Genre Fiction
![Christopher Rice - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B001IGNJ94.jpg)
Ramses the Damned: The Reign of Osiris
The gilded adventures of Ramses the Damned, iconic creation of the legendary bestselling author, continue in this breathtakingly suspenseful tale of a titanic supernatural power unleashed on the eve of war.
A pharaoh made immortal by a mysterious and powerful elixir, Ramses the Great became counselor and lover to some of Egypt's greatest and most powerful rulers before he was awakened from centuries of slumber to the mystifying and dazzling world of Edwardian England. Having vanquished foes both human and supernatural, he's found love with the beautiful heiress Julie Stratford, daughter of Lawrence Stratford, the slain archeologist who discovered his tomb. Now, with the outbreak of a world war looming, Ramses and those immortals brought forth from the mists of history by his resurrection will face their greatest test yet.
Russian assassins bearing weapons of immense power have assembled under one command: all those who loved Lawrence Stratford must die. From the glowing jewels at their necks comes an incredible supernatural force: the power to bring statues to life. As Ramses and his allies, including the immortal queens Cleopatra and Bektaten, gather together to battle these threats, Ramses reveals that the great weapon may have roots in an ancient Egyptian ritual designed to render pharaohs humble before Osiris, the god of the underworld. The resulting journey will take them across storm-tossed seas and into the forests of northern Russia, where they will confront a terrifying collision of tortured political ambitions and religious fervor held in thrall to a Godlike power. But the true answers they seek will lie beyond the border between life and death, within realms that defy the imagination of even an immortal such as Ramses the Great.
In Ramses the Damned: The Reign of Osiris, Anne Rice, revered and beloved storyteller ("queen of gothic lit, the maestro of the monstrous and the diva of the devious" --The Philadelphia Inquirer), in collaboration with her son, acclaimed bestselling novelist Christopher Rice ("a magician; a master" --Peter Straub), bring us another thrilling, seductive tale of high adventure, romance, history, and suspense.
AN ANCHOR ORIGINAL
A pharaoh made immortal by a mysterious and powerful elixir, Ramses the Great became counselor and lover to some of Egypt's greatest and most powerful rulers before he was awakened from centuries of slumber to the mystifying and dazzling world of Edwardian England. Having vanquished foes both human and supernatural, he's found love with the beautiful heiress Julie Stratford, daughter of Lawrence Stratford, the slain archeologist who discovered his tomb. Now, with the outbreak of a world war looming, Ramses and those immortals brought forth from the mists of history by his resurrection will face their greatest test yet.
Russian assassins bearing weapons of immense power have assembled under one command: all those who loved Lawrence Stratford must die. From the glowing jewels at their necks comes an incredible supernatural force: the power to bring statues to life. As Ramses and his allies, including the immortal queens Cleopatra and Bektaten, gather together to battle these threats, Ramses reveals that the great weapon may have roots in an ancient Egyptian ritual designed to render pharaohs humble before Osiris, the god of the underworld. The resulting journey will take them across storm-tossed seas and into the forests of northern Russia, where they will confront a terrifying collision of tortured political ambitions and religious fervor held in thrall to a Godlike power. But the true answers they seek will lie beyond the border between life and death, within realms that defy the imagination of even an immortal such as Ramses the Great.
In Ramses the Damned: The Reign of Osiris, Anne Rice, revered and beloved storyteller ("queen of gothic lit, the maestro of the monstrous and the diva of the devious" --The Philadelphia Inquirer), in collaboration with her son, acclaimed bestselling novelist Christopher Rice ("a magician; a master" --Peter Straub), bring us another thrilling, seductive tale of high adventure, romance, history, and suspense.
