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The Bible Repairman and Other Stories
2012 World Fantasy Award WinnerIn his first new collection since 2005, Tim Powers, the master of the secret history, delves into the mysteries of souls, whether they are sacrificed on the pinnacle of Mount Parnassus or lodged in a television cable box.With two new stories and short fiction only previously available in limited editions, the cornerstone of the collection is a postscript to his harrowing novel of the haunting of the Romantic poets, The Stress of Her Regard. After Byron and Shelley break free of the succubus that claimed them, their associate, Trelawny, forges an alliance with Greek rebels to reestablish the deadly connection between man and the nephilim.Meanwhile, in a Kabbalistic story of transformation, the executor of an old friend's will is duped into housing his soul, but for the grace of the family cat. A rare-book collector replaces pennies stolen from Jean Harlow's square in the Hollywood Walk of Fame—and discovers a literary mystery with supernatural consequences. In a tale of time travel between 2015 and 1975, a tragedy sparked by an angel falling onto a pizza shop is reenacted—and the event is barely, but fatally, altered.
196 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
21 people are currently reading
791 people want to read
About the author
Tim Powers
167 books1,754 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 78 reviews
December 2, 2024
This book gives me the same vibe as stepping into a dusty old bookstore and finding something special in the stacks. It’s all about capturing souls, one way or another. There’s a professional ransom negotiator for broken souls. A man falling for a tortured ghost. The bond between twins, and a secret society with transmigration involving cats… because of course. Every story surprised me, scarier than most horror collections I’ve read—even though I’m not entirely sure it’s supposed to be horror? Either way, I loved every weird, haunting second of it.
April 30, 2012
For me as a reader, Powers's ideas and his storytelling style seem best suited to something between a novella and a full-on novel. It's fun to indulge in bite-sized chunks of his peculiar vision of the secretly magical world, but I came away from these stories either wishing I could have spent more time within them, or scratching my head and wondering, "So....?"
The eponymous story, "The Bible Repairman," has all that wonderful crunchy Tim Powers goodness (the man knows how ghosts work, I'm convinced) but it's a bit abrupt. I also enjoyed "Soul in a Bottle," because who doesn't enjoy the story of a lonely man who falls in love with a ghost? "The Hour of Babel" grabbed me by the throat because it struck me as a tantalizing glimpse of what Powers could do with straight-up science fiction rather than fantasy; the end left me scratching my head, though.
For me, the most interesting story in this collection was, "A Time to Cast Away Stones," which centers on the larger-than-life character of Edward John Trelawny, who had been a friend of Shelley and Byron. Trelawny appears in The Stress of Her Regard and plays a major role in the newly published sequel, Hide Me Among the Graves. Since I had just happened to read those novels recently, I was pleased to stumble across this story, which covers an important event in Trelawny's life that is mentioned only in passing in Hide Me Among the Graves.
I also enjoy watching how Powers plays with certain recurring themes and ideas through his work. I think it's possible in these stories to see places where he's thinking things through, or influencing himself, or revising ideas that appear in earlier works. Or in some cases, perhaps he's first formulating the ideas that reappear later. The multidimensional aliens of "The Hour of Babel", for instance, are reminiscent of the wonderfully terrifying djinn in his novel Declare: A Novel. The shadow of Declare is also present in "A Time to Cast Away Stones" .
The eponymous story, "The Bible Repairman," has all that wonderful crunchy Tim Powers goodness (the man knows how ghosts work, I'm convinced) but it's a bit abrupt. I also enjoyed "Soul in a Bottle," because who doesn't enjoy the story of a lonely man who falls in love with a ghost? "The Hour of Babel" grabbed me by the throat because it struck me as a tantalizing glimpse of what Powers could do with straight-up science fiction rather than fantasy; the end left me scratching my head, though.
For me, the most interesting story in this collection was, "A Time to Cast Away Stones," which centers on the larger-than-life character of Edward John Trelawny, who had been a friend of Shelley and Byron. Trelawny appears in The Stress of Her Regard and plays a major role in the newly published sequel, Hide Me Among the Graves. Since I had just happened to read those novels recently, I was pleased to stumble across this story, which covers an important event in Trelawny's life that is mentioned only in passing in Hide Me Among the Graves.
I also enjoy watching how Powers plays with certain recurring themes and ideas through his work. I think it's possible in these stories to see places where he's thinking things through, or influencing himself, or revising ideas that appear in earlier works. Or in some cases, perhaps he's first formulating the ideas that reappear later. The multidimensional aliens of "The Hour of Babel", for instance, are reminiscent of the wonderfully terrifying djinn in his novel Declare: A Novel. The shadow of Declare is also present in "A Time to Cast Away Stones" .
