Book Review: The Mummy or Ramses the Damned

Ramses the Great lives . . .

Reawakened in opulent Edwardian London, he becomes Dr. Ramsey, expert in Egyptology and member of a group of jaded aristocrats with strange appetites to appease. But searing memories of his last reawakening, at the behest of Cleopatra, burn in his immortal soul. For he has drunk the elixir of life and is now Ramses the Damned, doomed forever to wander the earth, desperate to quell hungers that can never be satisfied. And his most intense longing of all, a great love undiminished by the centuries, will force him to commit an act of unspeakable horror . . . (from back cover)

Review: I will admit that I approached this book with a great deal of trepidation after being warned about Anne Rice's writing style but I am happy to say that I enjoyed it much more than I thought would be possible. As far as the writing style, I enjoyed the detail included in the novel and found the two main characters endearing. I was afraid that her style was going to be comparable to Nathaniel Hawthorne in the Scarlet Letter with whole paragraphs devoted to one sentence and instead found that she included enough detail that the reader could easily envision the settings of London and Egypt without being overwhelmed. Another aspect of her writing that I found enjoyable was the pace of the novel; the story did not feel rushed nor did it drag.

As for the characters I could not help but to be drawn to Ramses with his mixture of worldly knowledge and amazement at what had changed since Cleopatra's time. His constant study for things that I would find dated intriqued me and further endeared his character to me. I did feel however that the rest of the characters were more of a backdrop for his story than maybe they should have been. Regardless of what I saw as this minor flaw the rest of the book was enjoyable.

Plans: This book has arrived safely in Japan.

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