Ratings23
Average rating3.5
15
Ratings23
Average rating3.5
When Ashlar learns that another Taltos has been seen, he is suddenly propelled into the haunting world of the Mayfair family, the New Orleans dynasty of witches forever besieged by ghosts, spirits, and their own dizzying powers. For Ashlar knows this powerful clan is intimately linked to the heritage of the Taltos. In a swirling universe filled with death and life, corruption and innocence, this mesmerizing novel takes us on a wondrous journey back through the centuries to a civilization half-human, of wholly mysterious origin, at odds with mortality and immortality, justice and guilt. It is an enchanted, hypnotic world that could only come from the imagination of Anne Rice . . . Praise for Taltos “Taltos is the third book in a series known as the lives of the Mayfair witches. . .Their haunted heritage has brought the family great wealth, which is exercised from a New Orleans manse with Southern gentility; but of course such power cannot escape notice . . . or challenge . . . Rice is a formidable talent. . . . [Taltos]is a curious amalgam of gothic, glamour fiction, alternate history, and high soap opera.”—The Washington Post Book World “Anne Rice will live on through the ages of literature.”—San Francisco Chronicle “An intricate, stunning imagination.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review “Spellbinding . . . mythical . . . Anne Rice is a pure storyteller.”—Cosmopolitan “Beautifully written.”—Kirkus Reivews (starred review) “Her power of invention seems boundless. . . . She has made a masterpiece of the morbid, worthy of Poe's daughter. . . . It is hard to praise sufficiently the originality of Miss Rice.”—The Wall Street Journal
Series
3 primary booksLives of the Mayfair Witches is a 3-book series with 3 primary works first released in 1990 with contributions by Anne Rice and Waldéa Barcellos.
Reviews with the most likes.
I started this book with the sense that it was unnecessary; after all, Lasher and Emaleth, the only two Taltos still alive, were both killed at the end of the last book, bringing a close to the conflict between the Taltos and the Mayfair witches. However, because people love trilogies just as much as Anne Rice loves interview-style exposition, we get a third part to the Mayfair saga.
All kidding aside, this is a very interesting book; we meet a new, more mature Taltos named Ashlar, and he freely shares with the Mayfairs the history of his species, stretching back to Atlantis, to the Picts, and continuing up until medieval times and beyond. We also learn about what's going on inside the Talamasca, specifically with regards to the excommunications of Yuri and Aaron in the second book. Overall, I think I would say that I prefer this trilogy to Rice's vampire work.
Finally, this book offers the history of Taltos. The world-building narration of the Taltos' history is intriguing and exciting, however it still is not quite the richness of the witches history from The Witching Hour.
The problems with Mona's character continue from the second book. It just becomes more ludicrous, obnoxious, and unbelievable. Even worse is Morrigan. Why is she so unconditionally accepted by everyone after what happened with Lasher and Emaleth in the second book? Rowan's character is completely useless throughout the book. There is one shining moment for her, but just that.