May 12, 2022
This small collection of tales is absolutely Lovecraftian in its unsettling, weird otherness. From disturbing folk magic to unimaginable, destructive alien entities, from eldritch cult ceremonies of possession to ancient evil gods - each of these stories pushes the boundaries of your comfort zone and threatens to haunt your dreams.
The collection is anchored by the novella A Time To Cast Away Stones, a sequel to Powers novel The Stress Of Her Regards. A secret history, it relates the tale of John Trelawny, Lord Byron’s friend, as he fights along side a Greek warlord, and makes and tries to break a terrible bargain with the Nephelim, an ancient, vampiric, godlike evil.
The title story, The Bible Repairman, takes Powers ghost world to a new level of creepiness. The protagonist is a sort of broken down street sorcerer in a poor Hispanic, LA neighborhood. Neighborhood people routinely capture the ghosts of their departed love ones and turn them into shrines. Sometimes these ghosts are kidnapped, and they come to the sorcerer to work blood magic to get them back, but it extracts a terrible price. This story set my teeth on edge and disturbed me in more ways than I can enumerate - just like a great ghost story should.
The collection is anchored by the novella A Time To Cast Away Stones, a sequel to Powers novel The Stress Of Her Regards. A secret history, it relates the tale of John Trelawny, Lord Byron’s friend, as he fights along side a Greek warlord, and makes and tries to break a terrible bargain with the Nephelim, an ancient, vampiric, godlike evil.
The title story, The Bible Repairman, takes Powers ghost world to a new level of creepiness. The protagonist is a sort of broken down street sorcerer in a poor Hispanic, LA neighborhood. Neighborhood people routinely capture the ghosts of their departed love ones and turn them into shrines. Sometimes these ghosts are kidnapped, and they come to the sorcerer to work blood magic to get them back, but it extracts a terrible price. This story set my teeth on edge and disturbed me in more ways than I can enumerate - just like a great ghost story should.
May 23, 2014
Having read two novels and one novella and now a book of short stories by Tim Powers I can say confidently (if not authoritatively) that I enjoy his shorter work better than his longer. These were some of the most imaginative short stories that I've read in awhile.
In short stories you don't have as much time to develop characters and universe. These stories grab you from the start.
I was reading this in Starbucks last night and a friendly fellow patron notices me reading and asked (harmlessly) "What are you reading?" I hesitantly reply, "it's science fiction" hoping this will end the questions. Of course there is a follow up, "What's it called?" I kind of mumble out "the Bible Repairman"
Silence ...
"Oh is it about the Bible?"
"No not really"
"Well is it inspirational?"
"No not in the technical sense. It 's not really a religious book."
Silence...
"Oh well, don't let me bother you."
Alone again, naturally.
I know this is a weird title, but that's because this is a weird (and enjoyable) book.
In short stories you don't have as much time to develop characters and universe. These stories grab you from the start.
I was reading this in Starbucks last night and a friendly fellow patron notices me reading and asked (harmlessly) "What are you reading?" I hesitantly reply, "it's science fiction" hoping this will end the questions. Of course there is a follow up, "What's it called?" I kind of mumble out "the Bible Repairman"
Silence ...
"Oh is it about the Bible?"
"No not really"
"Well is it inspirational?"
"No not in the technical sense. It 's not really a religious book."
Silence...
"Oh well, don't let me bother you."
Alone again, naturally.
I know this is a weird title, but that's because this is a weird (and enjoyable) book.
March 24, 2024
Powers works better in novel-length. Short stories require him to give away the mystery too early, but it's navigating the tantalizing fragments of his worlds that makes him interesting, too little space either results in having to spell it out too fast or just leaving everything muddled and unsaid.
March 28, 2017
I tend to prefer Tim Powers' longer works, and that is reflected as how I would rank the stories in this collection: from longest (best) to shortest (slightly-less good).
It's still Tim Powers work, even at its shortest.
It's still Tim Powers work, even at its shortest.
October 3, 2018
A bunch of good short stories, and one rather long historical fiction one that I skipped because I just couldn't get into it.
