"The Anubis Gates" by Tim Powers

With the exception of a little movie called Primer, I am normally not a fan of time travel. Or stories that use Egyptian mythology. It feels so cliché in the science fiction genre. And yet, here I am writing a review for a book written by Tim Powers called the Anubis Gates, which involves both time travel AND Egyptian mythology, but yet DOESN’T suck.

It’s a testament to my girlfriend’s awesome tastes in things. We weren’t dating yet (that would be days later) when I was standing in her apartment, looking at her book collection, and she pulled it out and shoved it in my hands. Her words to me were, “it’s an awesome book and no one else I know has read it.” I admit, I was reluctant, especially since I was at the time about halfway through Dune, which, at the time of this writing, I STILL haven’t finished yet. I know, I know…

Anyways. Don’t let the title fool you, the majority of this book takes place in London in the year 1810. Why? Well, that’s where the time travel kind of kicks in. Our main protagonist is Brendan Doyle, a professor who is hired by an aging millionaire named Darrow. Darrow has discovered these “gates,” open in certain places at certain times, following a pattern through human history, and has also discovered that one can use these gates to travel back in time to specific dates. He and a number of other wealthy entrepreneurs plan on jumping back to 1810 to see a lecture given by a famous poet, with Doyle tagging along as a sort of poetry expert.

The time travel itself goes rather smoothly. They never really explain how it works, which is for the better because even if they did, it still probably wouldn‘t make sense to me. Normally in this genre, time travel leads to horrible things happening and paradoxes and things, but not so much here. It’s just the method of how Doyle gets misplaced in the 19th century and not much else. After the lecture, Doyle is kidnapped by a band of gypsies while the rest of the gang he was with manages to get back to the gate and escape back to modern day.

And things just get crazier and crazier from there.

Sorcery is heavily used in the book, and it too is not your typical spell-casting fantasy crap. An interesting touch is that the two primary villains of the book, Doctor Romany and Horrabin the clown, cannot touch the ground due to the nature of the sorcery they use. Horrabin is always on stilts because of this, and also because of horrible mutilations inflicted upon him by his father, while Doctor Romany uses spring-soled shoes. There’s another character who factors into the book, a body-swapping werewolf named Dog-Faced Joe. No, I am not kidding: a body-swapping werewolf. And a “ka,” or copy, of Lord Byron. You know, the poet. Did I mention how unique this book is?

The story is also surprisingly unpredictable. Things never go quite as planned, so you’re never sure what to expect will happen next. Doyle has both the best and worst luck of anyone in the book, and it’s surprising just how many insane things happen to the man.

It’s not the lengthiest read, and while some of the action sequences are great, others are a bit vague and hard to follow, and the very opening of the book, a sort of prologue, was incredibly hard for me to get through, but once the first chapter starts up, the book picks up and moves at a smooth pace, leaving few if any loose ends by its conclusion.

I have no idea if the book is still in print, as my borrowed copy was apparently picked up for a dollar at a used bookstore, so you might have to do some digging for it, but trust me, it’s a fun and awesome read.

Now, to go finish Dune…

[Brett]

V: The Original Miniseries (1983)

May 1st, 1983. Kenneth Johnson's science fiction franchise is born.

V is a fun, interesting story. It is at its core an alien invasion action-adventure, set in the time period during which it was filmed and released. The story is fairly cliche - large flying saucers (each three miles across) appear in the sky above major cities all round the globe. The world waits with bated breath. Finally the Visitors make contact and assure the human race that they come in peace. They look like us, talk like us, seem friendly enough and... BUT WAIT WHAT ARE THEY HIDING.

Nothing here is likely to surprise you. After a short time it becomes evident that the Visitors aren't so friendly after all, and they swiftly begin to establish a global, totalitarian rule. V was originally meant to be about the rise of a fascist government, a straight forward political thriller, but NBC opted for a sci-fi twist in order to capitalize on the popularity of other modern science fiction sagas, such as the Star Wars trilogy.

Similarities to the true story of the Nazi occupation of Europe are blatant, and likely intentional. From the SS like uniforms of the Visitors, to the corroboration of some humans and the resistance of others, right down to the "Friends of the Visitors", an organization reminiscent of the Hitler Youth. One character prominent in part one of the miniseries is a holocaust survivor, who states in reference to the harboring of fugitives who are being pursued by the Visitors, "We have to help, or else we haven't learned anything."

Moments like these are profound, and emotionally driven in a way that is neither cheesy nor forced. They give significance and meaning to what may otherwise be considered just another alien invasion story.

The special effects are good, with few lapses in quality. The matte paintings which show the saucers hovering in the sky seem to adhere to one of two extremes - laughably fake looking, or exceedingly cool. On moment in particular which sticks in my memory is of a saucer hanging over a large US city, spotlights tracing back and forth from the tops of skyscrapers beneath the ship, while helicopters and small planes orbit beneath the craft.

Explosions, energy blasts and the like are handled reasonably well. Alien weapons and technology are portrayed as standard fare, aren't captivating, but are competent.

V is also rife with memorable moments, such as a high school band playing the John Williams Star Wars theme song as the Visitors land after making first contact. A scene in which the "prosthetic" human face of a visitor is torn away, revealing the aliens true physical form is especially riveting. The reptilian look of the aliens is actually scary in it's presentation, and the makeup effects are top-notch for the period.

V's story focuses primarily on the humans who band together and form a resistance movement. Their early exploits are the vehicle for several action scenes in which they shoot it out with the invaders, and these firefights are fairly convincing. Images of alien attack craft shooting up buildings are campy and dated, but the resulting explosions are very well done.

There are however moments when it becomes painfully obvious that this is 80's sci-fi. The mannerisms, wardrobe, and demeanor of the characters is likely to annoy, especially when paired with the at times sub-par acting. This is a minor complaint though, not likely to ruin the story for anyone.

The original miniseries ended on a cliffhanger, and was followed by V: The Final Battle. I'm hoping to watch it some time during the next week.

If you like aliens, science fiction, campy 80's style cinema, or all of the above, V is worth your time. It's 196 minutes in length, and the DVD comes with several special features. I watched the feature presentation in two nights, and enjoyed nearly every moment of it.