This book kind of surprised me. As I wrote in my review for The Witching Hour, I really loved THAT book as a young adult (13-15 I'd guess), and had for many years after considered it one of my favorite novels ever written. However, re-reading it at age 31 revealed a number of fatal flaws that I could not get over. I was not expecting much from Lasher by consequence, as I read it as a young adult too, though I do not believe I ever finished it. Imagine my surprise when I re-read it and found Lasher to be more compelling than the first novel in the series.Now this does not mean the book doesn't have its flaws. I find it hilarious the way one of the protagonists (Mona Mayfair) talks about her computer; it's obvious that the author sat down for a five minute conversation (in the 90s) with someone who knew computers and simply copied his interview words into her book. She is painfully inexperienced with computers and it's obvious from the dialogue she creates for her tech-savvy savant, who says ludicrous things like "I'm going to boot up my directory," and "it has max hard drive and max memory." Mona presents other problems for me as a protagonist as well. She is supposed to be this genius of a thirteen year old, but it's obvious that she's being used as a voice through which the author's own idealized personality and opinions are expressed; what ends up happening (to me, anyway) is that when Mona (a thirteen year old girl) starts waxing haughtily about the failure of modern architecture as compared to ancient, or about how she hates modern music or modern culture or modern clothing, all I can envision is a stunted version of Anne Rice, looking tired and old, spouting these things herself.The idealization of author-as-protagonist-Mona is also apparently intended to make it easier for us to condone the rampant paedophilia that goes on throughout this book, mostly in relation to Mona herself. A character that was so faultless, who was literally "too good" (as the first book repeated numerous times over its hundreds of pages) cannot help himself but to fall dick-first into a thirteen year old girl because she kissed him on the lips. He expresses some MILD concern that he's just raped a child, presumably so that we know he's still all moral and junk, and then he promptly rapes her again and again, because clearly thirteen-year-old vagina is much like heroin in that one taste is all you need to be hooked. This character, by the way, is about 50 years old if I remember right. And we're supposed to just wink and say "Oh those Mayfairs," as he repeatedly rapes his niece in his marriage bed shortly after his own wife has been abducted. And then there are other characters that have sexual encounters with Mona, including Randall, an ancient and elderly old Mayfair whom we are supposed to believe was a poor victim in an act of seduction initiated by this precocious thirteen-year-old girl. Poor Randall didn't stand a chance, because this CHILD vixen, this inescapable Anne-Rice-as-an-early-teen Lolita decided she wanted to sleep with an old man and of course men are not able to resist the sexiness of a pre-teen.Then there's Yuri, who is described as in his early twenties perhaps, and as soon as he sees Mona he wants to tear off her clothes even though she's a baby; the same is true of her cousin Pierce, in his twenties as well, who cannot bring himself to stop staring at Mona's thirteen-year-old legs WITHIN HOURS of his own mother's brutal murder.It's a normalization of paedophilia that kind of bothers me; it seems that the author believes that all men are secretly attracted to pre-pubescent girls, and that all pre-pubescent girls are just raging sluts, and sexualizing them causes no harm at all. It makes me shudder whenever it comes up, which is disturbingly often. Also, the end of the book is absolutely absurd. Making historical connections to incredibly famous kings and queens, Rice jumped the shark with her main character Lasher. I don't want to give any spoilers, but when it came time that he revealed his origins (again in Rice's typical, boring thirty-pages-of-expositional-monologue style) I rolled my eyes so hard that I think I strained them. Not very highly recommended really, but better than The Witching Hour.
