The Anubis Gate Comments
The Anubis Gate (Tim Powers)
Amazon Book Description
The colonization of Egypt by western European powers is the launch point for power plays and machinations. Steeping together in this time-warp stew are such characters as an unassuming Coleridge scholar, ancient gods, wizards, the Knights Templar, werewolves, and other quasi-mortals, all wrapped in the organizing fabric of Egyptian mythology. In the best of fantasy traditions, the reluctant heroes fight for survival against an evil that lurks beneath the surface of their everyday lives.
I discovered Tim Powers in high school and ravenously devoured everything he had written to that date. Loved everything, but nothing so much as "The Stress of Her Regard" which I happened to discover when we were studying the Romantic Poets in 10th grade English (this book really stuck with me, this was YEARS ago!) Very clever work of fiction.
Agree that Declare is his best book to date. I liked the Anubis Gates, but I think it is far from his best work. On Stranger Tides (don't blame Powers for the recent movie adaptation) is really very good. Really anything by Powers is awesome.
The Anubis Gates is great; the ending really blew my mind. On Stranger Tides is excellent also but I do have to say that my personal favorite of his books is "Declare." I think it might be the best thing he has written to this point. I also think it is worth noting that if you are reading Powers, he does have kind of a loose trilogy in the books Last Call, Expiration Date and Earthquake Weather (in that order).