Rating: 
Summary: WONDERFUL,ENTERTAINING,INTRIGUING!!!
Review: I LOVE ALL OF ANNE RICE'S WORK IT IS WONDERFUL. EVERY TIME I HAVE READ ONE OF HER BOOKS- I AM TRANSFORMED TO ANOTHER PLACE, ANOTHER DIMENSION AND I FEEL FOR THE CHARACTERS. I LOVED ROWAN, AND FELT HER PAIN.. FELT HER HUSBAND'S PAIN WHEN HE FELT THERE WAS NOTHING HE COULD DO TO HELP HER. WONDERFUL! COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN!** TRUE FAN.
Rating: 
Summary: Entrancing yet rough and unpolished.
Review: Anne Rice to this day has not realized that character identification must be avoided or embraced not stradled. Her characters are among the most powerful and emotional in all of literature and have much to tell us about life yet in most of her works they are hard to identify with and care about to a large degree because of their wealth and perfect beauty among other things. Anne is far too capitolist minded. Anne asks us to pity them, but how when they have so much we do not. She asks us to envy them, but how when they are so shallow, cold and materialistic. She could learn from studying Werner Fassbinder and Anne Tyler two masters of opposite strategies with regards to perspective of the audience. 'Oh but do I pitty the sickeningly wealthy, godly powerful, stunningly beautiful, and immortal Lestat with his juvenile "my father did not love me and I am angry" antics'. These are the very same traits in many modern american authors that have isolated non-escapist readers for centuries. Despite that and a poor editing job this book is a marvelous attempt at creating yet another history such as that created in The Vampire Chronicles, and once again Anne tackles touchy and intriguing issues that most authors fear. However the entire series lacks the emotion and depth that her other novels capture so very well. The characters are not as interesting and no wonder as there is scarce little to care about them save for Lasher who is not dealt with in any real detail until the second novel. The novel is too stream of consciousness and Anne tends to go off on impertenant tangents and at times seems to forget her original train of thought. The family history is far too detailed, and must be reread numerous times to be remembered, and far too much superflous information is included about the family history that readers frankly are not likely to care about. This is so much so in fact that many readers do not survive half the novel. One wonders how Michael Curry finds the time to read the history before A! aron Lightner dies of old age. Much of this wordiness is not entirely Anne Rice's fault however, but rather more the result of a poor editing job. Despite its drawbacks, for those who survive the family history, the entire series is a great first read, but lacks the deeper meaning to life that is so like Louis, Armand and countless other Anne Rice characters. "I want to feel for the characters, understand them and learn from them"! For those who enjoy pure escapism it will be better enjoyed, but for those who value meaning and deeper understanding of the character, it is less enjoyable than her other works. In short this novel is interesting, but will not make you "feel". The Vampire Chronicles have far more to offer as does Violin, The Feast of all Saints and A Cry to Heaven among others. With considerable polishing this could have been an epic.
Rating:
Summary: This a great book anyone would enjoy.
Review: This was the first Anne Rice novel I ever read. Afterwards, I read anything of hers I could get in my hands. I really loved this book. The beginning was a little slow, but once I got to the family history part I couldn't put it down. Even if you didn't like Memnoch the Devil that much you will love this book and practically everything else she wrote. It wasn't too challenging (I read it when I was eleven or twelve), in case that's the only thing stopping you.
Rating: 
Summary: WHAT A CHORE!!!
Review: Dry,boring, and long-winded describe this horrible book. Maybe if I actually made it to the end I would have realized the point of the story, but I could only suffer through half of it. I quit during the reading of the "book within a book" in the middle of this sleep inducing creation. Absolutely painful.
Rating:
Summary: Very compelling plot, intricate character personalities.
Review: This book I couldn't put down, especially in the middle. The book spans a great lenght of time in the history of a family of witches. In true "Ann Rice" form you get intrigue, suspense, sex and a fantisy world you almost believe is real. A good read all around.
Rating: 
Summary: Endless Midnight
Review: I found the book to be so-so mainly because it was rather long-winded (as long-winded as Stephen King is with several books of his). I don't mind lengthy epics only if they don't get dull and boring, and overly detailed. However, I prefer to read between the lines and let my imagination do the rest. Indeed, Anne Rice is an excellent story-teller, and she should be; she possesses incredible prowess with her eloquent style of writing, of conveying thought and emotion, of graphically depicting locales in San Francisco and New Orleans. Of course, the geneal chronology of the Mayfair witches is the bulk of the book, as well as it plays an important part for what is yet to come. Yet, I'm not into "family tree" stuff. Last, but not least, I was disappointed with several elements of "The Witching Hour," one of which is incest (a topic of which does not sit well with this reader). For some reason, I wasn't too fond of Rowan or Michael, but I enjoyed Aaron Lightner's easy-going, analytical character. Plus, I had expected a lot more action (i.e., witchcraft, telekenesis, etc.) than was given in the book. I also enjoyed reading about Julien and Deidre, as well as I enjoyed the surprising (albeit shocking) shenanigans of Cortland. Moreover, I was disappointed with the book's ending; it was not what I'd expected or hoped for. My biggest problem with the book was that I was not able to recollect much of what had occured in previous chapters as I read along. I felt it was just too much and overly done. Just my two cents...
Rating:
Summary: In My Top 10 Favourite Books!!!
Review: This is a fabulous rich and detailed novel, which keeps you guessing with its intricate family details and horrors. I especially like the way the stories of the past witches are told through the records of the Talamasca. I am not fond of the folllow up novels, and feel this can stand alone, but I urge anyone who loves reading to take this novel and lock themselves away somewhere quiet for a while!
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down, didn't want it to finish!!
Review: Anne Rice came through. So far the best she has written. I love sagas that go on for generations, and this was it. The Witching Hour is exceptionaly written, it's intense, sensual, she has you actually believing that this family is real. I had me going every free minute I had. The sequels to this first one are good, but still the Witching Hour take the prize. Hurrah for Anne Rice.
Rating: 
Summary: A vibrant story idea, yet put to dull use.
Review: Hello I'm Angel Cassiel. This was an overall good tale-rich inviting settings, fairly interesting characters, but too much information on the history of the Mayfairs. The idea behind the story-a lineage of witches who carries an iniquity phantom during their lifetime was interesting, but the way she used the idea became a burden. The Mayfair history should have been severely edited. I mean the bulk of the book is about the Mayfair's history, but darn she could have summed it up in a couple of hundred of pages! She wrote in 3rd person view most of the time, and that became very annoying. I think dialogue is the better choice...you are pulled into the story more. Furthermore, the climax was pitiful-there wasn't any until the near end of the novel, and even that left questions dangling in the air... Those were my main dissatisfactions, but truly it is a fairly interesting read, it had its now and then uplifting tiny climaxes, but I'm hoping that the next novel in the series, "Lasher" will be much better... Angel C.
Rating:
Summary: Anne Rice at her very best!
Review: I have read almost all of Anee Rice's books (I had to put down Memnoch and SOTB for fear of being bored to death). The Vampire's are wonderful, A Cry to Heaven and The Feast were hauntingly beautiful. But none can touch this book. I almost started believing in Lasher. Of all of her books in all of her series this is the one that stays with me always. I think it is time to re-read it.
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