The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers March 2012

[[deleted user]]

Its time for a new month and a new fantasy selection ... I haven't started this yet, i'm deep into an anthology with a great story arc and have to finish this story line before starting something new .....

But in the meantime, tell me what you you've found in this book .... is it gold?

[[deleted user]]

I wouldn't say gold: somewhere above bronze and verging into silver territory. There should be a name for that alloy, at least for literary terms.

I enjoyed the details and pacing which are slower than a lot of contemporary fiction. The setting is our world, albeit 1529 with magic. In some way this could be called a cross between historical fiction and a pre-cursor to Urban Fantasy without the any annoying sequels.

And there is magic beer. You've got to love magic beer.

[[deleted user]]

Magic beer is good

[Donna]

I finished the book yesterday and felt it was a 3.5 star book. It is an interesting blend of history and fantasy and I enjoyed the slow unfolding of the story. I liked how Powers wove the fantastical elements into the story. The ending felt a bit anti-climatic to me; I'm not quite sure what was missing, I just felt like I wanted more of something.

I'm with Greg in that I appreciated it as a self-contained story with no sequels. I definitely thought it was worthwhile read.

[Jeannette]

Greg wrote: "I wouldn't say gold: somewhere above bronze and verging into silver territory. There should be a name for that alloy, at least for literary terms.


I think that either "billon" or "shibuichi" would be appropriate designations for something that was somewhere between bronze and sliver.

The Drawing of the Dark might be silver, or it might be shibuichi - really appreciating Tim Powers depends somewhat on my mood - but The Anubis Gates is pure, although utterly strange, gold.

[Lee]

This is one of my favourite books - one of my go-to books, and my favourite Tim Powers (although Declare">Declare runs it a close second).
This isn't a book about youngsters; the characters are mature, with baggage and physical weaknesses, and they make mistakes.
This isn't a book about beer; the story is steeped in mythology and history and whether true heroes return when they're needed.
This isn't a book to be sipped; you need to take a good deep draught of it, and then go back for a refill.
It has its flaws, of course, mainly unsatisfying plot elements which on multiple readings have become like quirky old friends but a couple of times on my first reading of the book I remember thinking "Surely that has to happen? Soon? Maybe?" I'm not sure whether Mr Powers was edited too harshly or if he decided to play a game with his readers. Still a good story, though.
I recommend you read The Drawing Of The Dark before you read any of his Californian books (Last Call, Expiration Date, etc).

[G.l.]

This is one of my favorite books from my misspent youth. I am way late to add this comment, but what the heck. I didn't think there was anybody out there who had even read it, or heard of it. So imagine my shock when I saw this thread. At any rate, I might go pull this off the shelf, dust it off, and dive in.