March 12, 2012
The Bible repairman isn't one, really; he's more of a Bible breaker, a (selective) Bible burner. But that's what you should expect from Tim Powers' stories—situations are never straightforward, never as mundane as they might appear at first. Magic, time travel, quirks of physics, unexplainable intrusions of the surreal... these are Powers' stock in trade. The offhand brush of an angel's wing. You can call it urban fantasy, if you want to pigeonhole. Powers likes to explore the niches, those overlooked recesses where things happen differently. His characters are by and large not wizards or warlocks, not inherently magical creatures in a magical world. They are instead ordinary people, perhaps craftsmen who make magic, by their own sweat and effort, out of ordinary materials. Or they might be individuals who encounter the inexplicable in some forgotten corner of the mundane world. I like that. That's the kind of thing I like.
Powers is mostly known for his longer works—from piratical romps like On Stranger Tides to Last Call and its sequels, up through the brilliantly conspiratarian secret history of Declare and the fourth-dimensional tangle of Three Days to Never—all of which I've read and enjoyed prior to coming across this collection. In comparison, his shorter fiction is pretty sparse on the ground. The Bible Repairman contains only a half-dozen tales... but each of them is worth reading and considering.
It's best to approach the stories in this collection carefully, though, and in small doses. In his Introduction, Powers speaks of Philip K. Dick as a friend. This acquaintance may have colored his writing to some extent, but at these lengths Powers actually reminds me more of a darker Peter S. Beagle (though Beagle too can be pretty dark, I don't think he's dark quite so consistently). Too much of this at one time could lead one to question the very underpinnings of reality.
One thing that kept cropping up did bother me: altogether too many of his characters not only smoke cigarettes, but smoke them defiantly, in public, and without regard for the lungs of others. This may be a reactionary impulse on Powers' part, since he is a long-time resident of California and obviously remembers quite vividly a time when it was socially acceptable to smoke cigarettes wherever one pleased. But still, it bothered me.
That's a minor bagatelle, though, in context, brought on by seeing so many instances in juxtaposition. What The Bible Repairman is, in the end, is a superb collection of short stories by a writer working at or near the top of his game, in a genre I enjoy... and there's very little wrong with that.
Powers is mostly known for his longer works—from piratical romps like On Stranger Tides to Last Call and its sequels, up through the brilliantly conspiratarian secret history of Declare and the fourth-dimensional tangle of Three Days to Never—all of which I've read and enjoyed prior to coming across this collection. In comparison, his shorter fiction is pretty sparse on the ground. The Bible Repairman contains only a half-dozen tales... but each of them is worth reading and considering.
It's best to approach the stories in this collection carefully, though, and in small doses. In his Introduction, Powers speaks of Philip K. Dick as a friend. This acquaintance may have colored his writing to some extent, but at these lengths Powers actually reminds me more of a darker Peter S. Beagle (though Beagle too can be pretty dark, I don't think he's dark quite so consistently). Too much of this at one time could lead one to question the very underpinnings of reality.
One thing that kept cropping up did bother me: altogether too many of his characters not only smoke cigarettes, but smoke them defiantly, in public, and without regard for the lungs of others. This may be a reactionary impulse on Powers' part, since he is a long-time resident of California and obviously remembers quite vividly a time when it was socially acceptable to smoke cigarettes wherever one pleased. But still, it bothered me.
That's a minor bagatelle, though, in context, brought on by seeing so many instances in juxtaposition. What The Bible Repairman is, in the end, is a superb collection of short stories by a writer working at or near the top of his game, in a genre I enjoy... and there's very little wrong with that.
April 12, 2020
What it's about: This anthology features an array of genres united by the unusual worlds in which they take place.
"The Bible Repairman" features a world in which the supernatural and psychics are real and under constant bombardment by the thoughts of those around them; the only way they can find peace is by ingesting someone else's broken soul. But the more of your soul you give away, the less life you have. The protagonist finds himself caught in a difficult situation.
"A Soul in a Bottle" is a modern ghost story, a romance, and a time travel story all rolled into one.
"The Hour of Babel" starts with a man revisiting the pizza joint where he used to work before "the incident". But it turns out the incident was much more than he ever realized.
In "Parallel Lines", a woman's dead twin is communicating with her from beyond the grave. Except it's not the protagonist she meant to communicate with...
"A Journey of Only Two Paces" sends the protagonist on a strange lunch meeting to discuss the handling of his former best friend's will. As the day unfolds, the protagonist comes to see that perhaps it wasn't his friend who actually died.
I skipped the final story, "A Time to Cast Away Stones" - after a few pages, it wasn't doing much for me, and there are too many good books in the world to spend time on mediocre ones (especially after reading the previous short pieces, which were quite good).
