Ramses the Damned: The Reign of Osiris by Anne & Christopher Rice
Anne Rice is THE REASON I have
such a passion for reading. I first read Interview with the Vampire in
middle school and have been captivated by her story telling ever since. In all
honesty Ms. Rice has shaped the way that I perceive the world around me. Her
characters taught me to appreciate every single second of life and to find the
small wonders in even the most mundane things. I am happy to report that
Christopher's story telling is on the same level as his mother's. When I heard
that they were working on a sequel of Ramses the Damned together
I knew I had to read it. In fact, I knew before I even started the novel that
it would be epic! I am happy to report this novel lived up to every expectation
I had for a novel written by my favorite author.
Ramses the Damned: The Reign of Osiris is the third book of the Ramses series, originally created by the inventive mind of Anne Rice. She has created an epic tale of a well-known Egyptian pharaoh, Ramses the Great. History states that Ramses lived far longer than most of the populace during his reign, thus creating one of the most famous Egyptian dynasties. Anne creates a story to help explain how Ramses was able to live so long in a time when mortality rates were incredibly low. She reimagines him as an immortal that has survived for centuries aiding subsequent pharaohs in their reign. As someone who has read the previous two books, I was familiar with the background story, and I personally feel that readers should read the first two books to really appreciate this third installment.
Ramses the Damned: The Reign of Osiris is classic Anne Rice story telling. The way Anne describes her characters with such detail really puts her readers in the mindset of the character. As a reader, you can feel the turmoil and loneliness that Ramses feels as an immortal, as illustrated by the below quote:
"But his only companion had been the knowledge that he walked alone, experienced alone, learned alone, fell in love with mortals whose light would soon be snuffed out by time alone."
The utter loneliness of living a life watching everyone around you eventually wither and die, profoundly devastating...No wonder to the reader that he is described as Ramses the Damned, cursed to live a never-ending life of watching mortals die and kingdoms fall.
Ramses is fortunate though to have found someone to share his immortality within Julie, she is his life companion. When Ramses and Julie receive a letter in their London home from a woman proclaiming to be their queen with eight thousand years under her belt, they both question how many more of their kind there truly are. Their self-proclaimed queen, Bektaten, calls them to her ancient castle for a round table discussion about an upcoming war, but on the way to the castle Ramses and Julie experience a force that Ramses first encountered when he was a mortal pharaoh. This mysterious force awakens a memory in Ramses that he wrote off as a hallucination, but he soon comes to find out, what he experienced was an actual out of this world experience that no one else, mortal or immortal, has ever been witness to.
Ramses the Damned: The Reign of Osiris is an incredibly interesting novel explaining mortality and the idea of reincarnation. The vivid way in which Anne and Christopher detail what happens to the human soul after death left me breathless. Also thought provokingly, they mention the point of how mistranslations of historical text have caused arguments and wars for thousands of years. Misinterpretations of humanity's most important text have caused thousands to lose their lives. Some humans have made ancient text translations that have been proven to be completely wrong later in time, raising one to question all ancient language interpretations. This novel centers around one fool's misinterpretation of a text to put himself into power, and how twisted the human psyche can become with a false sense of power.
It has truly been an honor and privilege to review this advanced reader copy for Netgalley and Knopf Double Day Publishing Group!
Ms. Rice and Christopher, you have truly done it again, congratulations!
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