Anne Rice Philippines held The Body Thief Gathering months ago, and only now did I find the time to write a review on the book that made my heart skip a beat. Unforgivable.

Warning: SPOILERS!!!

Disclaimer: This review does not necessarily represent ARP's opinions.

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Imagine Lestat having nightmares upon nightmares. He's burdened by so many things, including his guilt over his "daughter" Claudia's death, killing "innocent" victims, David's refusal to keep him company for eternity and endangering the life of his dear friend, David Talbot. Lestat attempted to end his life in the Gobi Dessert, but failing to do so. Of course he knew he wouldn't die. And I think it's only Lestat's way of finding out how strong he really was as a vampire. What a brat.

He's also being stalked by this madman, the notorious body thief of the story. James Raglan's the name, stealing's his game. He stole every damn thing he had, including the healthy body of a mental institution patient he now possessed. Once a member of Talamasca, this clumsy thief seems to learn nothing from his misadventures.

Pretty much like our Lestat, isn't he? Adventurous, devil-may-care - we don't call him The Brat Prince for nothing. He purposely disregarded the advice and warning of all those who love him. He switched bodies with Raglan and foolishly thought the trickster would give him back his beautiful vampiric body. (Conviniently, Lestat's skin was burned when he went into the sun, giving his body a tan that would pass for human)

David was the only friend Lestat had. The vampires abandoned him. The winter of Washington D.C. almost killed him. Being a vampire for 200 years, he already forgot how it is to become a mortal being again, someone who could actually die if he walks around with just a shirt on his back. He's forgotten how to eat, how to have sex, how to defecate.

He then falls in love with a wonderfully lustful nun who's just [playing] "curious." And so they made love. But hen Lestat had to leave and search for his body.

With David's help, and thanks to Raglan's carelessness (David tagged him as a "glorified purse snatcher"), Lestat was able to retrieve his old body back. At the crack of dawn, Lestat had to flee, leaving David and Raglan in a nasty bout.

David finds Lestat. Despite his previous refusal of the Dark Gift, David seems to be aggressive this time, and asked to be turned. As Lestat was drinking David's blood, the images that accompany the blood while it traveled from the victim's veins into his mouth were not David's. They were Raglan's! When I was reading this part the first time I was screaming out of excitement. What a twist! Back to the story... Lestat kills Raglan, taking with it David's body. But where the hell is David?

David Talbot was forced into a 20-something-year-old body. Imagine a 70-year-old mind in a young man's body. Lestat, being the Brat Prince, worked the Dark Trick on David, making him a vampire, against David's will. David abandons Lestat. Lestat realized that he's the tiger in his dreams attacking David in the jungle.

In the end, Lestat is still the lonely immortal adventurer with deep blue eyes.

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Hmm.. this is really more of summarizing the story than writing a review, isn't it?

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I love this book. There's nothing in the story that I would change. I felt remorse against the vampires who abandoned Lestat. And I hated Lestat for being such a big fool. But then again, without the body switch, we wouldn't have a story, would we? And Lestat - The Brat Prince, The Damnedest Creature - emerged as the victor in the end. I would like to see myself in a parallel situation and like Lestat, get away with it. Lucky bastard.

So tell me, how could I not love him?

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I find it distasteful to review my own review so kindly point out grammatical, typo and spelling errors. But then again maybe I wouldn't care, would I? =)

I recently re-read the book to prepare for the 4th Gathering of AnneRicePhilippines. Read at your own risks. Corrections? Kindly point them out. I'm too sleepy to edit this "review."

Disclaimer: I have this one-sided and unconditional love for Ricean Vampires so this "review" may not reflect a sane person's opinions, nor those of the group. In short, it's me, it's not the book. =D

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILER!!!

WARNING: too random x_x


The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned, is a stand-alone historical-horror novel by Anne Rice, first published in 1989. Taking place during the early twentieth century, it follows the collision between a British archeologist's family and a resurrected mummy.

- From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


*long sigh*

I've always loved Anne Rice' works, especially those belonging to the Vampire Chronicles. With this one however, I find my insatiable thirst quite unsatisfied. I felt betrayed at the book's end, felt like I've been let down. It was a fast read. And unlike majority of Anne's works, Ramses was built heavily from the very start.

Well I guess that's one of the story's major faults. It took off with a bang and ended with a loud thud. The unveiling of plot/s failed to sustain the thrill built from the very start.

