| Title | : | Taltos (Lives of the Mayfair Witches, #3) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 533 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1994 |
| Awards | : | Locus Award Best Dark Fantasy/Horror Novel (1995) |
Taltos (Lives of the Mayfair Witches, #3) Reviews
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this character "Ashlar" just up and jizzes all over the faces of the preceding novels in the series, except that it is not hot, not hot at all. The Witching Hour was a fascinatingly cracked historical-family saga and Lasher, although a much lesser work, was a disturbingly oedipal psychodrama. Taltos is like a big bucket of spooge, just silly and disgusting and entirely unappealing to even contemplate. ugh, thanks a lot Rice for ruining a perfectly good series! almost as criminal is the increasingly revolting elevation of the character Mona, surely one of the most unlikeable, creepy (and not in a good way) characters that Rice has ever created. please no more pedophilia disguised as romance..."empowered" juvenile characters like Mona need to vanish from literature without a trace, post-haste. my gosh, surely that is not too much to ask?
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If you've already been sucked into the Mayfair trilogy, you're going to have to read this book. I'm sorry. It's not good.
Really though, this series is worth finishing, even if you LOL your way through the last book because it's so freaking ridiculous. There is a good explanation for what Lasher is, and how he came to be involved with the Mayfairs, and what the Talamasca knows about it; you're going to want to know this stuff.
Unfortunately, the characters (particularly the family members) have all lost their minds. Some poor relations come out of the swamp which is pretty cool, but they're just as crazy as the rest of them, except more functional. Keep a punching bag handy. -
The final novel of the Mayfair cycle is rather not about the witches of a venerable New Orleans family, but about elves. Why do I say "elves" and not "taltos"? Because I have not met with this word anywhere outside of the epic, although I have read a lot of esotericism.
As for the elves, tall and slender aesthetes, ageless, beautiful and sweet-voiced, excellent musicians and sharpshooters - this is the whole folklore and most of the literary tradition long before Tolkien, since the time of Shakespeare and the Arthurian cycle. Why did Ann Rice need to multiply entities? Go figure it out, she is the creator, has the right to name her creation as she wishes.. Anyway, the dark elf of the last book Lasher is replaced by the light taltos Ashton. Further here.
Summarizing: it's worth reading, none of the books in the cycle are UG and if you are looking for a place to escape from the nightmare of reality - the world of Mayfair witches with its approximately two and a half thousand pages will provide such a portal for a long time.
Эльфийская кантата
Таковы мечты юных - править, господствовать над всеми. Тиранами в истории становятся те, кто так и не вырос.
Заключительный роман Мэйфейрского цикла скорее не о ведьмах почтенного новоорлеанского семейства, но об эльфах. Почему я говорю "эльфы" а не "талтосы"? Потому что с этим словом не встречалась нигде за пределами эпопеи, хотя всякой эзотерики перечитала изрядно.
Что до эльфов, высоких и стройных эстетов, нестареющих, прекрасных и сладкоголосых, отменных музыкантов и метких стрелков - на этом весь фольклор и большая часть литературной традиции задолго до Толкина, со времен Шекспира и Артуровского цикла стоит. Зачем Энн Райс понадобилось умножать сущности? Поди разбери, она творец, имеет право назвать свое создание как пожелает.. Так или иначе, на смену темному эльфу прошлой книги Лэшеру идет светлый талтос Эштон.
Он, владеет империей игрушек и развлечений. Не случайно частым определением современника стало "человек играющий". Кроме прямой коммерческой выгоды, красивые игрушки и развивающие игры всех сортов содействуют обучению, прививают эстетический вкус (ну, я не про Doom и Countr Strike, хотя есть мнение. что стрелялки тоже отводят агрессию в более мирное русло).
Итак, "Талтос": хорош собой, богат, безумно одинок и "он не стар, он суперстар". Во всех смыслах. Знаменитый и уникальный, прекрасный и нездешний как уайльдов Мальчик-звезда, но в отличие от последнего, живет на свете очень долго. Может быть современник пирамид. Это именно он был Святым Эштоном, легенда о котором рассказана в прошлой книге.