AN ANCHOR ORIGINAL
Editorial Reviews
"[A] rousing blend of adventure, romance, and the supernatural. . . . Though the Rices endow their characters with outsize superhero powers, they also give them an appealing introspective side that humanizes them throughout their challenging adventures. The authors have found a winning formula." -Publishers Weekly
"Full of dazzling scenery, powerful immortals, and the rebirth of ancient magic, the latest addition to the Ramses the Damned series (after The Passion of Cleopatra, 2017) ties up loose ends in a gratifying way, ensuring that longtime readers will be left happy and very hungry for more. . . . Building on the solid foundation of two previous books, the authors are able to delve deeper into an incredibly diverse world, fleshing out relationships, throwing new light on the alchemy of immortality, and showcasing a clever type of magic that will impress even the most seasoned fantasy reader." -Booklist
"Full of dazzling scenery, powerful immortals, and the rebirth of ancient magic, the latest addition to the Ramses the Damned series (after The Passion of Cleopatra, 2017) ties up loose ends in a gratifying way, ensuring that longtime readers will be left happy and very hungry for more. . . . Building on the solid foundation of two previous books, the authors are able to delve deeper into an incredibly diverse world, fleshing out relationships, throwing new light on the alchemy of immortality, and showcasing a clever type of magic that will impress even the most seasoned fantasy reader." -Booklist
Readers Top Reviews
Kindle
I am honored to have been selected to read and review a novel written by the great Anne and Christopher Rice, and at the time that I’m reading this, she has passed away. Ramses The Damned was the first Anne Rice’s novel that I’ve read. Ms. Rice was well known for her dark writing and I was looking forward to reading this novel. I have always meant to read her novels, especially “Interview With a Vampire '', which has always been one of my favorite films. I have not read the previous two Ramese novels, which put me at a disadvantage, as a result, my review will be exclusive to the third installment. At the fifty percent mark of the novel, I’m having trouble following the plot,which was mainly because this was number three in a trilogy and this was creating gaps in the story. The first novel was published in 1991, the second installment publishing date was 2017, and this final novel comes out this Feburary. This novel is not a stand alone, so the reader is at a disadvantage having not read the previous two. The writing was fajoyed Ms. Rice’s descriptive writing,her words made it easy to imagine the characters and the historical landmarks. Ramese was brought back to life in Edwardian England during the period before the first World War. Ramses fell in love with Julie Strafordand and it was her father Lawrence, who discovered Ramese’s tomb and brought him back to life. I found it humorous reading Ramese the King driving a car. Even though I had difficulty following the plot there is no doubt that this is a five star novel.
I first discovered Anne Rice back in the mid-80s. Vampire Lestat had just released and was getting a ton of press and so got me interested in the series. Read Interview with the Vampire over a couple of days and instantly became a massive fan of Anne’s work. Then in ’89 The Mummy came out and I absolutely loved it and when I got the end I was thrilled to see a message saying that the adventures would continue. Well I waited…and waited…and waited. It was just shy of two decades before Anne made got on that promise and delivered The Passion of Cleopatra. By the time it released I had read and re-read the original many many times and I’ll be the first to admit my excitement and expectations for the sequel were unrealistic. That being said, it was a pretty good book in its own right, though of course the original is still my favorite. And after reading the newest book in the series: The Reign of Osiris, the first book is still my favorite, though fans of the series will not be disappointed. Now I must admit I had trouble writing this review, trouble being objective because Anne Rice passed away while I was in the process of reading Reign of Osiris. I waited a while before attempting this review but I still find it hard to be objective. Like the previous book, Anne wrote this one with her son Christopher. While I don’t know which of them took the lead on writing this one and perhaps it’s merely silly sentimentality on my part, but it felt very much like classic Anne Rice with vidid characters and a rich and complex storyline. I’d like to thank Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Anchor, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of Reign of Osiris.
Danielle Greenman
As if the the didn’t skip a beat , I enjoyed it very much! I hope to have more great reads from Rice
VEdwardsDanielle
I loved the newest book in the Ramses the Damned series. I hope there will be more and they will somehow intertwine with the Vampire and Mayfair Witches characters. The only issue I had was the mention of the removal of statues from the Orthodox Church toward the end of the novel. There are NO statues in any Orthodox churches, only icons.
