The best two word description for Powers is probably "historical fantasist". Many of his novels are set in historical eras. His later novels tend to have contemporary or near-contemporary settings, but still work events or personages from more recent history into the story. What Powers does is bring magical or supernatural factors into play against these very realistic backdrops. And he's damned good at it. "Dinner at Deviant's Palace" is a departure from his usual pattern. I will get to it.
It works because Powers is good at characterization, and plots tightly. His protaganists are usually sympathetic misfit types who have gotten themselves involved in something very strange and very dangerous that they don't really understand. The reader is along for the ride, and because Powers keeps the narrative moving, and his characters ring true, you will swallow chasing vampires all over 19th century Europe with a bunch of romantic poets like Shelly and Byron, or machinations for the crown of the Fisher King in Las Vegas. The realistic backdrops and intimate characterization he uses give his character's dilemmas and close calls more impact. There's a generous dose of horror writing in Powers, though he's not really to be included in that genre. He's mastered that same trick that good horror writers have of always keeping his characters grounded in reality to heighten the impact of the wierd shit. And to make us very anxious when he stabs, shoots, burns, bites and otherwise injures them, which he very nearly always manages to do. Usually for occult or magical reasons.
Bottom line:
His best, IMO: "The Anubis Gates", "Last Call", possibly "Declare".
Worst, IMO: "Dinner at Deviant's Palace", "Earthquake Weather". Do not read "Earthquake Weather" unless you've read "Last Call" AND "Expiration Date".
Except for "Earthquake Weather", they all stand on their own. Powers does not generally write sequels and series, one of the things I like about him. The novels I've read, in order of publication dates:
The Drawing of the Dark - 1979
The Anubis Gates - 1983
Dinner at Deviant's Palace - 1985
On Stranger Tides - 1987
The Stress of her Regard - 1989
Last Call - 1992
Expiration Date - 1996
Earthquake Weather - 1997
Declare - 2002
Oh, and before we get to individual novels, William Ashbless:
Powers and his buddy James Blaylock went to school together. They took to writing intentionally pretentious poetry under the pseudonym "William Ashbless" and getting it published in the school paper. Both Powers and Blaylock have kept alluding to the fictional Ashbless in their published novels. He was a central figure in "The Anubis Gates" and a character in Blaylock's "The Digging Leviathan", written at about the same time. Powers and Blaylock conspired, with their editor's support, to have the biographical details match. The two of them once produced a hoax prospectus of a William Ashbless collection, with sample poem, and a William Ashbless signature - one of them signed the "William", the other the "Ashbless". If you first encounter Ashbless in "The Anubis Gates", you may well wonder if he's actually a historical character.
Brian Duffy is an aging Irish soldier of fortune living in the early 16th century. He is recruited, ostensibly to be a bouncer for a tavern in Vienna, by a mysterious old gentleman named Aurelianus Ambrosius. Supernatural stuff starts coming into play as soon as Duffy's enroute to Vienna, which is about to be under siege by Sulieman any day. More than just a temporal conflict, this turns out to be another manifestation of the age old mystic battle of the East and West. The West is weak because the Fisher King is in decline - the fabled Herzwesten dark beer brewed by Ambrosius' tavern is his restorative, but it's questionable that it will be ready in time (leading to one of the most misleading titles in SF - it refers to beer!). Given the old man's name, and the fact that Duffy keeps having visions of a sword and an arm rising up from a lake, it's not really telling too much to mention that Arthurian legend plays a strong part in this. Half the fun is watching Duffy reluctantly accept his destiny.
An enjoyable read. I read it after some of his other stuff. Taken in order, shows the potential Powers had. He does a good job of humanizing Duffy, for instance making his love interest a middle aged drudge who was a young girl when he was last in Vienna. Duffy's devotion to her is touching.
This novel put Powers on the map. The protaganist is a college professor named Brendan Doyle, an expert on Samuel Taylor Coleridge, as well as obscure early 19th century poet William Ashbless. It's a time travel story, with Doyle being transported back to 1810 via "gates" discovered by researchers hired by a modern day millionaire. Of course, things aren't what they seem - Doyle finds himself involved in sinister plots by a cabal of ancient magicians intent on wreaking havoc on nineteenth century London because of England's undue influence on Egypt at that point in history. They had intended to bring the old powerful Egyptian gods forward in time.
Powers makes the far fetched idea work. I think it's because of the reasons I mentioned earlier - he shows you everything through the eyes of Doyle, who is a very well drawn and sympathetic character, and because he keeps the narrative clicking along with a lot of action so that the reader won't stop and reflect on how implausible it is. It's the technique that Powers would put to good use for several more novels. Read it.
This novel isn't like the others. For one thing, it's set it the future, so there's no actual historical detail for Powers to work into the story. For another, it's a post-apocalypse novel, set in a very strange future LA. Powers trying to do Phillip K. Dick. His future LA is populated with odd cults and touches like a monetary system backed by booze with a "distiller of the treasury". His protaganist is a "redeemer" who takes people back from a zombifying Christian cult.
