Tim Powers Libri

Il giovane burattinaio John Chandagnac sta attraversando il Mar dei Caraibi alla ricerca di uno zio che non ha mai incontrato, apparentemente responsabile della morte di suo padre e ruggito con l'eredità di famiglia. Poco prima di giungere a destinazione, la nave su cui John e i suoi compagni di viaggio - la bellissima Beth Hurwood e suo padre Benjamin, un pensatore folle - sono imbarcati viene attaccata dai pirati che uccidono il capitano e costringono Chandagnac a unirsi alla loro ciurma. Chandagnac, ribattezzato Jack Shandy, scopre così la terrificante storia di Benjamin Hurwood e della sua defunta moglie, e soprattutto ciò che si nasconde dietro i piani dell'uomo per riportarla in vita. Jack dovrà cercare in ogni modo di frenare i folli propositi di Benjamin Hurwood, e potrà farlo solo assumendo il controllo della nave su cui viaggiano. E tra emozionanti e incredibili avventure, la sua strada incrocerà anche il cammino del celebre pirata Barbanera.

After Many a Summer, a magisterial new novella from Tim Powers, borrows its title from a line in Tennyson's famous poem "Tithonus." An elegiac appeal for death on the part of the titular figure from myth, a man who was granted the everlasting life he had originally begged from the gods, only to have their gift turn to ashes in his mouth, only, as Tennyson wrote, to become someone whom "only cruel immortality consumes." What does this have to do with homelessness, troubled movie production companies, kidnapped heiresses, prophecies delivered by taxidermized heads, and a Los Angeles County rendered with such masterful, lived in, bone deep attention to physical detail that to read the opening is to feel the heat from cracked asphalt rising through your shoes and to taste cheap fortified wine grown warm in the sun cloying your tongue? Can all these seemingly disparate things be connected, cohered, clarified? This is a Tim Powers story. Of course they can. Conrad is a down on his luck screenwriter who takes a very strange assignment that leads him to encounter a kidnapped heiress after delivering her ransom--a hundred-year-old mummified head fond of cryptic utterances. Nothing goes Conrad's way, though, because nothing, no matter how bizarre, is what it seems.

'The Drawing of the Dark is not only one of my favourite Tim Powers novels, it's simply one of my favourite novels. The seamless and seemingly effortless blend of action and humour, the wonderful characters, the rich settings, the brilliant plot - all of it is perfect' James P. Blaylock

Brendan Doyle is a twentieth-century English professor who travels back to 1810 London to attend a lecture given by English romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. This is a London filled with deformed clowns, organised beggar societies, insane homunculi and magic. When he is kidnapped by gypsies and consequently misses his return trip to 1983, the mild-mannered Doyle is forced to become a street-smart con man, escape artist, and swordsman in order to survive in the dark and treacherous London underworld. He defies bullets, black magic, murderous beggars, freezing waters, imprisonment in mutant-infested dungeons, poisoning, and even a plunge back to 1684. Coleridge himself and poet Lord Byron make appearances in the novel, which also features a poor tinkerer who creates genetic monsters and a werewolf that inhabits others' bodies when his latest becomes too hairy.

"Sebastian Vickery has learned something about UFOs that he shouldn't have-and Naval Intelligence, desperate to silence him, orders his old partner, Agent Ingrid Castine, to trap him. But Castine risks career, liberty, and maybe even life to warn Vickery-and now they're both fugitives, on the run from both the U.S. government and agents of the Russian GRU Directorate, which has its own uses for the UFO intelligence. With the unlikely aid of a renegade Russian agent, a homeless Hispanic boy, and an eccentric old Flat-Earther, Vickery and Castine must find an ancient relic that spells banishment to the alien species, and then summon the things and use it against them-in a Samson-like confrontation that looks likely to kill them as well. Sweeping from the Giant Rock monolith in the Mojave Desert to a cultist temple in the Hollywood Hills, from a monstrous apparition in the Los Angeles River to a harrowing midnight visitation on a boat off Long Beach Harbor, Stolen Skies is an alien-encounter novel like no other"-- Provided by publisher

When Michael Crawford discovers his bride brutally murdered in their wedding bed, he is forced to flee not only to prove his innocence, but to avoid the deadly embrace of a vampire who has claimed him as her true bridegroom. Joining forces with Byron, Keats, and Shelley in a desperate journey that crisscrosses Europe, Crawford desperately seeks his freedom from this vengeful lover who haunts his dreams and will not rest until she destroys all that he cherishes. Told in the guise of a secret history, this long-awaited tale of passion and terror is finally back in print after more than 20 years.

Set in 19th century London, the story follows Isaac Fairchild, a dimwitted beggar summoned by the sinister Horrabin, a clown who leads a guild of down-and-out individuals. Horrabin is rumored to maim his followers to enhance their begging skills. In a hidden chamber, Fairchild discovers Horrabin's plan to merge his mind with that of the Spoonsize Boys, tiny homunculi used for theft and assassination. While Fairchild longs for intelligence and understanding, he must confront the significant costs of such transformation.

The WORLD FANTASY AWARD-winning novel from the author of THE ANUBIS GATES and DECLARE.

A swashbuckling, rip-roaring adventure: Pirates! Zombies! Blackbeard! Voodoo! Treasure! AND the book that inspired Pirates of the Caribbean IV: On Stranger Tides.

"The joy of fiction is the joy of the imagination. . . ." The best stories engage readers, compelling them to turn pages in anticipation of what comes next. Great literature is defined by its imagination, as demonstrated in this exceptional anthology, which redefines the boundaries of imaginative fiction. It features contributions from renowned writers like Peter Straub, Chuck Palahniuk, Roddy Doyle, and Joyce Carol Oates, among others, showcasing their craft and challenging misconceptions about genres. Curated by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio, who personally selected each story, the anthology sets a high standard for this "new literature of the imagination." The collection aims to present familiar themes in fresh, illuminating ways. Notable tales include Joe Hill's disturbing exploration of evil in "Devil on the Staircase," Lawrence Block's unique take on fishing in "Catch and Release," and Carolyn Parkhurst's dark sibling rivalry in "Unwell." Joanne Harris introduces ancient gods in modern New York in "Wildfire in Manhattan," while Richard Adams's "The Knife" delves into vengeance. Jeffery Deaver's "The Therapist" features a psychologist on a mission to save lives, and Neil Gaiman's chilling "The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains" offers a haunting punishment for a grave crime. This visionary volume will transform readers’ perspectives and ignite a renewed appreciation for exceptional fiction.