What I thought: These stories featured lots of twists and turns that I didn't see coming. There was some quality here that I hadn't expected. This was my second time picking this book up from the library, and I must never have cracked it open the last time, because I was expecting something completely and totally different than what was actually happening here.
Why I rated it like I did: I found all of these stories compelling in one way or another, though I wouldn't say I enjoyed all of them necessarily. There are definitely some good pieces here - "A Soul in a Bottle" and "Parallel Lines" were my favorites. Oddly, they seemed to share a little bit of DNA. The other stories featured interesting concepts, but didn't grab me.
"The Bible Repairman" features a world in which the supernatural and psychics are real and under constant bombardment by the thoughts of those around them; the only way they can find peace is by ingesting someone else's broken soul. But the more of your soul you give away, the less life you have. The protagonist finds himself caught in a difficult situation.
"A Soul in a Bottle" is a modern ghost story, a romance, and a time travel story all rolled into one.
"The Hour of Babel" starts with a man revisiting the pizza joint where he used to work before "the incident". But it turns out the incident was much more than he ever realized.
In "Parallel Lines", a woman's dead twin is communicating with her from beyond the grave. Except it's not the protagonist she meant to communicate with...
"A Journey of Only Two Paces" sends the protagonist on a strange lunch meeting to discuss the handling of his former best friend's will. As the day unfolds, the protagonist comes to see that perhaps it wasn't his friend who actually died.
I skipped the final story, "A Time to Cast Away Stones" - after a few pages, it wasn't doing much for me, and there are too many good books in the world to spend time on mediocre ones (especially after reading the previous short pieces, which were quite good).
What I thought: These stories featured lots of twists and turns that I didn't see coming. There was some quality here that I hadn't expected. This was my second time picking this book up from the library, and I must never have cracked it open the last time, because I was expecting something completely and totally different than what was actually happening here.
Why I rated it like I did: I found all of these stories compelling in one way or another, though I wouldn't say I enjoyed all of them necessarily. There are definitely some good pieces here - "A Soul in a Bottle" and "Parallel Lines" were my favorites. Oddly, they seemed to share a little bit of DNA. The other stories featured interesting concepts, but didn't grab me.
September 19, 2011
Powers has an amazing command of the short fiction form. Even if you aren't exactly sure at the start of the story where he's going with a story in the beginning ("The Hour of Babel") if you enjoy a "twist" and a "What THE?!" type of ending to your short fiction, I can't recommend this book highly enough!
Not only that, but his themes of lost opportunities and what really defines the concepts of "family" and "friendship" ("Soul in a Bottle" and "Parallel Lines") that make you realize times in your own life when you may not have appreciated someone as much as you should have who's no longer living. It did for me, anyway. Granted, some of Powers cultural references made me have to research some song lyrics I wasn't familiar with and some of the media references but, that's the hallmark of a great tale well told, isn't it?
You remember it well after the book closes and it makes you think and possibly resarch more to better understand its meaning.
Not only that, but his themes of lost opportunities and what really defines the concepts of "family" and "friendship" ("Soul in a Bottle" and "Parallel Lines") that make you realize times in your own life when you may not have appreciated someone as much as you should have who's no longer living. It did for me, anyway. Granted, some of Powers cultural references made me have to research some song lyrics I wasn't familiar with and some of the media references but, that's the hallmark of a great tale well told, isn't it?
You remember it well after the book closes and it makes you think and possibly resarch more to better understand its meaning.
December 22, 2012
I really wanted to give this collection 3.5 stars. The ideas in this book are wonderful and the writing is ambitious, literary in quality. Yet somehow the stories themselves rarely “gel.” To give one example: there’s a story based on the idea that an overthrown angel rips through the fabric of space and time as he falls. Then it adds a time cop agency, a couple of innocent bystanders, and a Lovecraftian sense of creeping doom. (It could almost be a pun: “the angles are wrong,” and so is the angel…) This is all totally awesome, and Tim Powers is a fine stylist, so the result should be a slam-dunk short story. And yet the end I was left going, “Huh, so I guess that was…Lucifer? Hunh.”
Basically, these are stories that execute triple Salchows and then don’t stick the landing. I liked them all, and I "really" liked many of them, at points. Four stars for ambition, but only three for execution.
Basically, these are stories that execute triple Salchows and then don’t stick the landing. I liked them all, and I "really" liked many of them, at points. Four stars for ambition, but only three for execution.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 25, 2015
I've always loved Tim Powers' longer works, and these short stories are just as compelling. As so often happens when reading his work (and other stuff like it), a weird synchronicity occurred: I'm rewatching the Firefly series and shortly after reading the title story here I saw some great scenes with River and Shepherd Book where she's trying to "fix" his Bible, "...because parts of it are wrong..." He tries to explain that parts may be wrong, but that people still take it on Faith, and that, "you don't fix Faith; Faith fixes you."
Along with Jonathan Carroll, I get most of my so-called magical realism from Powers, Gaiman, and a select few others. They make for excellent brain floss and always get me thinking in interesting new directions.
Along with Jonathan Carroll, I get most of my so-called magical realism from Powers, Gaiman, and a select few others. They make for excellent brain floss and always get me thinking in interesting new directions.
December 18, 2013
I think I have a new favorite author. These stories were haunting, frightening, enticing, skin pricking and imaginative. I have never read anything quite like them. The stories were not grotesque. They required thinking and patience, but were worth the effort. Each story left me wanting another. I cannot recommend this book too highly.
July 2, 2018
2.0 Stars
I think I just have to come to the conclusion that Tim Powers just isn't for me. His prose is great and he can be really creative with injected and mixing his stories with mysticism and history but I feel like his characters are just really lacking.
I loved two stories from this:
-The Bible Repairman was an excellent mood piece that touch on things like loneliness, loss, sin, and redemption all packed with a really cool magic system. Excellent.
-I also loved Parallel Lines, a overbearing ghost possessing two lonely and sad people in order to manipulate them to get her way back into this world and her sister's decision that moving on is the better choice. Was the only story that had some real characters that I felt something for.
Okay stories:
-The Hour of Babel felt like a novella or novel length idea compressed into twenty pages. It's actually such a cool idea (Time Travel + Lovecraft Aliens + Pizza Palace) that I actually think someone like Stephen King would be the better writer to tackle this cool premise. As it is, the story just kinda loses steam about halfway through and just abruptly ends. Disappointing.
-A Journey of Only Two Paces was an okay possession story that also runs out of steam by the end. If the climax had a little bit more punch to it I might have enjoyed it more.
Bleh Stories:
-A Soul in a Bottle felt aimless and kinda pointless. I was never convinced of the romance and it needed a longer length to sell me on it. Goes back to the point of Tim Powers having weak characters.
Did Not Finish:
-A Time to Cast Away Stones just went WAY over my head so I stopped reading it. Maybe I just need to read The Stress of her Regard to get this one. I don't know.
Overall...just kinda unimpressed. I really want to like him more but his stories just don't click with me and I think I just need to accept that.
I think I just have to come to the conclusion that Tim Powers just isn't for me. His prose is great and he can be really creative with injected and mixing his stories with mysticism and history but I feel like his characters are just really lacking.
I loved two stories from this:
-The Bible Repairman was an excellent mood piece that touch on things like loneliness, loss, sin, and redemption all packed with a really cool magic system. Excellent.
-I also loved Parallel Lines, a overbearing ghost possessing two lonely and sad people in order to manipulate them to get her way back into this world and her sister's decision that moving on is the better choice. Was the only story that had some real characters that I felt something for.
Okay stories:
-The Hour of Babel felt like a novella or novel length idea compressed into twenty pages. It's actually such a cool idea (Time Travel + Lovecraft Aliens + Pizza Palace) that I actually think someone like Stephen King would be the better writer to tackle this cool premise. As it is, the story just kinda loses steam about halfway through and just abruptly ends. Disappointing.
-A Journey of Only Two Paces was an okay possession story that also runs out of steam by the end. If the climax had a little bit more punch to it I might have enjoyed it more.
Bleh Stories:
-A Soul in a Bottle felt aimless and kinda pointless. I was never convinced of the romance and it needed a longer length to sell me on it. Goes back to the point of Tim Powers having weak characters.
Did Not Finish:
-A Time to Cast Away Stones just went WAY over my head so I stopped reading it. Maybe I just need to read The Stress of her Regard to get this one. I don't know.
Overall...just kinda unimpressed. I really want to like him more but his stories just don't click with me and I think I just need to accept that.
February 15, 2023
I was going to begin this book review with a terrible, long-winded, pseudo-babble -type of inane narrative joke that would begin like this: "Why did the tiresome quasi-allegory cross the road?"
And then the joke part of it would have contained some idiotic garbage like this: "Because, other than escaping forced gesture and arbitrary consistency, he was crestfallen about a series of (apparently) disconnected events to then make sense of them only to then be left with an anticlimax all while the protagonist sailed away in a boat."
