The Anubis Gates
by Tim Powers
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Book Summary Information
Author: Tim PowersEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1997-01-01
ISBN: 0441004016
Number of pages: 400
Publisher: Ace Trade
Book Reviews of The Anubis Gates
Book Review: Seamless
Summary: 5 Stars
Tim Powers is, to put it plainly, the best fantasist working in the genre. Period. One read of The Anubis Gates will prove it to anybody's satisfaction; I know it's done so for me. My God, what a book. Simply the ideas of time travel and dopplegangers that Powers puts forth here (not to mention his teriffic eye for Victorian Period detail, and his brilliant, believable characterizations of notable figures of the time) are a delight. Unfortunately, I can't talk too much about the plot without giving it away and ruining the immense pleasure reading this book for the first time will give you. I can speak in generalizations, however -- such as the manner in which Powers' protagonist becomes unstuck in time, which is so pedantic as to be wholly believable; or Powers' expert pacing and timing, which help the novel to tick away like Swiss clockwork; Powers' delicious sense of atmosphere and mood, which add to the Victorian setting just the right flavor of danger and eerie magic bubbling just under the surface of things; Powers' understanding that human beings are frail creatures, especially in the time period he's writing about (when his characters get hurt, man, they HURT!); Powers' impeccable plotting. And it is this last, most of all, that makes The Anubis Gates what it is -- for as fans of the fantasy and science fiction genres know, time travel is very difficult to write about effectively, and only the very talented can make even a conditional success of the job. Powers is one of the best -- rather than leave behind all manner of loose ends and creating more paradox than closure with his story, Powers instead makes sure that everything is tied up by the novel's last line. Everything that happens in Anubis Gates happens for a reason, and nothing, not a moment, is wasted on unnecessary business. Not only is the book's ending completely seamless, it is also a total surprise: you'll think you know what's about to happen, but Powers will (I guarantee) pull the rug right out from under you. The only other artists I know of who were so compltetely able to fool their audience were Cornell Woolrich, Ira Levin, and Alfred Hitchcock; Powers is every bit as good. The Anubis Gates, by reason of its brilliantly-imagined world and Powers' strong, effective characters and plot, is one of the greatest fantasy (or science-fantasy, or whatever the hell you want to call it) novels I've ever read. If you care at all about the genre, you MUST read, not only this book, but everything else by Powers that you can lay your hands on. You owe it to yourself -- and to Tim Powers as well, because as far as I'm concerned he doesn't get anywhere near the recognition he deserves.
Summary of The Anubis Gates
Ace Books is proud to present this classic novel of time travel in a beautiful new trade edition. It took the fantasy world by storm a decade ago, and now fans can savor this Philip K. Dick Award-winner for the first time all over again. Only the dazzling imagination of Tim Powers could have assembled such an insane cast of characters: an ancient Egyptian sorcerer, a modern millionaire, a body-switching werewolf, a hideously deformed clown, a young woman disguised as a boy, a brainwashed Lord Byron, and finally, our hero, Professor Brendan Doyle.
Author Tim Powers evokes 17th-century England with a combination of meticulously researched historic detail and imaginative flights in this sci-fi tale of time travel. Winner of the 1984 Philip K. Dick Award for best original science fiction paperback, this 1989 edition of the book that took the fantasy world by storm is the first hardcover version to be published in the United States. In his brief introduction, Ramsey Campbell sets The Anubis Gates in an adventure context, citing Powers's achievement of "extraordinary scenes of underground horror, of comedy both high and grotesque, of bizarre menace, of poetic fantasy."
The colonization of Egypt by western European powers is the launch point for power plays and machinations. Steeping together in this time-warp stew are such characters as an unassuming Coleridge scholar, ancient gods, wizards, the Knights Templar, werewolves, and other quasi-mortals, all wrapped in the organizing fabric of Egyptian mythology. In the best of fantasy traditions, the reluctant heroes fight for survival against an evil that lurks beneath the surface of their everyday lives.
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