Tim Powers' fourth novel, 1983's "The Anubis Gates," is a book that I had been meaning to read for years. Chosen for inclusion in both David Pringle's "Modern Fantasy: The Hundred Best Novels" and Jones & Newman's "Horror: 100 Best Books," as well as the recipient of the Philip K. Dick Memorial Award in 1984, the book came with plenty of good word of mouth, to say the least. And, as it turns out, all the ballyhoo back when was fully justified, as this really IS some kind of superb work. As John Clute puts it in the Jones & Newman volume, it is "a book which it is possible (rare praise) to love"; as Pringle writes, it is a "virtuoso performance." I could not agree more.In the novel, we meet a middle-aged widower named Brendan Doyle, an expert on Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the (fictional) poet William Ashbless. Doyle is asked by an eccentric millionaire who has come up with a time travel device to journey back to London in the year 1810, to attend a Coleridge lecture with a group of wealthy chrono tourists. Doyle warily agrees and--to make things brief--gets marooned in the past, where he soon becomes enmeshed in the machinations of Egyptian wizards attempting to destroy England. Powers' way-out plot somehow manages to conflate the brainwashed "ka" of Lord Byron, a body-hopping werewolf, an underground criminal society headed by a deformed clown on stilts, a plucky young vengeance-seeking woman disguised as a man, Egyptian gods, 4" high "Spoonsize Boys," fire and wind elementals, the Mameluke slaughter of 1811, a menagerie of freaks, the Beatles (!) and on and on. And just when the reader thinks this plot could not possibly get any wilder, Powers catapults Doyle back even further, to the year 1684! Indeed, there is no way for anyone to possibly guess what is coming next, in this truly zany romp of a book. Remarkably, every single page of this nearly 400-page affair boasts some startling conversation, plot twist, description or speculation. Powers has done a huge amount of historical research, and his book always has the ring of verisimilitude, despite the outrageousness of the plot. An originator not only of the so-called "steampunk" literary genre but also of the "secret histories" style of writing, Powers, in this book, puts forth his amusing explanations for London's Great Fire of 1666, as well as Byron's apparently simultaneous presences in Greece and London in the autumn of 1810. And although stories with time travel paradoxes can sometimes leave me with a headache, I found this one absolutely delightful. Let me not mince words: This book is a blast, from its opening scene in a London gypsy camp in 1802 to its wonderful, ironic, totally satisfying conclusion in the swamps of Woolwich. Clute was right; I really DO love this book, and indeed am in awe of it. So many wild elements mixed together, such an original and imaginative story line, and the whole thing coming together so completely and perfectly...Tim Powers must be some kind of a freakin' genius! I'm gonna need more of this guy; possibly his 1979 novel "The Drawing of the Dark," which is highly praised in Cawthorn & Moorcock's "Fantasy: The 100 Best Books"....I would like to add that "The Anubis Gates" is not an easy read for folks who (like me) choose to look up every historical reference or place name that they encounter. I found a London street map invaluable while reading this book, for example; it's not necessary, of course, but sure does make for a richer, deeper experience. Thus, I was able to spot one of two flubs that Powers is guilty of in his otherwise perfect work. At one point, he tells us that Coleman Street is east of Bishopsgate Street, whereas a quick look at the map will clearly show that it is west. Powers' other goof? When he infers on page 353 that Doyle would be attending a literary meeting at the home of renowned publisher John Murray on a Tuesday, and two pages later says it would be on a Monday. (I also find it hard to believe that the word "savvy" was being used in 1684.) Mere quibbles, of course. For all lovers of sci-fi, fantasy, horror, historical fiction and/or poetry, this book should prove a godsend. It is a very generous book, far more intelligent and humorous than it absolutely needs to be, and well deserving of all the accolades that it has received. Oh...and I just love the inclusion of that pig Latin!
