I finished Tim Powers’ new book, Three Days To Never, and I really liked it!
The story centers on a mild mannered English teacher (patterned after Tim himself) and his young daughter. The year is 1987, and the New Age "Harmonic Convergence" of that year is underway. The New Agers come in for a good bit of ribbing from various characters in the novel but–unbeknownst to anybody, including the New Agers themselves–the event causes a slight disruption of world affairs in a hidden, unseen way.
While that’s happening in the background, the English teacher and his daughter are trying to make sense out of a family tragedy: The teacher’s creepy grandmother has just died, leaving him a creepy and mysterious message about what she did and what can be found in the "Kaleidoscope shed" out back of her house.
Y’know, the kind of shed where you carve your initials into the wooden wall and then later they aren’t there?
When they enter the shed, the teacher and his daughter find that the grandmother used the shed to hold TV, a VCR, a video cassette of Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, and a plaster block with the hand and footprints of Charlie Chaplin, which she stole from in front of Hollywood’s Chinese Theater. What do they have in common? What was she using them for? Why does the teacher’s long-lost father show up after so many years? How does Albert Einstein fit into all this? Why is the Israeli intelligence service–the Mossad–so interested in what’s happening? How about the rival group that used to have ties to Hitler? Or the blind assassin? And what about all those babies lying in the snow, waving their arms and legs for a few seconds before they mysteriously vanish?
To find out the answers to these questions, you’ll have to
(Incidentally, you’ll note that I’ve linked to a page in my new store, where you can buy other of Tim’s books, as well as other fine quality works.)
I found that the book was a very quick and enjoyable read for me. The plot proceeds at a swift pace, and there are nice elements of humor and irony as we proceed to keep a sense of whimsy in what is, essentially, a supernatural spy thriller.
Once I got past some of the major plot point (which I won’t spoil here), I found the book contained a very powerful statement about free will. I found myself liking and appreciating the characters, even the ones who weren’t on the right side (some of them, anyway), and about at least some points in the novel, I found myself contemplating, "Just how much of this goes on in real life?"
So: This book is enthusiastically recommended! Don’t miss it!
Now a few notes:
1) For those who have already read it, please keep the spoilers to a minimum in the combox. We don’t want to give away any of the big surprises (none of which I’ve touched) and spoil people’s fun.
2) Content advisory: Infrequent occurrence of a few cuss words and
one scene where a woman thinks back about her sexual history, but no
on-screen activity.
3) Stay tuned, because later this week I’ll be running an interview that Tim Powers graciously consented to give exclusively to the readers of JA.O!
4) Since I’m putting this up on Labor Day, it’ll be my only post for the day. Order the book and then go have fun!
I just finished _Expiration Date_, which is the only Tim Powers book our library has in stock. I enjoyed it and was very impressed with the depth of his knowledge about the historical figures involved in the story (Harry Houdini and Thomas Edison). At the same time, I understand that it’s supposed to be one of his weaker novels, so I am looking forward to reading another one.
Have to save up for a trip to your storefront!
My library is getting this one! Yee Haw. got to run down and put my name on the list, and check out some of his other books. I had never heard of him before, and am very interested. Sounds like his books will make good Christmas gifts too.
Monica,
Jimmy put up a short story by Powers last spring called “Through and Through”. It’s right there in the Fiction section of this website if you want to read it first.
My understanding though is that most of his writings are not as explicitly Catholic. To bad.
What does “explicitly Catholic” mean? Lord of the Rings wasn’t explicitly Catholic, Christian, or even religious, but yet elements of sacrifice, sacrament, sin, mortality, etc are there nonetheless — and I would say that it is those elements that are the real appeal to LOTR fans, whether or not they realize it.
Dorian Speed,
Trust me, Expiration Date is NOT one of Tim Powers’s weaker novels!
As you are planning to read more of his work, let me suggest that you do not read Earthquake Weather until after you have read both Expiration Date and Last Call. It will make more sense that way.
Or you could skip ahead and read Declare, a novel which simply blew me away!
It’s too soon for me to talk about Three Days to Never.
Really? I thought _The Anubis Gates_ was supposed to be far superior. Then again, I only have the Amazon reviews to go by.
Looking forward to reading more of his work.
