THE STRESS OF HER REGARD by Tim Powers

Crawford is a young English doctor living in the early 19th century, eager to begin his marriage to his sweetheart. Unfortunately a happy day is not to be his, and by a series of extraordinarily unfortunate accidents, Crawford DOES get married, but not to his sweetheart…in fact, not even to a human being. Crawford has become the beloved of a Nephilim…an ancient creature that is a bit like a vampire, a bit like a faery, and bit like a floating rainbow dragon that can pulverize you with a gesture. Not entirely happy with this situation, Crawford starts a desperate journey across Europe, eventually falling into the company of two rather strange men: Percy Shelley and Lord Byron. These two poets are not unfamiliar with the Nephlim, and they might even have a plan for escaping the grasps of these mysterious, deadly yet enticing monsters…

I’ve read a fair bit of Tim Powers, and have always admired his dedication to a) historical detail despite his fantastical plots and b) the absolute breakneck pacing of his stories. He does not disappoint here. A LOT happens in THE STRESS OF HER REGARD, including escapes, betrayals, fights, mountain climbing, a rather good deal of drinking, a bit of sexy time, a bit of vampire sexy time, a bit of floating rainbow dragon sexy time, some more drinking, poetry…you get the idea.

The book is let down a bit by the nature of its antagonists: the Nephilim, while often quite interesting and well conceived, are a bit passive as villains go. This makes sense, considering their immortality…why RUSH when you can just hang around and outlive your foes?…but it does mean the stakes are not always as pressing as they might have been. I also was a bit saddened by Powers’s handling of his female characters: one woman suffers from a sort of proto-multiple personality syndrome which is sensitively portrayed…right up to the point Powers uses it to have the character make a ridiculous choice for plot convenience. Oh! And Mary Shelley, the author of FRANKENSTEIN, is here reduced to a mere appendage of her husband, Percy. Blech.

Still, for those of you in the mood for a bit of historical high adventure, you might want to introduce yourself to Tim Powers (start with THE ANUBIS GATES, though).

Me like books.