje que no me acababa de convencer y al principio no me daba cuenta de qué era, hasta que caí en que es una especie de psicópata, solo me parecía creíble su mente fría y racional, pero no sus momentos empáticos ni emocionales.
En este libro aparece Julien, uno de los miembros clave de la familia Mayfair, y nos cuenta su historia. Su historia, contada por narradores distintos a él, me hace pensar en un ser despreciable y vanidoso; en marcado contraste con lo que él opina de sí mismo. Siempre hay dos versiones de una misma historia supongo.
Leí varias reseñas de este libro y en muchos casos se mencionaba que había mucho sexo, y eso no gustaba al parecer. ¿Hay sexo? sí, mucho, pero quitando un par de excepciones tiene su lógica y cumple con un propósito que es
Los de Talamasca en este libro cumplen un papel lamentable.
Y, por último, Lasher, personaje muy coherente hasta las últimas cien páginas.
En definitiva, no me ha gustado, supongo que leeré el tercero pero no de inmediato, primero debo sacarme el mal sabor de boca que me ha dejado este.
Aunque el pasado, la Historia, el árbol genealógico de los Mayfair, son la columna vertebral de esta historia, a mi a veces se me hace muy cansino. Pero, una vez superado este escollo, entramos en una parte de la narración más activa e interesante, aunque con muchos peros.
Partimos de la novela anterior, Rowan Mayfair ha desaparecido con el "hijo" al que dio a luz, no se sabe si por propia voluntad u obligada. Michael está destrozado, todo el clan Mayfair está destrozado y están removiendo cielo y tierra para dar con ella. Mientras tanto, Rowan está viviendo un calvario, su historia es desgarradora y cruel, me pareció la mejor parte del libro y la más creíble, así como el dolor y la angustia de Michael. Entra en escena un Mayfair nuevo, Mona, había sido nombrada en el libro anterior pero aquí tiene mucho protagonismo. Es una chica de trece años, preciosa, inteligente (este adjetivo se queda corto), pelirroja y muy desarrollada. Intuyo que será muy importante en el tercer libro.
Mi descontento con este libro viene dado por la poca credibilidad que tienen varios personajes o situciones. Empezaré por la propia Mona Mayfair: al principio me pareció un personaje muy interesante, es muy inteligente y tiene ideas muy interesantes, utiliza su cuerpo joven aunque muy desarrollado para embaucar sexualmente a miembros de su familia (el sexo entre los Mayfair de cualquier edad es una constante en la historia de la familia), aunque no me ha quedado claro el propósito. A medida que avanzaba en la trama había algo de este personaje que no me acababa de convencer y al principio no me daba cuenta de qué era, hasta que caí en que es una especie de psicópata, solo me parecía creíble su mente fría y racional, pero no sus momentos empáticos ni emocionales.
En este libro aparece Julien, uno de los miembros clave de la familia Mayfair, y nos cuenta su historia. Su historia, contada por narradores distintos a él, me hace pensar en un ser despreciable y vanidoso; en marcado contraste con lo que él opina de sí mismo. Siempre hay dos versiones de una misma historia supongo.
Leí varias reseñas de este libro y en muchos casos se mencionaba que había mucho sexo, y eso no gustaba al parecer. ¿Hay sexo? sí, mucho, pero quitando un par de excepciones tiene su lógica y cumple con un propósito que es
Los de Talamasca en este libro cumplen un papel lamentable.
Y, por último, Lasher, personaje muy coherente hasta las últimas cien páginas.
En definitiva, no me ha gustado, supongo que leeré el tercero pero no de inmediato, primero debo sacarme el mal sabor de boca que me ha dejado este.
April 9, 2024
And the tale deepens . . . .
I think this night me my favorite of the three books in this trilogy? The history AR has written into this trilogy is epic & perfect to listen too as I did. I will continue with this series.
I think this night me my favorite of the three books in this trilogy? The history AR has written into this trilogy is epic & perfect to listen too as I did. I will continue with this series.
March 15, 2011
In my opinion this was the weakest book in the series. I HATED Lasher, the immortal idiot who never seems to learn, or care, about his mistakes. And I was still so mad about what Rowan did at the end of the first book that I found it hard to sympathise with what Lasher puts her through (Hard, but not impossible. Rowan has it ROUGH through most of this book). Mona is an odd character, fun to read but difficult for me to like since she skates the fine edge between precocious free-spirit and self-entitled sex addict. There's more history of the Mayfair witches scattered throughout this book; these are usually my favorite parts, but I was so bored or annoyed with the rest of the book that I can't really remember anything else.
I'm glad I read this, but for my money you could get the same effect from reading the first and the last in the trillogy, and just skimming a summary of the second.
