The Mummy (Ramses the Damned, #1)

by Anne Rice

'[W]hen I found Rice's work I absolutely loved how she took that genre and (...) made [it] feel so contemporary and relevant' Sarah Pinborough, bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes

'[Rice wrote] in the great tradition of the gothic' Ramsey Campbell, bestselling author of The Hungry Moon

Ramses the Great has reawakened in opulent Edwardian London. Having drunk the elixir of life, he is now Ramses the Damned, doomed forever to wander the earth, desperate to quell hungers that can never be satisfied. He becomes the close companion of a voluptuous heiress, Julie Stratford, but his cursed past again propels him toward disaster. He is tormented by searing memories of his last reawakening, at the behest of Cleopatra, his beloved queen of Egypt. And his intense longing for her, undiminished over the centuries, will force him to commit an act that will place everyone around him in the gravest danger....

• ISBN10: 009947137X
• ISBN13: 9780099471370
• Publish Date: 4 November 2004 (first published 6 May 1989)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Cornerstone
• Imprint: Arrow Books Ltd
• Format: Paperback (A-Format (178x111 mm))
• Pages: 480
• Language: English

Reviews

[adastra]

A rich old archaeologist digs up the mummy of Ramses the Third, a former great king of Egypt and rumored immortal. Despite all the written warnings in the tomb, the archeologist takes the mummy to his home in England, where slowly but surely Ramses awakens from his 2000 year slumber. The inevitable happens as he falls in love with the archaeologists daughter, and eventually screws up.

The plot of this book is very stale, even a little disappointing. Part 1 is still sort of OK, but when the major events in Part 2 start happening, you just want to continually slap your forehead in disapproval. How can he be so stupid? Stupid stupid stupid!

The concept of immortality in this book is interesting - rather than being strong in the darkness as her vampires are, these immortals gain power from the sun and they ARE indestructible - not even fire or grinding their bodies can kill them. So they ARE doomed to walk the earth until this world ends, very much in a Captain Jack Harkness way.

I admit that Anne Rice's way of storytelling and her way of describing those handsome, radiant characters is quite enchanting, but with this book she could have done a better job on the general storyline. Especially the ending is a huge disappointment. It's an open ending, not 'ending' anything, and it promises more, but as far as I know there's nothing more. Anne Rice didn't write a continuation of this story since 1989 and I suppose she never will.

[Eve1972]

Good read!!