Literary Exploration discussion

Final thoughts on The Anubis Gates

I did not enjoy this novel. It had too many elements that just did not mesh: the Egyptian gods, English poets, evil and deformed clown, body-snatching werewolf, etc. It takes some effort to keep all of it straight and the storyline just drifts all over the place. All of these disparate elements were too confusing and created a mess of a story that just didn't work for me. I had to skim the book after Doyle body-shifted and became Ashbless or I would never have finished. Lorilee commented in the first impressions that none of the characters interested her except Jacky. I liked Jacky too, but I truly think lots of people would have seen through her disguise that she wasn't a guy. The dwarf noticed but as far as I know, he was the only one.

I suppose this is a steampunk novel, but it really just seems more like a classic time travel book. Which I usually love but not this time. I gave this two stars because it wasn't all horrible, but I definitely would not recommend this to anyone. I don't understand the high rating.

Laurie, I am glad I am not the only one. I was suprised by the rating as well.

I want to start off by saying this is not a book I would have normally read, it wasn't even on my radar. Since it was the October group read I decided to give it a try. The idea of the book intrigued me. I really liked the first quarter of the book. That in itself could have been the entire story. However, it drug on a long while from there. By the time I made it to the last quarter of the book I was interested again, but it took me two weeks to get through the boring middle. I had contemplated setting it aside multiple times because come on who wants to waste a spooky month like October on a boring book? Despite these feelings I trudged on and finished it, and like I said I did like the ending. I doubt I will be reading any more of Tim Powers works in the future, but you never know. I give this one 3 out of 5 stars because I did like half of the book. I would only recommend it to a real hardcore syfy/time travel junkie.

I found it inventive and very much enjoyed its unorthodoxness.

Flash Beagle wrote: "I found it inventive and very much enjoyed its unorthodoxness."

I'm glad someone enjoyed it, seems like a love or hate book

I just finally finished it last night. It was a long haul! I have to agree with Laurie, above. Too much going on to keep track of. Even Powers didn't seem to keep track of all of the threads - as someone else mentioned, Jacky was discovered at one point but later in the book she was back wandering the streets in the same disguise. And what ever happened to her "house"? And honestly, after a point I just gave up trying to keep track of who was who and who was a ka and who was supposed to be where. Just went with it. Didn't hate it, but not my cup of tea. If it is a good representation of Steam Punk then I have to say, I still don't understand steam punk. But I gave it a try and it finishes up my Hard Challenge for me!

It is not steampunk

I loved this book, it really amused me. I read somewhere else that it isnt steampunk. Can you tell what it is missing that makes it a poor example of this genre?

for starters, it doesn't have any actual science. It's more of a surreal, magical fantasy

OK that makes sense. For some reason I thought The Anubis Gates was the original steampunk and the phrase was coined by the author. Obviously not.