FTC Disclosure: Review copy provided by publisher

Tim Powers is one of a few authors whose works I collect and keep in my home library. I couldn’t wait to read Hide Me Among The Graves, especially with its connections to The Stress of Her Regard. I highly recommend reading them back to back to get the full effect of the ‘secret history’ Powers has created. The Stress of Her Regard came back into print in 2008, it shouldn’t be too hard to find.

You could read Graves on its own, but not having the backstory for some of the characters and their motivations may make it harder to follow some plotlines. Since you’re going to become a Tim Powers fan (if you aren’t one already), might as well get both books.

I admire the author’s skill at infusing historical fact with fictional elements instead of the other way around. It’s refreshing to read a book whose uniqueness is not only in its narrative, but the care taken to craft a story that never fails to entertain. The world he creates becomes frighteningly believable. His characters have a depth and complexity that you’d usually see in literary fiction, and works well in this story of phantoms and vampires.

If you haven’t read any Tim Powers, may I recommend The Anubis Gates and On Stranger Tides in addition to The Stress of Her Regard and Hide Me Among The Graves. Then you’ll truly see how gifted this author is in melding genres or really, transcending them. He writes for the story, not the niche it’s supposed to belong in.

I like that. And you will too.

The Affinity Bridge by George Mann
A Newbury & Hobbes Investigation (Book 1)
ISBN: 978-0765323224
Steampunk, 334 pages

The more I read steampunk, the more I like it. Especially when the story and characters are as engaging as they are here.

This is the first book in George Mann’s Newbury & Hobbes Investigation series. As with traditional steampunk, the setting is Victorian England. Also, there are airships, zombies, brass automatons, and ground trains:

They stopped as a ground train trundled by, the huge steam engine roaring as the fireman stoked the flames, the carriages behind it bouncing along the cobbled road, their wooden wheels creaking under the strain. Newbury caught stuttering glimpses of the people inside the small carriages as they rushed by, snug inside their little booths, speeding on towards their destinations. The driver, on the other hand, was wrapped up warm against the elements, sitting atop the engine itself on a large dickey box, a huge steering wheel clasped between his gloved hands.

Beyond the science fiction however, is a well-crafted mystery. From the beginning I was enthralled. I knew immediately this was going to be an enjoyable book to read. I guessed at part of it, but when unraveled, the complete story was beyond what I’d imagined and I was thrilled to be so surprised. It’s been a long time since an author caught me off guard that way. It was wonderful!

The only part I had trouble with is how one of the sub-plots was resolved. It felt . . . awkward, as if it was loose end not discovered until too late and fixed hurriedly. Since the book opens with this particular storyline, or at least it’s main character, then I’m hoping it’s because it will be developed more in a later installment, so I shouldn’t jump to conclusions.

Still, it didn’t detract much from the overall story and how much I liked it.

This is a definite recommendation not only to those who like steampunk, but especially for introducing it to others. It is an excellent ambassador for the genre.

Now, off to read the second in the series, The Osiris Ritual.

No One Is Here Except All of Us by Ramona Ausubel
ISBN: 1594487944
Genre: Historical Fiction

After reading this book, no one can deny that Ramona Ausubel is an amazing storyteller. She crafts a tale out of her own family history in a voice that is at times poetic, the style much like a fable.

The characters were a little hard to connect to, however, this book is about the story and “the bigness of being alive”, according to the author.

. . .  it is about the stories we tell in order to survive, the stories we vow never to tell, and they way those tales mix with the chemistry of the world we think of as real, and change it. The way the story, told enough, becomes the truth.

Life is like that, or at least the tales we tell ourselves and our children. Great and horrible events overshadow and sometimes take over, making it seem as if we are not in control. In order to have this control, or at least the illusion of it, some people take extreme measures in order to deal with the hardships and tragedies they are facing.

But deep down, we remain the same and find strength in the truth of being us.

“Everything stays true. You are yourself, no matter how much you have to change.”

Until a long time later, until I was a mother myself, until I lost everything, until it found me back, I did not believe the stranger’s words. Everything stays true. Now I know that. Now, it’s all I know. And knowing it saves my life again every time I wake up.”

I’m not sure how much more I want to say about the story, as it really should be read, and discerned individually. Each person may feel something different that resonates with them. There is tragedy, as it is set during WWII. Some may be disturbed by it, but considering the setting, it cannot be avoided.

As I was explaining to someone, this is not a read that should be undertaken lightly. This is a book that will leave a lasting impression and must be read deliberately in order to get the most out of it. And I recommend that this effort be made. It’s worth it.

If you’d like to learn more about the background for this book, the following is a clip of the author discussing the it and her family.