The Jewel of Seven Stars

By: Bram Stoker

Narrated by: Simon Vance

"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!"

The warning was inscribed on the entrance of the hidden tomb, forgotten for millennia in the sands of mystic Egypt. Then the archaeologists and grave robbers came in search of the fabled Jewel of Seven Stars, which they found clutched in the hand of the mummy. Few heeded the ancient warning, until all who came in contact with the Jewel began to die in a mysterious and violent way, with the marks of a strangler around their neck.

Now, in a bedroom filled with ancient relics, a distinguished Egyptologist lies senseless, stricken by a force that challenges human understanding. From beyond the grave Queen Tera is reaching out for the mysterious jewel that will bring her 5,000-year-old plan to fulfillment.

(P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Widely considered his best supernatural novel." (Times)

The lesser known work from Bram Stoker

The narrative is building up as you go through the chapters, which makes it extremely painful to stop listening. The audio is very well produced and this is one of the works I wouldn't have the patience to read but make an awesome listen.

Good story

I really enjoyed this story. a little less than Dracula but still good. I would recommend this to any Bram stoker fans

Underdeveloped Story of Bram Stoker

The narration was masterful. A 5 star performance! However I can see why Dracula was Stoker's masterpiece, not this. I got through it, but it goes on and on about unimportant details, it introduces characters who have nothing whatsoever to do with the plot, it spends half the book with the main action just sitting by a comatose man's bedside, never explained why he was comatose...the love story was dubious. It was told, not shown, and certainly jumped a great deal of intimate moments of conversation and bonding. It was so stiff and uptight that you get a sense that the lovers barely liked one another and everyone jumped to the conclusion they were engaged after a single kiss. There was no depth to any of it. Positive things, I'm pretty sure a bunch of authors were inspired by this, only they felt they could do better (and did). So I suppose there is merit in reading pioneer works, if only to understand modern literature.

An obscure jewel

A unique story idea and early appearance of a non linear causal paradox plot presentation

Hope you find this useful.

It felt that the audio recording had been saved sped up. I found this distracting and had to slow it down to get what felt like a "regular" pace. This ended up being 85% of the normal speed. As a result of the distraction from the recording speed, I had some difficulty being invested and had, occasionally, following along. I found certain themes or threads that were built up felt either unresolved or resolved poorly and left me feeling unsatisfied at the end.

Simon Vance is a highly talented narrator.

I recommend listening to just about anything he narrated. I enjoyed this book even more because of him.

Intriguing and mystical!!

Completely loved this book. I am in love all things Egypt and crystals. I also believe in reincarnation. I have even been to Egypt and been in a few tombs. This book was right up my alley. I loved Dracula, and to my surprise, I like this even more!! It wasn’t as chilling, but was still very spooky and atmospheric. Stoker was an amazing storyteller, and this book had more spiritual depth (than Dracula) and really showed his progressive (esp for the time) spiritual awareness. If you are a Scorpio or liked Dracula or Egypt, check this book out!!!

Definitely a classic

I'm a fan of classic horror, but found it difficult to be drawn into this story. A good narration and performance. This may have been one of the books that would've more captivated me if I had read it instead. But if you enjoy Bram Stoker, I encourage you to give it a listen and see for yourself.

much too slow for 2022

I'm sorry, bloated and ponderous is all I can say about this famous authors book.

Rich descriptions with Egyptian themes

I found this really entertaining. It was a bit of a slow burn, but fun if you're looking for an old-school supernatural classic. I won't spoil anything here at all, I'll say that I think it needed just ONE MORE CHAPTER to wrap up a thread or two that left me curious. But there was enough of an end to let me imagine any answer I choose.