Subject: RE: (urth) The Progeny
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 18:01:27 -0700
From: "Dan'l Danehy-Oakes" 

Phoebe wrote:
> The one writer that I've ever felt compares with Wolfe on=20
> several levels is Tim Powers. Powers is Roman Catholic,=20
> "Declare" is his latest and probably the most emblematic of=20
> that.  I believe Nick mentions that book in his Washington=20
> Post article on GW.  Powers' writing style while not=20
> identical to Wolfe is elegant and dense.  When I owned my own=20
> SF bookstore, I must have sold 40 copies of "Last Call" in=20
> hardcover. Last Call was followed by Expiration Date and=20
> Earthquake Weather. =20

Aaargh. I can't _believe_ I left Tim out of my list. I even
had my copy of "Earthquake Weather" in my pocket when I was=20
making it.=20

Last Call / Expiration Date / Earthquake Weather is undoubtedly
Tim's masterpiece to date, but I'd suggest ON STRANGER TIDES as
possbily the best starting place. It isn't quite as dense as=20
the trilogy, but dense enough to challenge (well, at least to
challenge anyone who doesn't swallow Wolfe neat), stands alone,
and is a ripping good pirate story. (Surely there isn't anyone
out there immune to the lure of the Pirates of the Caribbean...)

Of course if Tim is anyone's "progeny" it's Philip K. Dick's,
but even that's too much to claim. He's definitely of his own
making. And if he has a predecessor, it isn't Dick or Wolfe,
but Charles Williams...

--Blattid


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