Last night I finished “Lasher”, the second book in “The Lives of the Mayfair Witches” series by Anne Rice. As expected, this follows on from the first book, “The Witching Hour”. Same characters and similar “goings on”. Maybe I was distracted by the events of the last few weeks, but I really didn’t get caught up in this one.
Most of Anne Rice’s books have several story lines, each told in chunks, constantly messing with the time, and finally bringing it all together. I seemed to struggle with that in this book. I guess part of that was because I was really into some of the story lines, but quite bored by others. I would reach the end of one chapter, desperate to know what happens next, only to find I had to read 80 pages of dull crap before I could continue.
If the book had been half the size and contained only those story lines I liked I would be saying it was a classic, but it’s not.
Cheers
Tim…
I just finished reading the same book…..today. I felt the same for the most part. For instance when Julien was telling Micheal the story. It just stopped and picked up else where. I loved the book though. I didnt know until I read your blog that there were more books about the mayfair witches. I had looked over earlier and realized i had the witching hour sitting next to me and had decided to read it next. Will I be disappointed that I hadnt known to read it first?
I found her foray into a more sci-fi based story than a typically high Gothic fantasy rather disappointing. The idea of this man-baby creature was quite messy and more sleazy and cheesy than grotesque, fantastic and interesting.
Mona and her antics kept me going through this one. I agree though, Lasher was overly prolonged and rather similar in some regards to Servant of the Bones.
I really believe that the beauty of Anne Rice’s work lies in her writing style, not her plots which are often predictable.