Synopsis (from Publishers Weekly)
"We watch and we are always here" is the motto of the Talamasca, a saintly group with extrasensory powers which has for centuries chronicled the lives of the Mayfairs--a dynasty of witches that brought down a shower of flames in 17th-century Scotland, fled to the plantations of Haiti and on to the New World, where they settled in the haunted city of New Orleans. Rice ( The Queen of the Damned ) plumbs a rich vein of witchcraft lore, conjuring in her overheated, florid prose the decayed antebellum mansion where incest rules, dolls are made of human bone and hair, and violent storms sweep the skies each time a witch dies and the power passes on. Newly annointed is Rowan Mayfair, a brilliant California neurosurgeon kept in ignorance of her heritage by her adoptive parents. She returns to the fold after bringing back Michael Curry from the dead; he, too, has unwanted extrasensory gifts and, like Rowan and the 12 Mayfairs before her, has beheld Lasher: devil, seducer, spirit. Now Lasher wants to come through to this world forever and Rowan is the Mayfair who can open the door. This massive tome repeatedly slows, then speeds when Rice casts off the Talamasca's pretentious, scholarly tones and goes for the jugular with morbid delights, sexually charged passages and wicked, wild tragedy.
Rants & Raves
I was hooked since page 1. I love its chronicles of Mayfair history. Their history was not just narrated, the detailed experiences of each writer who got involved with the Mayfair's gave me creeps. The incest done in every generation to keep the blood pure is really twisted. I was awed with the powers of Julian, Mary Beth & Rowan. Though everything was written meticulously, almost not missing a detail, it still retained the mystery of knowing but not knowing.
I am looking forward reading its book 2 but I'm having a hard time looking for a paperback copy. I already have Taltos and I'm tempted to skip Lasher. I know I got to hold back because I'm really curious about how will things turn out after Rowan made a horrible mistake.
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