And then I would have added a bit more in the verbal gymnastics arena like "Of course, being completely wrong in whatever conclusion he came to was fortunate that his conclusion was a mistake." I would have also included some dry/wry observations like "Perversely, selling liquor makes one look sober" and "Being hungry does imply the existence of bread."
I then might have added snippets like "CURRENT MOOD: Lamenting that life is generally very haphazard in its plotting" with some additional token comments such as "Weird day, in that I was not surrounded by imaginary acquaintances" and "At the end of the day I have decided that my Daniel Boone coonskin cap goes best with the camouflage pants."
But I decided not to, probably due to my ineptitude, oft standing boredom, and lastly, my obvious maturity level.
And that maturity attribute is the most painfully obvious, because a truly mature man (of my means) would have simply responded with "To get to the other side."
And then the joke part of it would have contained some idiotic garbage like this: "Because, other than escaping forced gesture and arbitrary consistency, he was crestfallen about a series of (apparently) disconnected events to then make sense of them only to then be left with an anticlimax all while the protagonist sailed away in a boat."
And then I would have added a bit more in the verbal gymnastics arena like "Of course, being completely wrong in whatever conclusion he came to was fortunate that his conclusion was a mistake." I would have also included some dry/wry observations like "Perversely, selling liquor makes one look sober" and "Being hungry does imply the existence of bread."
I then might have added snippets like "CURRENT MOOD: Lamenting that life is generally very haphazard in its plotting" with some additional token comments such as "Weird day, in that I was not surrounded by imaginary acquaintances" and "At the end of the day I have decided that my Daniel Boone coonskin cap goes best with the camouflage pants."
But I decided not to, probably due to my ineptitude, oft standing boredom, and lastly, my obvious maturity level.
And that maturity attribute is the most painfully obvious, because a truly mature man (of my means) would have simply responded with "To get to the other side."
July 21, 2018
I really enjoyed this book! I had it on my "TBR" list when I came across a signed copy recently so I grabbed it. I didn't know much about Tim Powers/his type of writing, but it turns out he's right up my alley - I'd put him the "hauntological slipstream" category (along with China Mieville) where alternate reality, ghosts, the weight of the past, magical realism, literary fiction, and contemporary/urban fantasy all collide. All of the stories were great, culminating in the fabulous novellete "A Time to Throw Away Stones," which I really loved. A great short story collecting, a definite must read for anyone who likes urban/contemporary fantasy heavy slipstream.
June 12, 2022
Tim Powers is mostly known for his novels, but here is a selection of his short stories. Inventive, clever, told with clear language and strong characters, Powers has the skills to match his boundless imagination. Most of these stories previously appeared in expensive limited editions or publications with limited distribution, so it's a pleasure to see them in a handsome trade paperback from Tachyon Publications.
A bonus for fans of the novel 'The Stress of Her Regard', this volume includes a postscript story focused on Edward John Trelawny and his efforts to support Greek independence.
A bonus for fans of the novel 'The Stress of Her Regard', this volume includes a postscript story focused on Edward John Trelawny and his efforts to support Greek independence.
January 19, 2021
My guess is that I haven't done enough acid to truly appreciate these stories. The subjects seem to be ghosts or time travel, sometimes at the same time.
I thought the stories were generally short on internal logic when it came to plotting and there didn't seem to be much attempt to set out how and why things were happening as they were.
I did enjoy a couple of the stories more than the others, but on the whole, I think this author and I must part ways.
I thought the stories were generally short on internal logic when it came to plotting and there didn't seem to be much attempt to set out how and why things were happening as they were.
I did enjoy a couple of the stories more than the others, but on the whole, I think this author and I must part ways.
February 23, 2018
While all of the stories in this anthology have an interesting and innovative premise (maybe none more so than the eponymous repairman), I wasn't really drawn in by any of them.
Dating ghosts, turning immortal and switching souls with a cat are all intriguing, but I didn't actually care about any of the protagonists nor was I riveted by the plots.
Dating ghosts, turning immortal and switching souls with a cat are all intriguing, but I didn't actually care about any of the protagonists nor was I riveted by the plots.
April 20, 2018
Brilliant and spooky
A book which was recommended to me as an interesting Catholic set of stories. It is far more than that. Combining tech and some of the most intense and creepy spiritualism this set of stories is worth reading If only for the uniqueness of them. Fantastic stuff.
