The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers

[[deleted user]]

This is the discussion topic for our chosen November, 2013, Classic SF/F Novel group read and discussion:

The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers

Winner of the 1983 Philip K. Dick Award

[Ben]

not read it but will try to at least dip into it before the end of the month.

[Andreas]

Just started reading this fantasy time travel novel.

Some Egyptian mages try to bring back magic and the worship of Egyptian gods in 1802. I love this setting, as I've been on a Nile cruise some seven years ago - the story brings back fantastic memories.

Within a second time stage around 1980l, one protagonist - Professor Doyle - specialized in the biography of the 19th century fictional poet William Ashbless.
That one is a funny invention of Tim Powers - he even published poetry under this pen name and a biography.

Later on, we will meet Samuel Taylor Coleridge and George Gordon Byron. Lord Byron together with Shelley, Keats and other romantic writers were already used in The Stress of Her Regard - a novel from Powers that I really liked.

[[deleted user]]

I'm now about halfway through The Anubis Gates.

Strangely, I found the prologue really slow going. I like to make the effort at the very start of any new book to grok in fullness the characters and setting, because that's (usually) where I'm going to spend most of the read. In this case, I found a couple of things quite confusing. First there was the strange admixture of cultures: Egyptian God worshipers? in 1800? In London? With Gypsies? And then I had some confusion over Romany and Romanelli. Was one just the short, familiar form of the other's name, by calling Jonathan "Johnny"? I got stuck rereading and overthinking it all.

I finally just gave up understanding and plowed forward (and in fact all eventually became clearer, though after a surprising trip to 1983 (present day when the book was written.)

[J.D.]

It just keeps getting better. I first read this shortly after it came out. Tim Powers is one of the few authors I've seen who can play with movement through timelines and history in a way that doesn't end up being annoying.

[Andreas]

I'm 20% in.
Tim Powers has always been a slow starter for me. I like the setting, but the prologue is really no page turner. The next part where Doyle strands in time is funny - Doyle's characterization is quite good with his naive assumptions how to get rich in 1800.

[[deleted user]]

J.D. wrote: "Tim Powers is one of the few authors I've seen who can play with movement through timelines and history in a way that doesn't end up being annoying."

One of the things Powers seems to like is the flashback. It's not uncommon for an author to start a scene at a dramatic moment ("the hook"), and then insert a small flashback to show how the characters arrived at it. But Powers likes to double clutch it.

E.g., right at the start of chapter 1, Doyle is arriving at an English mansion for a job interview. Immediately, a flashback shows him back in the US where he receives the mysterious job offer. Then within that flashback, he reminisces on how he chose to study certain writers as a result of trying to publish books, explaining his unusual specialization in the little-known Ashbless as well as Coleridge and Byron. (Of course, knowing this will turn out to be important for the plot later.) So, a flashback within a flashback right at the start.

[[deleted user]]

Well, I finally finished the novel "The Anubis Gates", and it was a pretty fun read, especially through the second half. Time travel stories can be really hard to pull off, but this one manages to pull it off pretty neatly. By placing most of the story about a time traveler from 1983 (the novel's present day) back in 1810, this sort of qualifies as what we would now call "gaslight fantasy".

(I expect I'll elaborate on what I liked about how Powers handles time travel a little later, but since that would involve spoilers I'll wait until a few more folks have had a chance to read the book.)

[Andreas]

Who else is reading this from the group?

I'm 40% in.
When Doyle stranded in 1803, the novel took up speed. Some relentless pursuits with egged homunculi, a puppet player controlling a beggar's guild, a false Indian and a changeling merged with lyric moments summarize what I love about Powers.

[Bev]

I read this with another group and I can honestly say that I hated it. It was slow, clumsily written and overall very dull.

[[deleted user]]

Using Egyptian cultists who still worship the old gods of Ra and Anubis is an interesting choice. Placing them in 1800 England likewise interesting. It's not like the British did in Ra.

Might as well blame Alexander the Great, whose successors built Alexandria and installed the Greek gods, or Julius Caesar, who brought the Roman incarnations of those gods with him. Or, more likely, Emperor Theodosius, who proclaimed Christianity the official religion of the (Eastern) Roman Empire and unleashed the horde of Christian cultists to stamp out the "pagan" gods. The Britts only got involved after Napoleon.

