The Stress of Her Regard

Set early in the 19th century, Powers's ( On Stranger Tides ) seventh novel is a horror story that wonderfully evokes the period. On the stormy night before his wedding, Dr. Michael Crawford, in an ill-advised moment while drinking and carousing with two of his friends, slips his intended's ring on the finger of a statue of a woman in the inn's courtyard. The next morning the statue has disappeared. Disturbed, Crawford purchases a new ring and goes to his wedding. The night's celebrations are followed by a morning infinitely more horrifying than the previous one--Crawford awakens to find his bride murdered. Doubting his own sanity, he flees England, becoming aware that he is pursued by a lamia --a malignant female spirit. He seeks help from his friends, the poets Byron and Shelley, who, it turns out, have experience with such a monster. Strewn with literary personages and allusions, the book is entertaining on several levels, but most particularly as a chilling horror-adventure.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"A reigning master of adult contemporary fantasy."  —Booklist

"The reigning king of adult historical fantasy."  —Kirkus Reviews

"Tim Powers is a brilliant writer."  —William Gibson, author,Neuromancer

"Through both innovation and preservation, Tachyon Publications has become one of the most respected publishing houses in speculative fiction."  —Hellnotes: Fiction, Movies, and Art Dedicated to the Horror Genre

"Powers has already proved that he is a master of what he terms 'doing card tricks in the dark,' referring to the incredible amount of historical, biographical, and practical research that goes into his works."  —Harvard Review

"Powers plots like a demon."  —The Village Voice Literary Supplement

"Good serious fantasy doesn't come much better than The Stress Of Her Regard."  —Oxford Times

"Tim Powers is a genius."  —Algis Budrys, author, The Death Machine