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42 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Grand Finale!!, December 22, 2004
This review is from: Taltos (Lives of the Mayfair Witches) (Mass Market Paperback)
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
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32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
This Is the End?, March 2, 2001
This review is from: Taltos (Lives of the Mayfair Witches) (Mass Market Paperback)
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.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Hiroshima & Nagasaki? Nope, just Rice's final bomb., December 4, 1998
By A Customer
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.
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