Bitten by Books
Hello, dear readers.
In case you missed it we have been talking about all things Vampire Chronicles and Anne Rice in anticipation of the October 27th release. If you want to catch up, click here for our first week and you can find the link for the second by clicking here. This nine week series will culminate with the release of Prince Lestat and a vampire/Halloween-themed contest here at BBB.
This week’s chat will be a bit of a departure-we are going to take a break from the vampires and discuss The Lives of the Mayfair Witches- The Witching Hour, Lasher, and Taltos. The two series do eventually connect ( which will be a topic of a later chat), so I thought it would be fun to refresh our collective memories.
I can honestly say that this series was one of the very first to genuinely scare me. What you think about Anne’s take on witches? I will be around all week to discuss the topic. Remember to keep it respectful and fun.
1. If you have read both series, how did you feel about the two portrayals of New Orleans?
2. Like the Vampire Chronicles, this trilogy goes back and explores the history of the characters. Was there something from that history that really captured you?
3. I always felt more of an affinity for the characters in that past (as opposed to Rowan, Michael, or Mona). Were there any of the secondary characters that really came alive for you?
“Give me a man or woman who has read a thousand books and you give me an interesting companion. Give me a man or woman who has read perhaps three and you give me a very dangerous enemy indeed” (from The Witching Hour by Anne Rice).
Buy the Three book Kindle bundle of The Lives of the Mayfair Witches series from Amazon by clicking here.
The Vampire Chronicles in the order they should be read:
Interview with a Vampire
The Vampire Lestat
The Queen of the Damned
The Tale of the Body Thief
Memnoch the Devil
The Vampire Armand
Merrick (Crossover with Mayfair Witches)
Blood and Gold
Blackwood Farm (Crossover with Mayfair Witches)
Blood Canticle (Crossover with Mayfair Witches)
Prince Lestat
The New Tales of the Vampires series in the order they should be read:
Pandora
Vittorio the Vampire
The Lives of the Mayfair Witches series in the order they should be read:
The Witching Hour
Lasher
Taltos
I only read the first book from this series. The incest really put me off of reading the other two books. While none of the characters really stood out for me, the idea that one could kill another person out of love always stuck in my brain.
I will admit that I actually read her Sleeping Beauty trilogy before the Mayfairs so the incest was not that shocking for me- but I can totally see how that could turn a reader off from this series.
Killing another out of love is such a twisted ( yet arguably simple) concept. Is it really love or power one is holding onto? I feel like the Mayfairs had a lot more of these types of themes which made them a very different reading experience from The Vamp Chronicles, for me.
I have read all three of these books and felt let down by the ending of the books. I always wanted to know what happened afterwards because you weren’t given a satisfying resolution. No mention was made of her Wolf series of which the newest one just came out
Hi Maria,
Did you read Merrick, Blackwood Farm, or Blood Canticle? Those books help fill in some of those blanks and bring the Mayfairs into the same orbit as her Vampires.
We have not talked about the Wolf Gift series or many of her other titles yet- we are keeping the main focus on the Vampires since this is leading up to the release of Prince Lestat. The only reason the Mayfairs are involved is because the series do cross over. I am hoping we can discuss her other titles in one the later chats.
I haven’t been able to read the Mayfair Witches yet, but I do own two of the novels. That’s partly why I haven’t read them yet, I am I own and have read all of the Vampire Chronicles, well all except the one that’s not out yet. Anne Rice is my favorite author. I know it’s not part of the novels listed, but I am also wanting to get the Wolf Gift novels as well.
Sorry, part of my post accidently got deleted when I was typing it. I was said the reason I haven’t read the Mayfair Witches yet is because I am missing the second novel.