Ramses the Damned: The Passion of Cleopatra

Anne Rice &‎ Christopher Rice

Average Rating 7/10 ( Review)

From the iconic and bestselling author of The Vampire Chronicles, a mesmerizing, glamorous new tale of ancient feuds and modern passions. The tale of Ramses the Great continues. A glorious, fantastical romp of ancient times and the Edwardian age - set in 1914, that began with Anne Rice's extravagant and compelling bestselling saga, The Mummy, and continues with this long-awaited new novel in the Ramses series.

Ramses the Great, former pharaoh of Egypt, is reawakened by the elixir of life in Edwardian England. Now immortal with his bride-to-be, he is swept up in a fierce and deadly battle of wills and psyches against the once-great Queen Cleopatra. Ramses has reawakened Cleopatra with the same perilous elixir whose unworldly force brings the dead back to life. But as these ancient rulers defy one another in their quest to understand the powers of the strange elixir, they are haunted by a mysterious presence even older and more powerful than they, a figure drawn forth from the mists of history who possesses spectacular magical potions and tonics eight millennia old. This is a figure who ruled over an ancient kingdom stretching from the once-fertile earth of the Sahara to the far corners of the world, a queen with a supreme knowledge of the deepest origins of the elixir of life. She may be the only one who can make known to Ramses and Cleopatra the key to their immortality - and the secrets of the miraculous, unknowable, endless expanse of the universe.

'It's got the Edwardian feel that we've come to expect of Anne Rice's best novels, and it's got something more ... Tying feudal pasts with modern passions, Anne Rice and Christopher Rice have crafted a supreme sequel.'

'An entertaining soap opera replete with romantic alliances, betrayals, and ends left tantalizingly loose as grist for sequels. Fans of both authors' work will enjoy this one.'

Review by Nigel (311217) Rating (7/10)

Review by Nigel
Book Source: Publisher
Rating 7/10
Ramses the Damned: The Passion of Cleopatra by Anne Rice and‎ Christopher Rice is the long awaited sequel to the 1989 novel The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned. It is set immediately after the events told in The Mummy and the story continues with Cleopatra alive but not so well.

Unfortunately I have not read the first book and although this story did stand on its own I felt at times I was missing some fundamental background information. While the first few chapters do try to assuage this they are more refreshers for readers who know the original story from their dim and distant past (28 years is a long time to mere mortals after all). I tried to get a copy for the kindle but is wasn’t available… seems a basic marketing mistake given the cost of publishing on the platform; there must be potential sales with the release of the new book, even if it is old fans wanting an ebook version for their current device.

The first half of the book was mainly background setting up all the characters for the second half. While not a problem it did seem to drag somewhat, however, once the action started as the characters came together I began to enjoy the story more for the page-turner I was expecting.

The book ended well leaving plenty of scope for future instalments while still tying up this novel nicely. A must for fans who enjoyed the first book and not a bad addition to the genre in its own right, however, I personally think the first half could have been better paced, particularly for its target audience who will be very familiar with the immortal life described.
Nigel (31st December 2017)