The Anne Rice Collection: Mayfair Witches [ABRIDGED] [AUDIOBOOK] [UNABRIDGED] (Audio Cassette)

by Anne Rice (Author), Joe Morton (Reader), Tim Curry (Reader), Lindsay Crouse (Reader)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
From the Mayfair Witches collection, only The Witching Hour seems to provide much of a coherent story, though the other works have considerable information on Rice's world of witchcraft, spirits, and human-like aliens as well as the Mayfair family of witches itself. The three titles are excellently read by Joe Morton, Lindsay Crouse, and Tim Curry, but it's unclear what the producer was trying to accomplish by arranging the set out of chronological order. The action in Lasher logically follows that of The Witching Hour, which ends describing the relationship of Rowan Mayfair with the spirit Lasher. Taltos seems to be a vehicle to redefine Lasher, killed off in the earlier work, as a demon who assumed the identity of Mr. Ash/St. Ashlar, a nonhuman, nonvampire being whose kind live for millennia. There's a lot of pseudomyth touched up with Catholic or voodoo imagery and laced liberally with incestuous or otherwise taboo sex: a Mayfair dynasty no doubt but with no discernible witchcraft and quite a fixation on the female breast. Horrifying, no, though quite horrible. Merrick, on the other hand, provides the listener with an excellent abridgment, read with great feeling and effectiveness by Sir Derek Jacobi. Though Merrick is a Mayfair and a witch, one will not have had to read a majority of other works Rice has written about the Mayfairs to understand what is happening in this story. Also, along with the myth and voodoo allusions, one actually gets some of what the listener would think of as witchcraft. It's decidedly spooky stuff that also explores Rice's visions of possible afterlives, the mortality of witches, and the virtual immortality of vampires. Acquire Mayfair Witches in this abridged set only if circulation patterns indicate you should. Merrick is highly recommended for adult fiction and horror collections. Cliff Glaviano, Bowling Green State Univ. Libs., OH
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
The Witching Hour Read by Lindsay Crouse
Lasher Read by Joe Morton
Taltos Read by Tim Curry
8 cassettes/ 10 hours

The Witching Hour
The first of the Mayfair Witch triology. This is the complex history of the mysterious Mayfair family through centuries of their tangled existence with a demonic spirit, a spirit that has brought them power and terrible tragedy. At the center of the novel is Rowan Mayfair, the heir to the Mayfair fortune, who must face her family's mysterious past and her own strange powers.

Lasher
The sequel to the Witching Hour. It's the story of Rowan Mayfair, the queen of the Mayfairs, who is held spellbound by the demon Lasher, the same demon who has lured the Mayfair women for centuries, and her escape from his demonic spell with their child. Through her escape and the cast of characters, demon and angel, mortal and immortal, the novel journeys across the globe and across the centuries.

Taltos
The last novel in the Mayfair Witch triology. This mesmerizing novel is a journey back through the centuries to a civilization half-human species living among humankind and whose sole survivor is seeking answers about his origin and his peoples' tangled history with the mysterious and powerful Mayfair family.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Random House Audio; Abridged edition (November 7, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 037541620X
• ISBN-13: 978-0375416200
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 6.3 x 2.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,092,285 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful books, but lousy version, October 23, 2003

By A Customer

This abridged audio version is good in some select parts, but laughable in many places. The way they've cut things is just pathetic. Read the books or find an unabridged version, please! These tapes are good if you've read the books and just want to listen to something familiar on a long drive or something, but not if you want to understand the characters. The tapes skip most of the family's history and the beautiful historic descriptions of locations, especially the house (which is SO important), and also skips most of the sex scenes (which I actually didn't mind too much, but I thought it was hysterical). Please, please, please, PLEASE find a better version than these tapes.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not thrilled with abridgements, January 25, 2005

By	xanthiashatan (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This collection is advertised as unabridged, and that is just false. I haven't been too happy with the abridgements, nor with the readers, especially the reader for Lasher. I remember loving these books when reading them, but the audio version is just so-so with the abridgements. If I were you, I would buy the books if it is at all possible.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mayfair Witches, November 11, 2000

By	Marianne Alderson (Nebo, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews

I have truely enjoyed the witch series, and do look forward to the next book to come out in this series. Both the witch series, and the vampire series are so spell binding that you feel like you are actually there, and living life or unlife with them. You are caught up in the spells, romance, and love of they're lives as they are. I want to thank Anne Rice for each of these series, they are as masterly written from the first word, as they are to the last one, and from book to book. Again I Thank you, and do look forward to the next books to come out in either of your series. Respectfully A Devoted Fan Marianne Alderson