But then, those Egyptians don't have the benefit of history like our protagonists from the future. (I was a little surprised Doyle wasn't aware of the massacre of the Mamluks by Mohammad Ali. That's a pretty significant historical event.)

[Andreas]

I finished this one - here is my review.
Well deserved 4 stars, in my opinion, and quite the opposite for me to "slow, clumsily, dull".

[[deleted user]]

Andreas wrote: "I finished this one."

I rather liked the ending, with one exception. (Multiple spoilers follow.)
(view spoiler)[
Loved: I really like the way Jacky managed to finally fulfilled her quest of killing Fikee/Dog-Face Joe (the hirsute body-switching serial killer) without actually intending to, or even realizing it was what she was doing until after the act. Cleverly plotted.

Liked: I liked Powers approach to time as being immutable (though it certainly brings up questions about free will!) It saves a lot of trouble with forking alternate universes or paradoxes.

Liked: I liked the way all the threads flowed together at the ending, not just ending the story but bringing the past into conformance with "history".

Liked: The very last line: "She hopped down from the wall as Ashbless stood up, and together they walked away, still bickering, north toward the Strand in the clear dawn light." It reminded me of the last scene of Casablanca: "Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." :)

Mixed Feelings: I'm not sure the Epilogue was necessary. I didn't really care if they closed off the Ashbless-ka thread or not. I did like the sentiment, "I owe it to Jacky," as Doyle/Ashbless's reason for showing up at his own death.

Disliked: The invocation of the gods and resurrection of Doyle/Ashbless, the Sektet boat, Ra & Apep. In a story that had previously been fairly low and restrained in its use of magic, this seemed overboard. An odd decision on the part of the Egyptian gods to side with the non-believer over one of their own priests. The whole scene seemed totally unnecessary, since there was no need for the story to have Doyle mortally wounded at that point (badly wounded would've been sufficient :) Not sure why Powers went out of his way to drag the gods into it.
(hide spoiler)]

[[deleted user]]

Favorite non-dramatic scene:

Doyle unexpectedly drops in, in a rather disruptive manner, upon a group of strangers dining in a tavern, and they instantly mark him as a rogue and vandal and prepare to have at him. In an effort to intimidate them, he picks a pewter mug off a table and attempts to crush it in his bare hands as a demonstration of his superior strength. He finds the mug stronger than he expected, and he's unable to crush it. Whereupon he sheepishly puts it back on the table, commenting, "fine workmanship, that."

[Andreas]

There are lot of novels getting the arc of suspense wrong. They build up tension without ever giving a lighter scene; a good example would be Furies of Calderon. That is bothersome.
Powers knows when to relieve tension - which is more exciting for me.

[Bev]

Andreas wrote: "I finished this one - here is my review.
Well deserved 4 stars, in my opinion, and quite the opposite for me to "slow, clumsily, dull"."

Good for you but I thought that the tale was slow to start, the characters were dull and overall it was very old fashioned and out of date.

[Ciara]

I've read this book twice, and was surprised how much I enjoyed it again the second time - I'd forgotten virtually everything from the first time, and I sat down and read this in three days.

I particularly love how everything Doyle knows about the past pans out in very unexpected ways - everything he knows is true, but not in the way he thought it was. I found all the loose ends to be tied up very neatly.

I also love the descriptions, I find Powers very evpcative in this sense,and apart from the phyisical descriptions of places, I found he created a very real sense of the people who populated London; the desperation of its denizens, the danger they exude, and the grinding poverty that drives many of them. That sense, that feeling, created a more visceral setting than any mere description of buildings could do.

[[deleted user]]

Ciara wrote: "I also love the descriptions, I find Powers very evpcative in this sense,and apart from the phyisical descriptions of places, I found he created a very real sense of the people who populated London; the desperation of its denizens, the danger they exude, and the grinding poverty..."

That's an interesting observation. I didn't think much about it as I read the book. Powers doesn't describe physical London very much; but he does do an excellent job of populating it with relatable people, especially of the lower classes.

[Murray]

I've always fancied Powers' earlier work. Anubis Gates and Drawing of the Dark are my solidly my favourites. Plenty of cultural details, chock full of great characters, but still with helpings of swash and good portions of buckling. His later works become increasingly more cerebral and certainly engrossing, but the derring-do action element has withered away over the years.

[[deleted user]]

Those attending LonCon 3 (this year's WorldCon SciFi convention) will be able to attend A Live Stage Performance adaptation of The Anubis Gates performed by the touring company Current Theatrics.