The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned

Summary: Lawrence Stratford, wealthy London business man and prominent Egyptologist, has made the find of a lifetime: the tomb of a mummy, filled with Greek and Roman artifacts, but filled with scrolls that proclaim him to be Ramses II, the Pharaoh who had ruled 1000 years earlier. Ramses claims in these scrolls to be immortal - an eternal wanderer, teacher, and lover of Cleopatra - and that he is not dead, but merely sleeping beneath his mummy wrappings. However, Lawrence is murdered before he is able to truly investigate his discovery, and the mummy travels to London, to Lawrence's daughter, Julie. She's charmed by the story, but doesn't really believe it - until she sees the mummy come to life to save her from the same fate as her show more father. She's overwhelmed by Ramses - immortal as he claimed, intelligent, gorgeous, charming, and every inch a king - and is soon swept up in showing him the wonders of the early 20th century, even while trying to protect his secret from those who desire immortality for themselves. Unsurprisingly, she falls hopelessly in love with him, a love that can only be fully returned once Ramses has put his past behind him. But as they travel through modern-day Egypt, his memories of the past, and of his lost love threaten to engulf Ramses... and then a chance discovery at the Cairo Museum will lead him to commit an unspeakable act, one whose horrific consequences will resonate through the rest of eternity.

Review: I read this book so many times as a teen that it's impossible for me to give it a clear-headed evaluation now. While I can't tell how I would have reacted to it if this had been my first read-through (or even my tenth read-through), I was still able to pick out the things that kept me coming back time and time again. Anne Rice is a whiz at evoking historical periods, and her portrayal of colonial Egypt is no exception. The romance is epic and sweeping - hard to get any more epic when a literal eternity hangs in the balance. The characters are recognizable and multi-layered, and intensely sympathetic; it also doesn't hurt that Ramses is a hugely attractive leading man. Finally, Rice effectively plays on the horror conventions of her story on multiple levels - both in the straightforward horror-movie "the mummy walks!" way, but also in a more subtle way, when the characters and the reader are forced to contemplate the horrors of true immortality.

There were also a few things that I picked up on that probably would have annoyed me if this had been my first time reading the book. Rice is a fan of switching her POV character every few paragraphs, which is admittedly effective at moving the story along, but which I think is overused here, making the narrative seem a little jumpy. The main conflict also doesn't really show up until halfway through the book; the first part doesn't ever feel like it's dragging, but there is a somewhat abrupt shift. Finally, I wasn't quite as caught up in the romance this time around as I was half a lifetime ago; although Ramses was definitely still crush-worthy, I found him a wee bit whinier than I remembered.

But honestly, none of these things really mattered; I still enjoyed the heck out of this book - maybe not quite as much as I did when I was fourteen, but definitely enough to let it keep its place on my "favorites" shelf. 5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Is this one of Anne Rice's best books? No. Is it a thoroughly entertaining story? Yes. Is my current love for it based primarily on my fondness for it as a teen? Probably. Do I still think that anyone who likes books set in Egypt or fans of historical romance Gothic horror novels should give it a try? Absolutely! show less

This was the first book that I ever read with a romantic theme, and I've been hooked ever since. My books don't have to be genre romances, but they'd better have a romantic theme in them. Anyway, I read this when I was a sophomore in high school, and loved it. I wanted to find out if I'd enjoy it as much now that I'm thirty-four, and I can say that yes, it was just as good. It can be a bit melodramatic at times, but the action is riveting, and the relationships mesmerizing. Though slow to start, don't give up on this book, because the book is well worth reading even if you have to sludge through a few slow chapters. And I will say that all my romantic heroes are sized up against Ramses even though I was unaware of it until I read this show more book again, twenty years later. Seems that man never left me. LOL show less

Without a doubt, this is my favorite Anne Rice novel. It is refreshingly different and offers a unique twist to the usual mummy story. Perhaps my favorite element of the tale is the rich atmosphere Ms. Rice brings to Edwardian London and Egypt. The characters are well-drawn and believable and easily pull the reader in. The twist to the usual mummy tale creates a different sort of horror than the stereotypical shambling monster of golden-age Hollywood. I have to say I officially can not wait to read the sequel!

I would classify this as vintage Anne Rice. It is ridiculously over-the-top, almost laughably so, yet a fun enough read. It's just so... 1980s excessive. Lol.

Gabrielle's review nails it for me, especially the part that says:

"Of course Ramses is incredibly handsome and irresistible. Of course he learns English in like 5 minutes. Of course he can’t resist resurrecting Cleopatra when they find her mummified body. Of course that turns into a huge, violent mess with sexy interludes. It’s an Anne Rice novel, for Pete’s sake! But it’s also fun and I do love the kitschy homage to 19th century Egyptomania.

Rice apparently wrote a sequel, where Ramses and Cleopatra are reunited, but I don’t intend on reading it: I’m kind of over her

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emo immortals and bizarre psychosexual relationship dynamics. But “The Mummy” is good and silly Gothic fun."

I am raising my glass in a toast to Anne Rice's memory & legacy. I finished reading this book in front of a roaring fire, enjoying the excessive... everything... kind of like a Dallas/Dynasty/Miami Vice mash-up but with resurrected Ramses & Cleopatra. Lol. show less

The Mummy stands out as one of Ms. Rice's best standalone novels, and is even better than some of her Vampire books (the later ones, anyway) The read is entertaining and the characters are fluid. Not everyone might like this book, but the descriptions have the flair Ms. Rice used to have before her novels started to go sour (around Blackwood Farm/Blood Canticle) and I definitely loved reading this book.

Not that expected much from Anne Rice, I still expected better than this - a romanticised 'mummy' tale, not much horror and weak characters. The first pages seemed to promise so much, and after reading the whole book, I don't know, I felt cheated from some more interesting intrigue, more action, better characters, etc.

I suppose it could pretend to be a basic novel, but the whole thing felt like a 'copy and paste' cliché from old movies, with some modern writing thrown in, and, worse of all, the annoying bland characters make the whole thing suitable for people who actually *don't* like Anne Rice, which is a surprise. The mummy itself, Ramses, ended up looking like a complete Edwardian romantic fop! Maybe our modern tastes have been show more fashioned to expect strong lead characters and/or plots that would be out of the ordinary, I can't say, but seriously, I had expected to find some Anne Rice in Anne Rice. show less

I read this when it originally came out in 1989 and promptly forgot about it. I reread it this week because the second book was just released nearly 30 years later, co-authored by Anne Rice and her son Christopher who signed my copy of the book. I started the second novel and realized I really must re-read the first.

So, 30 years later, it is still a disappointing read. The most obnoxious character, Henry Stratford ends up a mummy, several more individuals are given the elixir for immortality and in general, everything was left up in the air in the original conclusion. That being said, it is a fast and somewhat engaging read - the characters of Samir and Elliot Rutherford as well as Ramses himself are interesting characters. And the show more newly arisen psychotic nature of Cleopatra has potential.

Clearly, given the Vampire Chronicles, Anne Rice is fascinated by the concept of immortality and continues to explore this concept. show less