Rating: 
Summary: Only in the south....
Review: A truly enveloping story, if a bit slow to start. The family history is fascinating, and makes me wish she would release 'prequels', particularly involving Julien and Stella. Rice has an amazing power to write about a world that would be completely foreign to the rest of us, yet she makes us feel like we've lived there all our lives. I feel like I could walk the streets of New Orleans and not get lost.
Continued in this story is also the Talamasca, the scholarly group of paranormal researchers. The concept of the Talamasca is another thing that has kept me reading her books for so long. Not only are the agents made into completely loveable (or hateable) characters, the whole idea of a huge, secret organization dedicated to revealing the truth about paranormal phenomena is just...incredible. I wish she would create books of the Talamasca's files.
Overall, while I found the Witching Hour a tad slow to start, and a sad story in the end (a bit of a let down, to be honest) I still enjoyed it greatly, although I will admit it was the family history that drew me into it in the first place.
And one final comment: if you tried to trace the Mayfair family tree on a computer, it would blow up.
Rating: 
Summary: a Masterpiece
Review: I must admit when I first saw this book the length frightened me more than the topic. At 1000+ pages it is definitely a lengthy read but definitely worth it. I was captivated from the moment I started and I couldn't put the book down till I was finished. Not at all like ordinary witches with brooms and cauldrons these are merely about people and spirits and amazing powers. From present day you are taken back into the history and back to present day again. Your journey takes you so far it's as if you've lived the life with the Mayfair family. Rice's descriptions made this story so real and it enchante dme in every sense. With much coaxing, I finally got my husband to read it and he can't put it down either. I went out and purchased the next two in the series and they didn't disappoint although this is still my favorite of the three. For those who are intimadated by its size, I urge you to at least try. I guarantee you'll be mesmerized within the first few chapters that you won't even want the book to end.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it!
Review: I loved this book. It took me to a whole new world. I didn't want to stop reading. I lost many hours of sleep in her books. All I wanted to do is start on the other books to know what was going to happen next. I was in suspence! After you read this go for Lasher and Taltos, you will crave more!!! Also, tell Anne Rice we need more of The Lives of the Mayfair Witches!
Rating:
Summary: read it!
Review: Its not as good as her Vampire Chronicles, but it's Anne Rice, its gotta be good!! Excellent book!! If your a Rice fan, you will enjoy it!
Rating:
Summary: An Addictive Storytelling By The Fireplace
Review: ...This book is the beginning of an addictive series that reads more like a historical documentary of one family's witchcraft practices, embellished by drama and other-wordly sexual experiences. It begins on the grounds of a mansion that is wrapped up in mystery and strange occurences, and then moves on to describe it's owner, Deidre, who is mysteriously catatonic, and eventually, all the other witches before her. Rice's own real-life mansion sets the stage for this story. The story deals with an evil entity or ghost that has been with the witches since time immemorial, who gives them power and also gives them a heck of alot of sexual pleasure. What the characters can't seem to figure out is exactly why this entity is so attatched to the family, nor why he seems so manipulative. The Talamasca, (whom, if you recall, are also involved in her Vampire series) have been observing the family for centuries, trying to watch without intruding, which becomes a challenge for some of them after some time. Readers will eventually learn how the witches and that organization are more intertwined than one would have realized. As the story moves in into the sequels, the reader learns there is much more to this story than mere witchcraft. The story goes all the back through time, the way "Queen of the Dammed" ended up all the way back in Egypt, hence, making the tale of the Mayfair witches a complex story with many dimensions. This series is so well written that after awhile it made me wonder if these events really took place. Just like her Vampire series, she is not afraid of letting her powerful witches be human. I love it. I recommend this book to those who like stories that are too good to end! LV
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece! Her best novel!
Review: Anne Rice is a unique, imaginative and fantastic writer and The Witching Hour is her best novel. The visual descriptions, fascinating characters and rich history will obsess (and disturb) you long after you finish the book. Her later books in this series fall short in comparision, but this one is truly a masterpiece.
Rating: 
Summary: Too long with a touch of BORING
Review: Well, this book is over 1000 pages long.
The story drags on and after i reached the middle i had to finish it.
Ending without any sense, no clear explanation (so you will buy the next book hoping to make some sense of what you just suffered through) and too many pointless monologs.
I would classify this book as soft porn for the bored.
Rating:
Summary: BEST BOOK EVER
Review: I'll admit, when I first got my hands on this book, I was a little intimidated by the length. Let me tell you, it was worth reading. Anne Rice doesn't just tell a story, she creates a myth in this book. You just can't put the book down. THEY BETTER MAKE A MOVIE FROM THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: As only Anne Rice can.
Review: I read this book waiting for the next of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles and frankly thought I wouldn't enjoy it because of my lack of interest in witchcraft and found Merrick to be a subpar portion of the Vampire Chronicles. From the first line of the book, through the first five hundred pages, I was hooked. Anne Rice expertly, tediously, meticulously creates entire worlds, entire cultures, legacies, points-of-reference. The intesity of her research shines through each casual detail, and the realistic after-taste of each of the chapters speaks to Anne Rices particular skill to construct chillingly convincing worlds of evil and the preternatural. A definite read for any Anne Rice fan.
Rating: 
Summary: Eloquently written, but too long and tedious.
Review: The story in this novel is amazingly engrossing. Rowan, the unkowing benaficiary of an enormous legacy, and youngest member of the Mayfair witch coven, rescues a middle-aged man from drowning one stormy night off the San Francisco coast. The story then turns to Michael, who awakens with fragments of visions from his out of body experience, and a frightening telepathis ability. Determined to find out the details of his drowning, he tracks down Rowan...and finds himself in love. However, one thing stands between Michael and Rowan...the Mayfair legacy, and the jealous spirit, Lasher, that comes with it.
Anne Rice has one again woven a plot that will keep even the non-bookworms on the edge of their seat, but she ruins the book by interrupting the amazing plot, and slapping the long and tedious Mayfair history right down in the middle of it. (Michael is given a file on the Mayfairs to read by a man who has studied the family from afar, so he can learn more about Rowan) Although intresting, the "file" takes up about half of "The Witching Hour", when it could have been condensed into about two chapters. This ruins the entire book.
By the time I reached the end of the "file" I was extremely tired of the book, and didn't get as much enjoyment from the story's amazing climax and surprise ending as I would have had the "file" not been there.
The worst part is that, in order to understand the book, it is absolutely necessary to read the boring stuff.
It makes me wonder what happened to the charm of "Interview with the Vampire", which first got me hooked on Anne Rice.
My advice: skip this one.
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