IMO, it doesn't work. Powers is better at his historical fantasy / supernatural schtick than bizarre futures.
A lot of Powers reviewers seem lukewarm about this one, but I like it a lot. Aptly titled, as it is possibly Powers' strangest book. This is a pirate story set in the Caribbean in the early 18th century as a basis for Powers' supernatural overlay this time. Ship passenger John Chandagnac is captured by pirates, and we follow his eventual accidental evolution into the infamous pirate "Jack Shandy". He becomes involved with the likes of Blackbeard, who is a powerful voodoo magician in Powers' world. Voodoo laced magic and the fountain of youth figure into the story, with Jack's love interest being the daughter of an upright citizen who is really a very nasty black magician himself, whom Shandy must rescue her from.
Once again, implausible as hell. But it works. Mainly because of the same reasons as before, careful characterization, tight plotting, and realistic grounding. It's also got a dose of humor in it, which helps round out the development of the Shandy character.
Flip it this time. A lot of Powers reviewers seem to like this one, but my reaction is "Ehh, it's OK.". Early 19th century again, his protaganist is Crawford, a physician. The narrative involves the romantic poets Lord Byron and Percy Shelley as characters. And vampires. Lamias, actually. In addition to the blatant sexuality in the lamia's form of possession, they provide the gift of inspiration to poets like Byron and Shelley whom they take over.
Pretty close to gothic horror / romance. The ingredients are the same as his other efforts - we get an intimate picture of Crawford, and how his life is twisted entirely out of shape by being possessed by a lamia. I'm not sure why it doesn't appeal to me as much as some of his others.
With this novel, Powers started using contemporary settings. Scott Crane is a former professional poker player who, unknown to him, is the son of Georges Leon who was a mafia figure involved with Bugsy Siegel. Bugsy Siegel was actually the legendary Fisher King, who now resides in the New World, and his power was assumed by Leon, who is attempting immortality by taking over a succession of bodies. The bodies are taken in a strange poker game, "assumption", played with tarot cards. The title of Fisher King is actually up for grabs now, with Crane in the middle of it, and a lot of attendent mayhem as the story plays out against the backdrop of the world of Las Vegas casinos.
If "The Anubis Gates" isn't Powers' best, this is. I think I'm prepared to give my vote to "Last Call", actually. It has his careful development of a sympathetic protaganist, and tight plotting to make a wildly fanciful premise work. It also has a very good supporting cast. Crane's next door neighbor and friend, Archimedes (Arky) Mavronos, and Crane's old stepfather and poker mentor who actually understands what's going on, are very well developed as well. As is Crane's adoptive sister, Diana.
Set in contemporary LA. It seems that LA is full of ghosts - and there are a number of people who are "ghost junkies" of sorts, "eating" departed spirits to subsume their vital spark. An 11 year old kid, Koot Hoomie, is in possession of the very powerful ghost of Thomas Alva Edison, and is now the prize for a very bizarre collection of "ghost hunters". An itinerant electrician, Pete Sullivan, and a former psychiatrist turned psychic Angelica Elizalde are the other "good guys". "Alice in Wonderland", the Queen Mary and an old tv show figure in to the stew.
Not his best, not his worst. Bizarre premise, even for Powers. A lot of the characters have gone over the edge from quirky into sheer lunacy. In real life, Edison's last breath was supposedly captured in a glass vial, BTW.
Reprises the characters and story lines from both "Last Call" and "Expiration Date", as well as introducing a couple more, escapees from a sanitarium run by the bad guy. One of those is a woman with multiple personality disorder, who has various different personalities "forefront" at various times. And she's the romantic interest! Actually, Powers does a good job of pulling that off, having a developing romantic relationship involving a character who keeps slipping into and out of about half a dozen different personalities. His grafting of the two story lines of the previous books is awkward, though. It will make absolutely no sense if you haven't read them. It might not make sense if you have.
With ED and EW, I was a bit afraid Powers was slipping. This is good, though, IMO. Some readers of the spy thriller genre may disagree.
In spite of Powers having been established as a fantasy and sf author, you may find this in a another section of the bookstore. It was shelved in the "mystery" section when I bought it. What we have is a spy thriller ala Robert Ludlum or John LeCarre getting Powers' supernatural treatment. Purists of that genre may find the idea a bit too strange.
Andrew Hale was a double agent for the British, infiltrating Soviet intelligence in Nazi-occupied Paris during WWII. In 1963, he has been reactivated to complete the supersecret mission code named "Declare". This project involves attempting to thwart efforts by the Soviets to harness the mystic powers concentrated on the top of Mount Ararat, at the site of Noah's Ark. We get geopolitical intrigue mixed with Djinns inhabiting the mountain. Real life double agent Harold "Kim" Philby, a high ranking member of British intelligence who was actually spying for the Soviets, appears as a character. A lot of the story is told in flashback.
Powers is back in form here. Totally strange premise made to work by the completely sympathetic Hale, and just plain good writing. Use of Kim Philby adds a lot of spice to the story - Philby was a very interesting character in real life.