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Hide Me Among the Graves
From the award-winning author of Declare, Last Call and Three Days to Never comes a standout historical thriller in which art and the supernatural collide"Powers never fails to reward readers with fascinating and believable tales that take them just beyond the edges of reality."-Rocky Mountain NewsWinter, 1862. A malevolent spirit roams the cold and gloomy streets of Victorian London, the vampiric ghost of John Polidori, the one-time physician of the mad, bad, and dangerous Romantic poet Lord Byron. Polidori is also the supernatural muse to his niece and nephew, poet Christina Rossetti and her artist brother Dante Gabriel.But Polidori's taste for debauchery has grown excessive. He is determined to possess the life and soul of an innocent young girl, the daughter of a veterinarian and a reformed prostitute he once haunted. And he has resurrected Dante's dead wife, transforming her into a horrifying vampire. The Rossettis know the time has come-Polidori must be stopped. Joining forces with the girl's unlikely parents, they are plunged into a supernatural London underworld whose existence they never suspected.These wildly mismatched allies-a straitlaced animal doctor, an ex-prostitute, a poet, a painter, and even the Artful-Dodger-like young daughter-must ultimately choose between the banality and constraits of human life and the unholy immortality that Polidori offers. Sweeping from high society to grimy slums, elegant West End salons to pre-Roman catacombs beneath St. Paul's cathedral, Hide Me Among the Graves blends the historical and the supernatural in a dazzling, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride.
528 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2012
161 people are currently reading
3612 people want to read
About the author
Tim Powers
167 books1,753 followersTimothy Thomas Powers is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels Last Call and Declare.
Most of Powers's novels are "secret histories": he uses actual, documented historical events featuring famous people, but shows another view of them in which occult or supernatural factors heavily influence the motivations and actions of the characters.
Powers was born in Buffalo, New York, and grew up in California, where his Roman Catholic family moved in 1959.
He studied English Literature at Cal State Fullerton, where he first met James Blaylock and K.W. Jeter, both of whom remained close friends and occasional collaborators; the trio have half-seriously referred to themselves as "steampunks" in contrast to the prevailing cyberpunk genre of the 1980s. Powers and Blaylock invented the poet William Ashbless while they were at Cal State Fullerton.
Another friend Powers first met during this period was noted science fiction writer Philip K. Dick; the character named "David" in Dick's novel VALIS is based on Powers and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Blade Runner) is dedicated to him.
Powers's first major novel was The Drawing of the Dark (1979), but the novel that earned him wide praise was The Anubis Gates, which won the Philip K. Dick Award, and has since been published in many other languages.
Powers also teaches part-time in his role as Writer in Residence for the Orange County High School of the Arts where his friend, Blaylock, is Director of the Creative Writing Department. Powers and his wife, Serena, currently live in Muscoy, California. He has frequently served as a mentor author as part of the Clarion science fiction/fantasy writer's workshop.
He also taught part time at the University of Redlands.
Excerpted from Wikipedia.
Most of Powers's novels are "secret histories": he uses actual, documented historical events featuring famous people, but shows another view of them in which occult or supernatural factors heavily influence the motivations and actions of the characters.
Powers was born in Buffalo, New York, and grew up in California, where his Roman Catholic family moved in 1959.
He studied English Literature at Cal State Fullerton, where he first met James Blaylock and K.W. Jeter, both of whom remained close friends and occasional collaborators; the trio have half-seriously referred to themselves as "steampunks" in contrast to the prevailing cyberpunk genre of the 1980s. Powers and Blaylock invented the poet William Ashbless while they were at Cal State Fullerton.
Another friend Powers first met during this period was noted science fiction writer Philip K. Dick; the character named "David" in Dick's novel VALIS is based on Powers and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Blade Runner) is dedicated to him.
Powers's first major novel was The Drawing of the Dark (1979), but the novel that earned him wide praise was The Anubis Gates, which won the Philip K. Dick Award, and has since been published in many other languages.
Powers also teaches part-time in his role as Writer in Residence for the Orange County High School of the Arts where his friend, Blaylock, is Director of the Creative Writing Department. Powers and his wife, Serena, currently live in Muscoy, California. He has frequently served as a mentor author as part of the Clarion science fiction/fantasy writer's workshop.
He also taught part time at the University of Redlands.
Excerpted from Wikipedia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 442 reviews
October 22, 2019
byron is not in this book.
at all.
which is a shame.
when this came in to the store, greg handed it to me and grunted something like, "here. byron."
and i was like "yayyyy!" because of all the millions of books i have read that have byron as a character, tim powers is the only one who ever got it "right." and i skimmed the dust jacket and saw polidori's name and saw byron's name, but didn't really read it too closely because i knew i had to borrow it immediately.
and i kept waiting for byron to appear, in some form or another, despite it taking place years after his death.
but alas, this is not a story about byron.
at all.
however, tim powers has done it again.
he has written a densely plotted book that somehow SOMEHOW manages to work freaking vampires into a story about poets without it being even one bit silly, and instead being genuinely tensely scary and - convincing.
this is an amazing accomplishment.
he has redefined the vampire mythology in a way that is eminently satisfying and it is just stunningly crafted.
here the focus is on the grown son of the characters from the first book, and the major poets in this one are the rossettis and swinburne, about whom i know nothing. trelawny comes back as a major player, and he manages to redeem that damn pirate, and even account for some of the less savory aspects of his personality. and, yes, polidori.
when i was reading The Stress of Her Regard, i knew a ton about byron, and more than enough about shelley and keats to see how the fragments of their works sprinkled throughout could quite easily be read as something other than what they were - something supernatural. the plot, although it involves freaking VAMPIRES, seamlessly inserts itself into actual events from the lives of the poets, and interprets their sometimes incomprehensible life-choices through this filter of FREAKING VAMPIRES that feels authentic. seriously, i don't know how he did it, but you gotta believe me - that dog HUNTS!
again, i know nothing about the lives of the poets covered in this book, but i am confident that powers has done his research, and he manages to once again assign supernatural explanations for events actually occurring in the lives of these people, and the poetry reprinted here certainly does tip the cap to the spectral and the occult.
stress blew my mind, even though it was a slow start. this one also suffers from a slow start, for me all the more because i kept being so impatient for byron.
but once it gets going...i forgot all about byron and i loved loved loved it.
johanna. one of the best characters i have ever read.
and i have read a book or two.
cats. i can't even talk about how great they are in this book, and the scene that comes towards the end IF YOU READ THIS BOOK YOU WILL KNOW WHAT THIS SCENE IS is so noble and made my heart get all pudding-y.
however - i do not recommend reading this book without first reading stress.
i mean, do what you want - who cares what i think. but know that this vampire mythology is so dense and complete, it is better to become exposed to it as nature intended.
powers writes hard. not that it is difficult to understand, but there is something almost claustrophobic about his prose. sometimes it feels like he expects you to know what he is talking about before he remembers to tell you. but it is a really great technique. and kind of amazing the way he pulls it off. there were times when i became lost a little, and then in the next paragraph, this light would shine on my brain as he backtracked, and i would be all "tim powers, you've done it again!" it sounds clumsy, but when he does it, it is ballet.
i don't know why i liked this particular passage so much, but i did:
that passage just comes alive for me, as do so many in this book. i loved this book. i am going to go back and give stress five stars, too. because the more i think about what powers has done here, the more i am in awe.
even without byron.
oh my god, and i haven't even mentioned boadicea!
who is not as developed as i would have liked, but man, just even to have included her...
thank you, tim powers, i love you like candy.
maureen, this book, if it were candy, would be reese's peanut butter eggs. in other words, divine.
come to my blog!
at all.
which is a shame.
when this came in to the store, greg handed it to me and grunted something like, "here. byron."
and i was like "yayyyy!" because of all the millions of books i have read that have byron as a character, tim powers is the only one who ever got it "right." and i skimmed the dust jacket and saw polidori's name and saw byron's name, but didn't really read it too closely because i knew i had to borrow it immediately.
and i kept waiting for byron to appear, in some form or another, despite it taking place years after his death.
but alas, this is not a story about byron.
at all.
however, tim powers has done it again.
he has written a densely plotted book that somehow SOMEHOW manages to work freaking vampires into a story about poets without it being even one bit silly, and instead being genuinely tensely scary and - convincing.
this is an amazing accomplishment.
he has redefined the vampire mythology in a way that is eminently satisfying and it is just stunningly crafted.
here the focus is on the grown son of the characters from the first book, and the major poets in this one are the rossettis and swinburne, about whom i know nothing. trelawny comes back as a major player, and he manages to redeem that damn pirate, and even account for some of the less savory aspects of his personality. and, yes, polidori.
when i was reading The Stress of Her Regard, i knew a ton about byron, and more than enough about shelley and keats to see how the fragments of their works sprinkled throughout could quite easily be read as something other than what they were - something supernatural. the plot, although it involves freaking VAMPIRES, seamlessly inserts itself into actual events from the lives of the poets, and interprets their sometimes incomprehensible life-choices through this filter of FREAKING VAMPIRES that feels authentic. seriously, i don't know how he did it, but you gotta believe me - that dog HUNTS!
again, i know nothing about the lives of the poets covered in this book, but i am confident that powers has done his research, and he manages to once again assign supernatural explanations for events actually occurring in the lives of these people, and the poetry reprinted here certainly does tip the cap to the spectral and the occult.
stress blew my mind, even though it was a slow start. this one also suffers from a slow start, for me all the more because i kept being so impatient for byron.
but once it gets going...i forgot all about byron and i loved loved loved it.
johanna. one of the best characters i have ever read.
and i have read a book or two.
cats. i can't even talk about how great they are in this book, and the scene that comes towards the end IF YOU READ THIS BOOK YOU WILL KNOW WHAT THIS SCENE IS is so noble and made my heart get all pudding-y.
however - i do not recommend reading this book without first reading stress.
i mean, do what you want - who cares what i think. but know that this vampire mythology is so dense and complete, it is better to become exposed to it as nature intended.
powers writes hard. not that it is difficult to understand, but there is something almost claustrophobic about his prose. sometimes it feels like he expects you to know what he is talking about before he remembers to tell you. but it is a really great technique. and kind of amazing the way he pulls it off. there were times when i became lost a little, and then in the next paragraph, this light would shine on my brain as he backtracked, and i would be all "tim powers, you've done it again!" it sounds clumsy, but when he does it, it is ballet.
i don't know why i liked this particular passage so much, but i did:
Booths crowded both sides of the street, and in the space of six yards Trelawny could have bought bootlaces, tin saucepans, or a smoked codfish nearly as tall as himself; and he threaded his way between gentlemen in silk hats, tradesmen in caps and leather aprons, and headless dummies wearing embroidered waistcoats and Norfolk jackets. from all sides rang the din of vendors announcing their wares: "Hot chestnuts!" and "What do you say to these cabbages?" and "Three a penny, don't pass it up!" and "Here's your bloaters!" as if Trelawny had misplaced the disreputable fish in question and had been looking all over the city for them.
that passage just comes alive for me, as do so many in this book. i loved this book. i am going to go back and give stress five stars, too. because the more i think about what powers has done here, the more i am in awe.
even without byron.
oh my god, and i haven't even mentioned boadicea!
who is not as developed as i would have liked, but man, just even to have included her...
thank you, tim powers, i love you like candy.
maureen, this book, if it were candy, would be reese's peanut butter eggs. in other words, divine.
come to my blog!
October 26, 2018
The unwary might stumble upon Tim Powers' new novel, "Hide Me Among the Graves" and think: latecomer to the vampire craze. Powers' longtime fans, though, will recognize the book as a sequel to his excellent 1989 novel, "The Stress of Her Regard," but with those readers, belated recognition of the relationship would be understandable: nowhere on the "Hide Me" cover is the link between the books mentioned, so buyer beware. Does it matter? Yes and no. The reader who has completed "Stress" will be far more comfortable with Powers' complex take on Victorian era (and before) vampirism, and recognizing the handful of recurring characters will boost enjoyment. But newcomers to Powers still are likely to enjoy the new book plenty, and aren't likely to be too confused. It's like the fact that knowledge of Keats, Shelley and Lord Byron is helpful to enjoyment of "Stress," and familiarity with painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, his sister poet Christina Rossetti and poet Algernon Swinburne — I had next to no such familiarity — is a boon to reading "Hide Me."
In any event, Powers has returned to familiar unholy/holy ground here, and it's very welcome. "Hide Me Among the Graves" is just his second novel since 2001, and 2006's "Three Days to Never" was, by his standards, mediocre. This new novel seems at first merely a welcome return to Powers' 19th-century England under the sway of the odd vampire, but it gathers strength every step of the way and, in the end, is every bit as good as "The Stress of Her Regard." I'd still advise reading the earlier novel first, however.
"Hide Me" picks up in 1845, 20-some years after the main action of "Stress." By shedding her blood on a small statue containing the essence of her uncle, Christina Rossetti resurrects the vampiric ghost of John Polidori, Lord Byron's former physician. In the coming years, Christina, her brothers and sister and Swinburne become enmeshed in Polidori's gathering power and nefarious plans. So, too, does John Crawford, son of the "Stress" protagonist. In 1862, he learns that his interlude with a then-prostitute, Adelaide McKee, seven years earlier, resulted in the birth of a daughter, Johanna, who now is imperiled by Polidori. Crawford and McKee eventually join forces with the Rossettis in trying to vanquish Polidori and a female vampire who is the companion of Edward Trelawny, a writer and former friend to the long-dead Shelley and Byron. Trelawny, a bridge between the human and Nephilim species, tries in his own way to aid Crawford/McKee and the Rossettis.
