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Epitaph in Rust
190 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1976
2 people are currently reading
171 people want to read
About the author
Tim Powers
167 books1,748 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 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 14, 2019
I have previously read and really enjoyed 2 books by this writer, On Stranger Tides and The Drawing of the Dark. I decided to try this, his 2nd book written and was not impressed. To me the story wandered and really never seemed to try go anywhere toward an ending, the story just happened to end it seemed. For me that was a not recommended book
October 5, 2022
I would like to give this another star for creativity. It wasn’t boring but it felt more like a sketch of a novel by an author more interested in world-building than story. Some of the twists were familiar. The female characters were poor (a problem with most of the Powers novels I’ve read) and this reads like a problematic first draft with a herky-jerky plot that stumbles along. Still more interesting than most sci-fi novels, and a quick read.
May 21, 2015
What I liked about this book - it mentions William Ashbless from The Anubis Gates
What I disliked about this book - 99 44⁄100% of it.
What I disliked about this book - 99 44⁄100% of it.
May 16, 2017
A nice enough diversion that never really coheres into anything very interesting- it especially stumbles in the last few pages where Powers rushed a ton of stuff together. It's not as good as his first novel, Forsake the Sky, but it does show the promise of what he would achieve later. Recommended for Tim Powers fans only.
June 11, 2020
This was a dress rehearsal for his later—and much better—post-apocalyptic novel Dinner at Deviant’s Palace. The protagonist of that novel even uses Brother Thomas as an alias at one point.
Still, there are some intriguing scenes and ideas here, including a chess match in which the pieces are glasses of alcohol that must be drunk when captured, and an android romance sub-plot.
Still, there are some intriguing scenes and ideas here, including a chess match in which the pieces are glasses of alcohol that must be drunk when captured, and an android romance sub-plot.
April 2, 2012
Slight
This is very different from Power’s later books. It was written when he was pretty young and it really does show its age. It is very episodic and apart from all the drinking it could be a Young Adult or Children’s book.
There are a few flashes of humour but the book is very slight.
He has written some fantastic books but I really wouldn’t recommend this especially at the current price.
This is very different from Power’s later books. It was written when he was pretty young and it really does show its age. It is very episodic and apart from all the drinking it could be a Young Adult or Children’s book.
There are a few flashes of humour but the book is very slight.
He has written some fantastic books but I really wouldn’t recommend this especially at the current price.
November 2, 2015
A rather run of the mill story of a monk who ran away from the monestary and started drinking alot and lead a revolution. Totally crazy and not a typical Tim Powers tale.
January 23, 2010
VERY early Powers, before he hit his stride. There, I've read it, but meh.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews