Just Discovered Tim Powers!

[ASRomatifoso]

A friend gave me Last Call, which I am devouring right now. Great book! I have ordered The Anubis Gates and Declare, also. Can't believe I have never read this guy's work. Last Call won the World Fantasy Award. I don't know what it was up against that year but it's a great book, so far.

I was in the middle of re-reading my J.G. Ballard collection (7 books of his) but stopped to check Last Call out. Within 15 pages, I put my Ballards aside, and shelved The Confusion for the next few days.

Give him a look, if you don't know his work. Though, I imagine he's pretty popular and I am, as usual, behind the curve:)

[lofgoernost]

I just held Last Call in my hands two days ago. I had a Barnes and Noble gift card and came close to picking up the Powers book, but went for something I figured would be less likely to be on my local library's shelves.

I've owned The Drawing of the Dark for awhile now, but have yet to read it. I picked it up after hearing that Powers and Philip Dick had been close friends.

[Bottle or the Gun]

I'll skip buying groceries if it means I can get a Tim Powers book! I read Dinner at Deviants Palace long ago and was hooked!

His view on magic as it is experienced in contemporary times is great. He can instill terrific power in a beer or a piece of cinnamon candy in a way that is surreal yet makes perfect sense.

[RSLancastr]

I heard about Last Call in an unusual way.

I run a web site devoted to unusual playing cards, and receive emails from people looking for things related to the subject.

I got an email from a person who wanted to know if I could tell them what Tarot deck was used in an extremely limited edition of Tim Powers' book "Last Call". It was a very artsy edition, in which cards from a tarot deck were inserted into the cover somehow (the book contains lots of references to cards, both playing cards and tarot cards).

I tracked down the answer (which I do not now recall), and in the process, became intrigued with the bookitself. I ordered it from Barnes & Noble, and loved it.

I have heard that there is another Powers book which is a sequel to it, or at least connected to it in some way, but I have yet to read it.

[ceo_esq]

The Anubis Gates and Dinner at Deviant's Palace really held my attention fifteen years or so ago, when I first read them. I wonder how they'd stand up to a second reading.

[Small Town Jesus]

I'm a long time Tim Powers fan and enjoy re-reading his novels.

'Last Call' was followed by 'Expiration Date' which was set in the same world and the characters and events from both those books were brought together in 'Earthquake Weather'. I love the sad little wisps of ghosts that float around in those novels, helplessly attracted to palindromes and a source of sustenance for the books villain.

'The Anubis Gates' is another favorite. A great time travel romp that features characters shared with James P Blaylock. I like how the people from the present stuck in 19th century London identify each other by whistling the Beatles song 'Yesterday'.

Powers most recent book 'Deceive' is terrific. An extraordinary mixture of cold war spy novel with Djinns and other strangeness.

But my unashamed all time favourite is 'On Stranger Tides'. Pirates! Undead pirates! It will make you wonder if the writers of a certain recent Jonny Depp movie had read it too. ;)

Also recommended:- 'The Last Coin' by the aforementioned James P Blaylock. Powers and Blaylock go together like... I don't know... two things that go together a lot! :D

STJ

[ASRomatifoso]

Thanks a lot for the recommendations, you guys. I noticed that I got the title wrong, it's Deceive, not Declare. Small Town Jesus had it right.

[Small Town Jesus]

Originally posted by ASRomatifoso
Thanks a lot for the recommendations, you guys. I noticed that I got the title wrong, it's Deceive, not Declare. Small Town Jesus had it right.

Oops! It is 'Declare'. My bad. :o

STJ