Customer Reviews

TALTOS

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Ashlar Templeton is the last of an ancient race called the Taltos. Tall, handsome and born full-grown, these beings were eradicated by mankind centuries ago. Ash has lived for hundreds of years, since the Taltos were converted to Christianity in the 13th century, disguising himself, and hiding the history of his kind to escape annihilation. He longs for a Taltos mate so he can perpetuate his race. He contacts Rowan Mayfair, the reigning Mayfair witch, and her husband Michael Curry in 20th century New York. Ash knows that one of his race, Lasher, had been haunting the Mayfair family for hundreds of years, and was recently brought into the real world of man, made into flesh and bone, and then destroyed soon after. Rowan and Michael were the parents of two Taltos, now dead. Ash relates the history of his people to the couple. Ashlar's particular story, a tale of survival through the ages, is one of the strongest and most fascinating parts of this novel.

Meanwhile, Rowan's niece, Mona Mayfair, discovers she is pregnant with a Taltos fetus, fathered by Michael, Rowan's husband. (Don't ask...you'll have to read what happened!). She runs away with her cousin, Mary Beth Mayfair, to protect her unborn child. There are many who would kill the Taltos baby in the blink of an eye. Mary Beth, the country cousin from the Bayou, is absolutely delightful and provides some comic relief in an intense narrative.

Ashlar then discovers that the Talamasca, a group of scholars who have studied and chronicled occult happenings for centuries, is rife with corruption. Aaron Lightner, a dear friend of Rowan's and Michael's, is murdered by a renegade faction of the order who want to keep the history and legend of the Taltos secret. Ash decides to eliminate the evil, rogue element of the Talamasca without destroying the entire group..

"In "Taltos" Anne Rice takes the saga of a family haunted for hundreds of years by a supernatural being, and turns the tale into something more epic in scope. The story of Lasher's roots, the history and legacy of the Taltos, brings the trilogy into an almost mythical realm. While Lasher, as a representative of the Taltos, was viewed as a threat throughout books one and two, "The Witching Hour" and "Lasher," Ashlar changes the readers' perception of his race by revealing their entire history of contribution and persecution.

Although I liked this book, it is the weakest novel of the three. I was certainly ready to have the loose threads tied together from the first two novels, but there is way too much information and unnecessary description here. The novel sometimes drags - the pace is too slow and there is too much filler. Precisely because "Taltos" is the trilogy's conclusion, anything and everything that has been left for last to be resolved, should wind-up here in a neat package. It doesn't. There is unnecessary rambling and too many repetitious summaries of the previous novels. However, there is still much here that is well worth reading, and the conclusion is a good one.

Overall, this is a superb trilogy, filled with lore of the occult, the entire range of passions that generations of one, very odd family can contain, mystery, chaos, murder and much love. Anne Rice has written a fitting conclusion to her series with "Taltos." I recommend that "Taltos" be read as part of the trilogy, rather than on its own.

JANA

If this book is taken as a stand-alone novel (which is difficult to imagine, as interwoven with its two prequels as it is), it deserves three stars. If this book is taken as part of the Mayfair Witch series, it deserves no stars. Therefore, I'm compromising and giving it two.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the book as a stand-alone? Beautiful writing counts for it; Anne Rice is ever the talented author, and that shows through even here, in the weakest of her books I've read to date. Mesmerizing settings, interesting characters, mystery, enchantment, the touch of the *outre*, sensuality, age and history--yes, those are all here too. They're more tally marks on the 'pro' side of the ledger. However, they can't really make up for the rushed, illogical ending, the consistency errors within the book itself, the disruption of plot and story caused by the constant jumping about from one set of protagonists to the other, and surrealistic pacing. It's as though someone took most of the ingrediants for a very good supernatural novel and mixed them with a few drops of castor oil, resulting in something that may be edible (or in this case readable), but leaves one vaguely uncomfortable and uncertain that it was such a good idea.

That's nothing compared to its failings as the end of the Mayfair Witch saga, however.

If you adore the change that began in _Lasher_, where the Mayfair history and the Mayfairs themselves showed signs of becoming secondary to the mystery of the Taltos, you might like this book just fine. Because that's what we get here, multiplied tenfold. There isn't really much about the Mayfair witches this time. Rowan is *present*, but almost insignificant; Mona is a key part of the plot, but... she doesn't seem much like Mona anymore. Mary Jane Mayfair is interesting and worth meeting, but she can't make up for the lackings in the other Mayfair characters.