NotNutmegVEdwards
Can’t put it down. This could be the best diet ever!🤣🤣🤣my poor family can eat cereal till I’m done. UPDATE: I’m done- exhausted. It was amazing! I need more! This book is a keeper. My husband is next to read it. He loves her books as well. It’s REALLY that good! Don’t pass it but thinking it’s just another AR vampire book- it’s not! My mind was blown 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Short Excerpt Teaser
1
Brogdon Castle
She was no stranger to war.
She had walked the fields of many plagues through the centuries, offered healing and comfort to the mortals who lay dying there.
She had borne witness to the fall of kingdoms, knew well the tastes and scents and sounds that split the air before a world was shattered by an apocalyptic storm.
Bektaten felt those things now. They rode the brisk, ocean winds that swept her long walks atop the sea-facing cliffs. They drummed against the stone walls of the Norman castle she had so recently restored. They rose high above the English Channel, spun off by the thunderheads rolling over the German Empire.
War was coming.
But the reports from her spies throughout the world, her beloved Heralds of the Realms, had convinced her this cataclysm would have no precedent in history, and so her eight thousand years of immortal life could not prepare her for it. Cannons that could turn a battalion of soldiers to a sea of charnel would soon be rolled into battle. Machinery that once defied imaginations would service an interlocking web of conflict unlike any she'd ever seen. All the great nations of Europe would soon be embroiled.
She could feel the coming thunder of it in her unbreakable bones.
And so she retired to her library with its leather-bound volumes containing her ancient journals, where the great mastiffs she had recently rescued watched her attentively from all corners of the stone-walled room. Outside, the Celtic Sea roared against the bases of the cliffs on which her castle stood, but within her citadel she could hear only the drumbeat of war. She lifted her pen to paper and she wrote. She wrote to all the immortals who had so recently been placed under her care. Immortals who'd been rendered so without her consent, but through the power of an elixir she had created thousands of years before.
She wrote to them of the war she feared and the temptations it would place before them all. When she was through, her loyal servants, Enamon and Aktamu, would make all the necessary copies of the letter and see that it was delivered to all of the recipients addressed therein. To Ramses the Great, once Ramses the Damned, and his immortal lover, Julie Stratford. To the dashing and mysterious Elliott Savarell, who she'd yet to meet. And to the American novelist Sibyl Parker and the immortal to whom she was still mysteriously connected, a woman who may well be the risen Cleopatra herself. She wrote to this Cleopatra as well, sweeping aside the question of whether or not she was truly Egypt's last queen reborn, or a fragmented clone residing within her resurrected skin and bones.
Essential to address them all as one, as if they sat collectively before her. For how else to impress upon them that they were an alliance, a council in the making. The first citizens of a new kingdom that must endure within the shadows and gaps of knowledge that defined mortal humanity.
With each stroke of the pen, she tried to summon her wisdom and her experience, hoping it would form a river of strength through the fear that dominated her thoughts.
She knew it essential to write them, not just as their queen, but as their compatriot, and so she began by opening her ancient heart.
You are my children now, all of you, and given the extent of all that I must protect here at my citadel atop the windswept cliffs of Cornwall, you are my subjects too. And so I share these words with confidence that you will each place flame to paper once you have absorbed the contents of this letter so as to conceal from history the many secrets alluded to within these pages.
The events which drew us all unexpectedly together have reached their conclusion. Saqnos, the prime minister of my ancient kingdom, who for thousands of years strived to steal from me the formula for the pure elixir, has been vanquished, along with his acolytes, the fracti.
I grieve Saqnos. I cannot be untruthful about this. He was once my lover and prime minister before he turned traitor, before he was lost to his rage over the fact that I had kept my discovery of the secret to eternal life from him. But he was one of but a handful of witnesses to the glory and expanse of Shaktanu, our fallen kingdom, our ancient world. With him died memories of glittering palaces now ground to dust by time, great sailing ships lost to the winds of history, of a forgotten time when the Sahara, now desert, was dappled with crystalline pools and glistening rivers and trees that shifted lazily in temperate winds. These were the gardens of a kingdom that was spoken of by the ancient world, as Atlantis is now spoken of by this modern one.