A book which was recommended to me as an interesting Catholic set of stories. It is far more than that. Combining tech and some of the most intense and creepy spiritualism this set of stories is worth reading If only for the uniqueness of them. Fantastic stuff.
February 3, 2019
This is a rare short story collection from Tim Powers. While I much prefer his longer works, there is still much to be enjoyed in this collection. Mainly focusing on in ghost stories in and around Las Angeles, these are engaging and nicely constructed tales. The final, and longest, story works as addendum to The Stress of Her Regard, my favourite of his novels.
December 14, 2017
For the most part this was an average collection of short stories. Nothing really grabbed me as all that interesting or surprising or enlightening. The last story I didn't make it through - just not interested at all. OK at best...
March 14, 2025
A fun collection of stories, well-written. Some were more engaging than others, but overall I enjoyed reading this. Some very creative and original concepts that would actually lend themselves to a longer novel.
May 19, 2020
The stories build-ups are quite interesting, but the endings are inevitably damp-squibs.
March 7, 2021
A number of excellent stories, mostly novellas, by Tim Powers. Mainly of a fantasy nature and usually quite dark they can all be recommended.
September 4, 2022
I really like Tim Power's novels but mostly could not really get into these short stories
December 5, 2022
Good stories. I especially liked the conceit of the title story.
December 27, 2023
I grade very subjectively, I probably would have at least rounded up if I had read this when it was first published
Of course the writing is great and it's not as uneven as most collections, but it is just all horror and I just don't enjoy horror much any more. Others will appreciate it far more than I did.
6 stories:
The Bible Repairman: 4 stars
A Soul in a Bottle: 3 stars
The Hour of Babel: 4.5 stars, time travel
Parallel Lines: 3 stars
A Journey of Only Two Paces: 3.5 stars
A Time to Cast Away Stones: 2 stars
Of course the writing is great and it's not as uneven as most collections, but it is just all horror and I just don't enjoy horror much any more. Others will appreciate it far more than I did.
6 stories:
The Bible Repairman: 4 stars
A Soul in a Bottle: 3 stars
The Hour of Babel: 4.5 stars, time travel
Parallel Lines: 3 stars
A Journey of Only Two Paces: 3.5 stars
A Time to Cast Away Stones: 2 stars
June 10, 2023
3.5 overall.
This is my first Tim Powers and overall they're pretty good. I only read 5/6 of them and 4 of those dealt with souls after death/ghosts (maybe even all 5, but I was lost on that one), so there is definitely a bit of a theme going on. Also a lot of sacrificing for the sake of the dead. Whether it happens or just contemplated, it's still a significant part of the stories I read. I also don't recommend reading them close together because the protagonists start to feel a bit same-y. Lonely, grieving, wondering if there is anything left for them here on this plane. I will definitely try one of Powers' novels soon, but after a break.
The Bible Repairman: (3/5) About ghosts and selling parts of the soul. The way he "repaired" Bibles was an interesting idea, but not really integral to what happens, I think. Just window dressing to how the world worked. Overall I liked it. But I just started to really get into the world when it ended. I also feel like something went over my head at the end.
Soul in a Bottle: (4/5) A man meets a very intriguing girl. Turns out she's dead. Really good. I wasn't expecting the time travel element, but it works.
The Hour of Babel: (2/5) This one is a miss for me. It just made too little sense. Something about an angel? inhabiting a bar at a specific point in time?
Parallel Lines: (3.5/5) About an old lady and her twin's ghost. They don't like each other. I liked the old lady's reaction when she figures out her dead sister's plan. I do wish it was fleshed out a bit more, but enough clues are given to get a general idea about the past.
A Journey of Only Two Paces: (4/5) Starts off normal enough, with the guy trying to execute a friend(?)'s will and then turns increasingly creepy. And there's cats! This one pulled me in and made me really want to see how it was going to turn out.
A Time to Cast Away Stones: Not read. It's supposed to be a sequel to The Stress of Her Regard, which, as it turns out, I got in the same Humble Bundle as this book. Also turns out I have a different Tim Powers novel on my kindle which will likely be read first. Since I don't actually planning on reading The Stress of Her Regard anytime soon, I can only hope I'll remember to come back and read this story when that happens.
This is my first Tim Powers and overall they're pretty good. I only read 5/6 of them and 4 of those dealt with souls after death/ghosts (maybe even all 5, but I was lost on that one), so there is definitely a bit of a theme going on. Also a lot of sacrificing for the sake of the dead. Whether it happens or just contemplated, it's still a significant part of the stories I read. I also don't recommend reading them close together because the protagonists start to feel a bit same-y. Lonely, grieving, wondering if there is anything left for them here on this plane. I will definitely try one of Powers' novels soon, but after a break.