Then there's consistency--if _Taltos_ lacks consistency within itself, it lacks even more within the Mayfair series. Do Taltos have souls, or don't they? Do they reincarnate, or don't they? Are they immortal, or aren't they? Do they leave remains? Do they not? The answers may depend on which book you're reading, as do those to the questions of 'Is Michael a pervert?' and 'Is Mona big on wanting to be more adult, or wanting to be down with the younger witches?' The character consistency is the worst of all; some of these people are almost entirely unrecognizeable. Others are absent. None seem to live up to their promise in the original _Witching Hour_, or even in _Lasher_.

Finally, the ending... there are just no words for the ending. It's a cliffhanger--and as this is said to be the last Mayfair Witch novel, that seems rather pointless, and endlessly frustrating to the readers. I have no idea what will happen to the Mayfairs after this; I'd like to know. (I also have no idea what will happen to the Taltos after this, but to be honest, it would be hard for me to care less.)

This is basically a book that I think should either have been written with an entirely different focus, and/or should at least possess a more conclusive ending. Read it if you really want to know what happens after _Lasher_--maybe you'll even like it, depending how you feel about the Taltos and the Mayfairs.

Putrid. Unfocused. Badly written. I could go on. In fact, I will.

Mistake #1: Rice did not concentrate on the Mayfair family enough. Ashlar is uninteresting. He is a vampiric-type with Byronic problems stuck in a novel in which he is out of place. I think she wished she could be writing about vampires when she conceived of him. The plight of the Taltos was not worthy of my pity.

Mistake #2: Severe brain fart here: King Arthur is supposedly a Taltos according to Rice because when his skeleton was recovered, it was found to be over 7 feet tall. But the reason why there are no physical records of Taltos is because their bodies disintegrate completely when they die. Does anyone else see the little problem with this?

Mistake #3: Character assasination: Michael should not be lusting after Mary Jane. Nowhere in TWH or Lasher was Michael reputed to have a thing for young flesh. He dated mature women. And having him salivate all over Mary Jane in Rowan's presence is just plain digusting.

Mistake #4: AND THIS IS A BIG ONE! If Little Chris, Rowan and Michael's child, had really been a Taltos like Rice said he was, he would have been ready to be born about three months after he'd been conceived. Morrigan, Mona's demonspawn, gestated so rapidly that she was trying to push her way out of Mona's body before she and Mary Jane had gotten out of New Orleans. But Little Chris, when ripped out of Rowan's womb in TWH, only had the body of a four-month old fetus. Since Rowan was aware of Little Chris' presence, Little Chris should have been growing like Morrigan. Explain that if you will, Anne!

What I did like about the story: Mary Jane putting Mona the Immoral in her place. I liked Mary Jane simply because she had more of a sense of propriety than Mona, who is in need of a spanking. And the disposal of those members of the Talamasca who'd hurt Aaron Lightner made me give a big cheer. If only I could have suspended my disbelief enough to be engaged by this book. . .

Ignore this book unless you're ready to throw away every detail you might remember from TWH.

Rowan should have killed Lasher at the end of TWH and then Rice wouldn't have had any reason to write those two awful sequels. I didn't like Lasher, but I hoped Taltos might be better...was I ever wrong. What an idiotic story, so full of contradictions and inconsistancies. You'd think Rice would at least keep track of what she was writing. The Taltos breed at an incredible speed and live for centuries. They can breed when they're just a few hours old, for heaven's sake. So how was it that they were able to live contained in some peaceful little paradise until humans wiped them out? There'd be millions of them in just a few years. They would have overtaken the world at the rate they grow and breed. So it makes no sense that humans wiped them out--it would have been impossible given the lack of technology and weapons of mass destruction. The Taltos could easily have wiped the humans out and it doesn't make sense that they didn't.So the concern that they are going to overpopulate now and wipe out humans is really stupid--if it didn't happen before, how would it happen now? Aside from the incredibly dumb story line, the characters were really weak and unlikeable. You really wish that the Taltos would come and get rid of them.

The more I think on it, the more I feel cheated. I opened the pages of this book hoping to read more about the Mayfair witches. More about their powers. More about the ghosts and the personalities that I fell in love with in the first two books.

Instead I got drivel. Things happen for no apparent reason but to set events in motion. (Just ask Aaron, he'll tell you... oh nevermind, he can't.) Characters behaved erraticly (One moment Mona was child genius, the next she was a whiny unbalenced child afraid her new toy will be taken away. Michael is now a stereotypical pervert.) Plot points were tossed right out the window. (Taltos have no souls, they are reincarnated, then they don't and they aren't. They leave no remains, then they do. Consistancy is important.) Even Ash's story was dry and didn't draw you in like the voice of Julien or Aaron in the previous books.