Я назвала роман завершающим, на самом деле будет еще трикнижие. в котором некоторые персонажи: Роуан, Мона, Джулиен - снова появятся, но это уже будет другая история, на пересечении с вампирской сагой, которую, если хорошо пойдет, воплотят создатели сериала АМС, запускающие серию в параллель с "Вампирскими хрониками" Энн Райс.
Что до этой книги, то присутствие персонажей из предыдущих в ней сводится к достаточно пассивной роли Роуэн и Майкла в изгнании ренегатов из ордена Таломаска, а также довольно активной - двух молодых ведьм, наследницы мэйфейрского легата Моны и Мэри-Джейн, предвосхитившей болотную русалочку Дэлии Оуэнс (тот же,что в "Поющих раках" бриллиант самородок на луизианских болотах).
Вообще. по части предвосхищения этот ��икл просто Клондайк, например дитя, которое через неделю уже практически взрослое,как в "Сумерках" Стефани Майер дочь Бэллы с Эдвардом, здесь появляется за 15 лет до. В кинговой "Песни Сюзанны", кстати, та же тема, его Райс обогнала на десять лет.
О детях не случайно, Мона оказывается беременной, люто спойлерить не буду, но по некоторым оговоркам вы можете догадаться, что не все с этой беременностью будет так однозначно.
Резюмируя: читать стоит, никакая из книг цикла не УГ и если вы ищете куда сбежать от кошмара реальности - мир Мэйфейрских ведьм с его примерно двумя с половиной тысячами страниц обеспечит такой портал надолго. -
Only read this if you hate yourself.
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Rice remembered all the detail but forgot to throw in some story to go with it. First two books were great. Maintain a safe distance from this one.
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I loved this trilogy so much and the last part doesn't let it down. Rowan and Michael are great characters and the usual southern new Orleans setting works so well for these books. The talamassca is in these more than her Vampire novels and it was great to learn more about the shadowy organisation.
Mona Mayfair is another good character and in this book she gets a lot more time as she is central to the storyline. We also find out just who Lasher was, where he came from and the whole history of the Taltos race. It makes for fascinating reading. All your questions from the first two books are answered very well.
There are some huge surprises and I love Ash, the century's old Taltos Rowan and Michal find. A brilliant end to the trilogy and there are two good tie ins to the Mayfair Witches in
blackwood farm and
blood canticle which are her last two Vampire chronicles books. I'd definitely recommend these books. -
It’s a shame this book follows after The Witching Hour and Lasher, arguably two of the best (and scariest) novels in Anne Rice’s catalogue. This book is a mess.
I’m not even going to review this shit. -
Después de tenerlo por bastante tiempo en mi librero, me decidí a leerlo y darle así un cierte a la magnífica trilogía de “las brujas mayfair”; y la verdad no me ha decepcionado para nada.
Me encanta la forma en como la escritora describe de forma preciosa y precisa a cada uno de sus personajes principales, lo que piensan, lo que sienten después de cada acción que realizan (ya sea buena o mala); poder llegar a conocer las motivaciones incluso de aquellos personajes secundarios (que son muchísimos, ya que describe varias generaciones hasta llegar a la protagonista)
La historia me cautivó desde el inicio, describe la vida de generaciones de brujas (no de las buenas); y cómo cierta situación del pasado desencadena una serie de eventos oscuros en el presente.
Si bien encontré que el final fue un poco precipitado (esperaba un poco más), sin embargo, estuvo lleno de tensión hasta la última página, pero innegablemente quedé con la incertidumbre de si hubiese sido posible continuar con esta historia... -
So, I am writing this review many, many years after the fact. This was my third Anne Rice novel after The Witching Hour (which I loved) and Lasher, which was OK. And along comes this book? I just couldn't get into it. It was so horrible, squicky and stupid. In fact, my best memory of it was the woman at the laundry in Georgia who saw me reading it and warned me not to delve into books like this, they would only wreak havoc with my soul. If only she knew how prescient that comment was! Just not in they way she intended. You are dead to me, Anne Rice. Dead to me! Because of Taltos.