Within the first hundred pages, you know if you are willing to read the rest of this book. You know that you have entered a whole new realm, one that is much removed from the characters and love and themes and hopes of The Witching Hour. Within those hundred pages, you begin to feel the darkness seeping out of each printed word, flowing over your hands and onto your lap. Whether you embrace this change or not determines whether you finish this book or not.I gave it a chance. I allowed the author to have her way with the characters she had created. I watched as she destroyed them piece by piece and all they stood for. In true Anne Rice fashion, we lose sight of who is evil and who is good. The story is relayed ... the true story. Who is Lasher? Who are The Talamasca? What part does Michael really have to play in this? Is Oncle Julien really a Mayfair Witch? Yes, Anne Rice plays with all of these questions and, if you are willing to let go of the wonders that the first book held as truth, you can find joy in the pitch black of this book. If love was the theme of The Witching Hour then darkness - maybe even hatred and revenge - rules this book. The story of the estranged Mayfairs is one such example (one that doesn't act as a huge spoiler, thus I bring it forth as an example). It appears that the Mayfairs had splintered their family when Julien shot his (given how intricate the bloodlines are here, I'm going to bypass what specific family member he was) "family member" and that man's family went off to live on Amelia Street. The grudge they held becomes a factor in one of the many subplots and creates one of the subtle conflicts that peppers this novel. Yes, the grudge and the hatred and revenge that created it is stronger than the (possible) redemption for the family. The redemption that seemed so obvious in the last book, now rejected here.I still stand behind the first of the trilogy. It is an excellent read on its own. This book is for a specific crowd, one that doesn't mind reading how Anne Rice deals with the death of her daughter (VERY clear subtext throughout this book) and the darkness and misery she [must have?:] fought. Readers, you know if you are willing to let someone destroy the characters you came to love so much. Think of this book as the "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me" movie companion to The Witching Hour's "Twin Peaks" the series and you have a good idea of what to expect. For some, we enjoy the added dimension.But I won't say that I don't miss the innocence of the first novel.
What do You think about Lasher (2004)?
I'm a huge fan of Anne Rice, and loved The Witching Hour along with many of her other books, but for some reason had never gotten around to reading Lasher. When I first started it, I was fully absorbed. I love Rice's detailed and luscious writing style, and her ability to create fully fleshed-out, interesting characters. These are some of this book's best elements, along with a additions to the Mayfair history in the back stories of Julian and Evelyn, and new, engaging characters like Mona and Yuri. In pieces, this is a great book, but unfortunately, the parts never really come together. The pacing becomes awkward and slow, and the story's best characters don't get enough page time. The book took me forever to finish, because I would get bored, and after putting it down would not go back to it for several days. Most of all, the title character, Lasher, as he develops to show his true flaws, fostered a deep loathing in me, despite his sympathetic characteristics, and I became overly anxious for him to meet his end. When his back story is finally revealed, it should have been a dramatic moment, because his story is the great mystery that the saga of the Mayfair witches is founded on, but I found myself not caring at all.I wish this was a better book since it has so many great elements, and the writing, as usual for Rice, is beautiful, but because of the poor pacing it was a rather tedious read.
—Alexa
Utterly mesmerising from start to finish (to the point that I actually took a day off work just to read it!), and brings yet more depth and complexity to the series than I previously thought possible.The writing is absolutely spellbinding, and never more so than throughout the stories recounted by Julien and Lasher - both two characters whom I had previously thought of as unsympathetic, depraved and sinister, though seductive (when seen through the file on the witches compiled by the Talamasca in the first book). Through these stories my ideas of both of them changed completely - Julien suddenly became courageous, clever and all too human, whilst Lasher was an innocent monster. My ideas of the Talamasca went through a transformation too - no longer an institution of harmless old scholars but something altogether more mysterious and possibly dangerous.Full of vivid characters (the two above, along with Emaleth and Mona in particular), a real sense of place and a boat-load of tension (I kept having to put the book down to catch my breath), I can't wait to read the final part of the trilogy.I've definitely become a bit of an Anne Rice superfan, so thanks Jade for recommending!
—Lisa
Anne Rice certainly took her liberties with LASHER by including incest into the clan of the Mayfair Witches. But I wasn't prudish enough to NOT read or dismiss this very common happening thoughout because it is very real in our own 'real world history.'If you want a warm, mushy family story then LASHER is not for you. Lasher is a demon spirit who preys on female Mayfairs in his attempt to procreate. Rowan Mayfair, queen of the coven who has borne Lasher's child, has now disappeared. This is where Anne brings her 'spirit' characters' to meet her witches. No vampires in these novels.It's certaibly not a GREAT novel but the novel fleshes out more of the characters of the Mayfair witches; especially the insatiable controlling "Rowan Mayfair." Personal histories of her characters play out in this novel as well as others.The novel is certinly another TYPE OF family affair on many different levels. :-)
—Lori
