Customer Reviews

Jewel of Seven Stars

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

"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...

At the time of the novel's writing, the British Empire was still in place. Many artifacts from the outside were brought back to England. Many "gentlemen" were bringing their "discoveries" back for study. All things needed to be explained in terms of modern-day science. Is this Bram Stoker's response to this? Does he feel that some things are better left alone?

This story was published in 1904 (seven years after "Dracula"). Unlike its well-known predecessor, this novel was not written in the journal format that does take an edge off of the pace. This story is told from the perspective of a barrister, Malcolm Ross. He is brought into the events by Margaret Trelawny after meeting her days before.

Egyptology, a common passion at this time in British history, is at the heart of the novel. Margaret's father, Mr. Trelawny, is an Egyptologist who has made a major discovery of a powerful woman who lived over 14 centuries previous. The story of the find is told late in the novel by him in retrospect. More than the first half of the novel is setting the stage of the mystery and of the telling of the find. Like today's parodies of teen horror, you would think the characters would realize that it is time to leave.

The climax of the novel is over in a couple of pages at the end. I felt a little bewildered. Even "Dracula" has a bit of a post script explaining what happens afterward.

I would recommend this book for Stoker fans and horror fans. This book is stronger when you reflect on what his readers would be familiar with in the early 1900s.

After Dracula, Jewel of Seven Stars is Bram Stoker's best work. The reasons for this are obvious: It is dark and gripping while portraying a claustrophobic menace that envelops the characters at the end. Of course no one will ever accuse Stoker of being the finest stylist English has ever produced, but the writing is competent--moreso even than in Dracula. Unlike its more famous companion novel, Jewel offers us only one character's narration though, leaving us to see the other characters through his eyes alone (and groan at his ineffable stupidity in places). The action begins basically in midperiod then fills in the background before giving us the grim ending. Surprisingly this is a highly successful means of storytelling and helps maintain the reader's interest. The end itself is a curiosity in that it has an original, nihilistic ending and a later, happy ending. It can be--and has been--argued the two endings are just inversions of each other, but clearly the original ending is the stronger and more consistent. Although authorship on the second ending is unknown, I highly suspect Stoker did not write it. It lacks the feel of the rest of the book and does not seem to have the same flare as Stoker's canonical writing. Despite some reservations though, this is a hugely gripping and thrilling, if not necessarily enjoyable, book that builds inexorably to one of the most chilling climaxes of any book I've ever read. A must for fans of well done gothic horror.

Like a huge Edwardian sofa, the book plants itself in the reader's mind and dares one to laugh at it. I enjoyed it enormously. The men, as in Stoker's "Dracula", are "manly" - broad foreheads, strong chins, and the soitary female is a blushing maiden ("the crimson tide rose" - " A blush spread...").The tempo os the book, which might madden some, wasjust what I needed - it slowed me down, and I gave myself to the deliberate, careful exposition with pleasure. It was a vacation, for me, from the slam-bang tempo of today's literature, or its existential dilemmas, and Stoker's mansions and castles were a nice place to visit (although I wouldn't want to live there). Clive Leatherdale's notations are helpful, at times quite funny, and he takes the book as seriously as it deserves and no more. A charming pleasure, and a break from routine.

This book starts very well, the middle is full of suspense, and the last scenes are griping, just the end leaves you wanting more. If you are a fan of Bram Stoker you'll really enjoy this, he frames the ere scenes so well you are suspicious of every- one and thing. I could choke on the air in the house where it takes place. I couldn't walk through the Egyptian exhibit at the museum without getting the creeps after reading this book. It does have some drawbacks, but is much better then Stokers "The Lair of the white Worm", because he doesn't rely on psychological symbolism to much. You'll definitely want to know what's going to happen next. The 1970's movie is not very good.

I read a lot of 19th century and turn-of-the-century literature, and I thought this was a very good story. It is not really horror (of which I am not a big fan; its more mystery and adventure story), and at under 300 pages is not too long of a read. There is a fairly good summary in a review below, so I will only say in my critique that there is a chapter or so midway through the book that gets rather (unnecessarily) caught up in philosophizing on the mysteries of science lost to the ancient Egyptians, and also that the ending (of the paperback, at least) leaves something to be desired. In light of this, there is a great website devoted to Stoker's works, including "The Jewel of Seven Stars". There is an alternative 1912 version of the conclusion. Check it out; it helps a lot with closure...

http://www.geocities.com/psmcalduff/2jewel.txt

Bram Stoker created the ultimate vampire from which so much popular fiction has arisen. But this tale of a Mummy's curse is not the stuff of popular movies. It is a rather slow story of a fantastic queen and her magical power that survives the grave. "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!" Is the mummy's curse and terrible is her vengence. I can't say I liked this book. But I couldn't stop reading it until the shocking ending. Written in 1903 the language is of the period. The descriptions are often over done, but an interesting read none the less.

I was very pleased to discover this book in a used book store last month, as I had not realized that Bram Stoker had written other books which were still in print. Being very fond of his Dracula, I thought that this would be well worth my time if it even approached the level of enjoyability that Dracula possessed. Unfortunately, I was rather disappointed with The Jewel of Seven Stars, as Stoker seems to have drastically changed his writing style and reverted to writing in a way that many authors seem to write their initial books in before finding the key to success. What I mean by this is that his writing style in this book is very awkward, stilted, and forced, and the characters are rather wooden and unconvincing. This is what is often found in early works of great authors (I just recently encountered this phenomenon in Robert Louis Stevenson's Prince Otto). What is strange is that this book was written years after Stoker wrote Dracula, and it makes little sense why he would revert to this type of writing after apparently moving past it in his masterpiece.

Awkward writing is not enough to turn me off of a book, but it does detract significantly from the story. The story itself has been explained in detail by previous reviewers, so I will not repeat the plot outline yet again. The story in general, though, is gripping in places, but tends to drag unbearably in others. The first half or so of the book actually moves fairly quickly and is enjoyable, but the second half is almost nothing but dialogue, and it is not terribly exciting or interesting dialogue. It is not without reason that a whole chapter was removed from some editions because it was simply unneccesary and boring. The glimpses of promise, combined with my desire to discover how it ended and my respect for Stoker's other work, kept me going through it despite the tediousness (at times) of the reading. The ending was not a disappointment to me, though many found it to be so. I am talking about the original dark ending, not the alternate happy ending added to later editions (which I found to be terrible compared to the original, and have a hard time believing that it was actually Stoker that wrote it, especially since it appeared years after his death). It is incredibly rare for authors to have endings like this one in novel length books, and despite its abruptness and vagueness, I was more pleased with it than I would have been with a more elaborate yet typical ending.

You may enjoy this book more than I did. I certainly hope so. To me it was disappointment, especially compared to the level of greatness Stoker achieved with Dracula. To be honest, it would be a disoppointment even if I wasn't comparing it to Dracula, because it was just so tedious and boring in the second half. It would have been a legitimately enjoyable book if the first half was kept as it is and the second half shrunk by about 75 pages. As much as it pains me to say this of a Stoker book, if I could go back and do it over, I would not spend my time reading this book. While it is not unbearably horrible, it is not really worth the time needed to read it. If it's the only book on hand and you have nothing to do, then by all means read it, but I wouldn't recommend searching it out or anything.

Overall grade: C-