Ramses the Damned The Passion of Cleopatra by Anne Rice, Christopher Rice
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Was given to me through Negally. I was one of those people that actually went back and read The Mummy because I wanted to see how the two stories were connected. This review is my honest thoughts on how the story progresses.
This book continues two months after The Mummy, giving the reader enough time to realize that the biggest change is Julie’s eyes, they have been changed by a Fever or so everyone who asks her has been told but it’s the sign of immortal life. Julie and Ramses are now engaged while her almost husband Alex mourns the mysteries death of the women he met in Cairo. While some readers may complain that there are a substantial number of new characters to contend with I myself enjoyed seeing them weaved into the plot. I enjoyed reading the story and being lost in the locations and the dialogue and the agony depicted both between Ramses and Cleopatra both looking for Immortal Life and Immortal Love. I loved the character of Sybil the writer who was able write the history of Cleo while living her memories with her. I recommend this book to all die-hard fans and anyone who has read the first book and enjoyed it. This is my first read from Christopher Rice and I have to say they work together very well. If they plan on writing more please don’t wait another 30 years.

I loved this book. I love Anne Rice and Christopher Rice's collaboration and their take on Ramses and Ancient Egypt. It was such an interesting book, I couldn't put it down. Definitely a guilty pleasure

I enjoyed this book more than I expected. I had previously tried to read an Anne Rice novel, but stopped for health reasons. I have read the Claiming Beauty erotica series that she wrote.

This ended up being a really good book. The beginning started off kind of confusing with everyone going by multiple names and the viewpoint changing every chapter, but once you get the hang of the different names, the story starts to flow and it becomes really good.

I would recommend this book.

For authors with books and books of writing experience, the book has too many plot holes. I struggle to enjoy it as chapter by chapter the characters make decisions that defies their character and intelligence. Anne and Christopher Rice have experience in writing paranormal books, and this Ramses the Damned falls seriously short. I am just not convinced that someone who has spend years plotting and ruling a country can be gullible and naive! Although it is well written, who can deny the smoothness of the words, the plot and story are the ones bringing it down.

I did not read the previous book but understood (from other reviews) that this could be perfectly read a a stand alone.

I didn't finish it because I got bored with so many characters. I was expecting more credibility in the development of the story. For example, Ramses resurrected Cleopatra whose body was being exhibited in a museum; he then regrets resurrecting her and flees the museum; thus leaving Cleopatra to wake up and make sense of it all by herself. Next thing we know she is a Londoner!

For inmortal beings, Ramses and Cleopatra seem quite determined to copulate and marry humans.

I don't know how they could pass/live among us. The treasure that Cleopatra gave her love-toy Teddy, how was he able to make actual currency out of it?

All these new characters that keep appearing... I'm sure they have a purpose, but as I read I just didn't care.

I like stories that are believable and I just didn't buy these "mummies" living amongst us. Ramses resurrected and there are stories on the newspapers about it and that is just it?

I read a lot of Anne Rice before she went all religious and i havent read anything of hers since and this sounded really interesting so i thought i would give it a go.

Ramses was the prime minister for Cleopatra, he discovers an elixir that makes him immortal and Cleopatra begs him to give it to her lover Marc Anthony so they could create an immortal army, Ramses refuses and Cleopatra kills herself.

Ramses travels the world alone for the next few thousand years and then in the museum of Cairo in 1914 Cleopatras body is unearthed and Ramses goes to see her. Feeling guilty for what he did he pours the elixir over her mummified body and Cleopatra rises from the dead as an immortal.

Things do not go well for either of them as Ramses trys to find redemption and Cleopatra trys to find her soul which had been ripped away from her and is now living in another person.

It was a cracking good read, it takes you from Egypt to Alexandria, to London, Monte Carlo, and Yorkshire. It did get awfully religious and preachy at the end but i ca skip over that part..

From doing some research this is a reprint or rewrite of the Mummy which Anne Rice wrote in 1989, im not sure this can be classified as a sequel as its exactly the same story. Never the less it is still a good read.

I loved this book. Anne Rice is an amazing author who knows how to create characters that stick with you. This is the first book that I have read by Christopher Rice so I can now say the same thing about him. I have loved Anne Rice ever since I was a young girl and saw the movie "Interview with a Vampire" I have then slowly started reading her novels. Each one of her novels makes you think. The Passion of Cleopatra is no different.

The characters in this book were well developed and the plot was well developed. It was great to see how the story unfolded and I was genuinely pleased with the twists and turns that were present.

I will say, this was a long book to read. I struggled a bit to read it simply because I had audiobooks I was also reading. Just because it took me a little over a month does not mean that I didn't love the book. I just wanted to savour it.

