Ramses the Damned: The Passion of Cleopatra

By: Anne Rice, Christopher Rice

Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren

Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

From the iconic and best-selling author of The Mummy and The Vampire Chronicles, a mesmerizing, glamorous new tale of ancient feuds and modern passions.

Ramses the Great, former pharaoh of Egypt, is reawakened by the elixir of life in Edwardian England. Now immortal with his bride-to-be, he is swept up in a fierce and deadly battle of wills and psyches against the once-great Queen Cleopatra. Ramses has reawakened Cleopatra with the same perilous elixir whose unworldly force brings the dead back to life. But as these ancient rulers defy one another in their quest to understand the powers of the strange elixir, they are haunted by a mysterious presence even older and more powerful than they, a figure drawn forth from the mists of history who possesses spectacular magical potions and tonics eight millennia old. This is a figure who ruled over an ancient kingdom stretching from the once-fertile earth of the Sahara to the far corners of the world, a queen with a supreme knowledge of the deepest origins of the elixir of life. She may be the only one who can make known to Ramses and Cleopatra the key to their immortality - and the secrets of the miraculous, unknowable, endless expanse of the universe.

©2017 Anne Rice (P)2017 Random House Audio

Are you ready for the secret?

An entertaining story, although I felt it slow and a little bit boring in comparison with other great stories written by the author.

I did not like the narration, she screamed most of the time. Sometimes, I wanted to quit listening to the audiobook.

a fantastic book!

This has a little of something for everyone; love, mystery, history, science fiction. I highly recommend it

Anne Rice is back

I really enjoyed this performance. The storyline was great and flowed nicely. Such a pleasure.

holy screeching!

The narrator is a screeching shrew turned it off going to read it in silence.

Love it!!

Love all Anne Rice and really love her collaboration with Christopher Rice!Cant wait to read the next one!

Not as good as the first book

I wanted to love this book, I really did. I read the first one years ago and fell in love with it, and perhaps in part because of that, this sequel was terribly disappointing. There were parts I enjoyed of course like the origin story of the elixir (not really a spoiler since you start finding out about that very early on) and the other interesting surprises that arc involved. Although I felt that it somewhat took away from the depth of the horror of the brand of immortality offered by something that can never be reversed or erased. I also felt that the charters just weren't the same. While it's understandable that they would change, I found myself wishing the changes were not so drastic since I didn't really like who they had turned into (Julie felt like she had become less intelligent and lost her personality to Ramses). I'm not even sure that I'm glad I listened to this since in many ways it actually took away from the depth of the charters and the story set up in the previous novel.

I also did not enjoy the aggressive style of the narrator. Nothing wrong with it; it just didn't fit the story as I imagined it.

A very entertaining listen!

Well-developed characters, a good storyline, and historical references made this an excellent listen! It appears a possibility of future books based on these characters experience as immortals. The authors collaboration greatly enhaced the depth and readability.

Wonderful story, ruined by Katherine.

The story itself is wonderful, Anne and Christopher have created a grand and beautiful story, but Katherine ruins it by being way too energetic; soft and loud, mixing up characters, not separating story from dialogue. It was difficult to enjoy the story fully when out of nowhere you're startled right out of the story. May create slight headaches depending upon how you listen and at what volume.
I do urge one to get the book and read it. It is such a grand story worth being read properly. If you're up to trying out this audiobook, by all means, do so. It is another wonderful book jot to be skipped.

Anne Rice Does it Again!

Wonderful book. Well written and performed! I highly recommend it! Very dynamic performance! Much enjoyed!

award for best narrator

The narration was the best part. The story was great. It's hard to reconcile these immortals with the lovely bloodsucking vampires in her lestat series.