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Every time I read an Anne Rice novel I come away from it feeling as though for a while I were peeking into another world, a world I would very much so like to exist in. Knowing my luck even if I did exist in this world she's created I'd never happen upon one of these amazing creatures, and so I'd still never be the wiser or I'd become a part of a short tragic scene. Taltos is another example of Anne's amazing skill as a writer, and master story teller. Her words are the paintbrush while your mind is the canvas! I just simply love Anne's work so much, and highly recommend it to everyone.
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The completing of a trilogy is always bittersweet for me. Sad to have it end and happy to have closure and resolution.
Anne Rice's writing is spectacular and wondrous. She weaves the setting and the characters exquisitely. Her descriptions are vivid and elaborate. It's just so easy to get fully engrossed in her storytelling.
The full saga of the Mayfair Witches is something that will remain with me forever. I cared deeply for Rowan and Michael. I was constantly rooting for them.
Overall, I really enjoyed this third book in the trilogy. The writing is commanding and powerful. Anne Rice creates an enchanting and captivating story and I'm beyond grateful for the opportunity to have experienced it! -
3.5 stars usually it's the middle book in a trilogy that I would give the lesser rating to but in this case taltos was my least fav of Mayfair witches
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!!Warning; Can contian spoilers if you haven't read The Witching Hour and Lasher!!
Taltos is the story which birthed the journey of Lasher and the Mayfairs taken in The Witching Hour and Lasher. Yet it also furthers the relationship development between Michael Curry and Rowan Mayfair. After all the tumultuous events in Lasher I tumbled in to a story that I found very bittersweet to read at times. There are more troubles ahead for the Mayfairs. Characters who I had to say goodbye to and more history to absorb from newly introduced characters. Once more, Anne Rice put me through the emotional wringer in Taltos. I absolutely fell in love over the course of this trilogy with the magic of her storytelling but it also took a lot out of me.
The bittersweet unfolding of Rowena and Michael's situation didn't give much room for happy moments. The painstakingly honest dialogues, the sharing of opinions about personal and family matters leave nothing to the imagination. There is no lovey-dovey romance here but an irrevocable bond forged through an attraction that defies all. There is adversity and survival but no sunshine and daisies or an over the top happily ever after for them. Oh no, it is a double-edged sword of pleasure and pain. It has a gritty vibe yet the core of them burns fierce for one another. No matter what they individual decide it is their form of love that fuses them together. The complexity of Rowan and Michael's relationship in gradually layered through the three books. It is but one example how Anne Rice has deepened and enriched various storylines and characterization over the course of this trilogy. I have a penchant for complex and dark romance but even for me it was at times hard to digest all the dilemmas this main couple faced. I wanted some happy time as well but never really got it, not even at the ending, which left a tinge of sadness as I closed this book.
Another complex character was Taltos himself. The very thought of such a being tantalizes my fantasy. He was vast intelligence wedded to primal instinct with at times innocent reactions or emotions. Every single time a character opens up about his or her past I'm mesmerized by their stories. They take me back to other times and in the case of Taltos, to forgotten times. Anne Rice spins her own take on the history of the Picts, the creation of Stonehenge and historical England. Via Taltos I was shown a time in which he lived, what his customs and rituals were, how he encountered mankind and how he ultimately got cursed. I was completely absorbed again by the imaginative and at times such detailed storytelling! I was rapidly flipping the pages to discover more and in my queste to discover more I turned to be quite the gluttonous reader.
On the other hand I got a bit tired of the Talamasca. The slow disintegration of their duty to watch but never to interfere was evident. There was scheming within the Talamasca by individuals but I was done with all the scheming on their part. These three self-absorbed characters were annoying the daylights outta me. Before their introduction in Taltos I did not know them, their motivations contrived and they failed to add any suspense to the overall plotline. The Elders also irked me, I was to be believed they never came forward in moments of need and loss of structure. Or when a being of significant importance to their history was brought over, that they would not react. That they would choose to be forever cloaked in mystery. For me the dialogues and story development between Taltos and the Mayfairs was all that mattered. The Talamasca had lost its effect and function for me at a certain point in the story.
