Rating:  -
If there is reincarnation, surely Anne Rice is Mary Shelley. Taltos, especially, hearkens back to Frankenstein.
I have not read the other Mayfair Witches books, so I can't compare Taltos to them, though I have read most of Rice's books and a good portion of The Witching Hour (first in the Mayfair series), which is generally better written than Taltos.
Taltos has extremely well-developed and interesting characters, and more straight plot than is usual for Rice. The Taltos are a "mythical" race of near-immortal demigods, the history and exploits of which are recorded by a sort of occult research Order known as the Talamasca, who are also aware of (Rice's) vampires and the Mayfair family of witches. In fact, the Mayfairs are related to the Taltos, deriving much of their psychic ability from that genetic line. The mating of Taltos and humans is a precarious affair at best, often resulting in madness or death, which the Mayfairs have had to deal with as a sort of family curse throughout their known lineage.
In Taltos, friends of the Mayfairs in the Talamasca are being murdered by a person or persons unknown. The Talamasca are as anxious to figure out who is responsible as are the Mayfairs, themselves. Into their midst arrives Ashlar, the last known survivor of the Taltos race, which is a potentially catastrophic circumstance both for him and any of the Mayfair line, since they are compulsively drawn to breed with one another and the result is far from pleasant - the present head of the Mayfair clan only recently survived one such attempt, and is just now coming out of her trauma to rejoin the world of the living.
It's hard to say more without giving too much of the game away, and Taltos is worthy of reading. It is better plotted than most of Rice's novels, and has her usual memorable characters with their fascinating moral ambiguities, but suffers from her episodic style of writing. Rice's ancient history is always spotty, and questionable at best, and she spends too much time detailing it, bogging down pretty much the entire final third of the book. But the story is dramatic and good, and it comes to a believable climax.
Certainly not Rice's best, but worth the time if you like her style.
Rating:  -
I totally loved this book!! Im a huge fan of the Mayfair witches and of Mrs. Rices literature. Being 16, i was completely enthralled but the complete setting and the characters in the Mayfair witch Trilogy. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Mrs. Rices other literature and tales of the occult & fantasy! It was a really great read, but there were a few slow part but they were short enough to trudge through! Keep Reading See ya!!
Rating: -
I'll not go into the plot... other reviews here do that, so do avoid repetition here are my thoughts about Taltos...
Unlike Lasher, Taltos is completely self-contained so you need not read the previous two books in this trilogy.
Throughout this book I was completely spellbound. Having already read The Witching Hour and Lasher, I was expecting a continuation of the lives of the Mayfair family, but in Taltos, Rice's imagination runs wild. Once again, her descriptive powers soar above writers such as Stephen King and Deane Koontz, dragging you into what seems like a completely different universe.
The only qualm I have is the ending - it was such an anti-climax. Up until the end I was completely engrossed and loved every second. Perhaps such a weak ending has been used to `prophesise' a future sequel. Perhaps.
Don't let this deter you, though. Taltos, in its entirety, is another fantastic novel. You'll be drawn in from the beginning and love every second just as much as I did.
Rating:  -
In the third book in this majestic trilogy, the main character is Ash(or Ashlar as his full name). He has looked about the earth but never seen one of his own kind. He hears that another Taltos has been spotted, but this Taltos, Lasher, has been destroyed by Michael. I will not ruin the story but I not only reccomend this book, I reccomend every book in this trio.
Rating: -
I must confess - I only bought this audio book to add to my Tim Curry collection. Mr. Curry's hypnotic voice aside, this is my favorite Anne Rice story. There are some incredible scenes in the audio book that Mr. Curry captures perfectly, such as an incredible dance with beautiful background music that you just can't get from the book version. And, I'm a reader - I hardly ever listen to audios when a real, live book is within reach. But, this is an excellent listen - relaxing, suspensful, and interesting. Highly recommended.
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