I'm glad I read this, but for my money you could get the same effect from reading the first and the last in the trillogy, and just skimming a summary of the second.
June 20, 2012
The second in the series of Mayfair Witches, this is another solid offering from Gothic Mistress Anne Rice. There are many characters and personalities that make up the charismatic and trouble Mayfair family - sometimes too many to keep them all straight, but each of the family members is fully fleshed out - there are no throw-aways. A chilling, terrifying and at times erotic tale of the lust for revenge, power, and above all - love.
August 20, 2008
OK.. WEIRD, story line is unlike anything I've ever read. But I loved it! The story was so unusual, had me eager to turn the page. Not for the faint of heart, but entertainment value truly high up on the scale.
August 24, 2016
My favorite demon next to Captain Howdy. Looking forward to book three.
March 2, 2024
Irregular. El final fue interesantísimo pero hubo momentos por la mitad que harían llorar a las piedras de aburrimiento. Debería haber terminado las Crónicas vampíricas antes de leer esto, porque recuerdo borrosamente haber leído algo del Taltos este.
Me llamó la atención la visión de Talamasca en esta saga, mucho más oscura y turbia que en Crónicas vampíricas.
La historia de la familia que seguimos viendo, me llamó mucho la atención y el personaje de Mona me dejó 😱. Acabó siendo mejor personaje que Rowan, de la que sinceramente esperaba más.
Hay un tercer libro, por lo que sospecho que, o no están tan muertos como parece, o se nos pasó algo por alto. A ver. GL (Restos de serie: Brujas Mayfair)
Me llamó la atención la visión de Talamasca en esta saga, mucho más oscura y turbia que en Crónicas vampíricas.
La historia de la familia que seguimos viendo, me llamó mucho la atención y el personaje de Mona me dejó 😱. Acabó siendo mejor personaje que Rowan, de la que sinceramente esperaba más.
Hay un tercer libro, por lo que sospecho que, o no están tan muertos como parece, o se nos pasó algo por alto. A ver. GL (Restos de serie: Brujas Mayfair)
April 10, 2010
Within the first hundred pages, you know if you are willing to read the rest of this book. You know that you have entered a whole new realm, one that is much removed from the characters and love and themes and hopes of The Witching Hour. Within those hundred pages, you begin to feel the darkness seeping out of each printed word, flowing over your hands and onto your lap. Whether you embrace this change or not determines whether you finish this book or not.
I gave it a chance.
I allowed the author to have her way with the characters she had created. I watched as she destroyed them piece by piece and all they stood for. In true Anne Rice fashion, we lose sight of who is evil and who is good. The story is relayed ... the true story. Who is Lasher? Who are The Talamasca? What part does Michael really have to play in this? Is Oncle Julien really a Mayfair Witch? Yes, Anne Rice plays with all of these questions and, if you are willing to let go of the wonders that the first book held as truth, you can find joy in the pitch black of this book.
If love was the theme of The Witching Hour then darkness - maybe even hatred and revenge - rules this book. The story of the estranged Mayfairs is one such example (one that doesn't act as a huge spoiler, thus I bring it forth as an example). It appears that the Mayfairs had splintered their family when Julien shot his (given how intricate the bloodlines are here, I'm going to bypass what specific family member he was) "family member" and that man's family went off to live on Amelia Street. The grudge they held becomes a factor in one of the many subplots and creates one of the subtle conflicts that peppers this novel. Yes, the grudge and the hatred and revenge that created it is stronger than the (possible) redemption for the family. The redemption that seemed so obvious in the last book, now rejected here.
I still stand behind the first of the trilogy. It is an excellent read on its own. This book is for a specific crowd, one that doesn't mind reading how Anne Rice deals with the death of her daughter (VERY clear subtext throughout this book) and the darkness and misery she [must have?:] fought. Readers, you know if you are willing to let someone destroy the characters you came to love so much. Think of this book as the "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me" movie companion to The Witching Hour's "Twin Peaks" the series and you have a good idea of what to expect. For some, we enjoy the added dimension.
But I won't say that I don't miss the innocence of the first novel.
I gave it a chance.
I allowed the author to have her way with the characters she had created. I watched as she destroyed them piece by piece and all they stood for. In true Anne Rice fashion, we lose sight of who is evil and who is good. The story is relayed ... the true story. Who is Lasher? Who are The Talamasca? What part does Michael really have to play in this? Is Oncle Julien really a Mayfair Witch? Yes, Anne Rice plays with all of these questions and, if you are willing to let go of the wonders that the first book held as truth, you can find joy in the pitch black of this book.
