Comments | krylyr: Mostly for the Avocado of Doom and Garunya

krylyr

Mostly for the Avocado of Doom and Garunya

Aug 17, 2010 13:11

After being told for years that I needed to read Tim Powers by people I respect, I finally started reading On Stranger Tides last week. I started with that one because I wanted to read it before the new PotC movie came out, and also, well, pirates.

I think all you need to know about my reaction to this book is that the other night while reading it ( Read more... )

books, tim powers

Comments 14

tithenai August 17 2010, 20:21:46 UTC

I liked The Anubis Gates best of anything of his I've read, the other two being Last Call and The Stress of Her Regard. I find they all have ... problems, especially where female characters are concerned, but I enjoyed them all the same, though TSoHR is probably the most broken structure-wise.

krylyr August 17 2010, 21:20:49 UTC

Ah. I noticed that (thus far, at least) the sole female character in OST was very much a damsel in distress, but shrugged it off. Still curious to read more, but sorry to hear it's not an isolated incident.

tithenai August 17 2010, 21:30:42 UTC

His ideas are awesome -- Poker played for souls with Tarot cards in Nevada where gangster history is written in lines from The Waste Land, ye gods! -- but I think kind of exceed his execution in the final acts? But I thought The Anubis Gates was fantastic.

athenais August 17 2010, 20:47:05 UTC

I'm very fond of The Drawing of the Dark and The Anubis Gates is good. I gave up reading Powers for awhile after The Stress of Her Regard because of the horror elements and his handling of the period. Sometimes, getting it wrong in the name of your story is a deal breaker for me.

He's guest of honor next year at the Reno Worldcon. Y'all come.

krylyr August 17 2010, 21:23:03 UTC

Cool! I hadn't heard that yet.

I am seriously tempted to make the trip to Reno, and that's one more reason. As Bart said, it might be the most local WorldCon to me for a few years...

(Although I'll definitely be making the effort to World Fantasy in 2011.)

mkhobson August 17 2010, 22:51:39 UTC

I vote for "Last Call". That book was awesome.

krylyr August 17 2010, 23:50:50 UTC

Sounds like it's going to be between that and Anubis Gates :)

garunya August 18 2010, 00:16:23 UTC

Really glad you've been enjoying it, though I suspected you would anyway! Can't imagine it's going to be quite the same as a PotC film, but hopefully it'll be fun anyway!

Definitely go for The Anubis Gate next... best time travel story I've ever read, and probably superior to On Stranger Tides in many ways, if not quite as much fun...

krylyr August 18 2010, 05:06:38 UTC

Oh, I'm freaking loving it. It's great fun and a nice way to close out summer reading!

Yeah, no idea how they're going to use it for PotC4, except the Fountain of Youth. I don't know...should be interested.

Sounds like Anubis Gates is getting the votes :)

bogwitch64 August 18 2010, 03:55:07 UTC

The Stress of her Regard was really good, but I've heard Anubis Gates is his best.

Now I'm going to have to get a copy of On Stranger Tides.

krylyr August 18 2010, 05:05:09 UTC

Dude, you would freaking flip over On Stranger Tides. Seriously GREAT fun.

The synopsis of TSoHR sounded cool to me, but it sounds like people aren't as fond of it as Anubis Gates and some of his other stuff. I'm glad to hear you liked it, though :)

bogwitch64 August 18 2010, 13:24:53 UTC

Curses man! I just bought it. But huzzah! When I ordered it from Amazon, I found out that the 4th season of Northern Exposure went down to 17 bucks! Wohoohoooo! Double score. :)