Expiration Date

As soon as I saw the cover, I knew Expiration Date was going to be a thrill. And, I was right! The story about a boy who swallows the ghost of Thomas Edison and as a result is being hunted down the streets of Los Angeles did not let go of me, even after I had finished reading. What's more, despite the absurdness of the whole story, it struck me as very realistic. Having taken the bus in LA for a year and recognizing much of the surroundings, this book was a trip through a different layer of a city I thought I knew. Thumbs up, I can't wait to read more by Tim Powers!

I've been a fan of Tim Powers' work for several years now, and I think it could be argued that EXPIRATION DATE and LAST CALL are his two best works. (EARTHQUAKE WEATHER completes the trilogy, but I don't think it would fly as a stand-alone work, if I may mix metaphors.) Powers' work is, as other readers have noted, very dense - if you try to skim it, you'll just get lost. But careful reading can bring great rewards. Try this book for a vision of a California you never thought of before -- a place of desperation and dark ghosts. Two thumbs up!

I love Tim Powers but I was initially hesitant about this book, mostly because of its length and the fact that I had heard several mixed reviews about it, generally a new Tim Powers book is a cause for celebration of his writing genius. This time folks seemed unsure. I can see why, this is his longest book by this point as far as I know (Earthquake Weather, the sequel, might be longer, I can't remember, not having it) and I think his typical ultracomplicated plotting can wear thin over the course of five hundred pages when maybe four hundred isn't so bad. But with a premise like this I just couldn't resist: Los Angeles in the present day (1995) is home to ghosts and ghost hunters and people addicted to ghosts and basically the plot centers around a boy who has accidentally inhaled the last breath of Thomas Edison and now everyone is looking for him because Edison was such a powerful figure in life that his ghost hasn't diminished a bit. The twists and turns of the plot are left for the reader to discover but rest assured this is a book that commands patience. For those who like instant thrills, there are those here, Powers still has his ability with words and he strings along a bunch of cool moments together enough time to make this into a near page turner. But it's not totally addictive as his other books are, you finish it because you want to know what's going to happen and he has you really interested but it's not "bring your flashlight under the pillow to read it after bedtime" material. Indeed, this is probably not for the Tim Powers novice, those would probably be better off cutting their teeth on the Anubis Gates or Last Call (both highly recommended) but when they're done with those and want more they should come here for more of his utterly unique take on fantasy. No elves and forests here, this is urban fantasy.

Powers is hard to classify. He writes fantasy, but there sure aren't any trolls or hobbits or wizards here. His fantasy is a brilliant pastiche of the mystical detritus of several civilizations funnelled into the late twentieth century and then polished to a rare sheen by a fine, fine mind. He knows his stuff, and the more knowledge of Edison and Houdini and mysticism and spiritism you bring to him, the better you'll like this-- Powers gets it all right, and makes an entertaining story something more. This one's a bit more convoluted than Last Call, but just as rewarding. Along with its predecessor and sequel (Last Call and Earthquake Weather), this creation stands as a milestone of late 20th century fantasy, and should be enjoyed by all imaginative readers.

Just when you think Tim Powers' novels can't get any weirder, they do. Expiration Date begins with the premise that ghosts not only exist, but that inhaling them into your lungs prolongs your life and is the best high one can experience. In the Los Angeles of Powers' novel, there is a thriving underground dealing in black market ghosts, sometimes called "smokes" or "L.A. Cigar". It is impossible to do justice to a Powers novel with a synopsis. His plots are wildly inventive and beyond description. But they are not pure flights of fancy. His books are grounded in the real world, but it is a world in which magic exists, hidden from the uninitiated. Powers' descriptions of L.A. are very evocative, reminding me somewhat of the hard-boiled detective fiction of Robert Campbell. When Powers switched from historical fantasies to novels set in the present day, I had momentary regrets. But having read his two present day fantasies, Expiration Date and his previous novel, Last Call, I'm not at all sorry that he has moved on.