But the destruction of Saqnos is but a prologue to what I wish to sh...
Brogdon Castle
She was no stranger to war.
She had walked the fields of many plagues through the centuries, offered healing and comfort to the mortals who lay dying there.
She had borne witness to the fall of kingdoms, knew well the tastes and scents and sounds that split the air before a world was shattered by an apocalyptic storm.
Bektaten felt those things now. They rode the brisk, ocean winds that swept her long walks atop the sea-facing cliffs. They drummed against the stone walls of the Norman castle she had so recently restored. They rose high above the English Channel, spun off by the thunderheads rolling over the German Empire.
War was coming.
But the reports from her spies throughout the world, her beloved Heralds of the Realms, had convinced her this cataclysm would have no precedent in history, and so her eight thousand years of immortal life could not prepare her for it. Cannons that could turn a battalion of soldiers to a sea of charnel would soon be rolled into battle. Machinery that once defied imaginations would service an interlocking web of conflict unlike any she'd ever seen. All the great nations of Europe would soon be embroiled.
She could feel the coming thunder of it in her unbreakable bones.
And so she retired to her library with its leather-bound volumes containing her ancient journals, where the great mastiffs she had recently rescued watched her attentively from all corners of the stone-walled room. Outside, the Celtic Sea roared against the bases of the cliffs on which her castle stood, but within her citadel she could hear only the drumbeat of war. She lifted her pen to paper and she wrote. She wrote to all the immortals who had so recently been placed under her care. Immortals who'd been rendered so without her consent, but through the power of an elixir she had created thousands of years before.
She wrote to them of the war she feared and the temptations it would place before them all. When she was through, her loyal servants, Enamon and Aktamu, would make all the necessary copies of the letter and see that it was delivered to all of the recipients addressed therein. To Ramses the Great, once Ramses the Damned, and his immortal lover, Julie Stratford. To the dashing and mysterious Elliott Savarell, who she'd yet to meet. And to the American novelist Sibyl Parker and the immortal to whom she was still mysteriously connected, a woman who may well be the risen Cleopatra herself. She wrote to this Cleopatra as well, sweeping aside the question of whether or not she was truly Egypt's last queen reborn, or a fragmented clone residing within her resurrected skin and bones.
Essential to address them all as one, as if they sat collectively before her. For how else to impress upon them that they were an alliance, a council in the making. The first citizens of a new kingdom that must endure within the shadows and gaps of knowledge that defined mortal humanity.
With each stroke of the pen, she tried to summon her wisdom and her experience, hoping it would form a river of strength through the fear that dominated her thoughts.
She knew it essential to write them, not just as their queen, but as their compatriot, and so she began by opening her ancient heart.
You are my children now, all of you, and given the extent of all that I must protect here at my citadel atop the windswept cliffs of Cornwall, you are my subjects too. And so I share these words with confidence that you will each place flame to paper once you have absorbed the contents of this letter so as to conceal from history the many secrets alluded to within these pages.
The events which drew us all unexpectedly together have reached their conclusion. Saqnos, the prime minister of my ancient kingdom, who for thousands of years strived to steal from me the formula for the pure elixir, has been vanquished, along with his acolytes, the fracti.
I grieve Saqnos. I cannot be untruthful about this. He was once my lover and prime minister before he turned traitor, before he was lost to his rage over the fact that I had kept my discovery of the secret to eternal life from him. But he was one of but a handful of witnesses to the glory and expanse of Shaktanu, our fallen kingdom, our ancient world. With him died memories of glittering palaces now ground to dust by time, great sailing ships lost to the winds of history, of a forgotten time when the Sahara, now desert, was dappled with crystalline pools and glistening rivers and trees that shifted lazily in temperate winds. These were the gardens of a kingdom that was spoken of by the ancient world, as Atlantis is now spoken of by this modern one.
But the destruction of Saqnos is but a prologue to what I wish to sh...
