Rating:  -
This book puts into place questions that you might of had about the Mayfair witches. An exciting and great book!
Rating:  -
The problem with this final installment in "The Lives of the Mayfair Witches", is that the main plot (and most of its subplots) were begun in "The Witching Hour" and wrapped up neatly in its sequel "Lasher". In these two previous books, Doctor Rowan Mayfair has returned to her family, discovered her witch heritage, married Michael Curry, come into contact with an organisation called the Talamasca (best described as a supernatural detective agency) unleashed the spirit Lasher on the world and - together with her husband - stopped him from achieving his goal of populating the world with his own species: the Taltos. What more was there to tell?
Well, there were a couple of loose threads, but nothing that could have been cleared up in "Lasher", and nothing that takes a whole book to complete. There is a conspiracy within the Talamasca that is uncovered and dealt with (unfortunately after the death of a beloved character who is killed needlessly within the first few chapters of the book) and there are unexpected repercussions to Michael's one-night stand with Mona Mayfair, the thirteen year old designee of the family fortune.
But as these issues need no more than a few chapters to be dealt with, Rice introduces another character: Ashlar Templeton. It turns out that the birth of Lasher back into the world wasn't that big a deal after all, as Ashlar is also a Taltos: a rich, handsome, powerful manufacturer of dolls that is the individual responsible for the conversion of his species to Christianity in the 13th century and the schism between his people that followed. Contacting Rowan and Michael after hearing of the dubious behaviour of the Talamasca, he recounts the entire history of the Taltos race. Whereas "The Witching Hour" recounted the fascinating history of the Mayfair family, and "Lasher" explored the spirit's own dark history, Ashlar's story takes us further back still, to the earliest memories of the Taltos people and their dealings with humanity. It is interesting stuff, but not nearly as fascinating as the Mayfairs and Lasher, both of which are largely ignored in this text.
Ashlar's story takes up a large bulk of the book; in fact, its astonishing how little is done in this book; it is mainly made up of characters talking and thinking. The rest is just not as interesting, mainly because characters and their motivations are strangely changed from what we have been previously led to believe. Mona Mayfair - supposedly headstrong and wild, but here strangely muted - deals with her Taltos pregnancy by running away with her newfound cousin Mary Beth Mayfair (odd how she runs away whilst pregnant, but then returns to First Street once the baby is born. Why bother leaving at all?), whilst Rowan and Michael are present simply to give Ashlar someone to tell his story to. Even the organisations and institutes are unrecognisable! The Mayfair clan is barely present, whilst the Talamasca (a benevolent and wise council in the previous books) here reaps nasty vengeance on two renegade members.
And then of course there's the ending, if you can describe it as that. After building towards a particular moment for what seems like the entire novel...the book ends. And considering this is the end of the trilogy, there is no chance of getting any further information on the proceedings (unless the characters pop up in the Vampire Chronicles, I guess).
I love "The Witching Hour" and "Lasher", and so I suppose I should be glad that their story didn't extend into this sluggish read. Ultimately "Taltos" feels like a mere coda to the previous two books. A four hundred and sixty-seven page coda.
Rating: -
I fell in love with "The Witching Hour" - the first book of the trilogy. "Lasher" was fast-paced and afterwards left me highly anticipating "Taltos." However, with this novel being the conclusion to the previous two, I was disappointed. Rice's focus of the novel is not on the Mayfair Family. By the last 50 pages or so...I kept thinking..."how is she going to end this?" I was left with that terrible feeling that nothing was going to be explained properly and this story was not going to end as I had anticipated. As another reviewer has mentioned below, the ending is very rushed - this is very true. If you have enjoyed "The Witching Hour" and "Lasher" you will of course want to read this book...but be prepared to be disappointed.
Rating: -
The protagonist was a well developed character with some real mental depth. The story line for the msot part was intresting and intriguing. But the split between telling the story of the withes and then the taltos wasn't as effective as i could see she was going for. the witches point of views was far more weakier a story line throughout the entire book except for the ending chapters. Also, the entire pedophilia, raping children thing like it was normal just wasn't my thing. Beautifully detiled descriptions and complicated characters though, she expressed great literary ability in this write. I just didn't think the story was as strong as her literary skills and craftmanship. So I give it 2 stars!
Rating: -
After having read the first two books I anticipated better.But,boy was I wrong.Miss Rice kept her usual technique of writing,so to speak,but there was too much irrelevant stuff in there,it could have been shorter and more to the point or longer and more relevant.But the reason this is getting two stars is because the ending was marvellous.Just when I was about to give up and throw the book away,Anne caught me offguard...It is a rough read,at times boring...I got a headache.But if you are a fan like myself,then I would recommend it,just to complete the mayfair series.later.
