Secret Powers

John Berlyme (compiler and editor): Powers: Secret Histories—A Bibliography (PS Publishing; 2009; ISBN 978-1-84863-011-6 for trade edition; ISBN 978-1-84863-012-3 for slipcase edition with two books; ISBN 978-1-84863-013-0 for slipcase edition with three books; cover by John Berlyne & Dirk Berger).

I've made it clear previously that I am a big fan of the works of Tim Powers and consider him one of America's best practitioners of fantasy (maybe a more marketable term would be "magical realism"?). My first encounter with his stuff was on the way to an opera (I kid you not) where I had a copy of The Anubis Gates in my pocket for the ride into New York City. I don't remember much of the opera at this point, but that book has stuck with me ever since and is one of my all-time favorites. Think of a cross between Dr. Who and Charles Dickens...that works.

I came across this book about a year ago and now have two (!) copies, one of the signed-and-numbered single volume set and one of the signed-and-numbered two volume set (if I win the lottery, I'll hunt down the three volume set, as well as copies of his other much more limited books and chapbooks).

The book is a combination of essays by other writers (mostly friends to Tim Powers such as James Blaylock) and bits and pieces from Powers, ranging from sketches to drafts to calendars used to keep track of events in various books.

This is an invaluable resource for fans of Tim Powers. If you've never encountered Powers, give him a try: I'd recommend the previously-mentioned The Anubis Gates or perhaps the inspiration (?) for the next Pirates of the Caribbean flick, On Stranger Tides. Last Call (mentioned above) is a strong start to a trilogy.

Excellent books. And this is an excellent resource.

Made up of: Foreword (John Berlyne); Introduction (Dean Koontz); Notes on the Bibliographic System (John Berlyne); Bibliography—Novels; Bibliography—Novellas, Short Stories and Other Works; Bibliography—William Ashbless: Selected Sightings; Putting Ashbless to Rest: A Refutation (James P. Blaylock); A Refutation of a Refutation (William Ashbless); A Look Behind the Curtain (John Bierer); Juvenilia; The Extraterrestrial Stories of Arthur Asteroidbelt; Selected Early Poetry & Drawings, 1969-1979; The Skies Discrowned/Epitaph in Rust; The Drawing of the Dark; Excerpt from To Serve In Hell; The Anubis Gates; Why The Anubis Gates Shouldn't Exist (China Mieville); Dinner at Deviant's Palace; On Stranger Tides; The Stress of Her Regard; Last Call; Expiration Date; Earthquake Weather; Declare; Three Days to Never; Afterword (Karen Joy Fowler).

Counts as twenty (20) entries in the 2010 Year in Shorts.