Powers, a master of ghosts and secret histories — the "real" explanations behind what happened to historical figures — generally wants nothing to do with either new-school sexy-cozy vampires or, at least on stage, old-school biting of necks. He's more interested in the psychic links between vampires and those they prey upon, and the power exchanges. Here, victims of a vampire's "attentions" benefit through great enhancement of their creative powers. Poets, for example, are inspired to great heights when vampires become their "patrons," but there are costs to their physical well-being (sunlight sensitivity, hastened death) and, particularly, to those they love: vampires are insanely jealous and will eliminate the loved ones of those they've preyed upon. As Powers describes a vampire's effect: "She was more like a sun that ignited a reciprocally fueled solar fire in him, while simply incinerating any lesser planets that presumed to orbit him." Powers may go easy on the biting, but, after a merely good opening third of the novel, he ratchets up the action and weird goings-on into an embarrassment of imaginative riches. Graves, seances, strange creatures, underground passageways, bottles of garlic uncorked to evict vampires, beings descending from the sky, legions of street waifs drawn to the vampire-connected, a twice-dead boy blindly directing hordes of seeking wasps. As is usual for Powers, the details and inventive explanations in his stories are absolutely astonishing. When he builds a world, he goes all out and creates it on his terms. If it's overkill — and some might feel it is or be a little baffled by the details — it's a glorious form of overkill, such as undead ghost vampires would appreciate.
Powers is one of my favorite writers, and I was delighted to find that "Hide Me Among the Graves" is far from a nostalgic revisit to old haunts. I don't think it's his best work, but it's in the ballpark. And that's a wonderful thing from a 60-year-old author who has been writing novels since the mid-'70s. Bravo.
In any event, Powers has returned to familiar unholy/holy ground here, and it's very welcome. "Hide Me Among the Graves" is just his second novel since 2001, and 2006's "Three Days to Never" was, by his standards, mediocre. This new novel seems at first merely a welcome return to Powers' 19th-century England under the sway of the odd vampire, but it gathers strength every step of the way and, in the end, is every bit as good as "The Stress of Her Regard." I'd still advise reading the earlier novel first, however.
"Hide Me" picks up in 1845, 20-some years after the main action of "Stress." By shedding her blood on a small statue containing the essence of her uncle, Christina Rossetti resurrects the vampiric ghost of John Polidori, Lord Byron's former physician. In the coming years, Christina, her brothers and sister and Swinburne become enmeshed in Polidori's gathering power and nefarious plans. So, too, does John Crawford, son of the "Stress" protagonist. In 1862, he learns that his interlude with a then-prostitute, Adelaide McKee, seven years earlier, resulted in the birth of a daughter, Johanna, who now is imperiled by Polidori. Crawford and McKee eventually join forces with the Rossettis in trying to vanquish Polidori and a female vampire who is the companion of Edward Trelawny, a writer and former friend to the long-dead Shelley and Byron. Trelawny, a bridge between the human and Nephilim species, tries in his own way to aid Crawford/McKee and the Rossettis.
Powers, a master of ghosts and secret histories — the "real" explanations behind what happened to historical figures — generally wants nothing to do with either new-school sexy-cozy vampires or, at least on stage, old-school biting of necks. He's more interested in the psychic links between vampires and those they prey upon, and the power exchanges. Here, victims of a vampire's "attentions" benefit through great enhancement of their creative powers. Poets, for example, are inspired to great heights when vampires become their "patrons," but there are costs to their physical well-being (sunlight sensitivity, hastened death) and, particularly, to those they love: vampires are insanely jealous and will eliminate the loved ones of those they've preyed upon. As Powers describes a vampire's effect: "She was more like a sun that ignited a reciprocally fueled solar fire in him, while simply incinerating any lesser planets that presumed to orbit him." Powers may go easy on the biting, but, after a merely good opening third of the novel, he ratchets up the action and weird goings-on into an embarrassment of imaginative riches. Graves, seances, strange creatures, underground passageways, bottles of garlic uncorked to evict vampires, beings descending from the sky, legions of street waifs drawn to the vampire-connected, a twice-dead boy blindly directing hordes of seeking wasps. As is usual for Powers, the details and inventive explanations in his stories are absolutely astonishing. When he builds a world, he goes all out and creates it on his terms. If it's overkill — and some might feel it is or be a little baffled by the details — it's a glorious form of overkill, such as undead ghost vampires would appreciate.
Powers is one of my favorite writers, and I was delighted to find that "Hide Me Among the Graves" is far from a nostalgic revisit to old haunts. I don't think it's his best work, but it's in the ballpark. And that's a wonderful thing from a 60-year-old author who has been writing novels since the mid-'70s. Bravo.
October 27, 2020
For those of you in the know, all I really need to say is TIM POWERS. You'll get it.
For everyone else, we've got here a VERY period tale that has done an immense measure of research into the lives and times of Christina Rossetti and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, featuring these siblings as main characters in an all-out VAMPIRE novel. And it never feels contrived.
Excuse me, lol. We have a modern audience here. Dante Gabriel Rossetti was a famous poet and painter in the 19th century. Christina Rossetti is the author of Goblin Market.
It almost behooves me to read Christina's work and apply it whole-heartedly to Tim Power's tale, because the events within London, her family, and the strange collection of characters seem to explain an AWFUL lot.
Because it's not just about vampires. It's about mortal sin, carnality, dead babies haunting you for the rest of your life (literally), and ghosts. Not to mention that this novel spans from high society to the dregs of the underworld, in full adventure mode.
Certain things are not talked about. This is the London of THAT time. And these vampires are not the kind of hokey vampires we see today. They're nuanced and the system of magic that Powers enables them to come to life is as nuanced as the characters. And strange, too! Powers has an uncanny ability to bring in disparate features of ... ANYTHING ... and pulls them off in style. No spoilers, but this one was a treat.
For everyone else, we've got here a VERY period tale that has done an immense measure of research into the lives and times of Christina Rossetti and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, featuring these siblings as main characters in an all-out VAMPIRE novel. And it never feels contrived.
Excuse me, lol. We have a modern audience here. Dante Gabriel Rossetti was a famous poet and painter in the 19th century. Christina Rossetti is the author of Goblin Market.
It almost behooves me to read Christina's work and apply it whole-heartedly to Tim Power's tale, because the events within London, her family, and the strange collection of characters seem to explain an AWFUL lot.
Because it's not just about vampires. It's about mortal sin, carnality, dead babies haunting you for the rest of your life (literally), and ghosts. Not to mention that this novel spans from high society to the dregs of the underworld, in full adventure mode.
Certain things are not talked about. This is the London of THAT time. And these vampires are not the kind of hokey vampires we see today. They're nuanced and the system of magic that Powers enables them to come to life is as nuanced as the characters. And strange, too! Powers has an uncanny ability to bring in disparate features of ... ANYTHING ... and pulls them off in style. No spoilers, but this one was a treat.
August 29, 2015
I've been a big Tim Powers fan for many years now, and a new one from him is always a delight. HIDE ME AMONG THE GRAVES is no exception. I adore the way he attacks a plot with exuberance and bravado. In this one we're tossed into the lives of the Rossetti family, a veterinarian, a prostitute and an adventurer in Dickensian London all plagued by a family blood curse that has come back to claim its own. It's also a sequel to an earlier work, but you don't need to know that to enjoy this one on its own merits.
19th Century London is a locale Powers has detailed before of course, in THE ANUBIS GATES in particular. HIDE isn't quite in that league of baroque brilliance - then again, what is? - but it's a glorious, almost breathless romp that throws snatches of poetry and music hall at you, draws in legends of London from the Roman era onward, dances in the bars and descends into the sewers and caverns beneath the Old Lady to meet the denizens, natural and supernatural who live there.
It's all driven along by Powers' at times poetic language and feel for a story. You'll find death, romance, seances, exorcisms, high magic in Highgate Cemetery, ghosts by the Thames and derring-do in Cheyne Walk.
It's a fine addition to Powers' oevre and I look forward to more soon from him. Reading him always makes me feel like a rank amateur in my own writing - but it also makes me want to strive to do better, so I'm off to try.
19th Century London is a locale Powers has detailed before of course, in THE ANUBIS GATES in particular. HIDE isn't quite in that league of baroque brilliance - then again, what is? - but it's a glorious, almost breathless romp that throws snatches of poetry and music hall at you, draws in legends of London from the Roman era onward, dances in the bars and descends into the sewers and caverns beneath the Old Lady to meet the denizens, natural and supernatural who live there.
It's all driven along by Powers' at times poetic language and feel for a story. You'll find death, romance, seances, exorcisms, high magic in Highgate Cemetery, ghosts by the Thames and derring-do in Cheyne Walk.
It's a fine addition to Powers' oevre and I look forward to more soon from him. Reading him always makes me feel like a rank amateur in my own writing - but it also makes me want to strive to do better, so I'm off to try.
September 17, 2024
So, I reached the halfway point of my re-read of Hide Me Among the Graves, and that’s far enough. I was hoping that re-visiting my least favorite of Tim Powers’s novels would allow me to reevaluate it, find something that I missed the first time. Instead, my opinion of it has dropped lower.
This sequel to The Stress of Her Regard is not without its virtues. Powers’s world building in creating an occultly haunted Victorian London is first rate. From its abandoned sewers, buried Roman ruins, creepy, cramped church graveyards, to its ghost besotted river, Powers created the ideal stage for a tale of the supernatural. This London is haunted by his unique and uncanny ghosts, and stalked by his equally original and unsettling vampires. Its is peopled by a bizarre underworld of characters who profit from their understanding of these spooks, and by depraved addicts who crave the attention of the vampiric monsters like a drug. This darkly creepy, absolutely unsettling setting offered great promise.
The problem is with everything else. The plot is dense, convoluted, obstinately obscure, and twistingly, agonizingly slow. The descriptions of several action sequences left me confused and unable to picture the scenes being described, and uncertain what had actually happened. And character’s motivations often just didn’t make enough sense for me to buy in.
And that brings me to my biggest problem with this novel — the characters themselves. The historical Rossetti family — Christina, Dante Gabriel, and their less famous siblings and parents, along with their friend Algernon Swinburne were the primary protagonist. Perhaps Powers was attempting to make these people insipid and insufferable for plot reasons. If so, he succeeded wildly. I could not sympathize with them, and came to actively dislike spending time with them. And even the villains — particularly the main vampiric adversary, Polidori — struck me as more pathetically annoying than fearsome. The characterization was a complete and total bust for me.
This sequel to The Stress of Her Regard is not without its virtues. Powers’s world building in creating an occultly haunted Victorian London is first rate. From its abandoned sewers, buried Roman ruins, creepy, cramped church graveyards, to its ghost besotted river, Powers created the ideal stage for a tale of the supernatural. This London is haunted by his unique and uncanny ghosts, and stalked by his equally original and unsettling vampires. Its is peopled by a bizarre underworld of characters who profit from their understanding of these spooks, and by depraved addicts who crave the attention of the vampiric monsters like a drug. This darkly creepy, absolutely unsettling setting offered great promise.
The problem is with everything else. The plot is dense, convoluted, obstinately obscure, and twistingly, agonizingly slow. The descriptions of several action sequences left me confused and unable to picture the scenes being described, and uncertain what had actually happened. And character’s motivations often just didn’t make enough sense for me to buy in.
And that brings me to my biggest problem with this novel — the characters themselves. The historical Rossetti family — Christina, Dante Gabriel, and their less famous siblings and parents, along with their friend Algernon Swinburne were the primary protagonist. Perhaps Powers was attempting to make these people insipid and insufferable for plot reasons. If so, he succeeded wildly. I could not sympathize with them, and came to actively dislike spending time with them. And even the villains — particularly the main vampiric adversary, Polidori — struck me as more pathetically annoying than fearsome. The characterization was a complete and total bust for me.
May 19, 2012
A couple of observations about Tim Powers and the books that he writes--First, he can weave a hell of a tale! Second, he certainly does his homework, as his blending of historical fact within his fiction borders upon both the sublime and brilliant! Hide Me Among the Graves is only the third novel by Powers that I've read, but it is easily the best. The other two were The Anubis Gates and The Stress of Her Regard.
By way of background, and as some of you may know, I am a huge fan of the Victorian poet, Christina Rossetti. Christina was the youngest sister of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood founder, Dante Gabriel Rossetti (a poet in his own right). While a pious woman, Christina, for much of her life explored the breadth and depth of human emotion in her amazing poetry such as her long narrative epic poem, Goblin Market, or the intensely personal series of Monna Innominata sonnets, or in her slightly creepy poems The Ghost's Petition, My Dream or Love and Death.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that Christina Rossetti's poetry evokes a similar response in me as that when I view the art of William Holman Hunt or John Everett Millais, or even Christina's brother, Dante Gabriel--the paintings are lavishly colorful, ornate, detailed and bring to life the natural, spiritual and mythological world. Christina Rossetti was, if you will, a charter member of the 'PreRaphaelite Sisterhood' and her poetry, in my opinion, was as intellectually creative and emotionally visceral as that of her male contemporaries in the visual and literary arts. While Christina is perhaps best known for her epic poem, Goblin Market (1859), she was a prolific poet who, through the course of her life, wrote something over 1,000 poems. Like her older sister, Maria, Christina never married, and she ultimately died of cancer at the age of 64 in 1894.
What Powers has done in Hide Me Among the Graves is to create an entirely compelling and virtually believable and macabre story involving the Rossetti family and some of the characters from his earlier novel, The Stress of Her Regard. Is it necessary to read The Stress of Her Regard first? Probably not, but I thoroughly recommend that you do so, as it will make your overall experience that much more meaningful. In both, The Stress of Her Regard and Hide Me Among the Graves, Powers has created a unique blend of historical, horror and fantasy fiction in a style that hearkens back to the Romantic period and Gothic revival portrayed in the poetry of Byron, Shelley, Keats and even Coleridge, and in the fiction of Matthew Lewis, Mary Shelley, and Ann Radcliffe. Interestingly, and relevant to both The Stress of Her Regard and Hide Me Among the Graves, shortly after Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein in 1817, the maternal uncle of the Rossetti siblings, John Polidori, wrote a short story entitled The Vampyre (1819). Polidori, who was also Byron's personal physician while Byron was in Europe, figures prominently in Hide Me Among the Graves as one of the immortal race of horrifying vampires known as the Nephilim.
