Where They Are Hid [Hardcover]

Tim Powers (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 45 pages
• Publisher: Charnel House; First Edition edition (December 7, 1995)
• ISBN-10: 0927389118
• ISBN-13: 978-0927389112
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,102,403 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A stunt, September 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Where They Are Hid (Hardcover)

By my records, Where They Are Hid is Tim Power's first solo short story in damn near a decade and a half. And one would expect, with the typically lavish presentation Charnel House has given the novelette, that it would be a stunner. That expectation is more than reasonably met. I'd advise that readers toss out all others when it comes to this complex, marvelous story.

The bare bones: Mr. Stanwell has a certain amount of control over time. He's able to jump back and forth, with limitations. On precisely the same time each July 1st, he's visited by a future version of himself, given some sage advice, a pat on the head, and sent on his way though the next year. Stanwell uses his advice to secretly control the world. He's seen that the Atomic Bomb, Vietnam, and a host of other "real world" events are avoided, his way. A noble enough calling, eh? Meanwhile (as if that word has meaning in this story), Keith Bondier is damn near a negative image of Stanwell. He's stuck in a drab existence, on the dole, thinking mostly of seducing his friend Margie. Strangely enough, Bondier also suffers from blackouts.

I won't lay out more of the plot here, because that's the novelette's main strength. In Where They Are Hid, Powers has managed to cram a novel's worth of plot-and story-into a much shorter tale. I think many readers will spend a first reading just attempting to keep up with the way things are tied together, and the second marveling at the author's control and craftsmanship. Trust me, you'll want to read this story at least twice.

And the downside: The paper and binding materials are up to Charnel House's usual standards here, but the interior design's plainness doesn't accentuate the story. The author's illustrations are limited to a frontispiece, endpiece, and a single image repeated at page breaks. Caveats about design aside, as Where They are Hid is limited to 350 numbered copies, and 26 lettered, you can't go wrong in picking it up. I'd advise doing so before you have to pay extra on the collector's market.

7 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An elegantly written novella that pleases like a novel., January 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Where They Are Hid (Hardcover)

Tim Powers is and always has been the master of atmosphere and research in his brilliantly woven longer works. Now comes an excercise in self-editing that satisfies the reader like a delicious Powers novel or a five-course dinner. You don't need to be a fan of fantasy to appreciate the prose that only a wordsmith like Powers can apply to a page. This book is a wonder to read and a pleasure to hold as well. Charnel House has done an unbelieveable job with the binding, the paper and even the printing. Reading such a fantastic story in this rare and beautiful form is indeed a tactile pleasure that one can experience again and again appreciating new and different elements with each new retelling of the tale. No one tells a better tale than Powers and this is a "Must Own" book for fans, collectors and lovers of fine works of art and fiction.