Ramses the Damned: The Reign of Osiris by Anne Rice (English) Paperback Book

Description: Ramses the Damned by Anne Rice, Christopher Rice 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.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 Egypts 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, hes 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 FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Author Biography ANNE RICEisthe author of thirty-seven books. She died in 2021.CHRISTOPHER RICE published four New York Times bestselling novels before the age of thirty and has twice been nominated for the Bram Stoker Award. Together with his best friend and producing partner, New York Times bestselling novelist Eric Shaw Quinn, he runs the podcast and video network, The Dinner Party Show. Review "[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 Review Quote "[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 Promotional "Headline" The gilded adventures of Ramses the Damned, iconic creation of the legendary Anne Rice, continue in this breathtakingly suspenseful tale of a titanic supernatural power unleashed on the eve of war. Excerpt from Book 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 shed 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 whod 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 shed 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 Egypts 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 share in this letter. For his vile plots have brought us all together, and now that we are roughly and newly united, our new burdens commence. Given the power you all possess, I must speak to you now of the terrible war I believe to be on the wing. 2 London They were kind men, these officials from the British Museum. But their presence here in her front parlor stirred painful memories of other agents of that august institution who had tried to force their way into Julies home months before, all in a frenzied effort to make off with Lawrence Stratfords last, great discovery--the ancient mummy and artifacts her father had unearthed in the hills outside Cairo just before his murder. Of course, those men hadnt possessed the slightest idea of the true magic and mystery contained within her fathers finds. Theyd financed the expedition and felt entitled to its end results. And theyd thought it terribly ghastly Julie had insisted on displaying the mummy right here in the front parlor of her family home in Mayfair. And like the world, theyd no idea of the miracle that followed. A miracle wrought by ancient magic and the sun, the very kind of fierce, midday sunlight that filtered through the stained-glass ceiling of the conservatory now, illuminating the empty shelves that had been filled with her fathers journals only moments before. But these were different men standing before her in this moment, gentler men. And shed invited them here. Theyd not come to collect an ancient mummy and its related artifacts, for the occupant of that sarcophagus had, to the eyes of London, mysteriously disappeared. No, these men had come for something far more intimate and personal. Lawrence Stratfords journals. "I must say, Miss Stratford, were most impressed you were able to make a survey of this many volumes so quickly. Especially given recent events." Eyebrow raised, the shorter of the two men studied her. Ah, there it was again. They were beset by curiosity about the mysterious tale of her betrothal party to an Egyptologist named Mr. Reginald Ramsey. To say nothing of the earlier scandals that had marked Mr. Ramseys rather mysterious and sudden arrival into London society. "My fathers legacy had been marked by much excitement, thats for sure," she said. "But I didnt read the journals just these past few days. Id spent much time with them already, so it was short work, removing the ones too personal. Surely you can understand that some of Lawrences innermost thoughts must not be . . ." "Oh, of course. Of course, Ms. Stratford." Both men practically fell all over themselves to agree. She felt a stab of guilt. Part of what shed just said was a lie. But hardly a damnable one. In fact, shed read the entirety of his journals--thirty-five volumes from a lifetime of expeditions to Egypt--in a single days time. And shed memorized every word. These were talents afforded her by the same elixir that had changed the color of her eyes to blue, that ensured her tangle of brown curls remained the same length and the same shining luster. That made her flesh and bones all but indestructible. That had given her the gift of eternal life. But she could not tell these men this. And she felt grateful for them. Grateful that in this time of conflict and unrest, they would provide a safe and sheltered home for the chronicles of her late fathers travels and blazing insights and passions for the ancient world. They popped open the clasps on their leather cases. With gloved hands they gently placed the stacks of volumes within. It seemed fussy, the amount of care they showed. The journals werent in danger of falling apart. Indeed, the most recent ones were in such fine condition they served as a painful reminder of how recently Lawrence had been lost. Nothing among them was as ancient as the accounts contained inside the leather-bound volumes the great queen Bektaten guarded in her castle perched on the Cornish coast. But still, the sight of their methodical packing comforted Julie, made her feel as if this was the right choice. "Even so, that you would take the time to facilitate during this time of trouble," one of the men said. "Come now, Mr. Starnes," the taller one commanded. "Mustnt sour Ms. Stratfords day with your dire predictions about the troubles on the Continent." "Forgive my colleague, Ms. Stratford," Starnes said with a smile. "He believes this will be a short war." "It will be!" the taller man pronounced. "The British declaration is but an ornament, meant to deter the Germans out of any silliness." "Whether its short or long," Julie said, "Im grateful to know these precious items will rest secure within the museums walls." Both men beamed at this, the little ten Details ISBN1101970332 Author Christopher Rice Short Title Ramses the Damned Language English Year 2022 ISBN-10 1101970332 ISBN-13 9781101970331 Subtitle The Reign of Osiris Pages 320 Format Paperback Publisher Random House USA Inc Imprint Anchor Books Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States Publication Date 2022-02-01 AU Release Date 2022-02-01 NZ Release Date 2022-02-01 US Release Date 2022-02-01 UK Release Date 2022-02-01 Illustrator Gladys Jose Birth 1927 Affiliation Clark University Position journalist DEWEY 813.54 Audience General We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:145100767;

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