While a horror story from start to finish, Hide Me Among the Graves is also a family story told on a Dickensian scale. Powers completely captures the devotion to family that each member of the Rossetti family so zealously guarded and protected. And while the Rossetti siblings, William, Dante Gabriel, Maria, and Christina are trying to rid London of their undead Uncle Polidori, the fictional characters John Crawford and Adelaide McKee are trying to find and save their young daughter, Johanna, from the clutches of the evil vampire. During the course of the novel the reader encounters other such real-life characters as the poet Algernon Charles Swinburne, Dante Gabriel Rossetti's artistic muse and wife Lizzie Siddal, the linguist and Dante translator Charles Cayley, and the author and adventurer Edward John Trelawny. The other major character featured in the book is the City of London and its history, from the depths of the oldest sewers to the "Whispering Gallery" in the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral. Powers' portrayal of his characters in the London landscape increasingly reminded me of Charles Dickens' magnum opus Our Mutual Friend, both in the descriptive talents of the two writers, but also in the sheer elegance of each written word on the page. These are characters that you can believe in, admire, and be repulsed and horrified by. At the same time, over the course of the novel, the gritty and seamy urban environment of London is described so realistically that one almost expects to encounter little 'Jenny Wren' or the 'Artful Dodger' as one rounds the corner in the footsteps of Christina Rossetti on the trail of her vampire uncle.
This is good stuff, folks! A scary and macabre tale, yet at the same time a breathtakingly imaginative and creative story grounded in the real lives of a group of intellectually amazing poets and painters at the height of the Victorian Era in the 19th century. Finally, there are two aspects of Powers' Hide Me Among the Graves that simply cannot be overstated or oversold. First, Powers has managed to effectively and accurately portray the complexity of the relationships between Christina Rossetti and her other family members; the tortured relationship between Dante Gabriel Rossetti and his wife, Lizzie Siddal; and even the somewhat bizarre character of the poet, Algernon Swinburne. Additionally, and most importantly from my perspective, Powers has managed to open a window and illuminate the magnificent poetry of a relatively obscure--but certainly not minor--female poet of the Victorian Era, Christina Georgina Rossetti. I personally cannot thank Tim Powers enough for setting out and accomplishing both of these tasks in grand fashion in this truly excellent novel!
While cerebral, Tim Powers' Hide Me Among the Graves is entirely accessible to any and all readers and provides a wonderful exclamation point to his spectacularly successful earlier novel, The Stress of Her Regard. I highly recommend both of these amazing novels!
Note--
I am rereading the novel right now, and revisiting some of Christina's poetry that was utilized as epigraphs and/or referred to throughout the book, and I am quite likely to come back and revisit the content of this review in the near future, but this will suffice for the time being.
***
Afterword--
If, after reading Hide Me Among the Graves, you find yourself becoming interested in learning more about the Victorian poet, Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894), I strongly recommend the following:
The Complete Poems
Christina Rossetti: A Literary Biography
By way of background, and as some of you may know, I am a huge fan of the Victorian poet, Christina Rossetti. Christina was the youngest sister of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood founder, Dante Gabriel Rossetti (a poet in his own right). While a pious woman, Christina, for much of her life explored the breadth and depth of human emotion in her amazing poetry such as her long narrative epic poem, Goblin Market, or the intensely personal series of Monna Innominata sonnets, or in her slightly creepy poems The Ghost's Petition, My Dream or Love and Death.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that Christina Rossetti's poetry evokes a similar response in me as that when I view the art of William Holman Hunt or John Everett Millais, or even Christina's brother, Dante Gabriel--the paintings are lavishly colorful, ornate, detailed and bring to life the natural, spiritual and mythological world. Christina Rossetti was, if you will, a charter member of the 'PreRaphaelite Sisterhood' and her poetry, in my opinion, was as intellectually creative and emotionally visceral as that of her male contemporaries in the visual and literary arts. While Christina is perhaps best known for her epic poem, Goblin Market (1859), she was a prolific poet who, through the course of her life, wrote something over 1,000 poems. Like her older sister, Maria, Christina never married, and she ultimately died of cancer at the age of 64 in 1894.
What Powers has done in Hide Me Among the Graves is to create an entirely compelling and virtually believable and macabre story involving the Rossetti family and some of the characters from his earlier novel, The Stress of Her Regard. Is it necessary to read The Stress of Her Regard first? Probably not, but I thoroughly recommend that you do so, as it will make your overall experience that much more meaningful. In both, The Stress of Her Regard and Hide Me Among the Graves, Powers has created a unique blend of historical, horror and fantasy fiction in a style that hearkens back to the Romantic period and Gothic revival portrayed in the poetry of Byron, Shelley, Keats and even Coleridge, and in the fiction of Matthew Lewis, Mary Shelley, and Ann Radcliffe. Interestingly, and relevant to both The Stress of Her Regard and Hide Me Among the Graves, shortly after Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein in 1817, the maternal uncle of the Rossetti siblings, John Polidori, wrote a short story entitled The Vampyre (1819). Polidori, who was also Byron's personal physician while Byron was in Europe, figures prominently in Hide Me Among the Graves as one of the immortal race of horrifying vampires known as the Nephilim.
While a horror story from start to finish, Hide Me Among the Graves is also a family story told on a Dickensian scale. Powers completely captures the devotion to family that each member of the Rossetti family so zealously guarded and protected. And while the Rossetti siblings, William, Dante Gabriel, Maria, and Christina are trying to rid London of their undead Uncle Polidori, the fictional characters John Crawford and Adelaide McKee are trying to find and save their young daughter, Johanna, from the clutches of the evil vampire. During the course of the novel the reader encounters other such real-life characters as the poet Algernon Charles Swinburne, Dante Gabriel Rossetti's artistic muse and wife Lizzie Siddal, the linguist and Dante translator Charles Cayley, and the author and adventurer Edward John Trelawny. The other major character featured in the book is the City of London and its history, from the depths of the oldest sewers to the "Whispering Gallery" in the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral. Powers' portrayal of his characters in the London landscape increasingly reminded me of Charles Dickens' magnum opus Our Mutual Friend, both in the descriptive talents of the two writers, but also in the sheer elegance of each written word on the page. These are characters that you can believe in, admire, and be repulsed and horrified by. At the same time, over the course of the novel, the gritty and seamy urban environment of London is described so realistically that one almost expects to encounter little 'Jenny Wren' or the 'Artful Dodger' as one rounds the corner in the footsteps of Christina Rossetti on the trail of her vampire uncle.
This is good stuff, folks! A scary and macabre tale, yet at the same time a breathtakingly imaginative and creative story grounded in the real lives of a group of intellectually amazing poets and painters at the height of the Victorian Era in the 19th century. Finally, there are two aspects of Powers' Hide Me Among the Graves that simply cannot be overstated or oversold. First, Powers has managed to effectively and accurately portray the complexity of the relationships between Christina Rossetti and her other family members; the tortured relationship between Dante Gabriel Rossetti and his wife, Lizzie Siddal; and even the somewhat bizarre character of the poet, Algernon Swinburne. Additionally, and most importantly from my perspective, Powers has managed to open a window and illuminate the magnificent poetry of a relatively obscure--but certainly not minor--female poet of the Victorian Era, Christina Georgina Rossetti. I personally cannot thank Tim Powers enough for setting out and accomplishing both of these tasks in grand fashion in this truly excellent novel!
While cerebral, Tim Powers' Hide Me Among the Graves is entirely accessible to any and all readers and provides a wonderful exclamation point to his spectacularly successful earlier novel, The Stress of Her Regard. I highly recommend both of these amazing novels!
Note--
I am rereading the novel right now, and revisiting some of Christina's poetry that was utilized as epigraphs and/or referred to throughout the book, and I am quite likely to come back and revisit the content of this review in the near future, but this will suffice for the time being.
***
Afterword--
If, after reading Hide Me Among the Graves, you find yourself becoming interested in learning more about the Victorian poet, Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894), I strongly recommend the following:
The Complete Poems
Christina Rossetti: A Literary Biography
August 9, 2017
Was it horror or sci-fi or just a drama? I couldn't really tell. It didn't pull me into the story and it took quite awhile to understand what was happening. Having figured it out, it was a bit too weird for me. but i Wouldn't hesitate to try another book by him, this one was just well....Boring ever with vampires
March 15, 2012
(3.5 stars) Tim Powers’s The Stress of Her Regard was one of my favorite random used-bookstore discoveries. After reading it ten years ago, I talked it up to all my friends. It was out of print at the time, so I constantly lent out my own copy until the time I didn’t get it back. When I got wind of Hide Me Among the Graves, a sequel of sorts, I was thrilled and hoped it would be one of my favorite books of the year. So how does it stack up? Well, to be honest, I didn’t like Hide Me Among the Graves quite as much as I did The Stress of Her Regard. I’m not sure if it’s Powers’s style that’s changed or if it’s me, but more on that later.
In The Stress of Her Regard, a group of characters (including several prominent poets and some invented characters) are terrorized by the nephilim. The setup is similar this time around, but a generation later: the central characters include the artistic Rossetti family and their friends, and veterinarian John Crawford, son of Michael Crawford from the first book. The four Rossetti siblings have essentially inherited the family vampire, who takes the form of their uncle, John Polidori. John Crawford’s parents passed on a lot of lore on fighting the creatures, and Crawford finds himself putting it to use when Adelaide McKee, a former prostitute with whom he once spent a fateful night, comes back into his life with a shattering piece of information. The fictional characters and the famous ones must work together to free all of them from the attentions of the nephilim.
The first thing I appreciated about Hide Me Among the Graves was simply seeing Powers’s nephilim again. The nephilim concept has become hugely overdone in the intervening years, and watered down in the process. Powers’s original take on that mythology was refreshing then and it’s even more refreshing now. In his universe, nephilim are fundamentally inhuman creatures; they are life forms based on silicon rather than carbon, and they are vampiric, seductive, and violently possessive of those humans they consider “theirs.”
The slotting of the nephilim mythos into the real history is brilliantly done. It makes such perfect sense out of weird things that really happened, that it almost makes you wonder whether it could have been possible. Powers even incorporates Queen Boadicea in a really clever way. The quirks of London are worked into the mythos as well; one great example is how the “Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St. Clemens” rhyme is associated with occult lore in the novel. And the imagery is vivid and superbly written, immersing the reader in the sights, sounds, and smells of the city.
I mentioned above that I’m not sure whether it’s Powers who’s changed, or if it’s just me. I’d probably have to embark on a reread of The Stress of Her Regard to be sure. In my early twenties I had much more patience for books that were intensely atmospheric, but slow. For much of the middle stretch of Hide Me Among the Graves, it feels slow, and too long, and bogged down in its details. This is especially true when the poets are at center stage; at times these characters seem to be going in circles. It fits the real facts of their troubled lives, it works as a metaphor for artistic madness or for addiction, and it illustrates the dangers of the nephilim, but it can still be frustrating for a reader. I found that my interest flagged when the poets came to the fore and perked back up whenever Crawford had the point of view.
Hide Me Among the Graves picks up momentum again in the later stretches, probably in large part because the plight of Crawford and McKee becomes more prominent, and these two are characters that readers will connect and sympathize with. We learn what the vampires’ ultimate plan is, and it’s one with horrifying ramifications for these two (and for another character who’d be spoilery to mention). The course of their unusual relationship tugs at the emotions as well, as does a beautiful scene — somehow sad and eerie and uplifting all at once — that will touch the heart of any pet lover who has lost some of these dear companions. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention Edward Trelawny, a septuagenarian author who is utterly badass here, and who speaks almost all of the few humorous lines in Hide Me Among the Graves.
While Hide Me Among the Graves doesn’t quite live up to the (admittedly stratospheric) hopes I had for it, I’d recommend it for anyone who is interested in “secret history” fantasy or Victorian London or the Pre-Raphaelite poets and artists. It sags some in the middle, but Powers’s clever mingling of real history with secret supernatural goings-on makes it well worth reading.
See this and my review of "Stress" at FanLit
In The Stress of Her Regard, a group of characters (including several prominent poets and some invented characters) are terrorized by the nephilim. The setup is similar this time around, but a generation later: the central characters include the artistic Rossetti family and their friends, and veterinarian John Crawford, son of Michael Crawford from the first book. The four Rossetti siblings have essentially inherited the family vampire, who takes the form of their uncle, John Polidori. John Crawford’s parents passed on a lot of lore on fighting the creatures, and Crawford finds himself putting it to use when Adelaide McKee, a former prostitute with whom he once spent a fateful night, comes back into his life with a shattering piece of information. The fictional characters and the famous ones must work together to free all of them from the attentions of the nephilim.
The first thing I appreciated about Hide Me Among the Graves was simply seeing Powers’s nephilim again. The nephilim concept has become hugely overdone in the intervening years, and watered down in the process. Powers’s original take on that mythology was refreshing then and it’s even more refreshing now. In his universe, nephilim are fundamentally inhuman creatures; they are life forms based on silicon rather than carbon, and they are vampiric, seductive, and violently possessive of those humans they consider “theirs.”
The slotting of the nephilim mythos into the real history is brilliantly done. It makes such perfect sense out of weird things that really happened, that it almost makes you wonder whether it could have been possible. Powers even incorporates Queen Boadicea in a really clever way. The quirks of London are worked into the mythos as well; one great example is how the “Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St. Clemens” rhyme is associated with occult lore in the novel. And the imagery is vivid and superbly written, immersing the reader in the sights, sounds, and smells of the city.
