THE JEWEL OF SEVEN STARS [Hardcover]

Bram Stoker (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Carroll (1989)
• ASIN: B000VGLZM0
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)

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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stoker's best known post-Dracula novel, August 11, 2003

By 

Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Jewel of Seven Stars (Mass Market Paperback)

Originally published in 1903, some six years after Dracula, Bram Stoker's The Jewel of Seven Stars is a singular work of dark fantasy. It reads as if it were one of the author's earliest writings, espousing a much more awkward style than that which permeates Stoker's most famous novel. The characters are stereotypical of the time, the dialogue is sometimes forced and so Victorian in its manner that it fails to draw the reader fully into the story, and it leaves too many unanswered questions in its wake. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this, Stoker's most familiar novel after Dracula, is its storyline built around the resurrection of an ancient Egyptian mummy. Few people today realize that Stoker not only truly defined the vampire genre, he helped give rise to the mummy genre as well. By far the most fascinating aspect of this tale is its ending, though, which I will discuss below.

The first several chapters of the novel call to my mind the host of whodunit films released in the 1940s and 1950s. Malcolm Ross, a barrister, is called to the home of Margaret Trelawney, a young lady he just recently met and took a fancy to, in the middle of the night. When he arrives at the home, he finds policemen, a doctor, Margaret, and the household staff in a great tizzy over an attack made upon Margaret's father. The man was found on the floor of his room, his left arm slashed in a number of places. The investigation begins, and a constant watch is held over the injured man, who has fallen into a cataleptic state. The next night, under the eyes of Ross, Margaret, and a nurse, a second baffling attack takes place by an unknown assailant. It soon becomes apparent that the person behind the attacks is attempting to gain access to the safe located in the room. Suspicions abound as both the police and the doctor are baffled by the situation. At this point, we begin to learn the history of the Egyptian relics housed in the Trelawney house and hear the story of the ancient Egyptian queen Tera and her apparent plans for reincarnating herself with the help of a beautiful jewel of seven stars, the very item housed in Trelawney's safe. The novel ends with a Great Experiment in which Tera's plans for a rebirth are carried out, the results of which fail to satisfy this reader.

Published in 1903, this novel is steeped in Victorian idealism, particularly in its treatment of Margaret and the courtship between her and Malcolm. Modern readers may find this aspect of the novel either romantic or silly. In addition, the respectful and entirely proper conversations between characters, especially in times of suspicion or fear, may seem strikingly quaint to today's readers. The second half of the novel, which tells the story of the ancient mummy and lays the groundwork for the climax of the Great Experiment, is much more interesting than the preceding pages, yet there are elements to the evolving story that fail to make perfect sense.

The Jewel of Seven Stars is unique in that it features two different endings, neither of which fully satisfies. The accepted version, which you will find in modern publications, is not the original ending but is instead a rewrite first found in the 1919 edition of the novel. It is anticlimactic at best and seems oddly different from the novel as a whole. There is actually some speculation that the final couple of pages of this ending were not even written by Stoker, who was dead and buried seven years prior to this amended edition's release. The original 1903 ending is a much better if rather shocking conclusion to a story that openly hints of ancient horrors; it is a pity that the original ending has been superseded by a questionable and quite dissatisfying rewrite. In any case, though, The Jewel of Seven Stars is an interesting if flawed novel that shows few signs of the literary magic with which Stoker's masterpiece, Dracula, is infused.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Greatly Underrated Book, December 23, 2005

By 

Paul S. Mcalduff (Kwangju, South Korea) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Jewel of Seven Stars (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is great. I couldn't put it down. Personally I think that it is as good as "Dracula". It amazes me that it remains so obscure. One of the other reviewers complained of a weak ending. I assume that this poor person was unlucky enough to have read the 1912 edition. Stoker's publishers though that the original 1903 ending was too gruesome and made him rewrite it as a condition of re-publishing the book. I don't think anyone could describe the original ending as weak. If you like a good horror novel I highly recommend this book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mummy Dearest, July 23, 2000

By 

Drew Brainiard "watchword" (Buffalo, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Jewel of Seven Stars (Pocket Classics) (Paperback)

"Hither the Gods come not at any summons. The Nameless One has insulted them and is forever alone. Go not nigh, lest their vengeance wither you away!"

There are certain story elements I can't resist: Egyptology is one of them. Throw in a mummy's curse and I can be convinced to do all sorts of reckless things--like buying SPHINX, that appalling movie with Lesley-Anne Down. Thus I came to read THE JEWEL OF SEVEN STARS even though it was written by Bram Stoker, the author of DRACULA (vampires being one of my least favorite story elements).

Originally published in 1903, JEWEL tells the story of barrister Malcolm Ross who is summoned in the dead of night by a mysterious letter from lovely Margaret Trelawny, the daughter of a famed Egyptologist. Mr. Trelawny has sunk into a trance-like state following an attack by an unknown assailant--the only clue, the lingering odor of "Nard and Circassia's balmy smells." Trelawny has left strict instructions that in the event of such an attack he is never to be left alone, and no one must remove the peculiar Egyptian bangle around his wrist.

Slowly, with dragging mummy footsteps, this horror classic journeys its restrained way to its inevitable climax. Though possibly a bit slow and bloodless for modern audiences, I think Stoker gets full marks. True, the characters are recognizable Edwardian stereotypes: the blushing, virginal heroine, the stalwart hero, the obsessed patriarch, etc. Nor is there much mystery as to where this is all leading. All the same, JEWEL is an entertaining read; the ideal choice for a muggy summer night. A number of scenes, like the discovery of the tomb in the cliffs and the story's final tragic zenith, remain in one's memory like the persistent scent of bitumen drifting in an open window...