The arrival of Mona Mayfair in Lasher allowed the plot to thicken that much more in Taltos. She is a strong headed teenager and together with the spunky Mary Jane they added an exuberance with their antics and interactions. Both were quick witted and I instantly liked them. Even with things that were hard to swallow, such as the pregnancy, it wasn't an uncommon thing in the Mayfair family. Anne Rice has created a family with its own set of customs, rituals, habits and structure. They fascinated me to no end and it was this very factor that made me read on and on from the first page in The Witching Hour. All these woman, whether strong, normal or weak, they all came alive with their quirks. Many had an imperative part to play and I cherished them for it.
With the ending I found some closure but many questions are left unanswered. Perhaps this is what Anne Rice wanted, to leave many things to the imagination of the reader and it does fit the complete vibe of the storytelling. Still, with such an intense emotional investment in reading this trilogy I would've liked an ending that gives a bit more satisfaction. I'm left with questions and an image of resignation, that in the end the Mayfairs have been pawns in the larger scheme of things. While Michael and Rowena's gestures speak of approval, what did they think of the final moments? What is in store for them now? How will Mona deal with the decisions made? What did the Talamsca do with Tessa? Smaller story threads found a conclusion but the bigger picture is definitely left to the imagination of the reader. I stand divided about it, at one hand I find it completely fitting and at the other hand I wanted an ending that left me with the knowledge that after all this pain and strife the Mayfairs are in a good place. And I did not get that notion...
3.5 stars -
If Taltos was meant to shine a light on the mysteries of The Witching Hour, I was better off in the dark.
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”Be old enough and patient enough for kinds of love, seasons of it, be quite in your soul so that when happiness comes again you will know it”
I think this is my favourite one in the trilogy. After I finished Lasher I honestly couldn’t think how Rice would continue with the story, but as always she came out of the left field, and entertain me with a tale I couldn’t believe. -
Still full of excitement... Hard to write a review...
First of all, I am happy I have finished reading all "Mayfair witches" series. After "Vampire Chronicles" I thought that "Mayfair witches" won't be so good and I'll be disappointed... BUT... I wasn't. All these three books were as good as Vampire Chronicles. Anne Rice is my favorite author, I'm fascinated how she created such families, their histories, family trees and everything else. And I just love when she mixes real history with her fiction, it's like..."revealing truth of hidden historical facts".
Her characters are brilliant. They all remind me of some people I know, or of myself. In this book I mostly was amazed by Ashlar. I must say, my heart was touched by every single part about dolls. I even did notes of some quotes. The way author writes about dolls, makes me so...I don't know..very touched. Dolls for me are my whole life, my children, my family...and when I found these scenes about dolls in this book, I had to read few times everything again to get stuck in my mind. Parts about dolls- were my favorite. It's like her thoughts came out of my mind. Anne Rice is a brilliant author, because she can touch every single reader's heart.
I wish there would be more books about this family of witches. It's such a story that you want to know more and more. Since I'm very interested in genealogy, I am trying to make a family tree of these witches. All this genealogy thing in these books made me so excited! -
This is the final book in the original trilogy. I've found two others with Mayfair Witch characters but they are mixed up with the Vampires in those two books, and I'm not sure I really want to deal with either of them.
We finally get to know a real Taltos in this book. One who was around when disaster struck this not-quite-human species. They are normally a separate species, but even though Ash doesn't remember a time when the two species were a single one, they have to have been one at some time because they can interbreed, and have, over and over again according to his story.
Once again there are multiple tales in this book. A couple of them in the present day. One about Mona and her child and a second one where we find out what was really going on with the Talamasca, who turn out to have a dark and angry side of their own.
But primarily we find out about the history of the Taltos.
I had a wonderful time with all three books, once again, and I'm sorry that time is over. -
Well, Anne Rice is definitely committed to her vision.
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A profoundly dumb conclusion to the series. It's Anne Rice—I don't expect Chekhov. I liked "The Witching Hour" because it was smutty and dark. But the answers we receive in this book are so dumb that they reduce a good ghost story to the level of weird, sci-fi slash fiction. This is "The Force is caused by midichlorians," level stuff. The series would have been so much better if it had just ended as a sort of open-ended horror tragedy after book one.