But the worst part is that this book leads you to a point where you almost don't care one way or another what happens in the end. Ash is a pity figure. Morrigan is a child with tantrums and seems even more insane than Lasher. If they breed, the Taltos could destroy humans, or they might not. Or they'll receate their island paradise. Or live in the glen. Or man might discover them start another slaughter. Or they'll help mankind. Or. What? It's just a little too vague to make you FEEL anything. No fear, no happiness for them, no amazement (for it was so predictible) just a sense of:

Oh. OK. Oh. That's the end.

OH! if only this one could be rewritten. The Mayfairs were so brilliant a concept that my heart breaks that this is part of the series. Better to have been a stand alone idea.

I am an avid Anne Rice reader. She is my favorite writer and I have been reading her books for many years. I think I will read just about anything she releases. When I started reading The Lives of The Mayfair Witches, I was automatically drawn into their world. I felt like I knew them all in some special way. I had grown to love them as much as Mrs. Rice has. I've come to know The Witching Hour and Lasher as a few of my favorite books, which also stands next to her Vampire Chronciles as some of her greatest pieces. When I reached the end of the Mayfair Witches books, with Taltos--I was somewhat lead down a winding, road of dreariness. Taltos had a great impact on me in the begining. It was very prolific and thought provoking. It was one of her most insightful books. She probed into a world that only Anne Rice could think up. Anne Rice weaved her own mythos into an already impressive, and pre-existing world history. However, her imgaination and great sense of detailed history could not save this book by the final pages. It started to lack in luster, spirit, and basically ran out of steam near the last chapters. I almost ran through the ending to see what happened. She tried to shock us in Taltos with more of her "Rice" surprises with the "recent additions to the family" and what has happened to them(I will not ruin this by telling who they are, but readers of the book already know). This book wasn't that much of a disappointment. Taltos was fun to read at times. "The Thelma and Louise" theme with Mary Jane and Mona was a welcome and Ashlar was another individual with great depth, as are all the others male characters Mrs. Rice creates. I recommend Taltos to anyone who is reading The Lives of The Mayfair Witches and who wants to finish the series. Although, as I ended it, my mind was left screaming as I finished reading the last page -- "This can't be the end?". More so, Taltos left a nasty taste in my mouth, which will not subside until Merrick, her new vampire novel comes out.

I don't know what all the fuss is about! I personally loved Ms. Rice's Witch Chronicles! I'm sad that they're done! And I fail to see why, if you didn't like this book why you'd even take the time to find this page and write a review. As I said, I loved these books (that's why I'm writing this, to defend them) In fact, Taltos was probably my favorite one. And I will be the first to admit that The Witching Hour starts off kind of slow, but without the disciplne to read the begining of the saga it is virtually impossible for one to fully understand the depth and beauty of these stories! And, although I doubt Ms. Rice ever reads these reviews, I would even go so far as to request a fourth book! Keep all of your amazing stories coming! All of my Love and Respect to you, Ms. Rice.

Actually this is the book of the trilogy. I like the less, but you must read it to complete the whole story. I believe Ann Rice abuses of the "anticlimax" resource, so if you read this book, and when you are reching an important point of a situation and in the next chapter she jumps into another less important moment, please, feel free to jump that chapter and find out what happens, and then go back to the one you jumped, doesn't matter, sometimes it's pretty annoying.
I seriously believe she ruined the plot of the other two books, I mean, I can see she planned the story from the begining to turn like this, but I don't like it, I wanted something more like it sounded in the first book, a tale of ghosts and witches, but it is still an original plot, and monstrous in her own way.
She has her own style, one I enjoy, I believe she has a pretty dark hand to write, and a delicious conception of horror, unique in it's kind, no doubt about it, but I still think "Lasher" is better, and "The Witching Hour", the best of the three.

I loved the Witching Hour. I thought Lasher was okay, and The Vampire Lestat as well as Queen of the Damned and Cry to Heaven remain books that I keep handy to reread. But Taltos? What a waste of paper. The Mayfair witches were fascinating. But this Celtic hoo-haw with Henry VIII's bastard son emerging as some persecuted non-human race. Good lord. In Lasher and Taltos Rice began to show that she really needed an editor to trim things down -- and after Memnoch the Devil (which I bought in Germany because I was so excited I could not wait to get an English copy from the States), I lost faith in Rice's ability to write coherently. She's an amazing story teller but went off on a weird tangent here that has become even more apparent of late.

Ms. Rice tantalized and mystified us with probably the best work since the first two "Vampire" books when she wrote "The Witching Hour". Following, "Lasher" could have, and should have, been the conclusion. Nothing more need be said about Rowan, Michael, and the Mayfair family. The climax had been reached and passed. We were entertained by horror and mystery well in keeping with Rice's best. But, for some reason, the author felt compelled to write an encore where none was needed. What was mystery turned to absurdity; what was enticing and teasing became tedious and dull. Ms. Rice needs to know when to leave well enough alone and move on