I mentioned above that I’m not sure whether it’s Powers who’s changed, or if it’s just me. I’d probably have to embark on a reread of The Stress of Her Regard to be sure. In my early twenties I had much more patience for books that were intensely atmospheric, but slow. For much of the middle stretch of Hide Me Among the Graves, it feels slow, and too long, and bogged down in its details. This is especially true when the poets are at center stage; at times these characters seem to be going in circles. It fits the real facts of their troubled lives, it works as a metaphor for artistic madness or for addiction, and it illustrates the dangers of the nephilim, but it can still be frustrating for a reader. I found that my interest flagged when the poets came to the fore and perked back up whenever Crawford had the point of view.
Hide Me Among the Graves picks up momentum again in the later stretches, probably in large part because the plight of Crawford and McKee becomes more prominent, and these two are characters that readers will connect and sympathize with. We learn what the vampires’ ultimate plan is, and it’s one with horrifying ramifications for these two (and for another character who’d be spoilery to mention). The course of their unusual relationship tugs at the emotions as well, as does a beautiful scene — somehow sad and eerie and uplifting all at once — that will touch the heart of any pet lover who has lost some of these dear companions. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention Edward Trelawny, a septuagenarian author who is utterly badass here, and who speaks almost all of the few humorous lines in Hide Me Among the Graves.
While Hide Me Among the Graves doesn’t quite live up to the (admittedly stratospheric) hopes I had for it, I’d recommend it for anyone who is interested in “secret history” fantasy or Victorian London or the Pre-Raphaelite poets and artists. It sags some in the middle, but Powers’s clever mingling of real history with secret supernatural goings-on makes it well worth reading.
See this and my review of "Stress" at FanLit
October 24, 2012
Having worked my way through all 500 pages of this work of “speculative fiction” it’s more a case of ‘Hide Meh Among The Graves’.
Powers specialises in basing his novels around real historical characters (in this case the Rossetti family) and then weaving in some supernatural hokum (in this case vampires).
This is a sequel of sorts to his 1989 novel ‘The Stress of her Regard’ which need not be read first.
I won’t go through the plot in detail here. It’s reasonably well worked out, and it’s linear (which is a bonus point in my eyes as I do get a bit fed up with the dual or triple narratives which are so popular these days, jumping back and forth in time), and the dénouement is professionally arranged.
The setting – Victorian London – seems to be authentically described. It’s very well written.
But… but… oh, it’s just… meh.
I think the main problem for me was that the characters were all so emotionally disengaged from the plot. They seemed to be parading through the book, through some nice action set pieces, through some (what should have been) creepy settings (the sewers and graveyards of foggy Olde London Towne), as if they were on Valium.
Vampires pop up, little grey ghost children chatter away, but the protagonists react as though puzzled by a crossword clue.
It was all just a bit too dispassionate for me. Perhaps this was the intended effect. I got to the end and it was more like getting to the end of a guide book than a novel.
4/10
Powers specialises in basing his novels around real historical characters (in this case the Rossetti family) and then weaving in some supernatural hokum (in this case vampires).
This is a sequel of sorts to his 1989 novel ‘The Stress of her Regard’ which need not be read first.
I won’t go through the plot in detail here. It’s reasonably well worked out, and it’s linear (which is a bonus point in my eyes as I do get a bit fed up with the dual or triple narratives which are so popular these days, jumping back and forth in time), and the dénouement is professionally arranged.
The setting – Victorian London – seems to be authentically described. It’s very well written.
But… but… oh, it’s just… meh.
I think the main problem for me was that the characters were all so emotionally disengaged from the plot. They seemed to be parading through the book, through some nice action set pieces, through some (what should have been) creepy settings (the sewers and graveyards of foggy Olde London Towne), as if they were on Valium.
Vampires pop up, little grey ghost children chatter away, but the protagonists react as though puzzled by a crossword clue.
It was all just a bit too dispassionate for me. Perhaps this was the intended effect. I got to the end and it was more like getting to the end of a guide book than a novel.
4/10
September 28, 2013
I bought this at the local more-literary-leaning SFF con' after hearing the author speak. He's very witty, and the brief discussion of this book during his session really piqued my interest.
A good read! I would've finished it sooner if not for various external distractions. What an inventive, atmospheric, complex, intelligent, and creepy story! Of the intriguing characters, I especially liked Christina, Crawford, McKee, Trelawny, and Johanna.
A good read! I would've finished it sooner if not for various external distractions. What an inventive, atmospheric, complex, intelligent, and creepy story! Of the intriguing characters, I especially liked Christina, Crawford, McKee, Trelawny, and Johanna.
October 29, 2024
Quite surprised by how much I enjoyed this book -- ghosts, vampires and all!
March 19, 2012
Like almost every other reviewer of this book, I have to say: do NOT read this if you haven't read The Stress of Her Regard, to which this book is something of a sequel. Tim Powers excels at creating alternate explanations for actual historical events, and at revealing the truth behind those mysteries, but in this case, those revelations all happened in the first book. Combine this with the return of characters (or their descendants) from The Stress of Her Regard and you have a book that can't completely stand on its own.
That said, as a companion to this much-earlier novel, Hide Me Among the Graves works very well to bring this mythology to a close. In Stress, the characters' actions to stop the vampire/nephilim creatures are effective, but not permanent, where in this novel the goal is not just to survive, but to win. The central historical figures this time are the Rossetti family of literary and artistic fame, relatives of John Polidori who, in the previous story, became one of the nephilim. I had no idea the real Polidori was the Rossetti children's uncle, and if this was Powers' plan from the start, I am totally impressed; we go from the real Polidori being one of the fathers of vampire fiction, to the fictional Polidori becoming a vampire himself, to vampire Polidori's attentions to his family giving them outstanding artistic abilities, to those periods of genius matching up with the historical assessment of the quality of Christina and Dante Gabriel Rossetti's respective works. Powers sees connections between the most unlikely of events and, more importantly, makes us see them too.
I'm giving this only four stars mainly because I'm not sure how I feel about tying this book so closely to another, let alone one published thirteen years earlier. To me, part of the joy of a Tim Powers novel is discovering a new or reimagined mythos, not just continuing to explore an old one. (Even with the linked novels Last Call, Expiration Date, and Earthquake Weather, each book either entangles the characters in a new mythos or reveals a previously unknown aspect of an old one.) I'm also not sure about using the Rossetti family and Algernon Swinburne as the pivotal historical figures, because as important as they are to literature (maybe not Swinburne, but I've always felt he was sort of a hack--and hey, Powers says I'm right about that!) they aren't nearly as well known as Shelley or Byron, and I feel this makes Hide Me Among the Graves less accessible to people who don't know their 19th century literature. On the other hand, maybe Tim Powers' ideal audience for his books is people who *do* know their 19th century literature, in which case this isn't so much a problem. My personal quibble is that I don't care for books that make huge temporal jumps--this story begins in 1845 and ends around 1888, skipping five or nine years between sections. This is probably to accommodate that whole matching the story with the Rossettis' and Swinburne's artistic output, so it's necessary, but personally annoying.
Tim Powers is one of those authors I can't imagine writing a terrible book. I enjoyed this immensely, despite my criticisms, but I admit I'm already looking forward to whatever he writes next.
That said, as a companion to this much-earlier novel, Hide Me Among the Graves works very well to bring this mythology to a close. In Stress, the characters' actions to stop the vampire/nephilim creatures are effective, but not permanent, where in this novel the goal is not just to survive, but to win. The central historical figures this time are the Rossetti family of literary and artistic fame, relatives of John Polidori who, in the previous story, became one of the nephilim. I had no idea the real Polidori was the Rossetti children's uncle, and if this was Powers' plan from the start, I am totally impressed; we go from the real Polidori being one of the fathers of vampire fiction, to the fictional Polidori becoming a vampire himself, to vampire Polidori's attentions to his family giving them outstanding artistic abilities, to those periods of genius matching up with the historical assessment of the quality of Christina and Dante Gabriel Rossetti's respective works. Powers sees connections between the most unlikely of events and, more importantly, makes us see them too.
I'm giving this only four stars mainly because I'm not sure how I feel about tying this book so closely to another, let alone one published thirteen years earlier. To me, part of the joy of a Tim Powers novel is discovering a new or reimagined mythos, not just continuing to explore an old one. (Even with the linked novels Last Call, Expiration Date, and Earthquake Weather, each book either entangles the characters in a new mythos or reveals a previously unknown aspect of an old one.) I'm also not sure about using the Rossetti family and Algernon Swinburne as the pivotal historical figures, because as important as they are to literature (maybe not Swinburne, but I've always felt he was sort of a hack--and hey, Powers says I'm right about that!) they aren't nearly as well known as Shelley or Byron, and I feel this makes Hide Me Among the Graves less accessible to people who don't know their 19th century literature. On the other hand, maybe Tim Powers' ideal audience for his books is people who *do* know their 19th century literature, in which case this isn't so much a problem. My personal quibble is that I don't care for books that make huge temporal jumps--this story begins in 1845 and ends around 1888, skipping five or nine years between sections. This is probably to accommodate that whole matching the story with the Rossettis' and Swinburne's artistic output, so it's necessary, but personally annoying.
Tim Powers is one of those authors I can't imagine writing a terrible book. I enjoyed this immensely, despite my criticisms, but I admit I'm already looking forward to whatever he writes next.
March 31, 2012
The idea of this one is terrific -- a sequel to my Powers favorite, The Stress of Her Regard (Keats, Byron, Shelley, and lamia-like vampires which spark your creativity but destroy your loved ones). This one has the entire Rossetti family, including some fabulous Christina Rossetti selections as chapter headings, plus Swinburne, Trelawney, Polidori-as-vampyre, and the son of the protagonists from Stress. I liked Powers' characterization of Christina, particularly. The text doesn't quite seem to flow somehow, at least in places; I would have liked more development on the subject of his quite interesting take on vampires (if I hadn't read Stress I'm not sure how easy it would have been to follow), and some of the characters seemed a little too sketched in.
Great idea, good book.
Great idea, good book.
January 30, 2015
Reseña de Lorenzo Martínez · Nota: 9 · Reseña en Fantífica
Pese a la antigüedad del tema vampírico, cada cierto tiempo surgen autores que refrescan el género y lo actualizan bajo su propia perspectiva, y justo eso es lo que hace Tim Powers: su crónica de los nefilim en La fuerza de su mirada y ahora en Ocúltame entre las tumbas es de lo mejor en novela vampírica que se ha escrito en las pasadas décadas. Pero no lo digo solo yo, lo dicen los miles y miles de lectores que avalan a Tim Powers como uno de los máximos exponentes de la literatura fantástica actual.
Lo primero que hemos de decir de Powers es que su fantasía no es de la de mundo inventado de corte medieval, sino aquella que está insertada en la sociedad de la época en que sitúa sus novelas, donde las personas mundanas no saben que viven en dicha fantasía y unos pocos elegidos conocen esa cualidad que impregna el mundo. Ocúltame entre las tumbas vuelve a hacer gala de las características que han definido siempre a Powers: una época histórica concreta (en este caso la de mitad de siglo XIX), personajes atípicos (un veterinario de caballos, una antigua prostituta y una familia de poetas y pintores prerrafaelitas), menciones a personajes importantes (Byron, ShelleyJohn Polidori o Trelawny, por ejemplo), bastante costumbrismo literario, generosas dosis de terror, de ese que en situaciones normales te pondría los pelos como escarpias, y mucha magia, de esa que decíamos que no está a la vista de los ojos de la gente corriente.
La magia que aquí se nos enseña es de la que el protagonista termina descubriendo de una forma u otra, aunque no lo pretenda, no como el aprendiz de mago clásico que busca activamente el conocimiento: en los libros de Powers, o bien la magia se la muestran otros o algún acontecimiento de su vida lo pone en contacto con ella. John Crawford, descendiente de los personajes de La fuerza de su mirada, sirve al lector como guía de todo un mundo misterioso y sobrenatural donde es perfectamente posible hablar con los espíritus, buscar algún hechicero o brujo que te resuelva un tema, encontrarte una criatura que quiere destrozarte e incluso viajar hasta algún rincón de Londres que ni te habrías imaginado que existe. El Crawford de Ocúltame entre las tumbas es el personaje de la novela iniciática, que se ve transportado por otros personajes y descubre cosas imposibles y aterradoras.
Ocúltame entre las tumbas pertenece al ciclo de los poetas malditos de Powers, y es doblemente buena porque funciona a la vez como novela de fantasía con toques de terror y como novela de vampiros en la mejor tradición del género. Sin embargo, hay que matizar que los vampiros de Powers no son los típicos que te chupan la sangre o tienen poderes demoníacos que les permiten trepar paredes o golpear a la gente con fuerza +20, sino que sus espíritus están ligados a sus familiares, están relacionados con la piedra, y casi nunca veremos a uno de ellos, ya que permanecen en una forma intangible, como un ente metafísico de presencia constante que afecta enormemente a los personajes que han tenido tratos con ellos.
Para escribir una novela como esta de Powers hace falta una buena cantidad de documentación de la época, para sumergir al lector en la ambientación –de ahí en parte lo de novela costumbrista–, buenas descripciones del entorno y unos personajes interesantes. Ocúltame entre las tumbas reúne todo lo que ha hecho famoso a Powers en anteriores novelas como Las puertas de Anubis, Declara o La fuerza de su mirada, y es ser fiel a su propio estilo. Ya es legendaria la elegante prosa con la que Powers describe cada detalle para que el lector no se pierda nada: con un párrafo somos capaces de montarnos una escena en la cabeza como ninguna, y no todos los autores saben conseguir eso. Por esa misma razón una película bien hecha de cualquiera de sus novelas sería perfecta; lástima que la única adaptada sea En costas extrañas, como cuarta entrega de Piratas del Caribe, y sus resultados hayan sido poco menos que desastrosos.
