I had never heard of Tim Powers until I saw him speak recently at a writers’ conference. On a whim, I bought The Anubis Gates, and now I’m asking, “Where has he been all my life?” A writer of wit, action, and mind-bending time travel, Tim Powers will keep you guessing about what comes next.

The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers

The protagonist is a Samuel Coleridge-Taylor expert who has been invited to London to conduct a seminar on his favorite topic. But when magic gets involved—and it’s strange magic, the likes of which you’ve never read about before—things go, as the British say, “tits up.” Our expert finds himself transported in time to the late 1800s, set upon by Egyptian mystics, anti-magic vigilantes, and his own inability to integrate into the “right kind of society.” He stays alive by begging on the streets, but poverty is the least of his worries when he becomes a target for a shape-shifting werewolf and a murderous clown on stilts.

Seriously, why have you not bought this book yet?