Blogcritics is an online magazine, a community of writers and = readers=20 from around the globe.

REVIEW

Book Review: The Stress of Her Regard by Tim = Powers

Written by Vyrdolak
Publ= ished=20 January 09, 2009

See also:
=BB Book = Review:=20 The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas
=BB Book = Review:=20 Robert Kennedy: His Life by Evan Thomas
=BB Book = Review:=20 Knitting For Good! A Guide to Creating Personal, Social, and = Political Change=20 Stitch by Stitch by Betsy Greer

There are many fans of vampire fiction who have never heard of Tim = Powers=92=20 The Stress of Her Regard. Powers, like Stephen King (Salem=92s = Lot)=20 and Suzy McKee Charnas (The=20 Vampire Tapestry) is not a =93vampire author.=94 His oeuvre is a = style of=20 fantasy known as =93secret history.=94 Powers begins with real life = people and=20 events and weaves alternate versions of their =93official=94 stories, = suggesting=20 unknown, and usually magical or occult, influences at work behind the = recorded=20 facts. Powers is one of the original authors whose style inspired the=20 =93steampunk=94 genre, which has become very popular, and which = naturally overlaps=20 with a great deal of vampire fiction set in the 18th and 19th = centuries.

But Tim=20 Powers=92 work defies easy categorization, and in many ways fits the = newly=20 recognized realm of Instititial=20 Arts: creative work that combines, transcends or falls between = standardized=20 genre definitions. The Stress of Her Regard (reissue edition = 2008,=20 Tachyon Publications) is fantasy, horror, literary fiction, historical = fiction=20 and vampire novel all at the same time. Originally published in 1989, at = the=20 beginning of a massive revival in vampire fiction, it=92s unquestionably = one of=20 the most unusual vampire tales written in the last six decades.

This is a literary novel in the classic sense: long, leisurely, = meticulously=20 crafted, and full of allusions to literature and cultural motifs. The = plot spans=20 six years and multiple countries, although the story, altogether, forms = a=20 sweeping epic beginning at the dawn of time. Powers never drops big = expository=20 boulders on his readers=92 heads, though =97 the complicated mystery of = the lamia,=20 or Nephelim, whose =93regard=94 for their beloved victims is so = destructive, unwinds=20 bit by bit as the tale progresses. Readers will need to pay attention = and keep a=20 good memory for small details, because even the tiniest may be an = important=20 clue.

The story opens in 1816, introducing Powers=92 alternate universe = versions of=20 Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, Mary Godwin, John Polidori, and Mary=92s = stepsister=20 Claire Claremont. They=92re in Switzerland on the lakeside summer = get-away that so=20 famously resulted in the penning of Frankenstein and =93The = Vampyre=94 by=20 Mary Godwin and Polidori, respectively. However, it becomes apparent = that=20 Shelley=92s greatest concerns aren=92t literary. Twice he=92s thrown = into a panic by=20 the appearance of a powerful, and evidently malign, phantom figure that=20 resembles a woman. Shelley is being pursued by something very = persistent, and he=20 seems prepared to die rather than be overwhelmed by it.

We meet the book=92s central protagonist, Dr. Michael Crawford, as he = travels=20 with several inebriated friends to his second wedding. Crawford, in his = 30s, has=20 a past marred by several deaths. Before long we have hints that the loss = of his=20 first wife in a fire occurred under suspicious circumstances, and that = bitter=20 memories are the least of the evils haunting her widower. When the = wedding party=20 stops at an inn, Crawford makes an unthinking mistake. He places his = fianc=E9e=92s=20 wedding ring on the finger of what he believes is a statue while he = assists one=20 of his friends. He loses the ring when the statue first changes = position, then=20 disappears. Like Victor in Tim Burton=92s film The Corpse Bride, = Crawford=20 has unwittingly given Something Else reason to think he=92s married to = it.

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Inanna Arthen (Vyrdolak) is the creator of the = website By Light Unseen, owner of the = small press=20 By Light Unseen Media and = author of=20 Mortal = Touch. An=20 authority on vampire lore, Forteana and alternative culture, she is a = fascinated=20 observer and commentator on the fancies and follies of the human=20 condition.

Keep reading for information and comments on this = article, and=20 add some feedback of your own!

Buy=20 from 3DAmazon.com=20

The Stress of Her Regard
Tim=20 Powers
Book,

Frankenstein (Penguin Classics)
Mary Shelley
Book,

On Stranger Tides
Tim
Book,

Book Review: The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers=20: Published: January 09, 2009=20; Type: Review=20; Section: Books=20; Filed Under: Boo= ks:=20 Fantasy, Book= s:=20 Horror; Writer: Vyrdolak=20; Vyrdolak's BC = Writer=20 page=20; Vyrdolak's = personal=20 site

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Book Review: The Stress of Her Regard by Tim = Powers

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