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Culmination of the Mayfair Witches' trilogy, this sometimes feels as though it's an entirely separate book as much of it is concerned with the relating of Ashlar's tale, which is a delicious mix of history with myths and legends, all imbued with the inevitable sadness that comes from having lived a centuries-long life.
The events concerning the Mayfair's (other than Rowan and Michael, who simply listen to Ashlar for the most part) and the reclamation of the Talamasca are relegated to the sidelines, which is a shame as I would have liked to have seen a little more to these stories, particularly in the case of the Talamasca (though that part does have a fantastically grisly punishment at it's conclusion).
I enjoyed elements pertaining to Mona and Mary Jane, and would have liked to have found out a little bit more about the Fountevrault Mayfair's, but was slightly ambivalent about Morrigan and this part of the story was that which I enjoyed least.
It's arguable that this book is the least necessary in the series as it was hard to see where things could go after the events in the last book, which would have seemed a more natural conclusion, but nevertheless this was still highly enjoyable and definitely worth a read. -
This was such an amazing conclusion to the series. Unlike the vampire chronicles she sews it up nice and tight. One of the best side notes to this book is the cross pollination of a very significant character from the vampire chronicles, brilliant, sexy and frightening. A good read to me.
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I read this book before. It was many many many many many many years ago but I read this book before. And I had no memory of it. You could not pay me to give you a synopsis of anything that happened in this book prior to my reread. It has been over 20 years since I read the trilogy, so I will say that definitely colored my memory. And a lot of the things that happened in book one I attributed to book 2 and three respectively. But now I think I know why I didn’t remember anything from this book.
The first book was the best in the series. And while I really like the storytelling that we got in the second installment because it enriched the history of the Mayfair family, the third book while giving me so much of the history that I love overall didn’t actually have much of a plot. There was a lot of storytelling, and while I think Anne Rice has a beautiful prose when it comes to that storytelling, there’s no larger over arcing plot at this point. So while I was really invested in the chapters while I was reading them there was no motivation to keep going because we weren’t looking forward to anything.
I really liked learning the history of the taltos, I really enjoyed seeing how the author took all of these things from human history that we don’t have explanations for and wove them in ways that perfectly utilize the setting to the fantasy that she was building. It was artfully done and I love it. Still, outside of learning that history which is not real history, there’s nothing. The first book had us stressed at Lasher‘s machinations. The second book had us scared of what else he was bringing to the table, what other horrors he would unleash. Book 3 didn’t have any of that gravitas. And I think it might have been better to extend Lasher‘s story into the third book simply to have a nice conclusion point.
I know that this series does eventually continue into a crossover with the vampire Chronicles, but I have never read that. I actually stopped reading the vampire Chronicles just before the crossover event. So I cannot say whether or not the way that this ended would be fixed in anyway in the coming novels. But I will say that compared to the intensity of the first two books this one was a letdown. Still beautiful story telling in all of our history lessons, but there was not much else outside of that. -
Lives of the Mayfair Witches, what a wild trilogy. I have a lot of feelings when it comes to this final book (good and some bad) and how I feel about the trilogy as a whole (very good!). To me this was the weakest of the three, but I still enjoyed it.
What I loved the most about Taltos was the character Ash, he was captivating and I was practically under a spell whenever he was on the page. I also liked how we finally learned some important truths and stories regarding the past. The revelations in these books was the most satisfying. I was interested in other new characters as well such as Marklin and Tommy, though I think they should have had more time in the book to get me more invested in them. Also Mary Jane was a fun character who I liked a lot as well.
My main complaint with this book in particular is that it seems very much like a separate story from what The Witching Hour and Lasher was. Lasher was such a focal point in the first two books so for him to be gone by the end of the second book felt strange. Makes me think that Lasher and Taltos should have been one book. I know it would have been long, but The Witching Hour was huge so why not?
Like the second book, I still dislike Mona lol. Everything about her is still creepy and unlikable, which is too bad since she’s such a big character in these last two books. Her whole situation is just uncomfortable to me.
I may have liked the first two books more than this one but I still enjoyed this because it had a lot of what I liked about the first two but with new characters which I enjoyed a lot!
