The Mummy Review

From Goodreads:
The Mummy or Ramses the Damned by Anne Rice

In The Mummy Anne Rice weaves the same magic for the world and history of mummies that she previously did for the worlds and mythologies of vampires and witches. Ramses the Great lives, but having drunk the elixir of life, he is now Ramses the Damned, doomed forever to wander the earth, desperate to quell certain mummy hungers that can never be satisfied!

I recently re-read this book.  I remember really liking it the first time I read it, back in my early 20's.  It's still a good read, full of intriguing history- both Egyptian and Edwardian England, it's got an almost Gothic like romance and it's got a hot "mummy".   It was a nice break from vampires, zombies and werewolves, although Ramses is closer to a vampire than an actual mummy.

Julie Stratford is our heroine, and she's wonderfully independent and intelligent.  Her father discovers the tomb of Ramses the Damned and dies a mysterious death (well, not that mysterious to the reader, but I don't want to spoil anyone too much) and the mummy and artifacts are brought to England to be displayed at the museum.  But first they are placed in the Stratford home, and it is there that Ramses is awakened.  There is an instant attraction and connection betweeen Julie and Ramses (they're both attractive people, he's super sexy and naked and she's the first woman he's laid eyes on in centuries).  Because she's engaged to sweet, slightly dimwitted Alex, Julie tries to fight her feelings for Ramses... at first.  Much adventure ensues as Julie, Ramses and various friends and family travel to Egypt.  Ramses looses his poo when he spots the body of Cleopatra on display as a common mummy in a museum and that's when the real drama begins.

One scene that really stuck out was when Julie Stratford introduces Ramses to the streets of London, and he sees cars, and buildings and wonderful machines and inventions.  But then he sees a homeless person begging and he is stunned that in all these centuries since he last walked the earth, and amidst such riches, there is still poverty.   It gave me a lot to think about, just from that one tiny scene. 

Overall I enjoyed it, and wish that Anne Rice had written the sequel that the book hints at/begs for towards the end.  I doubt that she will ever revisit Ramses and Julie since her writing has taken a different path, but I can still hope!

The Mummy gets a Midnight Rating of 10pm.  The pacing was a little slow in places, so it didn't keep me up all night flipping pages, but it's still a great read.