When millionaire J. Cochran Darrow finds The Anubis Gates that will make time travel possible, he quickly assembles a team to go back to 1801. He hires Professor Brendan Doyle to give advice about the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Soon a band of misfits are assembled and they are off on an early 19th century London adventure and throughout time.If you think the plot sounds a little weird, then you are not the only one. I spent a lot of time wondering about the logic behind the locations and people within The Anubis Gates. This was the steampunk pick for the Literary Exploration book club and true to the group’s purpose; this book really challenged my reading choices. It was an interesting experience, I had no idea what to expect next and there was no way to predict anything.The cast of characters was strange; I expected to like the book because Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Lord Byron were featured. Unfortunately they didn’t get enough development and that might be for the best but I was interested in finding out what Tim Powers would do with them. This book also featured an Egyptian wizard, werewolf, crazy clown and so much more.What I found to be the biggest problem with this novel was the fact that Tim Powers took so many of his good ideas and tried to force it all into one novel. There was a lot going on and it was all over the place. There never was enough time to develop scenes or characters and it just felt like everything was condensed to make room for all his ideas. The concept was great, wacky and fun but the execution did not work for me.Tim Powers is a well-respected fantasy author; his book On Stranger Tides (1987) was the inspiration behind the Monkey Island video games and also turned into the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film. The Anubis Gates is often considered one of the pioneer sin the steampunk genre (though I am not sure I would class it as steampunk) and also won the Philip K. Dick Award in 1983. Powers seems like an author that you either love or hate. However from my experience, 1980’s science fiction and fantasy are all a bit odd and unusual.This is such an unusual novel, which makes it extremely difficult to explain and review. I wanted to enjoy this book but for the most part I found myself skimming the pages. There are great concepts and ideas going on in this but the author didn’t want to explore them instead attempting for a fast moving adventure. For me that just made things difficult. I am fascinated by people who love this book, I’d love to know the reasoning. If you love science fiction or fantasy novels, this might work for you; unfortunately it didn’t for me.This review originally appeared on my blog: http://literary-exploration.com/2014/...
What do You think about The Anubis Gates (1997)?
4.5/5Definitely one of the best time travel stories I have ever read, The Anubis Gates mixes SF, magic, literary history, Egyptian mythology and hermetic magic into a tale that is superbly plotted and rollickingly told.Brendan Doyle, a literature professor and expert on the obscure 19th century poet William Ashbless is recruited by reclusive millionaire J. Cochran Darrow for a secret project, which turns out to be a jaunt back to 1810 to see Samuel Taylor Coleridge give a lecture, where Doyle finds himself stranded and involved in plots from all sides.This is my first read of Tim Powers, and he writes character and action well and his plotting, as I said before, is top-notch - I'd love to see a timeline of the events laid out, in fact. The interactions between those who travel through time and the events that have already happened - either historical or within the story - mesh perfectly without ever seeming forced. The reader does sometimes see these coming, but not in a way that detracts from the enjoyment of reading.One oddity is that there are points when you feel that this was a much longer book that has had chunks excised - mostly the jumps are unremarkable, but occasionally there is the feeling that the reader could have done with seeing what happened in the gap, such as when Doyle refers to his embarrassing interview in Fleet Street which happened, as it were, off camera.Minor niggles aside, this is justifiably a part of the Fantasy Masterworks series.
—Paul 'Pezski' Perry
This book was exhausting to read.It has an extremely convoluted plot and I had to concentrate carefully to avoid feeling confused. I couldn’t decide if I was loving it or irritated by it; I ended up feeling frustrated but found it fascinating too.I suppose it earns 4 stars or even 5 for the author managing to put it all together at the end, and that was quite a feat, but my experience of reading it was just that I liked it, nothing more.I think that too much happened and that there was too much action. The villains were too villainous for me and that would have been okay if they’d had smaller roles and were around much less frequently. (Voldemort in the Harry Potter series is very evil but he’s around on the page very little of the time compared to Harry & his friends & other more benign characters.)I liked only 2 characters and had a really hard time figuring out most characters’ motivations, and even when they were made clear, the whole long plot still seemed too much to me; I think this story could have been told better if it had been slightly less complex; I don’t say that often.I was ahead of the hero on quite a few happenings but I think that was a deliberate choice on the author’s part .The prologue was really hard for me to get through but once I got to the rest of the book I found it interesting. The last ¼ of the book I was so curious about what was going to happen that it was hard to not skim through as quickly as possible but I managed to read as carefully as I needed to read.I appreciated the historical fiction, especially the inclusion of some romantic poets. I liked the humor, especially one extended part toward the end. The time traveling was interesting and somewhat unique, but I didn’t like much of the rest of the magic. It was all a tad too dark for me.I’ve rarely been both so satisfied and so unsatisfied with an ending.
—Lisa Vegan
"The Anubis Gates" is a terrific time travel fantasy. I never quite knew where the story was going or what was going to happen next. Tim Powers is one of those writers who packs meaning and significance into every scene. I found myself having to backtrack several times to see if I had missed something. In the last third of the book, there's so much body switching and name changing that I had trouble telling who was who. I really liked the challenge though, it kept me on my toes and it was unlike anything else I've ever read.
—Sandi