As the trilogy continues, the reader is introduced to Ashlar, founder of a multi-million dollar toy corporation based in New York City - - and a Taltos, possibly the last of his kind on earth. He is quietly reflecting back on his long life when he gets a call from a friend named Samuel. A male Taltos has been seen in the glen of Donnelaith, and there is someone with information about the male. Ashlar is shocked, as he hasn't seen one of his kind in centuries, and immediately flies to London to meet with his friend.
As for Rowan Mayfair, after burying her daughter, the Taltos Emaleth, she goes into a semi-catatonic state. She walks, she bathes, she eats, but she does not speak, and does not respond to those around her. Her husband Michael Curry and adopted designess Mona are worried for her, and plead with her to speak. A visiting cousin by the name of Mary Jane takes one look at Rowan and declares that she is still there, and that she will speak again in her own time.
And so she does that same afternoon when we discover that her beloved friend, Aaron Lightner, an excommunicated Talamasca scholar who recently married into the family, has been deliberately run over by a car. She immediately goes to the morgue, taking Mona with her. After saying her good-bye to him, she makes plans with Michael to go to London and seek revenge on the Talamasca, whom she believes to be responsible for her friend's death.
Mona discovers that she is pregnant by Michael, and after Rowan gives her blessing, she ecstatically shares the news with the family. Michael and Rowan leave for London to meet up with Yuri Stefano, a pupil and friend of Aaron who has also been excommunicated by the Talamasca. Through Yuri they meet the Taltos Ashlar and his friend Samuel, who is one of the Little People of Donnelaith. Ashlar has by then killed the Superior General of the Talamasca, Anton Marcus, for his part in Aaron's death. They kidnap Stuart Gordon, an elderly member who has also had a hand in the death and the mysterious goings-on of late. Through him we discover that he and two of his pupils have hatched a scheme to unite Lasher with a female Taltos they have possession of so that they may witness the birth of a Taltos. To make sure that Aaron and Yuri didn't catch on, the pupils, Marklin and Tommy, sent fake communications to them that they believed came from the Elders, the governing force behind the Talamasca. When Aaron and Yuri continued to interfere, the Elders "excommunicated" the pair.
Stuart is forced to take the group into the countryside, where he keeps the female Taltos. Ashlar comes fact to face with this female, exciting Stuart, who demands that they birth a child. Ashlar embraces the female, named Tessa, and informs Stuart that she is unable to birth any children. He points out that every strand of her hair is white, indicating her great age and her inability to conceive. This breaks Stuart's heart. And after finally knowing what has been going on, Ashlar decides to kill Stuart for all the trouble he has caused, killing people to achieve his goals. But Rowan beats him to the punch, using her strong telepathic abilities to cause a stroke. Yuri takes Tessa to the Talamasca, who now know what has been going on. They welcome Tessa with open arms, and punish Marklin and Tommy for their treachery.
Meanwhile, Mona has discovered that the child she carries is a Taltos, a female named Morrigan. She runs off with Mary Jane to Fontevrault, an old plantation sunken into the marsh that has been owned by a separate branch of the Mayfair family for generations. There Mary Jane's grandmother, Dolly Jean, helps deliver the new Taltos, who is a spitting image, if taller version, of her mother. Mona then and there names Morrigan the Designee of the Mayfair Legacy, and she and Mary Jane make plans for the future in case Rowan and Michael try to kill Morrigan.
Ashlar takes Rowan and Michael with him to New York, and tells them the story of his long life; how the Taltos once thrived on a tropical island north of the British Isles that apparently was a semi-active volcano. They had been there since "The Time Before the Moon" (briefly mentioned by the vampire Maharet in Queen of the Damned, the third installment in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles), and lived innocently and peacefully until the land began to shift under their feet. The water became too hot, and the animals died. The tribe escapes in time and flees south to the bitter cold of Scotland. From their they can see the island as it sinks into the sea. They make do in their new home, becoming hunter-gatherers, and occasionally spotting the early humans, whom they kept as pets once in while. They break off into different tribes and the largest of them, led by Ashlar, goes south to Somerset where they settle. Their peace is often disrupted by the Celtic raids on the land. To adapt and live peacefully among humans, they become the Picts, and Ashlar their king. When Christianity comes to them in the form of St Columba, Ashlar converts with more than half his tribe. But there is a conflict between the Christians and non-Christians, and war ensues. Soon only five Taltos males left, and they all become priests, including Ashlar. Several years later, he attempts to tell his story to a fellow priest, but he only laughs and says that the story is blasphemy. Ashlar is disillusioned, and goes on a pilgrimage, leaving Donnelaith forever. So ends his story.
Rowan and Michael return to New Orleans, where Michael is introduced to his daughter, Morrigan. He and Rowan accepts Mona's decision to make Morrigan the Designee, and Morrigan settles in until Ashlar sends gifts to his new friends. When he doesn't hear from them, he goes to the First Street house to see them. There he sees this young female Taltos, who is in a frenzy. She can smell Ashlar on the gifts, and demands to know where she can find him. She catches his scent on the wind, and sees him standing outside. She breaks through a window and runs into his arms, and they run away together.
[...]
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