¿Es Ocúltame entre las tumbas una buena novela para empezar con Powers? No, no lo es. Quien no haya leído nada de él haría mejor en buscar Las puertas de Anubis o En costas extrañas. Pero Ocúltame entre las tumbas es una excelente novela para quienes hayan leído algo suyo antes, y no solo por ser la secuela espiritual de La fuerza de su mirada –los que la hayan leído sabrán ver los puntos de unión y los paralelismos–, sino porque parece escrita para sus lectores habituales. Quizá los nuevos lectores de Powers le encuentren un estilo demasiado complejo e incluso excesivamente denso y detallado –a mí me pasó con En costas extrañas, y eso que es mucho más ligera–, pero una vez te habitúas el resultado es mucho más que satisfactorio.
Y no es solo el estilo, sino que de primeras el tema sobrenatural y mágico parece muy cotidiano y Powers lo afronta sin ningún tipo de preparación previa, como si el hecho de que los personajes lo conozcan implique que el lector también debería. Y ya que estamos, el lector que empiece por Ocúltame entre las tumbas no sabrá a qué viene el argumento de la novela, ni qué tipo de historia se puede encontrar. Es decir, el factor secuela de La fuerza de su mirada adquiere un matiz más importante, y no solo en el sentido «espiritual», ya que es más secuela de lo que se anuncia.
En resumen, Ocúltame entre las tumbas es el reencuentro perfecto con un autor que hacía más de diez años que no nos daba de lo suyo: vuelve el mejor Powers en una forma perfecta, y además ahora parece que el estilo es más suave, aunque puede deberse al cambio de traductor y no lo sepamos si no leemos la novela en inglés. Para los que nunca hayan probado nada del autor, ya sabéis: haced los deberes y poneos con cualquier novela anterior suya, que enseguida le cogeréis el gusto si os van las novelas de fantasmas, vampiros y magia extravagante, extraña y «casual», porque saldréis maravillados. Powers es como un género en sí mismo.
Pese a la antigüedad del tema vampírico, cada cierto tiempo surgen autores que refrescan el género y lo actualizan bajo su propia perspectiva, y justo eso es lo que hace Tim Powers: su crónica de los nefilim en La fuerza de su mirada y ahora en Ocúltame entre las tumbas es de lo mejor en novela vampírica que se ha escrito en las pasadas décadas. Pero no lo digo solo yo, lo dicen los miles y miles de lectores que avalan a Tim Powers como uno de los máximos exponentes de la literatura fantástica actual.
Lo primero que hemos de decir de Powers es que su fantasía no es de la de mundo inventado de corte medieval, sino aquella que está insertada en la sociedad de la época en que sitúa sus novelas, donde las personas mundanas no saben que viven en dicha fantasía y unos pocos elegidos conocen esa cualidad que impregna el mundo. Ocúltame entre las tumbas vuelve a hacer gala de las características que han definido siempre a Powers: una época histórica concreta (en este caso la de mitad de siglo XIX), personajes atípicos (un veterinario de caballos, una antigua prostituta y una familia de poetas y pintores prerrafaelitas), menciones a personajes importantes (Byron, ShelleyJohn Polidori o Trelawny, por ejemplo), bastante costumbrismo literario, generosas dosis de terror, de ese que en situaciones normales te pondría los pelos como escarpias, y mucha magia, de esa que decíamos que no está a la vista de los ojos de la gente corriente.
La magia que aquí se nos enseña es de la que el protagonista termina descubriendo de una forma u otra, aunque no lo pretenda, no como el aprendiz de mago clásico que busca activamente el conocimiento: en los libros de Powers, o bien la magia se la muestran otros o algún acontecimiento de su vida lo pone en contacto con ella. John Crawford, descendiente de los personajes de La fuerza de su mirada, sirve al lector como guía de todo un mundo misterioso y sobrenatural donde es perfectamente posible hablar con los espíritus, buscar algún hechicero o brujo que te resuelva un tema, encontrarte una criatura que quiere destrozarte e incluso viajar hasta algún rincón de Londres que ni te habrías imaginado que existe. El Crawford de Ocúltame entre las tumbas es el personaje de la novela iniciática, que se ve transportado por otros personajes y descubre cosas imposibles y aterradoras.
Ocúltame entre las tumbas pertenece al ciclo de los poetas malditos de Powers, y es doblemente buena porque funciona a la vez como novela de fantasía con toques de terror y como novela de vampiros en la mejor tradición del género. Sin embargo, hay que matizar que los vampiros de Powers no son los típicos que te chupan la sangre o tienen poderes demoníacos que les permiten trepar paredes o golpear a la gente con fuerza +20, sino que sus espíritus están ligados a sus familiares, están relacionados con la piedra, y casi nunca veremos a uno de ellos, ya que permanecen en una forma intangible, como un ente metafísico de presencia constante que afecta enormemente a los personajes que han tenido tratos con ellos.
Para escribir una novela como esta de Powers hace falta una buena cantidad de documentación de la época, para sumergir al lector en la ambientación –de ahí en parte lo de novela costumbrista–, buenas descripciones del entorno y unos personajes interesantes. Ocúltame entre las tumbas reúne todo lo que ha hecho famoso a Powers en anteriores novelas como Las puertas de Anubis, Declara o La fuerza de su mirada, y es ser fiel a su propio estilo. Ya es legendaria la elegante prosa con la que Powers describe cada detalle para que el lector no se pierda nada: con un párrafo somos capaces de montarnos una escena en la cabeza como ninguna, y no todos los autores saben conseguir eso. Por esa misma razón una película bien hecha de cualquiera de sus novelas sería perfecta; lástima que la única adaptada sea En costas extrañas, como cuarta entrega de Piratas del Caribe, y sus resultados hayan sido poco menos que desastrosos.
¿Es Ocúltame entre las tumbas una buena novela para empezar con Powers? No, no lo es. Quien no haya leído nada de él haría mejor en buscar Las puertas de Anubis o En costas extrañas. Pero Ocúltame entre las tumbas es una excelente novela para quienes hayan leído algo suyo antes, y no solo por ser la secuela espiritual de La fuerza de su mirada –los que la hayan leído sabrán ver los puntos de unión y los paralelismos–, sino porque parece escrita para sus lectores habituales. Quizá los nuevos lectores de Powers le encuentren un estilo demasiado complejo e incluso excesivamente denso y detallado –a mí me pasó con En costas extrañas, y eso que es mucho más ligera–, pero una vez te habitúas el resultado es mucho más que satisfactorio.
Y no es solo el estilo, sino que de primeras el tema sobrenatural y mágico parece muy cotidiano y Powers lo afronta sin ningún tipo de preparación previa, como si el hecho de que los personajes lo conozcan implique que el lector también debería. Y ya que estamos, el lector que empiece por Ocúltame entre las tumbas no sabrá a qué viene el argumento de la novela, ni qué tipo de historia se puede encontrar. Es decir, el factor secuela de La fuerza de su mirada adquiere un matiz más importante, y no solo en el sentido «espiritual», ya que es más secuela de lo que se anuncia.
En resumen, Ocúltame entre las tumbas es el reencuentro perfecto con un autor que hacía más de diez años que no nos daba de lo suyo: vuelve el mejor Powers en una forma perfecta, y además ahora parece que el estilo es más suave, aunque puede deberse al cambio de traductor y no lo sepamos si no leemos la novela en inglés. Para los que nunca hayan probado nada del autor, ya sabéis: haced los deberes y poneos con cualquier novela anterior suya, que enseguida le cogeréis el gusto si os van las novelas de fantasmas, vampiros y magia extravagante, extraña y «casual», porque saldréis maravillados. Powers es como un género en sí mismo.
June 15, 2014
It was a disconcerting coincidence that brought this book to me and if I weren’t a skeptic and a rationalist I might be worried. I had been researching the history of Speculative Poetry for a panel I was moderating at Continuum X and had of course come across the English poet Christina Rossetti, most famous perhaps for her poem Goblin Market, a snippet of which is presented below:
Lizzie met her at the gate
Full of wise upbraidings:
'Dear, you should not stay so late,
Twilight is not good for maidens;
Should not loiter in the glen
In the haunts of goblin men.
Now what I hadn’t put together was that Rossetti, was the niece of John Polidori, contemporary of the Shelleys, and Lord Byron and the first to pen the modern Vampire tale. This tied in nicely in my mind to the formation of modern speculative fiction. You hear quite a bit about Shelley as the mother of modern science fiction, but not much about Rossetti.
Now this will not be news perhaps to historians or poets that love the Pre Raphaelite movement but it did put a smile on my face.
What has this got to do with Hide Me Among The Graves? Patience dear reader, I am getting there.
So it was on the Friday morning before the convention proper that I chanced upon that most assiduous and talented publishing couple, Russell Farr and Liz Grzyb, in The Book Grocer. After assaying a good many fine tomes at the ridiculous price of ten dollars, Russell handed me Tim Powers’ Hide Me Among The Graves, saying that I should read the book as it was one of his better ones. Note, at this time Russell had no knowledge of my research or panel.
The book was promptly packed and forgotten, to be read at some future date and to spend time next to another Powers title on my to-be-read-when-I-retire-from-reviewing pile. It was not until the end of the convention, when I was awaiting takeoff that I read the blurb and discovered a slightly unnerving coincidence.
Hide Me Among The Graves, is a fictional account of the Rossetti family and their battle with an entity that puppets their dead uncle, Dr John Polidori. It’s a door-stopper coming in at just over 500 odd pages but what Powers has done in that space is… wonderful. He’s managed to create a space in which I can enjoy several seemingly disparate interests.
We have a tale of horror that artfully mixes vampire myth and history with ancient and alien entities, ghosts and a subculture of other entities that commune with them (all aptly named with appropriate sounding working class slang), suppressed Victorian sensibilities and poetry.
Several of the characters, in fact I’d hazard to say, the majority of the major characters are real persons and poets. Powers quotes and borrows liberally from them for chapter beginnings and in the text. It’s not often that a book ticks so many boxes and manages to stay on track as a story.
And that’s what I felt I got with Hide Me Among The Graves, a great multilayered layered story, brimming with verisimilitude. All of the genres that this book treads in are well trod and Powers has done what good writers do, take disparate ideas and forge them into something that appears new and wholly original. If it’s not clear, this book makes me want to dig into gothic horror, classic literature and speculative poetry of the 1800’s all at once.
My one issue, one that was overridden by Powers’ skill, was the conceit that the poets and painters produced their best work only when possessed or influenced by the entity Polidori. The muse myth I hates it.
So if you abhor sparkly vampires and prefer subtle and unnerving portrayals of sensuality, if you prefer largely suggestive horror rather than gore then try it out. Only one thing would make this better and that would be a movie of it directed by Del Torro or J.A. Bayona
Lizzie met her at the gate
Full of wise upbraidings:
'Dear, you should not stay so late,
Twilight is not good for maidens;
Should not loiter in the glen
In the haunts of goblin men.
Now what I hadn’t put together was that Rossetti, was the niece of John Polidori, contemporary of the Shelleys, and Lord Byron and the first to pen the modern Vampire tale. This tied in nicely in my mind to the formation of modern speculative fiction. You hear quite a bit about Shelley as the mother of modern science fiction, but not much about Rossetti.
Now this will not be news perhaps to historians or poets that love the Pre Raphaelite movement but it did put a smile on my face.
What has this got to do with Hide Me Among The Graves? Patience dear reader, I am getting there.
So it was on the Friday morning before the convention proper that I chanced upon that most assiduous and talented publishing couple, Russell Farr and Liz Grzyb, in The Book Grocer. After assaying a good many fine tomes at the ridiculous price of ten dollars, Russell handed me Tim Powers’ Hide Me Among The Graves, saying that I should read the book as it was one of his better ones. Note, at this time Russell had no knowledge of my research or panel.
The book was promptly packed and forgotten, to be read at some future date and to spend time next to another Powers title on my to-be-read-when-I-retire-from-reviewing pile. It was not until the end of the convention, when I was awaiting takeoff that I read the blurb and discovered a slightly unnerving coincidence.
Hide Me Among The Graves, is a fictional account of the Rossetti family and their battle with an entity that puppets their dead uncle, Dr John Polidori. It’s a door-stopper coming in at just over 500 odd pages but what Powers has done in that space is… wonderful. He’s managed to create a space in which I can enjoy several seemingly disparate interests.
We have a tale of horror that artfully mixes vampire myth and history with ancient and alien entities, ghosts and a subculture of other entities that commune with them (all aptly named with appropriate sounding working class slang), suppressed Victorian sensibilities and poetry.
Several of the characters, in fact I’d hazard to say, the majority of the major characters are real persons and poets. Powers quotes and borrows liberally from them for chapter beginnings and in the text. It’s not often that a book ticks so many boxes and manages to stay on track as a story.
And that’s what I felt I got with Hide Me Among The Graves, a great multilayered layered story, brimming with verisimilitude. All of the genres that this book treads in are well trod and Powers has done what good writers do, take disparate ideas and forge them into something that appears new and wholly original. If it’s not clear, this book makes me want to dig into gothic horror, classic literature and speculative poetry of the 1800’s all at once.
My one issue, one that was overridden by Powers’ skill, was the conceit that the poets and painters produced their best work only when possessed or influenced by the entity Polidori. The muse myth I hates it.
So if you abhor sparkly vampires and prefer subtle and unnerving portrayals of sensuality, if you prefer largely suggestive horror rather than gore then try it out. Only one thing would make this better and that would be a movie of it directed by Del Torro or J.A. Bayona
April 4, 2012
Update: Ripped through it. Didn't love it. Liked it though, enough to slow down and re-read passages, at times.
A good enough read, but for Powers fans, it'll be familiar stuff, images and ideas already hashed out in "The Stress of Her Regard," "Declare" and others. What seems to be missing is the sense of something larger at stake, which Powers grasps for in the story/legend of the ancient warrior-woman Boadicea (which continually made me think of one of my top 10 favorite words, bodacious), but it doesn't really land with the same impact as some earlier works.
Still superior to many fantasy or historical fiction works out there, but not tops for Mr. Powers.
....
