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stepriot's review
3.0
It took a while to warm up and sometimes the characters were unbelievably dumb. Overall I enjoyed most of it. The magic users did remind me of On Stranger Tides. I enjoy that Powers uses an everyman as a protagonist and how well they take their progressively weirder circumstances.
frasersimons's review
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I doubt I’d have finished this if I didn’t own it already. Another “must-read” knocked off the ol’ TBR, thankfully, but unfortunately, quite the trudge. It should be a lot of fun. Time travel, paradoxes, magic. The problem, for me, was in the quality of the prose, the unconvincing antagonistic devices, and the incredulity of the MC to get to where he ended up. Maybe if it was more Cohen-brothers-esk, I could find myself believing the outcome, but the stumbling and plotting is obviously toward a narrow, prescribed ending, that it all just feels a bit too overworked and overwritten.
Somehow, when the time travel actually happens and the fallout occurs, for some time it’s endlessly boring. It takes forever to get going. The women aren’t written well. It’s got some good ideas, and the macro plotting is impressive, but the execution of everything else, even to the similes, is not good. Reading scifi from this era always makes me wonder what editors were up to.
Somehow, when the time travel actually happens and the fallout occurs, for some time it’s endlessly boring. It takes forever to get going. The women aren’t written well. It’s got some good ideas, and the macro plotting is impressive, but the execution of everything else, even to the similes, is not good. Reading scifi from this era always makes me wonder what editors were up to.
songwind's review against another edition
4.0
A solid outing from Powers with his combination of history, esoterica and a smidgeon of horror. A bit more sloppily plotted that his other books I've read, but still quite enjoyable.
kudhirima's review against another edition
3.0
Bueno, pues me ha parecido a ratos muy interesante y dinámico. Y otras veces un poco lento y aburrido. Pero especialmente me ha parecido complicado, difícil de seguir y con poca coherencia. En definitiva me ha decepcionado un poco y se me ha hecho pesado. Casi lo abandono.
geekwayne's review
4.0
A classic novel from the Steampunk genre that I had never read. It doesn't have many of the modern contrivances found in the ouvre today (mechanical contrivances, steam powered everything, etc.), but it has the period clearly in it's sights with mysticism, strange Egyptian gods and appearances by British literary giants.
A time travel, body-swapping, roller-coaster of a fun ride. This book continued to make plot twists until I was certain they couldn't all be resolved, but Mr. Powers delivered. This also contained possibly one of my very favorite last lines of a book (although it must be read in the context of the book to get the full weight of it).
A solid recommend from me to anyone who hasn't read it.
A time travel, body-swapping, roller-coaster of a fun ride. This book continued to make plot twists until I was certain they couldn't all be resolved, but Mr. Powers delivered. This also contained possibly one of my very favorite last lines of a book (although it must be read in the context of the book to get the full weight of it).
A solid recommend from me to anyone who hasn't read it.
jackabo520's review
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Liked the story - it was dense and a little all over the place. Took a minute to figure out what was happening.
billymac1962's review
3.0
Well, you certainly have to admire a guy who can pull this off. It's enough of a challenge to resolve the conundrums faced with time travel, but add in a body-switching werewolf, a deformed clown lord of beggars,
sorcerers, poets, and enough surrealism to make Felini proud, and you can't help but feel obligated to keep reading. I was 20 pages into The Anubis Gates when I decided it wasn't for me. I went out and picked up
a Ruth Rendell novel, came home and after checking out the Amazon reader reviews again, I decided to give it another 10 pages or so to see if it would take. It did, and 100 pages later I was certain I was reading the
best novel I'd read all year.
Unfortunately, the outrageousness overtook what momentum the novel had for me. The last 100 pages were somewhat of a struggle to get through and it got to the point where I just wanted to get it finished. However,
don't let this dissuade you from giving it a whirl. The first 200 pages are marvelous, and a brilliant effort. I'm sure there are many of you who will feed off the frenzy for the entire ride, so give The Anubis Gates a try.
sorcerers, poets, and enough surrealism to make Felini proud, and you can't help but feel obligated to keep reading. I was 20 pages into The Anubis Gates when I decided it wasn't for me. I went out and picked up
a Ruth Rendell novel, came home and after checking out the Amazon reader reviews again, I decided to give it another 10 pages or so to see if it would take. It did, and 100 pages later I was certain I was reading the
best novel I'd read all year.
Unfortunately, the outrageousness overtook what momentum the novel had for me. The last 100 pages were somewhat of a struggle to get through and it got to the point where I just wanted to get it finished. However,
don't let this dissuade you from giving it a whirl. The first 200 pages are marvelous, and a brilliant effort. I'm sure there are many of you who will feed off the frenzy for the entire ride, so give The Anubis Gates a try.
mlou186's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
eletricjb's review
3.0
Interesting. Kind of a mess. Most of it easy enough to figure out, rest didn't make sense. But mostly entertaining.