The third novel in our classics series is an award-winning 1983 novel by Tim Powers, a well-realized and vivid tale of time travel and supernatural intrigue. Though nominally a time-travel fantasy, it gets included in steampunk lists because of its setting – London in the nineteenth century. The action begins in 1983 when eccentric millionaire J. Cochran Darrow hires Professor Brendan Doyle to act as a guide on an expensive and exclusive junket. Darrow has discovered time travel, and he charges a group of literary aficionados a million dollars apiece to travel back to 1810 London to meet the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (a personal favorite of mine.) Of course, Darrow has his own secret reasons for wanting to go back. When the carefully planned mission goes awry. Doyle finds himself stranded in the past without friends, money, or the means to make a living. There he encounters some bizarre villains. These include Amenophis Fikee, a powerful magician who intends to bring back the rule of the ancient Egyptian gods, and Dog-faced Jack, a wolf-man who swaps bodies with his victims. The obligatory gadgetry is mainly used by various villains in the London underworld, some of whom are taken from actual tabloids and folklore of the era. In his quest to return to his own time, Doyle makes side-trips to sixteenth-century England and nineteenth-century Egypt, but his goal is continuously frustrated. With non-stop action and plenty of surprises, The Anubis Gates is a great choice for any sci-fi fan, even one who isn’t interested in the steampunk genre.
This is a great book give it a read. Not crazy about time travel stories other than Donnie Darko of course. But this one is good. Keep watching here for reviews, upcoming articles books and contests