The story's set during the Edwardian Age when adult women can't go out without a chaperon. It involves a murdered filthy rich-shipping-magnate-turned archaeologist, his beautiful and exceptionally intelligent daughter who's engaged to this dashing but impoverished son of the Earl of Rutherford. *whew*

One thing about this story's it's power packed with beautiful people (bawal yata ang panget noon, siguro baby pa lang pinapatay na), not that I'm complaining. Reminds me of our tele-seryes (or fanta-seryes). Anyhoot...

Central to the tale are immortality, lust (not love, oh no), and beauty. Minor details involve bisexuality, vengeance and insatiable hunger.

Immortality was presented here more of like a curse than a gift. Nothing, as in nothing, can ever ever kill a creature once he/she/it has taken the elixir of life. It's a one-way ticket to eternity. I secretly hoped that there'd be an anti-elixir but there was none. I guess in a way that makes it more difficult for an individual to decide on taking the elixir. Every time I read a book I try to imagine my self in the story, sort of like the Choose Your Own Adventure bit (grabe na yata ang tanda ko). So yeah, in my mind I didn't take the elixir. If I did, even if I'm in bits and pieces (literally), I'd be alive, every little piece of me.

The characters didn't seem to mind. Two major characters where offered the elixir, and both of them took it. I banked my wits that Elliot wouldn't take it, even if from the very start of his adventures he's only interested in getting a vial from Ramses, that the entire experience will make him a better man with better judgment. How awfully disappointed I was when he finally decided to take it. I hope you f*****' choke on it you old pervert!, I thought. I can understand Julie though. She's in love with Ramses, and he's an immortal, with the mightiest libido ever!!! So there, match his eternal horny-ness, girl! hehe... Man I'm sick.

Unlike in this story, Vampiric immortality is less eternal, in a way. Vampires in Anne's stories, depending on his/her strength, die with sunlight, fire and drinking blood from a dead body. They can always end their lives when they tired of it. And oh, sunlight is like a life source for our immortals in Ramses, but it kills our Vampire immortals. Although the sun has a different effect to them, both immortals from Ramses and The Vampire Chronicles go "underground" when they don't feel like socializing anymore.

And then there's Cleopatra. I've always loved her. I think she kicks major @ss. Unfortunately in this story, she's a ravaging horny-ness girl with an appetite for murder. Loves breaking necks. She had $ex with boys and after much enjoyment, snap! She kills for fun.

And it's just peachy that ex-lovers Ramses and Cleopatra, Julie and Alex switched partners. One-two-three-pass! Pwede bang makisali? Julie, why can't you just love Alex kasi? I'm telling you, that guy's worth more than the shipping company you inherited from your father. Hay...

And in the end... well there's really no end here. Major cliffhanger. Again it was like Choose-Your-Own-Adventure, only the consequence of your final decision was never revealed. "The adventures of Ramses... will/shall continue..." but I guess it never will. As far as I know, Anne had stopped writing about this kind of stuff already.

So I guess it's up to me, and you, to finish this story, set in the dark swamps of our minds.

Being a huge fan of the gay sense of humour, I found my self laughing my a$$ out while watching this musical. And imagine having to fly my way from Tagaytay, I thought I would be lacking the energy to laugh loud. Oh but heavens, it's impossible not to do so.

Didi was really funny! She was life of the story. I couldn't imagine the story without her/him. Heh...

And Eula Valdez - man I dint know she's that good. I mean, yeah she's good in telenovelas. But this is a play, and a gay one at that. I never thought that she can be so gay! Absolutely love her.

Queen Femina was awesome and so were her Amazonistas. Wilma Doesnt was funniest.

And oh Dodong. Rawr... Hehe... *hormones hormones*

I still can't stop laughing whenever I remember the scenes from the play. Minsan akala mo seryoso na, tapos babaklain sa dulo. Hehe...Darnit, I can't stop laughing now.

I really hope they'll make a Zaturnnah movie.

Took me a month to finish this one. It's actually fast-paced, but you know me, 2+ pages a day is luxury already. I wish I can buy time.

Anyway, 11 Minutes is about sex and life and ambitions and pain, among other things. Maria, the main character, is not your typical woman. I would sometimes gasp at something she said or did. I would sometimes think that she's mad, or completely gone boinkers. I found myself protesting to how she analyzes things. But then again the key to understanding people is to consider that each one of us had gone through different things in life. And besides, sometimes I'd find myself in her persona too (of course not during bed scenes, for the love of ---), especially when it comes to love. Her definitions somehow fit into mine.

So many good lines in that one, but I won't let you in it. You'll have to discover Paulo's magic on your own.

Have you read this book? Let me know how you feel about it.