So it's been a good week already: The Alabama Shakes/Dexateens/Glory Fires concert at the Bama was not only a rocking fine time, but raised several tens of thousands of dollars for Habitat for Humanity. As a bonus I got to play some music and see frequently out o' town pals Carin, KateGates and MelaniePuckPorkchop, all on the same night, drunk and early.
And then my car tag charge was less than expected, so I pop by B&N flush with victory and an extra quarter of a hundred bucks, and hey presto, there's a new novel by Tim Powers.
Touchdownamenhallelujahgreatgooglymoogly.
Here's how I first met Powers: This was back in my paperback-buying days, aka all of them, but moreso 10 or 15ish years back, when I'd buy three or four in paper rather than one in hardback, because that's how I jellyroll, like a reading sharktopus, eight arms and pointy pointy teeth.
Here's the recommendation that sold me, written on the back of Powers' "Last Call," as I recall it: "As if Raymond Chandler wrote The Fisher King legend and set it in Las Vegas."
Roughly that. And that was by Tom Robbins, who wrote some pretty fun genre-bending stuff himself.
To explain Powers' work briefly would be difficult. There are some common themes - secret societies, forces at work greater than natural, how games of chance reveal or summon such things, and how our subconscious minds long for or recognize such archetypal brain/brawn - but his novels can read like Chandler, Le Carre, Dickens, Shakespeare or just plain mind-messing pulp, by turns.
He's found of roping in real figures (the painter Dante Rossetti and his poet-sister Christina, and their uncle, the "creator" of the English vampire story, John Polidori, in this newest one; Edison, Houdini, Blackbeard, Byron, Shelley (both of them), Keats, Kim Philby and so on, using their own writings or words to illustrate connections with the fantastic world; Powers then patches together facts with his own wild speculations.
As my friend Andy Duncan, himself a writer of the fantastic, noted, in "Declare" Powers wasn't content with djinn, Berlin, spies and spymasters and Noah's ark: He threw in a bonus, dark ark to replace a false one. Or maybe it WAS the false one. I'd have to re-read to remember. And I've re-read it at least once.
Except for a few of his earlier books, Powers writes large, and sometimes doesn't know when or how to satisfyingly stop. Although I still adore "Last Call," there are moments toward the end when I remember thinking "too much." Still, it's a book I've read multiple times, along with its sequels (of sorts, following the trail of the American Fisher King but through entirely different extended families) in "Expiration Date" and "Earthquake Weather."
After those three, I'd recommend "Declare," (the LeCarre-ish spy novel) the relatively slim "Three Days to Never" (a tape of "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" leads to discover of an Einstein-invented time machine hinted at in Chaplin's "City Lights;" also includes clashes with the Mossad, the NSA...OK, so it's only slim by Powers standards), "Anubis Gates" and "Drawing of the Dark."
And this new one, which I've just started. Begins promisingly and atmospherically. More later, if you wanna hear.
A good enough read, but for Powers fans, it'll be familiar stuff, images and ideas already hashed out in "The Stress of Her Regard," "Declare" and others. What seems to be missing is the sense of something larger at stake, which Powers grasps for in the story/legend of the ancient warrior-woman Boadicea (which continually made me think of one of my top 10 favorite words, bodacious), but it doesn't really land with the same impact as some earlier works.
Still superior to many fantasy or historical fiction works out there, but not tops for Mr. Powers.
....
So it's been a good week already: The Alabama Shakes/Dexateens/Glory Fires concert at the Bama was not only a rocking fine time, but raised several tens of thousands of dollars for Habitat for Humanity. As a bonus I got to play some music and see frequently out o' town pals Carin, KateGates and MelaniePuckPorkchop, all on the same night, drunk and early.
And then my car tag charge was less than expected, so I pop by B&N flush with victory and an extra quarter of a hundred bucks, and hey presto, there's a new novel by Tim Powers.
Touchdownamenhallelujahgreatgooglymoogly.
Here's how I first met Powers: This was back in my paperback-buying days, aka all of them, but moreso 10 or 15ish years back, when I'd buy three or four in paper rather than one in hardback, because that's how I jellyroll, like a reading sharktopus, eight arms and pointy pointy teeth.
Here's the recommendation that sold me, written on the back of Powers' "Last Call," as I recall it: "As if Raymond Chandler wrote The Fisher King legend and set it in Las Vegas."
Roughly that. And that was by Tom Robbins, who wrote some pretty fun genre-bending stuff himself.
To explain Powers' work briefly would be difficult. There are some common themes - secret societies, forces at work greater than natural, how games of chance reveal or summon such things, and how our subconscious minds long for or recognize such archetypal brain/brawn - but his novels can read like Chandler, Le Carre, Dickens, Shakespeare or just plain mind-messing pulp, by turns.
He's found of roping in real figures (the painter Dante Rossetti and his poet-sister Christina, and their uncle, the "creator" of the English vampire story, John Polidori, in this newest one; Edison, Houdini, Blackbeard, Byron, Shelley (both of them), Keats, Kim Philby and so on, using their own writings or words to illustrate connections with the fantastic world; Powers then patches together facts with his own wild speculations.
As my friend Andy Duncan, himself a writer of the fantastic, noted, in "Declare" Powers wasn't content with djinn, Berlin, spies and spymasters and Noah's ark: He threw in a bonus, dark ark to replace a false one. Or maybe it WAS the false one. I'd have to re-read to remember. And I've re-read it at least once.
Except for a few of his earlier books, Powers writes large, and sometimes doesn't know when or how to satisfyingly stop. Although I still adore "Last Call," there are moments toward the end when I remember thinking "too much." Still, it's a book I've read multiple times, along with its sequels (of sorts, following the trail of the American Fisher King but through entirely different extended families) in "Expiration Date" and "Earthquake Weather."
After those three, I'd recommend "Declare," (the LeCarre-ish spy novel) the relatively slim "Three Days to Never" (a tape of "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" leads to discover of an Einstein-invented time machine hinted at in Chaplin's "City Lights;" also includes clashes with the Mossad, the NSA...OK, so it's only slim by Powers standards), "Anubis Gates" and "Drawing of the Dark."
And this new one, which I've just started. Begins promisingly and atmospherically. More later, if you wanna hear.
April 11, 2012
There was a time when rumors of a new Tim Powers book sent me into a frenzy of motion to track it down and read it immediately. He produced an amazing run of books that I loved: Anubis Gates, On Stranger Tides, The Stress of Her Regard, and Last Call in particular. Each book was better than the one before, and I thought I'd found a writer who could do no wrong.
Since then Powers has, for me at any rate, faltered from time to time. Don't get me wrong, I still find his writing intriguing and worth my time. But lately, the magic has begun to dissipate. I'm not sure if this is due to my changes as a reader over time (likely) or his changes as a writer (just as likely), or both. In any case, while I still grab every Powers book when it comes out, it has been some time since I devoured one of his works in short order.
A spiritual sequel to one of those wonderful early novels (Stress) Hide Me Among the Graves left me hopeful that Powers could again capture that early magic.
As is often the the case with Powers, Hide is an historical fantasy depicting famous personages facing fantastic situations that slowly wreak havoc upon their lives. Hide Me Among the Graves follows the poet Christina Rosetti, her artist brother Dante Gabriel Rosetti, and poet Algernon Swinburne. Like the previous novel, vampiric entities feed off of humans but in return give their hosts a wealth of creativity. The novel details the Rosetti's fighting their ties to these vampiric creatures, and the devastating effects that come from their attentions.
Powers is a master at depicting magic in organic and unexpected ways that feel so natural that it delights the reader, and this novel is no exception. My problem with the novel is perhaps one of expectation, as it is more leisurely and slowly paced than I desired. I wanted Powers to "get on with it" and throw me in the action, but he takes his time, and at times I felt frustrated as a result. It also felt a bit too familiar--an author must walk a fine line with his fans, between giving more of the same and writing something new. Hide Me Among the Graves is a fine read, but retreads too many ideas and themes for me to rate it any higher. This is a good, not great Powers novel.
Since then Powers has, for me at any rate, faltered from time to time. Don't get me wrong, I still find his writing intriguing and worth my time. But lately, the magic has begun to dissipate. I'm not sure if this is due to my changes as a reader over time (likely) or his changes as a writer (just as likely), or both. In any case, while I still grab every Powers book when it comes out, it has been some time since I devoured one of his works in short order.
A spiritual sequel to one of those wonderful early novels (Stress) Hide Me Among the Graves left me hopeful that Powers could again capture that early magic.
As is often the the case with Powers, Hide is an historical fantasy depicting famous personages facing fantastic situations that slowly wreak havoc upon their lives. Hide Me Among the Graves follows the poet Christina Rosetti, her artist brother Dante Gabriel Rosetti, and poet Algernon Swinburne. Like the previous novel, vampiric entities feed off of humans but in return give their hosts a wealth of creativity. The novel details the Rosetti's fighting their ties to these vampiric creatures, and the devastating effects that come from their attentions.
Powers is a master at depicting magic in organic and unexpected ways that feel so natural that it delights the reader, and this novel is no exception. My problem with the novel is perhaps one of expectation, as it is more leisurely and slowly paced than I desired. I wanted Powers to "get on with it" and throw me in the action, but he takes his time, and at times I felt frustrated as a result. It also felt a bit too familiar--an author must walk a fine line with his fans, between giving more of the same and writing something new. Hide Me Among the Graves is a fine read, but retreads too many ideas and themes for me to rate it any higher. This is a good, not great Powers novel.
November 15, 2012
This book is a sequel to The Stress of Her Regard, and I suspect that deliberately it is detached and languid as the pre-rafaelites that are the main characters, compared to the fiery passionate Romantics of the previous book. In the 25 years between both books Powers has slightly improved his technique but he has lost the passion that made Stress... resonate so strongly with its lively characters and the Nephilim that preyed on them. The fact that the previous book is one of my all time fantasy favorites may have worked against this one, as it is good but not great.
It is not surprising that most of the passion (love of life, of freedom, hate of losing himself among the vampires) comes from the only Romantic to survive the fifty years that separate both books, Edward John Trelawney. Many other real characters, most of them artists, people the book. Unfortunately Christina Rossetti, her brother Dante or Swinburne do not compare favorably with Keats, Byron or Shelley, even if they probably were as they are sympathetically pictured in the book.
This time the Crawford family are not the main characters, and in my opinion the book suffers because of this. With them Powers could have written without the constraints of historical fact that affect the real characters, as most readers will have already googled them, a suspense kill switch when you know the main details of someone's life.
Finally he has also tried to shoehorn ghosts of the Earthquake Weather variety into the story, breaking continuity both with the previous book and with itself at certain points. It may be nitpicky to complain about consistent supernatural abilities, but it really breaks the serious effort he has made to integrate the supernatural into the mundane.
Yet, it has one of the best recreated Victorian Londons of the recent literature, and believable, if at times boring, characters. Add Powers mistreatment of characters to create a few brilliantly moving moments.
If you have not, read The Stress of her Regard, and if you like it, pick this one.
It is not surprising that most of the passion (love of life, of freedom, hate of losing himself among the vampires) comes from the only Romantic to survive the fifty years that separate both books, Edward John Trelawney. Many other real characters, most of them artists, people the book. Unfortunately Christina Rossetti, her brother Dante or Swinburne do not compare favorably with Keats, Byron or Shelley, even if they probably were as they are sympathetically pictured in the book.
This time the Crawford family are not the main characters, and in my opinion the book suffers because of this. With them Powers could have written without the constraints of historical fact that affect the real characters, as most readers will have already googled them, a suspense kill switch when you know the main details of someone's life.
Finally he has also tried to shoehorn ghosts of the Earthquake Weather variety into the story, breaking continuity both with the previous book and with itself at certain points. It may be nitpicky to complain about consistent supernatural abilities, but it really breaks the serious effort he has made to integrate the supernatural into the mundane.
Yet, it has one of the best recreated Victorian Londons of the recent literature, and believable, if at times boring, characters. Add Powers mistreatment of characters to create a few brilliantly moving moments.
If you have not, read The Stress of her Regard, and if you like it, pick this one.
February 28, 2012
Disclaimer: I read the novel in its proof copy, so the published version may be slightly different.
Hide Me Among the Graves ranks as a middle-of-the-road Tim Powers novel, which still gets it 4/5 stars from me. The story concerns Rosetti family, famous for their poetry, art and criticism in the Pre-Raphaelite, haunted by the pseudo-vampires who also appeared in Powers' The Stress of Her Regard (which I have not read), and using the concept of eating ghosts which appeared in Expiration Date (which I have). As with all of his books, the novel is an alternate, fantastic history, though this time I was hampered by not being as interested or as familiar with the particular historical background, and it took me reading the first hundred or so pages before the book really grabbed me.
Once it grabbed me, however, it grabbed me hard. The more interesting characters aren't actually the Rosettis, who are all rather effete and aristocratic. The main characters are really the ex-prostitute, ex-Magdalen-Penitentiary Adelaide McKee; the veterinary surgeon John Crawford (whose profession leads to a scene that any cat lover will remember forever); and by far the best character of the piece, grizzled and gruff Edward Trelawney, who really should have been given central focus instead of the Rosettis, even if he is less historically known. Once these characters take over the plot becomes quicker, the vampire-battling strategies more interesting, the danger more palpable. So while the plotting is inconsistent and some of the characters are bland, I still very much enjoyed Powers' creative take on vampires and ghosts, his rougher Victorians, and what is, in the end, a story of multiple redemptions.
Hide Me Among the Graves ranks as a middle-of-the-road Tim Powers novel, which still gets it 4/5 stars from me. The story concerns Rosetti family, famous for their poetry, art and criticism in the Pre-Raphaelite, haunted by the pseudo-vampires who also appeared in Powers' The Stress of Her Regard (which I have not read), and using the concept of eating ghosts which appeared in Expiration Date (which I have). As with all of his books, the novel is an alternate, fantastic history, though this time I was hampered by not being as interested or as familiar with the particular historical background, and it took me reading the first hundred or so pages before the book really grabbed me.
