Reading order
Lives of the Mayfair Witches reading order
1
2
3- 3 volumes
- Volumes
- 1990–1994
- Published
- about 35 h
- Reading time
- Completed
- Status
- Horror#10
- Genre
Quick answer
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Publication order
3 volumes1990–1994Completed
- Three novels in order: The Witching Hour, Lasher, Taltos.
- The first is a long, slow family history and by far the best of them; the two that follow answer questions it raises, and readers who stop after the first are not missing a cliffhanger.
- Worth knowing before you go further: Rice later folded the Mayfairs into the Vampire Chronicles, so Merrick, Blackwood Farm and Blood Canticle are Lestat books with Mayfair witches in them, not sequels to these three.
A plan for the whole series
3 volumes, 2,040 pages, about 35 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 7 weeks.
Share of volume 1’s readers who reach the last volume. Chance of reaching the last volume: medium
- The thickest volume runs 965 pages. One volume is one stage: a break after it, not the next volume.
- Readers scored volume 2, “Lasher”, below its predecessor (7.4 after 7.8). If you slow down there, that is on the book, not on you.
Stages
2 stages, with 1 short book from outside the series between them. You finish around December 27, 2026, 9 days later than in one go.
- Stage 118 habout 3 weeksby November 22, 2026
- BreakMaus · Art Spiegelman · 295 pp. · score 9.0
- The end of the series
We count 1.1 min per page, the pace of an average novel reader. Faster? Move the slider.
Does the series hold up
Shape of the series: best at the start. Readers scored the first volumes (7.8) above the last ones (7.5).
Best volume: The Witching Hour (7.8, 198 ratings). Weakest: Lasher (7.4). The series is complete; you can read it start to finish with no waiting. The last volume (7.5) scores close to the series average or above it.
How this plan is calculated
The plan comes from the pages and ratings of each volume: we split the series into stages of about three weeks’ reading, size each break to the stage before it, and read the chance of finishing from how many readers rate the last volume compared with the first. How we work out the plan →
Every volume in order
Order checked by hand · Order and years: Wikidata (CC0). Spotted an error? Tell us. · Data updated October 29, 2026
Lives of the Mayfair Witches books ranked, best to worst
- 1.The Witching HourBook 1 · 19907.8
- 2.TaltosBook 3 · 19947.5
- 3.LasherBook 2 · 19937.4
Frequently asked questions
Which Lives of the Mayfair Witches book is the best?
By reader score, The Witching Hour (7.8/10). The lowest-rated is Lasher (7.4/10).
Which Lives of the Mayfair Witches book is the longest?
“The Witching Hour” is the longest at 965 pages; the shortest is “Taltos” with 485 pages.
What should I read after Lives of the Mayfair Witches?
Other series by Anne Rice: New Tales of the Vampires dylogy, The Vampire Chronicles, The Sleeping Beauty Quartet.