If love was the theme of The Witching Hour then darkness - maybe even hatred and revenge - rules this book. The story of the estranged Mayfairs is one such example (one that doesn't act as a huge spoiler, thus I bring it forth as an example). It appears that the Mayfairs had splintered their family when Julien shot his (given how intricate the bloodlines are here, I'm going to bypass what specific family member he was) "family member" and that man's family went off to live on Amelia Street. The grudge they held becomes a factor in one of the many subplots and creates one of the subtle conflicts that peppers this novel. Yes, the grudge and the hatred and revenge that created it is stronger than the (possible) redemption for the family. The redemption that seemed so obvious in the last book, now rejected here.
I still stand behind the first of the trilogy. It is an excellent read on its own. This book is for a specific crowd, one that doesn't mind reading how Anne Rice deals with the death of her daughter (VERY clear subtext throughout this book) and the darkness and misery she [must have?:] fought. Readers, you know if you are willing to let someone destroy the characters you came to love so much. Think of this book as the "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me" movie companion to The Witching Hour's "Twin Peaks" the series and you have a good idea of what to expect. For some, we enjoy the added dimension.
But I won't say that I don't miss the innocence of the first novel.
October 2, 2021
Bro. Your wife is chained to a bed repeatedly giving births and having miscarriages and you’re fucking her 13 year old cousin and wallowing in self-pity. Michael is gross and not just because of the pedophilia. The only thing “manly” about him is apparently his physical build because both books he came off as a whiney bitch.
And she was dumb, the entire time. She does reflect on her stupidity which is nice but she continues to be dumb - things like reminding Lasher that they have a completely untraceable store of money instead of making a new withdrawal that could be traced. Perhaps she gets a pass though, being malnourished and all..
Anywho, this is an eloquently written saucy supernatural soap opera and I’m totally down for it.
I read Interview with a Vampire when I was like 14 and had little to no appreciation for “what the fuss was all about” but I think it’s worth a second look at, especially seeing as there is some overlap with these two series’
Also, since so many reviewers are enraged at the underage character I would like to say:
This is a story of a multi-generational family bred completely of incest and haunted by a spirit who invaded the MCs womb and forced himself upon her unborn fetus wherein he tore her apart during a rapid birth… grew to a full sized male in minutes, tried to kill her husband and woke her up the next day by feeding on her breast. Continually rapes her and makes it degrading by using his pheromones to arouse her, and leaves her tied to the bed while he goes out on a mission to rape the entire female Mayfair line. Old Margie steals the babies of slaves for science experiments and dashes their dead infant bodies upon her dresser in a rage.
Oh, and don’t forget that scene in the last book where Mikey was flopping around in the blackened century old fluids of the jars he’d smashed trying to pull out the severed heads so he could squish them in his bare hands.
So why oh why is the one promiscuous 13 year old character such a bloody outrage? If you can’t handle it, just don’t read the book. Go read Patricia Briggs or something more tame, but I’d hate to feel that Rice isn’t writing what she wants because people might throw fits
And please don’t watch the movie Thirteen (2003) or you might have a aneurism.
What happened to Julien with Lasher made me feel ill, but so did some other stuff. The Mayfair’s are absolutely fucked up but I feel truly haunted by their sick lives.
And she was dumb, the entire time. She does reflect on her stupidity which is nice but she continues to be dumb - things like reminding Lasher that they have a completely untraceable store of money instead of making a new withdrawal that could be traced. Perhaps she gets a pass though, being malnourished and all..
Anywho, this is an eloquently written saucy supernatural soap opera and I’m totally down for it.
I read Interview with a Vampire when I was like 14 and had little to no appreciation for “what the fuss was all about” but I think it’s worth a second look at, especially seeing as there is some overlap with these two series’
Also, since so many reviewers are enraged at the underage character I would like to say:
This is a story of a multi-generational family bred completely of incest and haunted by a spirit who invaded the MCs womb and forced himself upon her unborn fetus wherein he tore her apart during a rapid birth… grew to a full sized male in minutes, tried to kill her husband and woke her up the next day by feeding on her breast. Continually rapes her and makes it degrading by using his pheromones to arouse her, and leaves her tied to the bed while he goes out on a mission to rape the entire female Mayfair line. Old Margie steals the babies of slaves for science experiments and dashes their dead infant bodies upon her dresser in a rage.
Oh, and don’t forget that scene in the last book where Mikey was flopping around in the blackened century old fluids of the jars he’d smashed trying to pull out the severed heads so he could squish them in his bare hands.
So why oh why is the one promiscuous 13 year old character such a bloody outrage? If you can’t handle it, just don’t read the book. Go read Patricia Briggs or something more tame, but I’d hate to feel that Rice isn’t writing what she wants because people might throw fits
And please don’t watch the movie Thirteen (2003) or you might have a aneurism.
What happened to Julien with Lasher made me feel ill, but so did some other stuff. The Mayfair’s are absolutely fucked up but I feel truly haunted by their sick lives.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,320 reviews