The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
"The Anubis Gates" is a time-travel fantasy novel by Tim Powers that intricately weaves elements of historical fiction, magic, and adventure. The story follows Professor Brendan Doyle, who is invited to give a lecture on the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Set against the backdrop of 1810, the plot centers around the titular Anubis Gates, which are portals in spacetime created by worshipers of the Egyptian god Anubis.
After Doyle and his companions, led by millionaire J. Cochran Darrow, use one of these gates to travel back in time, Doyle becomes entangled in a dangerous struggle against Dr. Romany, a sorcerer who kidnaps him. The narrative follows Doyle's desperate quest for survival as he encounters a colorful cast of characters, including beggars, magical beings, and even a cursed former partner of Romany.
As Doyle navigates a series of perilous events, he assumes the identity of the poet William Ashbless, embarking on a journey filled with twists, betrayals, and revelations. The story culminates in a battle for his life and identity, where Doyle confronts both magical forces and personal destiny, ultimately leading to an unexpected yet hopeful conclusion. The novel is celebrated for its rich imagination and complex narrative, appealing to readers interested in both fantasy and historical themes.
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The Anubis Gates
First published: 1983
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Fantasy—time travel
Time of work: 1684, 1802, 1810-1811, 1846, and 1983
Locale: London, England, and Cairo, Egypt
The Plot
In The Anubis Gates, Professor Brendan Doyle is hired to give a lecture on Samuel Taylor Coleridge and then attend an 1810 lecture by Coleridge. The book’s title refers to a set of holes in spacetime, created by worshipers of Anubis. Doyle and his party, led by millionaire J. Cochran Darrow, use one of these gates to travel to 1810. As they are leaving, Doyle is kidnapped by Dr. Romany, one of two sorcerers who created the gates. Romany takes Doyle to his camp to be tortured, but Doyle escapes.
Penniless and hungry, Doyle discovers that begging is the only employment for which he is fit. Romany has enlisted the beggar and thief guilds, led by Horrabin the Clown, to look for Doyle, but the beggars with whom Doyle falls in hate Horrabin and hide Doyle. Romany nevertheless finds him, and Doyle is forced to flee, escaping with the assistance of a young beggar named Jacky Snapp (actually a woman, Jacqueline Elizabeth Tichy, in disguise).
Doyle hopes to meet William Ashbless, a nineteenth century poet Doyle studied back in the twentieth century, and get some assistance. Ashbless never shows up where his biography claimed he wrote his first published poem, so Doyle angrily writes the poem himself from memory.
Doyle meets Dog-Face Joe, Romany’s former partner, who is possessed by Anubis and cursed with ever-growing fur. Joe uses magic to trade bodies when the fur gets ahead of the razor, and he poisons his old bodies so they cannot tell tales. Joe switches bodies with Doyle, but Doyle survives. He realizes that his new body fits the description of William Ashbless, who apparently never existed, so Doyle becomes Ashbless. Doyle goes after Romany but is accidentally carried with the sorcerer through a gate to 1684. Doyle severely injures Romany and returns to 1810 alone.
Meanwhile, Darrow finally finds Dog-Face Joe, which is why he traveled to 1810: He wants to live forever. Joe will transfer Darrow into a succession of bodies, and Darrow figures to secretly own the entire world by 1983. Joe swaps bodies with Darrow, however, killing him. Joe is then killed by Jacky, who has been tracking him to avenge the murder of her fiancé.
Dr. Romany turns out to be a ka, a magical clone. The original, Dr. Romanelli, arrives in England, kidnaps Doyle, and takes him to Cairo. Doyle escapes and flees to England, but Romanelli recaptures him, along with Jacky and Coleridge. Romanelli tortures Doyle but is interrupted by a revolt of Horrabin’s “Mistakes,” the offspring of magically enhanced vivisection experiments. Romanelli flees with the dying Doyle to the underground river on which Ra sails the Sektet boat each night. Romanelli plans to ride the boat until dawn, when the Sun God is reborn, along with any passengers deemed worthy. Romanelli’s soul fails the test, however, and it is Doyle who rides the boat through the healing dawn. He meets Jacky sitting by the Thames and discovers that she is his future bride: Jacqueline Tichy married William Ashbless.
They live happily together for many years, and the book ends when Doyle is attacked by the ka drawn many years before. Doyle kills the ka (which history has assumed was Ashbless) and begins a life that, for the first time in many years, will be a surprise to him.