Thursday, May 23, 2013

Lasher by Anne Rice

Title: Lasher
Author: Anne Rice
Publication Date: 1993
Length: 628

Warning: This is a review of the second book in the series, and may contain spoilers from the first book, The Witching Hour.

Rowan has run off with Lasher, and is now travelling the world with him. Apparently she has stayed with him because her scientific curiosity would not allow her to let him go (which, in my opinion, is straight up crazy). Somewhere along the way, she becomes his prisoner, and he continually tries to impregnate her, leading to multiple miscarriages. Meanwhile, Michael is looking for her, and the Mayfairs are dealing with the women in the family dying of miscarriages.

Later on in the book, Lasher tells his story, and we finally learn more about who he was before he became "the man" to the Mayfairs. It's strange, because Lasher often seems like a sympathetic character when he's telling his story, which is so at odds with his thoughtless cruelty in the present.

I know so many people who loved The Witching Hour and didn't like this book, which I just don't understand! I actually liked this one even better than the first. I especially like Mona Mayfair. I think most people don't like her because she's a young teenager who goes around having sex with older men. But as disturbing as that is, Mona's such a powerful character that I can't help but love her. She has the potential to be a very powerful witch, since she has more Mayfair blood than almost anyone else, thanks to the horrifying degree of incest in her family. (This book actually made me realise I need a family tree to understand the Mayfairs, which I have started creating on my computer, much like Mona did.) But Mona's also powerful in the more mundane ways. Despite her young age, she knows exactly what she wants and isn't afraid to go get it.

This is another one of those epic Anne Rice books. There's so much going on, I can't do justice to it all. You also get to learn a lot more about Julien Mayfair in this book. Lasher is a great continuation to The Witching Hour, and I can't wait to read the conclusion in Taltos.

5 stars.

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