I was very curious to read another book by Bram Stoker, needless to say, I love Dracula. The Jewel of Seven Stars is a curious intriguing book. But it suffers from the pesky The Casual Vacancy syndrome, and is underrated, because, well - it's not Dracula.

Of course it isn't Dracula, but you can see it's the same writer. The switching of perspectives is smooth, we slip easily into two long stories - one by an old explorer when he first unearthed Queen Tera's tomb and the other by Mr. Trelawney's friend about their journeys through Egypt. Malcolm Ross's first person narration resembles Jonathan Harker's in its deep detailed descriptions. But I love how we have a very biased view of the story, partial to the admirable Margaret Trelawney whom the lawyer never doubts. We see every character through the almost self-deprecating eyes of Ross, who gives so little away about himself - we only know of his intellect and experience through the others' easy confidence in him. Stoker is good with characters in Dracula, and this is no less.

Another truly enchanting quality of the book is its mood. The atmosphere is rich with suspense and mythical exoticness. The glimpses into the old unfamiliar culture are evident not only through the travels to Egypt but in that antique quality possessed by the Trelawneys' house and lives.

The book questions belief and experimentation, questions science and skeptics, and contrasts the knowledge of the Old and New worlds. It also has a very feministic quality, and Margaret Trelawney is a remarkable character, comparable with Mina, if in nothing other than her strength.

What the book lacks is perhaps a coherent structure. The plot is confusing, its pace inconsistent. It almost feels as if not enough work went into it. And then there's the ending - abrupt, bizarre, surprising and actually effective. I don't think Stoker ever intended for Margaret's 'connection' with Queen Tera to be a secret - but even with only thirty pages left in the book, we find it hard to imagine what might happen next and when the ending does come it leaves us aghast - in a good way, if that's possible. Think: every Stephen King ending, it's so simple, you wouldn't have dreamt a whole book would built up to that. Now I prefer such an ending to an unexpected unlikely twist. But I can see how others wouldn't. Apparently: Stoker was forced to rewrite his disturbing, depressing ending to make it more appealing to the masses. (I wish he hadn't fallen for that.)

My copy had both endings. The first shocked me, so I tried the next. But: the alternate ending is mind-numbingly sappy, a fairy tale wrap-up so enormously disappointing, it spoils the overall effect of the book - like a delicious dessert with a bad after-taste, which makes you wish you hadn't eaten that thing in the first place.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, if you know what to expect. It's not outright horror, more a mix of dark fantasy, adventure and mystery. It's also not Dracula. If you do decide to read this, though, I'd suggest making sure you read the first ending, the one that Stoker originally intended. What you want is the 1903 version, which you can find here.

I am rating a 2.5. There is a mysterious attack on Egyptologist, Mr Trelawney, in his home which sends him into a trance like coma. A young lawyer called Malcom Ross tries to get to the bottom of it. He is instructed not to move the artefacts - mummified cat and scratch marks! Was Queen Tera (whose tomb was found by Trelawney) awakened. Not sure what happened at the end - confusing and curt. In fact some of my book groupers actually had a different ending!!

As many times as I have read Dracula, I have never read anything else by Bram Stoker!
This is a really interesting story. It's very victorian gothic, that has an egyptian supernatural mystery. It's not THAT hard to guess, but still interesting! I thought it ended just as it was getting good, though. I have always been fascinated by Egyptian mythology and history, so I would have liked to see more! I read that apparently there's an alternate ending that is similar to how Dracula ended, but I think this ending was way better.

One of my all time favorites i read the 1903 version (just found out there is a second one with a different ending) highly recommend. Although in the spirit of full disclosure i did find one of the chapters completely boring ( maybe the 11th one i don’t remember ) but just stick with it gets so much better and it’s so worth ur time. The author has such an amazing way with words. Finished it in like 5 days

A worthwhile, if anti-climactic read. Stoker slowly built up the tension to the moment of crisis, then let it fall flat on the final page. I do think there should be some reward for the diligent reader when the author has been at considerable pains to lay the scene for an earth-shattering revelation. I wonder if his Christian sentiment made him falter?

Perhaps the idea of a bodily resurrection not based on his own religious belief struck him as blasphemous?

Anyway, the journey was interesting, even if the destination was a disappointing one.

Edit: Having just remembered that there were two published endings, I find my edition is the second, sanitised, finale. The summary I've just read of the original ending is darker, better, though possibly still unsatisfying. I'd give my edition 3/5 stars, and probably another half star for the original ending.

The ending didn't quite live up to the rest of the book for me, although I suspect it was more appealing in its own time. I was pleasantly surprised it focused on a female mummy. Simon Vance's narration was, as always, delightful :)

The 1903 ending fits the story best, while the 1912 one gives the reader some peace of mind. Both versions are good to read if you like scary stories.
http://nouw.com/cwidmann/draculas-egyptian-sister-30834401

A mummy story from Bram Stoker...fairly decent in terms of building suspense, and interesting from a historical perspective in terms of all of the reverence towards assorted psychic phenomena that were taken as either proven or sure to be scientifically proven in the near future.