Book Review
Jan. 25th, 2018 09:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariThe Anubis Gates
by Tim Powers
This classic time-travel adventure novel really delivers on the action and adventure. Brenda Doyle, mild mannered scholar of Romantic English literature, is recruited for a mysterious task by an aging billionaire industrialist. It turns out that the billionaire has discovered a method of time travel and is taking a group of high-paying tourists back to 1810 to hear a lecture by Samuel Taylor-Coleridge and Doyle is to be their expert guide. However, things go quite wrong and Brendan finds himself stuck in 1810, embroiled in a dangerous occult plot, pursued by a murderous clown and his warped band of thieves, and forging unexpected connections to poets both obscure and famous.
Powers spins a clever and exciting tale. The pacing is damn near perfect, and the plot has plenty of twists and turns, largely non-predictable. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. The only real weakness is the characterization - Doyle felt a little too passive and wilting at times, especially at the beginning, and a few of the other characters were a bit more stock than they really should have been. Still, it was a very fun and enjoyable read.
by Tim Powers
This classic time-travel adventure novel really delivers on the action and adventure. Brenda Doyle, mild mannered scholar of Romantic English literature, is recruited for a mysterious task by an aging billionaire industrialist. It turns out that the billionaire has discovered a method of time travel and is taking a group of high-paying tourists back to 1810 to hear a lecture by Samuel Taylor-Coleridge and Doyle is to be their expert guide. However, things go quite wrong and Brendan finds himself stuck in 1810, embroiled in a dangerous occult plot, pursued by a murderous clown and his warped band of thieves, and forging unexpected connections to poets both obscure and famous.
Powers spins a clever and exciting tale. The pacing is damn near perfect, and the plot has plenty of twists and turns, largely non-predictable. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. The only real weakness is the characterization - Doyle felt a little too passive and wilting at times, especially at the beginning, and a few of the other characters were a bit more stock than they really should have been. Still, it was a very fun and enjoyable read.