Once it grabbed me, however, it grabbed me hard. The more interesting characters aren't actually the Rosettis, who are all rather effete and aristocratic. The main characters are really the ex-prostitute, ex-Magdalen-Penitentiary Adelaide McKee; the veterinary surgeon John Crawford (whose profession leads to a scene that any cat lover will remember forever); and by far the best character of the piece, grizzled and gruff Edward Trelawney, who really should have been given central focus instead of the Rosettis, even if he is less historically known. Once these characters take over the plot becomes quicker, the vampire-battling strategies more interesting, the danger more palpable. So while the plotting is inconsistent and some of the characters are bland, I still very much enjoyed Powers' creative take on vampires and ghosts, his rougher Victorians, and what is, in the end, a story of multiple redemptions.
June 27, 2012
In London, 1845 a 14 year old Christina Rossetti, who will become a well known poet, accidentally awakens the vampire-ghost of her uncle. This will set in motion three decades of struggle as Christina, her brother Gabrielle, a hapless veterinarian and a reformed lady of the night are haunted and stalked by the two great vampires of London. The vampires inspire the Rossettis to create great poetry, but jealously kill anybody their poet "family" might love more than the vampires.
Tim Powers writes fantasies that use historical characters and settings which he painstakingly researches, creating an absorbing secret-history feel. In addition, his vampires are an interesting take on the genre: hugely powerful, elemental horrors limited only by the character of their compulsions and neurosis, they aren¹t characters so much as supernatural traps that the Rossettis and their allies must puzzle their way out of.
Tim Powers writes fantasies that use historical characters and settings which he painstakingly researches, creating an absorbing secret-history feel. In addition, his vampires are an interesting take on the genre: hugely powerful, elemental horrors limited only by the character of their compulsions and neurosis, they aren¹t characters so much as supernatural traps that the Rossettis and their allies must puzzle their way out of.
September 29, 2012
A warning: this is a sequel to The Stress of Her Regard - which, strangely, is mentioned nowhere on the cover. The reader is assumed to be familiar with the non-standard vampire mechanics from the first book. The mechanics are further elucidated here - I admit I came out of Stress without a very good understanding of them - but I wouldn't recommend anybody read this book first.
Tim Powers always has good ideas, but in recent years he seems to have more and more trouble putting together a captivating story. This book is an example of that, it feels more like a bunch of stuff that happened. I'm writing the review having not finished the book, because even in its unfinished state it's now moved down to the fourth slot on my queue.
Tim Powers always has good ideas, but in recent years he seems to have more and more trouble putting together a captivating story. This book is an example of that, it feels more like a bunch of stuff that happened. I'm writing the review having not finished the book, because even in its unfinished state it's now moved down to the fourth slot on my queue.
November 30, 2017
The first section was great, but the book didn't quite land the ending.
March 11, 2012
Please note: I received an ARC of this novel through the First Reads program. The novel itself will be published on 3/13/12.
Tim Powers is an author I have been reading for at least 25 years. His particular blend of dark fantasy and historical fiction may not appeal to everyone, but I have always been impressed with the way Powers weaves his fantasy throughout the historical narrative, without disturbing the threads that are already there. Not surprisingly, my favorite Powers novels tend to be those set in time periods or dealing with subject matter I am personally interested in: the romantic poets in Stress of Her Regard, the pirates in On Stranger Tides, and the mythology in Last Call. The books of his I like less are not necessarily weaker works, but either deal with relatively modern history (e.g. Declare) or, straddling the line between fantasy and horror and fall a little too far into "ick" for my tastes. But even the modern and "ick" books are still pretty enjoyable, even for a squeamish Neo-Luddite like me.
Hide Me Among the Graves is set in an era I find interesting, Victorian England, and involves one of my favorite artists, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and his sister, the poet Christina Rossetti, whose "Goblin Market" I love. It is also the sequel to a novel I'd list among my favorite Tim Powers novels, The Stress of Her Regard, though you certainly would not need to have read the earlier novel to appreciate the most recent. So I had very high expectations for Hide Me Among the Graves, and for the most part, it didn't disappoint.
In 1845, 14 year old Christina Rossetti is given a small stone figurine by her father and told to destroy it when he's gone. Instead, using a ritual her ailing father revealed to her, she conjures up the vampiric spirit of her uncle, the author and physician John Polidori, who inspires her imagination but takes a tole on her physically, until Christina and her sister Maria put the spirit to rest . . . or so they think. Years later, Polidori reappears with designs on the young daughter of reformed prostitute Adelaide McKee, and veterinarian John Crawford, and the four must join forces to put an end to the vampiric threat, though for some it means resisting immortality and slaying their own muse.
Remember back when vampires were truly scary, a bit disgusting, and definitely dead? When their erotic appeal, if any, reflected not high cheekbones and sparkly skin, but dangerous hypnotic control? In Hide Me Among the Graves takes us back to this earlier interpretation of vampires, revisiting his theme in Stress of Her Regard of the link between inspiration and death. I actually think I like Stress's depiction of the vampiric muse a bit better, though that it mostly because in Hide, the vampires are mostly linked to the biblical Nephilim, whereas Stress connects them to mythology throughout the world. Similarly, I got occasionally impatient with the Rossetti clan, when religious scruples prevented them from taking action that would put an end to the supernatural threat. At the same time, I think this frustration reflects my more modern mindset, and these scruples seem perfectly consistent with the historical Rossettis' beliefs.
For this reason, and because Powers had greater liberty with them, I actually prefer the second set of protagonists to Gabriel and Christina Rossetti: Adelaide McKee and John Crawford. Brought together when pursued by the spirits of Crawford's dead wife and sons, the two meet again seven years later when McKee seeks Crawford's help insuring the child she bore him (unknown to Crawford) stays dead. Crawford is shy and proper, a steadfast and decent sort willing to do what he must to put these creatures down. McKee is the more assertive of the two, an educated and independent woman who was brought into prostitution unwillingly, whose lead Crawford was willing to follow, not just out of affection (though there was plenty of that), but also because he respected her and trusted that she knew what she was doing. I appreciated that there were many active and intelligent female characters in this novel--not just McKee and Christina Rossetti, who made missteps but understandable ones, but also the devout and practical Maria Rossetti--and that the male characters valued and respected them for it.
I think my favorite character in this novel, however, has to be Edward John Trelawny, who appeared in the Stress of Her Regard as well. Since there is a generation separating the two novels, and Trelawny does not appear in the Prologue of Hide Me Among the Graves, he is over seventy by the time we meet him here. But what a tough old guy he turned out to be, out-fencing men half his age! Trelawny has half of a Nephilim figurine imbedded in his head, beside half of silver bullet, so he is perfectly balanced against the creatures, even walking in companionship with one of them for a time. Despite his badassery, Trelawny is no hero: he's a liar and at times a coward, and has killed innocents during wartime, and I found him the most fascinating character in the novel.
Hide Me Among the Graves was actually a quicker read for me than many of Powers's novels, which usually take awhile to get into. The introduction of the mythology didn't feel as subtle as usual, though of course it was fleshed out throughout the novel. Whenever you read fiction about historical figures, there is always the risk the author will portray the character differently than you imagined: that happened to me here with Polidori, and he rather squicked me out as well. There was one point where I felt one of the characters was "holding the stupid ball", and the climax was delayed much longer than it would have been otherwise. But for the most part, these are minor criticisms, and the novel as a whole was quite enjoyable. If you like well-researched historical fantasy or horror and haven't tried Powers yet, what are you waiting for?
Tim Powers is an author I have been reading for at least 25 years. His particular blend of dark fantasy and historical fiction may not appeal to everyone, but I have always been impressed with the way Powers weaves his fantasy throughout the historical narrative, without disturbing the threads that are already there. Not surprisingly, my favorite Powers novels tend to be those set in time periods or dealing with subject matter I am personally interested in: the romantic poets in Stress of Her Regard, the pirates in On Stranger Tides, and the mythology in Last Call. The books of his I like less are not necessarily weaker works, but either deal with relatively modern history (e.g. Declare) or, straddling the line between fantasy and horror and fall a little too far into "ick" for my tastes. But even the modern and "ick" books are still pretty enjoyable, even for a squeamish Neo-Luddite like me.
Hide Me Among the Graves is set in an era I find interesting, Victorian England, and involves one of my favorite artists, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and his sister, the poet Christina Rossetti, whose "Goblin Market" I love. It is also the sequel to a novel I'd list among my favorite Tim Powers novels, The Stress of Her Regard, though you certainly would not need to have read the earlier novel to appreciate the most recent. So I had very high expectations for Hide Me Among the Graves, and for the most part, it didn't disappoint.
In 1845, 14 year old Christina Rossetti is given a small stone figurine by her father and told to destroy it when he's gone. Instead, using a ritual her ailing father revealed to her, she conjures up the vampiric spirit of her uncle, the author and physician John Polidori, who inspires her imagination but takes a tole on her physically, until Christina and her sister Maria put the spirit to rest . . . or so they think. Years later, Polidori reappears with designs on the young daughter of reformed prostitute Adelaide McKee, and veterinarian John Crawford, and the four must join forces to put an end to the vampiric threat, though for some it means resisting immortality and slaying their own muse.
Remember back when vampires were truly scary, a bit disgusting, and definitely dead? When their erotic appeal, if any, reflected not high cheekbones and sparkly skin, but dangerous hypnotic control? In Hide Me Among the Graves takes us back to this earlier interpretation of vampires, revisiting his theme in Stress of Her Regard of the link between inspiration and death. I actually think I like Stress's depiction of the vampiric muse a bit better, though that it mostly because in Hide, the vampires are mostly linked to the biblical Nephilim, whereas Stress connects them to mythology throughout the world. Similarly, I got occasionally impatient with the Rossetti clan, when religious scruples prevented them from taking action that would put an end to the supernatural threat. At the same time, I think this frustration reflects my more modern mindset, and these scruples seem perfectly consistent with the historical Rossettis' beliefs.
For this reason, and because Powers had greater liberty with them, I actually prefer the second set of protagonists to Gabriel and Christina Rossetti: Adelaide McKee and John Crawford. Brought together when pursued by the spirits of Crawford's dead wife and sons, the two meet again seven years later when McKee seeks Crawford's help insuring the child she bore him (unknown to Crawford) stays dead. Crawford is shy and proper, a steadfast and decent sort willing to do what he must to put these creatures down. McKee is the more assertive of the two, an educated and independent woman who was brought into prostitution unwillingly, whose lead Crawford was willing to follow, not just out of affection (though there was plenty of that), but also because he respected her and trusted that she knew what she was doing. I appreciated that there were many active and intelligent female characters in this novel--not just McKee and Christina Rossetti, who made missteps but understandable ones, but also the devout and practical Maria Rossetti--and that the male characters valued and respected them for it.
I think my favorite character in this novel, however, has to be Edward John Trelawny, who appeared in the Stress of Her Regard as well. Since there is a generation separating the two novels, and Trelawny does not appear in the Prologue of Hide Me Among the Graves, he is over seventy by the time we meet him here. But what a tough old guy he turned out to be, out-fencing men half his age! Trelawny has half of a Nephilim figurine imbedded in his head, beside half of silver bullet, so he is perfectly balanced against the creatures, even walking in companionship with one of them for a time. Despite his badassery, Trelawny is no hero: he's a liar and at times a coward, and has killed innocents during wartime, and I found him the most fascinating character in the novel.
Hide Me Among the Graves was actually a quicker read for me than many of Powers's novels, which usually take awhile to get into. The introduction of the mythology didn't feel as subtle as usual, though of course it was fleshed out throughout the novel. Whenever you read fiction about historical figures, there is always the risk the author will portray the character differently than you imagined: that happened to me here with Polidori, and he rather squicked me out as well. There was one point where I felt one of the characters was "holding the stupid ball", and the climax was delayed much longer than it would have been otherwise. But for the most part, these are minor criticisms, and the novel as a whole was quite enjoyable. If you like well-researched historical fantasy or horror and haven't tried Powers yet, what are you waiting for?
July 17, 2020
I read this book several years ago... I can't even remember when. All I can remember is that I spent several hours one day during one summer reading this, finishing most of it in one sitting.
I remember loving the beginning and ultimately feeling disappointed by the end. This story was very repetitive, and I felt like there were so many missed opportunities.
However, I still think about this book often. I truly can't remember what year I read it, but this is one of the few books that burned itself in my mind. I find myself going back to thinking about it with more regularity than a majority of books I've read.
I remember loving the beginning and ultimately feeling disappointed by the end. This story was very repetitive, and I felt like there were so many missed opportunities.
However, I still think about this book often. I truly can't remember what year I read it, but this is one of the few books that burned itself in my mind. I find myself going back to thinking about it with more regularity than a majority of books I've read.
October 12, 2018
This was a somewhat unusual book and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. I will say 3 stars for now, but that could change.
October 30, 2019
Una brillante novela de vampiros, que continúa la historia de La fuerza de su mirada, sin ser exactamente una secuela. No hace falta haber leído el primero para entender éste.
Un grupo de personajes dispares se ven unidos por la necesidad de escapar de las atenciones del vampiro John Polidori, y de otro aún más antiguo y terrible, que tiene además planes horribles para Londres, una venganza a medias.
Powers es un maestro en la creación de ambientes, y el Londres victoriano cobra vida como una ciudad gótica y oscura, perpetuamente cubierta de hollín y niebla. La novela sigue a la percepción los tropos del género, y se lee de una sentada. Si te gustan las novelas de vampiros, lee esta.
Un grupo de personajes dispares se ven unidos por la necesidad de escapar de las atenciones del vampiro John Polidori, y de otro aún más antiguo y terrible, que tiene además planes horribles para Londres, una venganza a medias.
Powers es un maestro en la creación de ambientes, y el Londres victoriano cobra vida como una ciudad gótica y oscura, perpetuamente cubierta de hollín y niebla. La novela sigue a la percepción los tropos del género, y se lee de una sentada. Si te gustan las novelas de vampiros, lee esta.
