After Jeter's and Blaylock's books, Powers's stands as the other pillar upon which the current steampunk trend sits. Essentially a time-travel story, the book's plot centers around the titular gates, which are used by a group of modern-day Londoners to travel back in time to attend a lecture by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The trip goes awry, and one of the travelers, professor Brendan Doyle, is captured by Egyptian magicians. Powers handles the paradox of time travel with incredible skill, weaving it seamlessly into the already complicated plot. He deserves to be better known, and this book will send patrons looking for more books by him.-John Klima, Bettendorf P.L., IA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.