The Drawing of the Dark
A novel by Tim Powers

In the year of our Lord 1529, Brian Duffy, an aged, but still skillful warrior, is plucked from a brawl on the streets of Venice by a wizened old man and offered a job as the bouncer at a famous Viennese brewery. Since the pay is good, he's not an opponent to inebriation and he has old ties to the city, Duffy takes him up on the proposition.

Of course that's when the really weird stuff starts happening. Weird as in strange, otherworldly beasts guiding and guarding him on the loneliest stretches of road, and dwarves appearing to save him from robbers. Then there are the dreams splashed with vivid Arthurian images....

Magic is definitely afoot.

The mighty wizard of the Eastern world, the Sultan Suleimen's Grand Vizir, Ibrahim, has set his master upon the city of Vienna in hopes of destroying the Herzwesten (Heart of the West) Dark. If he succeeds before October 31st -- the date on which the Western King is to partake of it and be restored to full health -- the powers of the world will belong solely to the East, increasing Ibrahim's powers by untold degrees. Opposing this plan is the man who hired Duffy, Aurelianus, who just happens to turn out to be the ancient wizard, Merlin.

As we have been told from the legend of Camelot, the king is the land and the land is the king. If one prospers, so shall the other. The current Western King however, is an old and wounded man whose failing health spells the weakening of the powers of the West. Those who guard this part of the world, like Merlin, are dedicated to not allowing the East to take over and in preparation for the predicted battle the current King called forth the soul of a previous leader of the West to protect her once again.

That Brian turns out to be a reincarnation of King Arthur comes as no big surprise (and neither is the ending) but the tale of this reluctant reborn hero who must contend with the interruptions of his memory-self from his previous life is engaging. While Duffy steadfastly refuses to completely believe in all that Aurelianus tells him, he cannot blind himself to all of the strange happenings that surround him, neither can he turn his back on the impending battle. If nothing else, he is a warrior plain and simple.

Recently re-released under Del Rey's Impact line of "long, unsung masterworks", The Drawing Of The Dark is similar to many of author Tim Powers' other novels in that it draws heavily from mysticism and seemingly disparate events in history and weaves them into fantastical tales of magic and adventure. Here he combines the invasion of the Islamic Eastern powers into the Christian West with the legends of Camelot, the science of beermaking, the strange migration of the people who came to be known as The Celts, and the metaphysical division of the world into separate foci of power. Which -- as anyone who has read his other novels knows -- for Tim Powers isn't really all that big of a deal.

I'm afraid that as a great fan of Powers' Last Call, I came into this novel a bit biased. The similarities of the two called for comparisons and I'm sorry but any book that heavily features the glitzy, gaudy, trashy, irresistible city of Las Vegas and poker automatically wins. Nonetheless, The Drawing of the Dark is a good yarn with a likable, if a bit pitiable, hero.

-- Linda M. Najera

The Drawing of the Dark is published by Del Rey Impact and is available in trade paperback.

We welcome your comments on The 11th Hour and this review. Please send letters to: letters@the11thhour.com