John E.
What does “explicitly Catholic” mean? Lord of the Rings wasn’t explicitly Catholic, Christian, or even religious, but yet elements of sacrifice, sacrament, sin, mortality, etc are there nonetheless — and I would say that it is those elements that are the real appeal to LOTR fans, whether or not they realize it
Quite. You may be addressing the biggest fan of The Lord of the Rings in the world. OK probebly not but my point is that a book does not need to be “explicitly” Catholic to be good. It’s just that in the case of Powers what I liked about “Through and Through” was the messiage about the Sacrament of Reconsiliation and the state of the Church much more than the style and esoteric philisophical speculations.
If others see it differently go ahead. Much may be a mere matter of taste.
Sounds good! I put it on reserve at my library.
J.R. Stoodley, I liked “Through and Through” for the same reasons.
But it was also fun to pick up on hints of the author’s Catholicism in _Expiration Date_ (like a character named Neal Obstat).
Without a doubt, Declare is Tim Powers’s absolute masterpiece– and his most Catholic, too. Close second, IMHO, would be Last Call (it’s first in a trilogy) and then Anubis Gates. But they’re all (15 or more? novels plus many short stories) pretty much great.
This latest one, Three Days to Never is also brilliant, and a bit different for Powers, in that it is shorter and has a pretty linear plot line. I notice it is also divided into “acts” which makes me think this would be the one probably most adaptable to the Big Screen. I hope to see it happen, anyway. It is a fun and crazy read, a movie would be even more fun!
And it comes across as very pro-life, in many directions, as well. I highly recommend it, too!
J.R. Stoodley,
My apologies, I should’ve read the short story you mentioned first. I see what you mean by “explicitly Catholic”. Sometimes it’s nice to see a story that has Catholic elements upfront and not just hidden in allegory.
And please let us not forget The Drawing of the Dark, a truly awesome novel especially fun for history buffs.
“Lord of the Rings wasn’t explicitly Catholic, Christian, or even religious . . .”
I had a conversation with a young Evangelical woman in the last year about the nature of Christian fiction, music, etc. She brought up San Diego Christian rock band Switchfoot’s latest CD & said that they’d sold out because they weren’t singing songs directly about Jesus any more. But I found their faith to be more fully integrated into the subjects they’re writing about – they were now seeing everything from a Christian perspective & their writing had more depth & resonance. That, to me, is what it means for something to be *explicitly* Catholic/Christian.
Yes, I know that *explicit* means “unambiguous”. I’m probably abusing the term. But, frankly, I find LOTR unambiguous in its Catholicity. Catholics & non-Catholics alike may miss the clues but, as they are there & were intended by Tolkien (specifically so during the revision process, per the good professor himself), their power still resonates. (Some can read CS Lewis’ Narnia books & miss their Christian aspects.)
I think this is why the work of writers like Flanner O’Connor & Mr Powers, among a number of others, resonate so deeply with me. There’s a depth of foundation that grounds the work in a reality that’s at once instantly recognizable for the reader & very mysterious (as in religious mystery).
Can’t wait to read this new one! Thanks for the review, Jimmy. And I can’t wait for the interview with Mr Powers!
Isn’t Gene Wolfe supposed to be a good SF/F Catholic writer as well? Does anyone know anything about him?
Declare is absolutely superb–run, do not walk, to the bookstore. Dinner at Deviant’s Palace is also very good (more overtly sci-fi).
I really need to get more of his books, it appears.
As far as I know Gene Wolfe is indeed an orthodox Catholic, as well as an avid reader of G.K. Chesterton. A good place to gain some insight into Mr.Wolfe’s faith might be this interview:
http://mysite.verizon.net/~vze2tmhh/gwjbj1.html
I am currently in the middle of reading Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun, and I must say it is amazing. I didn’t know that anything this literary could still get published nowadays. Also, there does seem to be some Christian symbolism woven into the tale, what with the whole Concilliator thing and whatnot.
I just borrowed Declare from the library, after seeing a previous post of Jimmy’s. I have not started reading it yet, as I was still in the middle of reading Prayers for the Assassin.
I’m glad to hear the overwhelmingly positive reviews of Declare, but I’m afraid of high expectations because of the hype.