SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Last Impressions everyone?

Wow. Did anyone read this? LOL.

On the whole, I enjoyed the book and found it to be a rich adventure in time.

The later third of the book seemed a bit inconsistent in pacing and seemed a bit drawn out. Also, around this point in the book, I kept having to re-listen to segments as it transitioned between POVs. I kept getting lost in the who/what. Still not sure that I understood every scene, but then, I also realize that the confusing parts weren't really necessary to follow the overall plot.

The (pre-epilogue) ending felt a bit too neat and convenient. I was hoping for something a little more special.

Still, I thought it was a really fun book, almost a little slapstick at times. At the very least, definitely a comedy of errors on both sides.

Not reading your comment yet, just here to harass you....good lord you read fast! I had a head start and I still have 100 pages left.

Or, I listen fast? I was able to get in extra listen time during some monotonous tasks.

I'm so glad Hank isn't done yet either! Seeing this thread active was killing me because I'm enjoying it so much. I'm hoping to finish today.

Ok, went for a long jog so I could finish the book, also listening, clearly.

I also enjoyed the book, lots going on, lots to root for, lots of seemingly superflous threads and characters but they all came together for the most part.

I found myself thinking a couple of things. Although there weren't many christian references I kept thinking that if the Romanis were the non-christian champions, was Doyle supposed to be the christian champion as the grand conflict was set up in the beginning? He certainly seemed to benefit from some extraordinary luck.

I was also reflecting on time travel novels. For me there are two categories, first the time travel where the author merely wants to show off how well he/she knows the pat time and how many boring details he/she can recite and second, the ones where time travel is an integral part of the plot. I much prefer the latter and consider this novel one of the good ones.

LOL! I have been guilty of using run/walk time to stay focused on an audio book. Or, I might also develop a sudden urge for housekeeping tasks that allow my attention to stay focused on the audio.

Regarding the christian vs non-christian, my thoughts at the end were that the Anubis-based magic was perhaps more agnostic, but the Romanis and their cronies were twisting it nefarious intent due to misguided religion. I drew this conclusion from the fact that the magic restored poor Doyle/Ashbless, rather than Romanelli.

I totally agree with you on the time travel front. I'd much rather see an adventure in time, rather than a showcase for an author who wants to impress the reader with their historical research.

BTW, I just noticed that Sara enjoyed it, too. Is that allowed? ;)

It only counts if I actually get on here and give my opinion ;) I'll do that later today.

Ok, I may have made an assumption from your 4 star rating.

No, I did like it. I'm just irritated with myself for taking so long to get on here. I'm swapping computers and neither one is fully in use.

So I completely loved this book! It was such a fascinating blend of strangeness! I loved that it was kind of hard to pin down genre-wise because that feels to me like someone is telling a story as they want rather than trying to make it fit in a particular genre.

I loved the way that Ashbless "died" at the end. That was one of my favorite things. Doyle was finally going to get a chance to live his own life rather than go by the one he had studied. It was also unexpected.

I did get a little confused over how many ka/kar/car? (audio's fault) were actually made. I saw how they got one for Doyle but how did they get one for Ashbless? I thought they got rid of the Doyle one before he became Ashbless so I didn't understand that. I also found that there were too many names for me to track on audio, especially since they would sometimes change which name they were going by.

As for the healing at the end, I didn't actually put that much thought into why that happened. I thought it was convenient that it healed him but I didn't think about why. I thought it was interesting that the sorcerers were levitating because they were drawn more an more to the moon. That was an interesting thing to throw in there. Was that a hint at lycanthropy?

I also agree on the time travel categories. I would much rather have the second type. Exhaustive detail with little plot is extremely annoying.

I wonder if there's any other book that we've all given the same rating to?

Yay 4 stars for all of us. I thought the flying off to the moon was cool at the end as well. I agree that the religion/mysticism was all over the place and I was certainly reading too much into it. Anyone going to read another Tim Powers book? I might try Fault Lines

I hadn't thought of it yet. On Stranger Tides looks fun but that one you mentioned does, too.

Oh, I just saw Hank's review and it reminded me of how much I loved Dog Face Joe's death!!! He went through that whole setup and then jumped into a dead body. I completely loved that moment.

Finished this today. Have mixed feelings. Some parts I really liked some just drove me crazy. How many times can the same character get beat up, shot, and kidnapped and not die?
Liked the time traveling, the 18th century poets and most of the Egyptian mythology elements. the two doctors and the clown I got over pretty early . Enjoyed the demise of Darrow and Dog Face Joe.