About this title: Ramses the Great lives but having drunk the elixir of life he is now Ramses the Damned, doomed to wander the Earth seeking to quell hungers for food, for wine and for women. When he awakens in the drawing room of a house in Edwardian London he becomes infatuated with a beautiful shipping heiress.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
"I picked up this book because I'd read Interview With A Vampire and wasn't that fussed. I thought I'd give Anne Rice a second chance by picking something completely unrelated.
Julie Stratford's archaeologist father uncovers the tomb of Ramses the Great, a pharaoh said to be immortal. The archaeologist is promptly murdered and the mummy shipped to Julie in early 20th Century England. Ramses revives in time to save Julie from being similarly murdered and the pair fall in love. The remainder of the book is spent introducing Ramses to modern times and keeping the elixir that rendered him immortal from falling into the wrong hands.
I can't say that I was all that fussed on this book either. It started out well, but there seemed to be no real depth to the characters. They appeared to be more driven by the story rather than the other way around. Nor did they seem to grow at all, unless you count Alex becoming more cynical or Julie becoming more and more the helpless female. Ramses obsession with Cleopatra seemed forced, considering he was supposed to be in love with Julie.
The ending was disappointing, with no real resolution at all. It actually left me wondering whether there was supposed to be a sequel, there were so many loose ends.
All in all, not my cup of tea. It wouldn't surprise me, though, if it went through a bit of a revival with Twilight being such a big hit and the current surge in popularity that paranormal romance is undergoing."
"Not one of my favourites. Compared to the Vampire Chronicles, this book felt forced and failed to engage my attention or interest. The ides is interesting; it just fails to deliver that "umph" to make the reader care about the characters."
"I love anything that has to do with Egypt, and this book was an amazing find. Ms. Rice channels the romance of Victorian England as well as the passion of Ancient Egypt. I was disappointed to learn that it does not belong in a series, it would make a good basis for one."
"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."
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