September 11, 2012
Original review posted on The Book Smugglers
In Tim Power’s 1989 acclaimed novel The Stress of Her Regard, the protagonist Michael Crawford battles vampiric forces of evil side by side with Byron, Keats, Shelley et al.
Hide Me Among the Graves is a standalone sequel to that novel, following John Crawford, the son of that novel’s protagonist as he battles the same sort of vampiric forces of evil, this time alongside another group of artists: the Rossetti family (Dante Gabriel, Christina and their siblings) and their surrounding group of friends.
The above is nothing but a cheeky, basic summary and Hide Me Among the Graves is a lot more than this basic premise. It’s a historical supernatural thriller that takes basic facts about the lives of its historical characters and plays with them in an atmospheric London of the late 19th century.
The Rossettis’ siblings have been haunted by the ghost-like vampiric presence of their uncle John Polidori ever since Christina succumbed to its allure when she was a young girl and opened the doors of her life (and that of her siblings, most notably Dante Gabriel) to this spectral presence. Years later, they are still struggling against this ghost and come to realise that Polidori is not the only vampiric creature and they are not their only victims. There is the veterinarian John Crawford whose father was a victim of the same sort of creature years before; as well as Adelaide McKee, a former prostitute whose daughter has gone missing. Her connection to both John and Dante Gabriel makes these two groups of people to join forces against a common enemy. Eventually they come to learn that there is a plan to destroy London.
There is a lot to enjoy about Hide Me Among the Graves. Starting with its particular take on vampirism: these vampires are spectral creatures who take over somebody’s dead form and function as succubi/incubi as well as muse to their victims. They exert influence and although they don’t make their living victims immortal they do expand their lifeline. This concoction of ideas serves as a great exploration of both the repulsion and attraction that these creatures engender in their victims especially those with artistic souls. This is sharply explored in the particular lives of the Rossettis and Christina has the biggest struggle of them all. Her repulsion toward her uncle is as great as her attraction. There is hatred and fear born out of her Christian upbringing and the knowledge that there is nothing natural about her relationship with this Polidori creature. But there is also love and lust and the certainty that her writing is at its best when she allows Polidori to exert his influence. There is a lot of tragedy here, present in the lives of the Rossettis and for them the biggest tragedy of all is their knowledge that their work is at its best only when they open their souls to possible damnation.
As interesting as this insertion of these characters into this Fantasy world is, Hide Me Among the Graves proves to be more engaging when it moves focus to the wholly fictional characters Crawford and Mckee. Mckee is a particularly well-drawn female character who is fully aware of this hidden London of magic, of curses and where ghosts can be trapped in birds. I loved McKee, her budding relationship with Crawford as well as her missing daughter Johanna – who turns out to be a funny and capable street urchin.
On the flip side, the basic plot of the novel – characters get together to fight the vampires and how this affects their personal lives – is rehashed many times throughout what can only be described as a very bloated book. This is a trap of Powers’ own making because by using the Rossettis as characters, he has to inevitably follow the course of their lives. In addition, despite the fact that so many characters suffer under this evil influence, Hide Me Among the Graves is a very plot-focused novel where events brought about by external influences kept leading characters here and there. Because of that, and I admit I am not usually a fan of plot-driven novels, it lacked something more substantial so that I could fully emerge myself and sink my teeth into this novel (pun not intended) with gusto.
Ultimately Hide Me Among the Graves is a very enjoyable, atmospheric read and I found it to be extremely engaging as I read it. I am trying to find a way to say that I think this is a good, solid novel but one that in spite of its clear qualities (and there are many), lacks a je ne sais quoi . And this missing… gravitas…prevents it from being a truly remarkable novel.
In Tim Power’s 1989 acclaimed novel The Stress of Her Regard, the protagonist Michael Crawford battles vampiric forces of evil side by side with Byron, Keats, Shelley et al.
Hide Me Among the Graves is a standalone sequel to that novel, following John Crawford, the son of that novel’s protagonist as he battles the same sort of vampiric forces of evil, this time alongside another group of artists: the Rossetti family (Dante Gabriel, Christina and their siblings) and their surrounding group of friends.
The above is nothing but a cheeky, basic summary and Hide Me Among the Graves is a lot more than this basic premise. It’s a historical supernatural thriller that takes basic facts about the lives of its historical characters and plays with them in an atmospheric London of the late 19th century.
The Rossettis’ siblings have been haunted by the ghost-like vampiric presence of their uncle John Polidori ever since Christina succumbed to its allure when she was a young girl and opened the doors of her life (and that of her siblings, most notably Dante Gabriel) to this spectral presence. Years later, they are still struggling against this ghost and come to realise that Polidori is not the only vampiric creature and they are not their only victims. There is the veterinarian John Crawford whose father was a victim of the same sort of creature years before; as well as Adelaide McKee, a former prostitute whose daughter has gone missing. Her connection to both John and Dante Gabriel makes these two groups of people to join forces against a common enemy. Eventually they come to learn that there is a plan to destroy London.
There is a lot to enjoy about Hide Me Among the Graves. Starting with its particular take on vampirism: these vampires are spectral creatures who take over somebody’s dead form and function as succubi/incubi as well as muse to their victims. They exert influence and although they don’t make their living victims immortal they do expand their lifeline. This concoction of ideas serves as a great exploration of both the repulsion and attraction that these creatures engender in their victims especially those with artistic souls. This is sharply explored in the particular lives of the Rossettis and Christina has the biggest struggle of them all. Her repulsion toward her uncle is as great as her attraction. There is hatred and fear born out of her Christian upbringing and the knowledge that there is nothing natural about her relationship with this Polidori creature. But there is also love and lust and the certainty that her writing is at its best when she allows Polidori to exert his influence. There is a lot of tragedy here, present in the lives of the Rossettis and for them the biggest tragedy of all is their knowledge that their work is at its best only when they open their souls to possible damnation.
As interesting as this insertion of these characters into this Fantasy world is, Hide Me Among the Graves proves to be more engaging when it moves focus to the wholly fictional characters Crawford and Mckee. Mckee is a particularly well-drawn female character who is fully aware of this hidden London of magic, of curses and where ghosts can be trapped in birds. I loved McKee, her budding relationship with Crawford as well as her missing daughter Johanna – who turns out to be a funny and capable street urchin.
On the flip side, the basic plot of the novel – characters get together to fight the vampires and how this affects their personal lives – is rehashed many times throughout what can only be described as a very bloated book. This is a trap of Powers’ own making because by using the Rossettis as characters, he has to inevitably follow the course of their lives. In addition, despite the fact that so many characters suffer under this evil influence, Hide Me Among the Graves is a very plot-focused novel where events brought about by external influences kept leading characters here and there. Because of that, and I admit I am not usually a fan of plot-driven novels, it lacked something more substantial so that I could fully emerge myself and sink my teeth into this novel (pun not intended) with gusto.
Ultimately Hide Me Among the Graves is a very enjoyable, atmospheric read and I found it to be extremely engaging as I read it. I am trying to find a way to say that I think this is a good, solid novel but one that in spite of its clear qualities (and there are many), lacks a je ne sais quoi . And this missing… gravitas…prevents it from being a truly remarkable novel.
January 29, 2016
"The pleasant times are always soon eclipsed."
—Edward John Trelawny, p.369
The most compelling character in Tim Powers' moody, elegant period novel Hide Me Among the Graves turns out to be Victorian London itself, in all its sooty, smelly glory—a much different city from today's multinational metropolis, to be sure, much dirtier and more frightening, but also, somehow, much cozier as well. The bulk of the novel is set in 1862, squarely in the centre of the Victorian era, as the Rossetti family (real siblings Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Christina Rossetti, and Maria Francesca Rossetti) and their friend Algernon Swinburne ready themselves to do battle with their uncle John Polidori, an ageless vampiric figure whose powers originate with pre-Adamic creatures made of stone and known as Nephilim. (The Nephilim also appeared in Powers' 1989 novel The Stress of Her Regard, to which this is a loose sequel—although these are independent works; you need not have read one in order to enjoy the other.) Also appearing are John Crawford, son of the protagonist in Powers' earlier book, and the resourceful Adelaide McKee, once a prostitute but now a sister of the Magdalen. It is, I hope, no spoiler to note that John and Adelaide have a history with each other, and with the Rossettis.
Hide Me Among the Graves could only be a Tim Powers novel. Graced as it is with characters drawn from history and full of accurate period detail, Powers' London is also permeated, suffused—saturated—with magic, chockablock with supernatural beings and arcane rituals... so much so that it seems everyone in the City once called Londinium knows at least something of the dark necromancies required to navigate its ancient pathways and placate its unseen rulers. All of these things—the historical accuracy, the complex magical systems, and the characters' matter-of-fact knowledge of same—are Powers trademarks.
Sometimes, though, it seems as if there's too much magic—too many dangers, talismans, enemies—for any mere human beings to avoid some calamitous misstep that will tear their souls and bodies asunder and condemn them to eternal oblivion. This, too, is a feeling you'll find in many Powers books... but it's more intense here. Very little of the Rossettis' progress stands untouched by some corresponding setback, and Hide Me Among the Graves carries a mood of nearly unrelieved gloom that, along with its ornate and archaic prose, made this novel uncharacteristically difficult for me to get through. But I can't say I wasn't warned—the book isn't called Hide Me Among the Pretty Spring Flowers, after all—and get through it I did (and with more pleasure than perhaps this review might make it appear).
In retrospect, I think this book would make an absolutely grand BBC miniseries... a few judiciously-placed special effects would be all that's necessary to set off the gorgeous period settings, costumes and accents with which we are already familiar from other productions. I was unable to find any indication that a miniseries is already in the works, though, so... verbum sapientam, eh?
March 25, 2012
I have survived a string of Tim Powers novels that I didn't care much about (but also _Declare_, which I loved). So I worried about a long-interval sequel to _The Stress of Her Regard_. Unnecessary! This is one of the good ones.
The original book had Byron, Shelley, their crowd of artsy associates, and (protagonist) Michael Crawford. This one, set a couple of decades later, has Christina and Dante Rossetti, *their* crowd of artsy associates, and (new protagonist) John Crawford. Plus the vampires, of course, in all their shape-shifting, deliriant, disease-or-Muse muddled glory.
Powers is in full form with the creepy grotesquerie. The plot is wall-to-wall sewers, London bird-sellers, quantum interference patterns, surgery, laudanum, and poems buried in coffins. He also manages to work in ghosts and earthquakes (recurring favorite themes that the previous book somehow missed).
I will make complaint only by way of comparison: the story goes by in several fits (from 1845 to 1882), and while each section works well on its own, there isn't as much drive from section to section as there probably should be. Also, the sequel doesn't have nearly as many "holy crap" history or worldbuilding moments as the original. That's inevitable and to even classify it as a complaint is to blush; nonetheless, it was my reaction. Eventually I will re-read the pair in order; perhaps by then I will have internalized enough of the real-life Rossetti, Swinburne, and Trelawny to feel how nicely their fictional histories dovetail. (It's not like I knew anything about Byron or Shelley when I first read _Stress_.)
The original book had Byron, Shelley, their crowd of artsy associates, and (protagonist) Michael Crawford. This one, set a couple of decades later, has Christina and Dante Rossetti, *their* crowd of artsy associates, and (new protagonist) John Crawford. Plus the vampires, of course, in all their shape-shifting, deliriant, disease-or-Muse muddled glory.
Powers is in full form with the creepy grotesquerie. The plot is wall-to-wall sewers, London bird-sellers, quantum interference patterns, surgery, laudanum, and poems buried in coffins. He also manages to work in ghosts and earthquakes (recurring favorite themes that the previous book somehow missed).
I will make complaint only by way of comparison: the story goes by in several fits (from 1845 to 1882), and while each section works well on its own, there isn't as much drive from section to section as there probably should be. Also, the sequel doesn't have nearly as many "holy crap" history or worldbuilding moments as the original. That's inevitable and to even classify it as a complaint is to blush; nonetheless, it was my reaction. Eventually I will re-read the pair in order; perhaps by then I will have internalized enough of the real-life Rossetti, Swinburne, and Trelawny to feel how nicely their fictional histories dovetail. (It's not like I knew anything about Byron or Shelley when I first read _Stress_.)
February 16, 2012
This one took a while to get into and figure out what was going on and which version of the vampire/ghost mythology was being put forward.
Turns out that John Polidori, friend to Byron and a doctor, became a vampire when he committed "suicide" and he's infected his brother-in-law, Gabriele Rossetti; Rossetti's children, including Dante Gabriel and Christina, take on the role of fighting these risen ghosts. Garlic, metal, silver bullets, staying in an enclosed area and using birds to capture the soul/ghost of the recently departed are all part of this world. The Rossettis are joined by a vet and a former prostitute who seek to save their daughter from Polidori's clutches.
There's tons of Victorian London-era atmosphere, famous name dropping (Trewlany, Swinburne and the aforementioned Rossettis) and action - but it takes time to sort out how the "Hail Mary" business works and how this threat can be neutralized. At times the atmosphere and the extraneous stuff threatens to overpower the plot.
ARC provided by publisher.
Turns out that John Polidori, friend to Byron and a doctor, became a vampire when he committed "suicide" and he's infected his brother-in-law, Gabriele Rossetti; Rossetti's children, including Dante Gabriel and Christina, take on the role of fighting these risen ghosts. Garlic, metal, silver bullets, staying in an enclosed area and using birds to capture the soul/ghost of the recently departed are all part of this world. The Rossettis are joined by a vet and a former prostitute who seek to save their daughter from Polidori's clutches.
There's tons of Victorian London-era atmosphere, famous name dropping (Trewlany, Swinburne and the aforementioned Rossettis) and action - but it takes time to sort out how the "Hail Mary" business works and how this threat can be neutralized. At times the atmosphere and the extraneous stuff threatens to overpower the plot.
ARC provided by publisher.
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