A novel that firmly belongs in the magical-realist camp, Expiration Date is a virtuoso demonstration of Tim Powers's imagination. The universe he constructs--where ghosts, lured by palindromes or sweet-smelling smoke, are caught and devoured--is completely consistent, and his writing is top-notch. Every chapter reveals yet another surprising extension of this universe, yet we are never caught off-guard (not even when one character, who seems only mildly eccentric, nonchalantly steps into an ice-cube-filled bathtub). And, of course, the book is filled with priceless pieces of dialog like this one: "... how've you been?" "Not so good," said Bradshaw heavily. I died in 1975."

So why did I give this book a 5? Despite all of Expiration Date's admirable qualities, it never gripped me. In fact, I only finished this book after three tries, and if I waited more than day between readings, I would forget large chunks of what had happened the last time I read it. Unfortunately, it's hard for me to explain what I found so boring about this work, but I'll try.

First of all, Powers's plot moves very slowly. This is esecially evident in the first half of the book, when Powers must jump between the viewpoints of a diverse cast of characters. What each character does is only faintly related to the rest, at least in the beginning, and jumping between one dull event to another simply doesn't raise my heartrate. Second, Powers's characters are surprisingly lifeless. I never gained enough sympathy for Kootie, Pete, Edison, or any of the others to care what happened to them. Finally, the universe that Powers creates is not cool enough to be compelling in its own rite (unlike, say, the fascinating world of Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun series).

This book has received a lot of accolades, so it might be worth trying out. Unfortunately, I found it too sleep-inducing, despite its imaginative elements, to rate it higher than a 5.

Copyright © 2001 Steven Wu