All in all, I loved this book. It was beautifully written and had well developed characters that spoke to me as a reader. Hands down, this is a 5/5 star book!

I have not left a review because it would have been so bad. I did not finish reading this book. I am very disappointed because I read the original The Mummy and loved it. Too much exposition, not enough real dialogue makes for a boring book.

Ramses The Damned, The Passion of Cleopatra: Great for fans, other buyers.. maybe not as much

In the mid-1990's, I was an adolescent mess. I wore a studded dog collar and wallowed (happily) in angst. I listened to a lot of Joy Division and Nine Inch Nails; I had eyeliner tattooed on and wrote shitty poetry I believed was groundbreaking. I was young and frequently drunk off cheap liquor; pumped full of testosterone and teenage idiocy.

The stereotype you are surely forming of me is probably spot on, so it is no surprise I also read a lot of Anne Rice and Poppy Z Brite books. I distinctly remember picking up a copy of 'Interview with a Vampire' and was blown away by its existence, never realizing it was close to twenty-five years old at that point.

More relevant to today’s topic, During this same window I picked up a copy of 'The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned'. Unlike other Anne Rice novels, as I aged and my eyeliner faded, The Mummy stayed fresh in my mind. While still a fan, I grew out of my Anne Rice phase. Over the years, The Mummy showed staying power, sticking out in my longterm memory. It seemed to be underappreciated and infrequently read in my circles. This was a shameful fact as my opinion held it in high regard even as the vampire chronicles became passe and ignored.

Ramses the Damned: The Passion of Cleopatra (Anne Rice, Christopher Rice)
416 pages
Anchor publishing
ISBN-10: 1101970324
ISBN-13: 978-1101970324

PREORDER! November 21st Release date.
Buying a copy through this link supports this site but cost you no extra money.
Put it in the closet for an awesome x-mas gift.

This book was pretty good, but I have to recognize that my brain is applying some of the enjoyment thanks to nostalgia. This novel is categorized as "Good not great". I am not sure as to the details regarding the co-authorship via Anne and her son Christopher. Were they equal partners in the writing? Was he writing and only simply using her as a data source/sounding board? Was she dictating the entire thing and he was simply a keyboard transcription monkey? Unfortunately, though enjoyed, this was probably one of the least successful Rice novels I have read. It had areas of clumsy prose and it was guided by repetition. Interesting regardless.

The Rice duo are still bound to make a killing on it from folks in my generation. Rice fans will find this to be on par with other novels and will find this to be readable/variations of worthwhile. It was deeply detailed and verbose. Per the norm, the novel spends a great deal of time talking about clothing, food, and backstory. I know this is how Anne writes and it was not a big deal, though this is one reason why I have stayed away from her works in general over time. I have never read Christopher and have no experience with him to judge against.

If you are not an Anne Rice fan, this book is probably not going to be a great choice for you. Reading the original novel should be a prerequisite for any new readers. The Passion of Cleopatra should not be considered standalone, you will probably be driven nuts if you have to work through the knowledge gap organically via the inline character conversations. These same conversations (included to help allow this to be standalone) added fuel to some contrived language and lead by the nose plotline. The combination left very little to the imagination and was instead a tourist guide to the Ramses world.

Some spoilers follow as there is context needed in reference to the original novel.

The Passion of Cleopatra picks up where the original leaves off. The difficult bit is that the original novel is 28 years old. The Passion of Cleopatra is intended to rebuild that world and take the reins dropped back in '89.

In the 1989 novel, Ramses the Great, immortal and in love, shares his secret elixir with Julie Stratford causing her to also become immortal. They both collect sunlight like plants and will live as long as the sun shines on our Earth.

An insane Cleopatra, raised from a corpse by Ramses during a moment of utter idiocy, has been immolated in a fireball caused when two trains heavy-handedly crush the car she is driving. Everything is wrapped in a semi-nicely wrapped package and we are all left annoyed by lack of continuation, but satisfied. None of us believed there would ever be a sequel to it, though we believed one would be awesome. A sequel was probably highly requested but not long-term in the planning.

This new book rekindles the universe, bringing a different tale and a potential for more books to follow. For better or worse, I will likely read them. I won’t be able to help it.

Several months after the train accident, Ramsey and friends find that Cleopatra has survived the train crash and continues to lose her mind. Her homicidal tendencies appear to be mellowing as she begins to more firmly root in the new century. She is a creature without a home, out of time, and failing to gain or retain a sense of identity.