The Bible Repairman: (3/5) About ghosts and selling parts of the soul. The way he "repaired" Bibles was an interesting idea, but not really integral to what happens, I think. Just window dressing to how the world worked. Overall I liked it. But I just started to really get into the world when it ended. I also feel like something went over my head at the end.
Soul in a Bottle: (4/5) A man meets a very intriguing girl. Turns out she's dead. Really good. I wasn't expecting the time travel element, but it works.
The Hour of Babel: (2/5) This one is a miss for me. It just made too little sense. Something about an angel? inhabiting a bar at a specific point in time?
Parallel Lines: (3.5/5) About an old lady and her twin's ghost. They don't like each other. I liked the old lady's reaction when she figures out her dead sister's plan. I do wish it was fleshed out a bit more, but enough clues are given to get a general idea about the past.
A Journey of Only Two Paces: (4/5) Starts off normal enough, with the guy trying to execute a friend(?)'s will and then turns increasingly creepy. And there's cats! This one pulled me in and made me really want to see how it was going to turn out.
A Time to Cast Away Stones: Not read. It's supposed to be a sequel to The Stress of Her Regard, which, as it turns out, I got in the same Humble Bundle as this book. Also turns out I have a different Tim Powers novel on my kindle which will likely be read first. Since I don't actually planning on reading The Stress of Her Regard anytime soon, I can only hope I'll remember to come back and read this story when that happens.
May 15, 2014
Tim Powers is always fun. Most of these stories are set in California and involve ghosts, possession and magic. The longest one is set in Greece after Byron's death in Missolonghi and connected to Powers's Nephilim novels The Stress of Her Regard and Hide Me Among the Graves. Yet again it mixes actual historical details with fantasy.
...
Late addition, and digression: Around the time Declare came out I read some online interviews with Powers and only then learned that not only was he deeply Catholic (which shows in Declare as well) but also rather superstitious (unless he was messing with the interviewer re the anecdote with Assumption). I must confess this coloured my view of his work for a while. For me, the fascination of supernatural elements is that they are patently absurd, and therefore a sort of ultimate what-if scenario: what if there really were forces that could be communicated or bargained with using quaint, sometimes rather macabre rituals. What if this kind of reality could mesh with our real, rational, scientific reality. I had not expected that someone could write this kind of fiction while actually believing in the supernatural, because my own enjoyment of supernatural in fiction had always been all about willing suspension of disbelief. I don't know if I could enjoy, say, the adventures of the Winchester brothers in Supernatural, if I really believed in angels and demons (although I think the more contact points a fictional universe has with authentic mythology the better it is). A sort of ironic distance acts as a safety line to sanity.
Being religious requires one to believe in the supernatural. This whole digression occurred to me today when I read Jerry Coyne's blog about Pope Francis believing in Satan and demons. I don't really know if these general musings are appropriate in the context of this review, though. I guess I had a bit of a falling out with Powers's fiction upon the discovery of his Catholicism, after being a loyal fan since The Anubis Gates, which I think is one of the best time travel stories ever.
...
Late addition, and digression: Around the time Declare came out I read some online interviews with Powers and only then learned that not only was he deeply Catholic (which shows in Declare as well) but also rather superstitious (unless he was messing with the interviewer re the anecdote with Assumption). I must confess this coloured my view of his work for a while. For me, the fascination of supernatural elements is that they are patently absurd, and therefore a sort of ultimate what-if scenario: what if there really were forces that could be communicated or bargained with using quaint, sometimes rather macabre rituals. What if this kind of reality could mesh with our real, rational, scientific reality. I had not expected that someone could write this kind of fiction while actually believing in the supernatural, because my own enjoyment of supernatural in fiction had always been all about willing suspension of disbelief. I don't know if I could enjoy, say, the adventures of the Winchester brothers in Supernatural, if I really believed in angels and demons (although I think the more contact points a fictional universe has with authentic mythology the better it is). A sort of ironic distance acts as a safety line to sanity.
Being religious requires one to believe in the supernatural. This whole digression occurred to me today when I read Jerry Coyne's blog about Pope Francis believing in Satan and demons. I don't really know if these general musings are appropriate in the context of this review, though. I guess I had a bit of a falling out with Powers's fiction upon the discovery of his Catholicism, after being a loyal fan since The Anubis Gates, which I think is one of the best time travel stories ever.
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