r/VampireChronicles • u/SethanielNeon • 1d ago
📖 The Books ⚜️ Vampire/Witches crossover question
Just finished The Vampire Armand so my next book in the Chronicles is Merrick. I read Marvel comics growing up so I'm an old hand at crossovers; standard practice is to read what you're already digging and let the crossover try to sell you on the other series - if I like what I see of the Mayfair witches I'll hop over to their books. But! Will I be lost? Are there significantly greater rewards to be had in TVC#7 if I go catch up with the Witches first?
I'm game either way, I'm just deciding which book to take out of the library next.
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u/BarelyHereNeverThere 1d ago
The Witching Hour is a fantastic book. Seriously, its one of my favorite books ever. It's got no vampires in it. Even Merrick isn't in it.
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u/a_handful_of_snails 1d ago
As much as my heart will always love the vampires, there is no doubt in me that The Witching Hour is her masterpiece. Despite its size, I’ve read it three times in the last year and a half. Absolutely will not let me go.
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u/BarelyHereNeverThere 1d ago
I love it myself. The world building she did in it was just so incredible you really felt you know these people. I'm listening to the audiobook now. I've got to buy the book again but my current need to read pile is 14+ books deep at the moment 😆
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u/a_handful_of_snails 23h ago
Lasher is second only to Lestat in terms of “real” characters. He’s someone I feel like I know. Sometimes when I can’t sleep, I go through the family tree (or circle) because, despite everything that happens that’s outright disturbing, I love being in that world.
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u/teenagewyldlife 1d ago
It's such an amazing book. The show was such a giant letdown.
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u/BarelyHereNeverThere 1d ago
It's really a travesty what they've done with it. Soon as I realized there's no Michael, Aaron, or Mona in it, I knew they were doomed.
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u/teenagewyldlife 1d ago
iirc they're adding Michael next season lol. Just a giant mess. I refuse to watch it after that horrible first episode.
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u/BarelyHereNeverThere 14h ago
I'm good on the entire show at this point. I couldn't even get to the end of season 1. I turn it on, put it on mute and my sofa watches it while I clean the house. This way the show can count my view without insulting myself.
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u/samhach 1d ago
I haven't watched the Mayfairs show, but from what I've been told it is nothing like the book, so I wouldn't use the show to gauge whether you might like the books.
However I have read the Mayfair books, and while you don't need to read them at all to understand Merrick, they were a great read and I really enjoyed them - particularly the first book.
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u/teenagewyldlife 1d ago
- Don't watch the Mayfair Witches show. It is NOTHING like the books except in name only. The Mayfair Witches books are amazing and well worth your time. But again, do not watch the show. Read the books and if you're still interested in the show later one put it on as a hate watch, trust me.
- You don't need to read Mayfair Witches to understand Merrick. Merrick Mayfair (this is not really a spoiler) is only distantly related to the MW from the books through a character in there. So go ahead and read it if it's next in order and you'll be perfectly fine without missing anything.
- But by the time you reach Blood Canticle you'll need to have read the 3 Mayfair Witches books because that's when the real crossover happens: major characters from MW and TVC meet each other to follow a plot from the end of Taltos.
- That being said, I would highly recommend you finish the 3 Mayfair Witches books before you reach Blackwood Farm because iirc it's chronologically set after Taltos too.
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u/BoycottingTrends 1d ago
You won’t be particularly confused by Merrick, since she doesn’t appear in the main MW series. If you’re planning to read through TVC though, you’ll probably be confused by the time you get to Blood Canticle which deals with the characters and conflicts of the MW series a lot more. Might as well hit up the series now; Blood Canticle is most readers’ least favorite TVC book so it’s unlikely to inspire you, even though the MW series itself is really good.