Introduced in this novel are a couple new faces:
1) Bektaten is an immortal queen of 6000 years and the elixir originator. She is what the Vampire novels "Queen of the damned" wishes she could have been. She is an imposing and regal character. -side note- Rice has named too many "damned" characters, this is not one of them, but there are tangential correlations and templatization that can be felt.

2) Anne Rice herself seems to be making an appearance as a key character named Sybil Parker. She has several chapters dedicated to her. Sybil is an American author known for writing complex and deeply detailed stories about ancient Egypt. It is a bit Meta, but this seems to be a thing for authors these days, so climb aboard.

3) Best characters, Bektaten's 6k-year-old servant/lovers. They are badasses, neither gets the page time they deserve.

Other characters in this novel are asinine at best. They could be deleted. In any follow-up novels, either Rice author may easily abstain from even mentioning them:

** Ramses spends the entire book chatting in circles and over explaining things. He fails to do anything of importance.

** Similarly, Julie Stratford is just scenery to help drive other story elements. The most fascinating thing about her is that she has fully adopted menswear against the turn of the century norms.
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Disclosure:
This book was provided for review purposes by the publisher. Similar to when the dentist asks what you do for a living while they are wrist deep in your mouth, the review process requires some drool and blood to communicate successfully. I am well brushed and cavity free, gently pushing the tools aside with my tongue to tell you that more nitrous is needed. If it hurts or feels good, I will advise. Remember to floss, kids.

Another great book by Anne and Christopher Rice. Same pacing and interesting characters. There are some really great scenes in this book including the dinner party where they are arguing ancient Egyptian history with Ramses himself. If you like Anne Rice books, you will love this one.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book since I have not read the first installment of the series. I am very familiar with Anne Rice's work and have devoured several of her books. The story was good and with writing was done very well. I don't feel as if I missed too much by not reading the first book but I will probably read it anyway. I enjoyed it but wasn't blown away.

Absolutely loved the saga of the Witches of Mayfair, and was excited to read something new and different from Anne Rice. Ramses is a strong, commanding guy, caught out of time and place and adapts extremely well.. The history was enthralling, and most of the characters very entertaining. Portrayal of Cleopatra was an interesting one. Overall very enjoyable novel.

I have also been a fan of Anne Rice and this book didn't disappoint. I loved the fast paced movement and the way the words flowed off the page. The beautiful prose, the sublime horror that weaves around this tale made me finish it in one sitting. I would highly recommend for anyone that loves a good scary tale.

I'm not sure what I expected from this book. It was a good read but didn't knock my socks off. Ramses is portrayed as a likable monster who finally finds a woman to love and take away his terrible loneliness. Set in the early 1900's in various locations around the world this book can stand alone. It is the 2nd book in a series.

I waited so long for this book I couldn't put it down when I got it. Now there is a whole crew of immortals out there, with Ramses and his Julie in the middle of it all. Great book and there could be another. Kind of left it wide open..

Thanks Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and netgalley for this ARC.

Out of this galaxy great, unparalleled, and pure Rice's kinda fiction that you can't beat. This novel covers so much of the questions I've always had in the back of my mind. It's also a completely new story that will blow people away.

Characters who are immortalized from a magical elixir weave in and out of the plot. An interesting and entertaining collaboration of two excellent writers.

Fans of Anne Rice have been waiting for years for this sequel to THE MUMMY. I think they will be thrilled with the product of their patience.

I was so surprised, although happily so, to see that this had been written. I absolutely love all of Anne's work and I was so excited to finally see another installment of The Mummy.

It did not disappoint either. From the action and suspense to the love and heart felt with this story and the epic world you are drawn into, this is definitely another amazing work of art.

This book is just full of beautifully sweeping words and descriptions, you can't help but be sucked in. I could not put this book down. I loved every minute of reading it.

I definitely hope we get another in this series sooner than this one. I thoroughly enjoyed this collaboration between Anne and her son Christopher.

Finally the sequel we've been waiting for since Anne Rice first released "The Mummy or Ramses the Damned" in 1989! Although I did reread "The Mummy" prior to reading this book, I found myself immediately enthralled with the story as if 28 years had never passed. The story picks up right after the ending of the first book with Cleopatra miraculously healed after her fiery car crash. Ramses and his newly immortal beloved Julie are enjoying their lives together, while shadowy figures seem to be hovering just out of sight. I don't want to reveal who they are and what their intentions are because that would be a major spoiler! However the part I enjoyed most about this book was the backstory of how Ramses became an immortal and the history of other immortals and their forgotten kingdoms. Also the challenges that face Cleopatra after her resurrection made me have sympathy and compassion for her character that I didn't in the first book. Thoroughly enjoyable book that I highly recommend!