I didn’t know anything coming into this trilogy other than that it was about witches, if only I knew the wild and bizarre ride I was going to go on lol. I may prefer Anne Rices vampires, but her witches are just as mysterious. I can definitely see myself rereading The Witching Hour the most for that book was incredible and my favourite of the trilogy. I can see why these books were recommended so much to me. It was quite a journey !
(I’m also excited to see how the witches and vampires cross paths later in The Vampire Chronicles, looking forward to that!) -
I was almost considering not reading this book--not because I didn't enjoy the 2 earlier installments of the Mayfair Chronicles, but because they were just so....meandering. I often had to force myself to work through the denser, long-winded descriptions and too-drawn-out, chapters-spanning monologues of characters recounting every last detail of their backstories that Rice seems to be quite fond of. But I pushed through for my love of her expertly-crafted characters and spellbinding world.
So I was completely taken aback when "Taltos" ended up becoming my favorite book of the series. It was almost the same length as "Lasher," the preceding title, and yet the writing was far more compact and relevant. We still get Rice's long and beautiful descriptions, but within reason. There is only one chapters-spanning backstory monologue in this novel, and most of it remained both interesting and significant. The new characters Rice introduces are captivating and fit right in with the rest of the cast.
"Taltos" was probably the only book of the series that I consistently had trouble putting down--definitely a page-turner. I am sad to see the Mayfair Chronicles dwindle to a close, especially with an ending like this; I want to know what happens next! All in all, this series has been a wonderful ride, and I highly recommend all three books to anyone even remotely intrigued by the supernatural. -
Wow, I really loved this series. I did not want it to end. It's one of those stories that you get so wrapped up in you feel like it's really happening somewhere and you forget that it's only fiction. The reason I gave this book only 4 stars is because I wanted a little more closure at the end. She did end it well and mostly happy, but I feel like she could now write an entirely new series on what inevitably happens after the last sentence. I know that all stories have to end. And it's probably tough for an author to make the call on when it does, but this one I feel could have used one more chapter.
This last book was a little bit of a slower read for me, but not much. It was still gripping and full of one adventure after another, but it wasn't so packed with mystery and suspense like the last first two were.
I recommend this series. But readers beware, she's a very visual writer ABOUT EVERY SITUATION. Her writing sometimes seems drawn out, but it makes the story that much better to know the history behind the characters. -
Just finished this last book and must say am mildly disappointed--it leaves you hanging, drags you on for at least a hundred pages with this confusing stream of consciousness memory trail and confuses you by turning your favorite characters into dependent mindless ninnies..it is crazy to meet Mona and love her headstrong mind and mischeviousness and then see her become doting and helpless after a strange experience..What can I say I loved the premise, thought most of the chararcters were okay (hated Rowan, Michael, Ancient Evelyn and Gifford but loved Ryan, Mona, Mary Jane, Julien and Stella)but the ending disappoints and leaves you wondering if Ann Rice had another book in mind--which wouldnt be so bad so she can redeem herself for ending this powerful trilogy like that--for shame :)
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Bad to the point of being unreadable. I finally gave up reading and skimmed the rest.
I rate this a 0, but Goodreads doesn't have a zero.
Each book in this series declines as Rice uses badly theorized pseudo-science to explain away witchcraft and demons. I (and lots of other readers, having read some reviews) would have just preferred less outrageously bad scientific rationale. Evil can be magic and spirits. That's okay.
And Mona's character just becomes ludicrous and unbelievable. Also, YUCK. Just. Yuck. -
Oh Taltos, I am so disappointed in you. Why couldn't you live up to the first two novels? Why? Answer me, goddammit! You had so much potential but you just threw it away. Don't you think it pains me to see you fail like this?
Mediocre, that's what they'll call you, you know. Those people out there who had such high hopes for you and you let them down like this? For shame! You should hang your head in embarrassment after this weak ass stunt you pulled. -
I read this series first so long ago I can't remember but the one thing I do know is that the story has stuck with me for at least 20 years. I've re-read it once or twice since then and I still enjoy it.
I'm surprised at all the negative reviews here. Some people cite how "biologically and medically impossible" this story was as a reason to dislike it. HELLO!! It wasn't written to be anything other than supernatural. People's uppity attitudes kill me sometimes. Save it for the Science Journal!
