Customer Reviews

Last Call

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Last Call" is a book about loss, death, redemption, tarot cards and the Fisher King. It plays out in a vast and mythical Las Vegas that only marginally resembles the one that sits in the Nevada desert.

Scott Crane is a man who loses. As a child, he lost an eye. As a young man, he lost his soul in a card game. As an adult, is wife dies and he loses his will to survive. Until he is drawn to Las Vegas, where the last Fisher King died, and learns his is one of four Jacks vying for the right to assume the King's place.

It sounds wacky and ridiculous and I'm sure it would fall flat in any hands but those of Tim Powers. But Powers is a master of Urban Magic, at finding mystery in the oridinary and in drawing conclusions from history that might only be inferred by a madman. But once he has cast his eye on a subject and explained it to us, it all makes sense. We wonder why we never saw it before.

In typical fashion, Powers has selected Eliot's "The Waste Land" as a sort of working illustration of the story, writing elements that make you stop and think "Oh, ho! Eliot was in on it, too!". Powers uses the poem to good effect, as he has with the Romantic poets in "The Stress of Her Regard" and other works.

I don't get excited about many books or many authors, but this is one of the best. Powers is an amazing talent, always satisfying, always fresh and always jaw-droppingly unique.

While I can certainly understand that there is a population of readers who thoroughly will enjoy this book and will feel that I am, at best, a poor reviewer. In spite of that, this is far from being my favorite adult fantasy book and is one of the poorer attempts at fiction writing that I have experienced. I think that this book is a contrivance of popular superstitions mixed with a series of improbable characterizations. The book, itself, flows in a jagged and irregular manner going from one unlikely event to the next with little, if any, connections between these events and concludes in a bizzare trio of occurences that could only happen from a mind similar to that of a Stephen King. If you like King, you will love Powers! Like King, however, there is nothing to be gained from the completion of this 500+ page tome; no morals to be learned, no life experiences to be gained, nor not even a memorable character. The mystical world of superstition that they live in is not only incredulous but seems to be sporadically invented as the writing of this book proceded.

I truly admire the world of adult fantasies as long as it is both well formulated and that you can learn a life-lesson from it. I am sorry, Mr. Powers, but this novel failed to meet either stipulation.

This book is indescribable. I have attempted on many occasions to explain the plot of this book to people, but how can you explain that the main tenet is that luck can be won or lost playing poker? It helps if you know a little of the history and origin of tarot and card games, but honestly, how many people (other than me) have that as a hobby? Which makes this a difficult book to sell to others. But in all honesty, you don't need to understand all of the mythology references to enjoy this book. It is a compelling and fascinating look into a world that coexists with our own, just under the surface, but which few can see. I loved that Tim Powers took european myths/archtypes such as the Fisher King and Dianna and moved them to the American West.

OK, I'll admit that I'm biased. I went to school with Tim: truly! Hey, every celebrity was a kid, once, and went to school and had friends :-) That being said, I've read most of Tim's books, but haven't enjoyed them all. This is one that I *did* like, a lot. It grabbed me almost from the beginning, in much the same way that "On Stranger Tides" did; that's my favorite of Tim's books, BTW. While it definitely helps to know something of the legends of King Arthur and the Fisher King, of Percival/Parsifal and Taliesin, of the Tarot and the Holy Grail, it isn't necessary. This story holds together very well as a modern fantasy-thriller, of something we might call "fantasy noir", perhaps, although not of the same sort that Glen Cook (another favorite author of mine) writes. Still, there is something of a 40s detective story in here: who really *is* the hero, and who the villian? What are their motivations? As with all of Tim's books, though, the layers are much thicker than that, and if you can take the time to re-read some passages, you'll come away with a greater appreciation for how much care he has put into weaving all the threads together. This is *not* a casual "summer read"! If you are not willing or able to take the time to read this book word for word, do yourself a favor and don't buy it! But if you savor well-written stories, whether you like fantasy or not, you should give this, and all of Tim Powers' books, a read; you are not likely to be disappointed.

Whenever I read a novel I can tell from the first few sentences whether or not I will enjoy the book by judging the author's writing style. From the first few words of Tim Powers' "Last Call" I was drawn in to this captivating story. Tim Powers is a fantasy author but what makes Mr. Powers' novels different from others is that his fantasy novels take place in our world and seem that what goes on really could happen.

Scott Crane was involved in a dangerous card game called Assumption many years ago and he is dreaming of the game. In this game his soul was stolen by the man that started the game. 20 years from when the game took place Scott decides that he wants to get back into playing Poker and Crane has no clue for what is going to happen to him. Scott is biologically the next Fisher King, the mythological king of the tarot card world. When Scott enter Las Vegas the cards are showing that he is in the city and people want him dead. From Vegas to Los Angeles to the Hoover Dam this novel is a tour de force that will keep you riveted from page one.

Tim Powers is a very different type of fantasy author. His fantasies take place in our world and deal with real people just like you and me. The whole fantasy premise of "Last Call" is based on tarot cards and Powers makes you believe that these cards really have meaning and are much more than bogus. Other myths are also used in this book such as some things from King Arthur.

Powers is an amazing author. From the first page of this novel you are grabbed and you will read and read and read until you have come to the ending. All of the characters are three dimensional people that you will care for and will either love or hate. There was just one thing about this novel that I didn't like. In fact, another reviewer brought something up along the lines of what I am going to say. I felt that the book's ending was a bit rushed and that Powers didn't let the ending work itself out. This minor wualm, however, did not make my reading of this book bad and therefore the book will keep five stars despite this.

This is my first Tim Powers novel and it defintely will not be my last. I will never look at tarot cards or regular playing cards the same way since I have read this book. This is the perfect fantasy for somebody that wants an original read.

Happy Reading!

Tim Powers' highly inventive novel makes poker a form of numerological magic and Las Vegas the wasteland of the Grail legend, only waiting for the rightful king to make it bloom. Unfortunately, it's been in the grip of an unjust grail king, willing even to sacrifice his sons to perpetuate his own power. The novel follows the harrowing adventures of Scott Crane as he embarks on a quest to challenge the unrighteous king and win back something he lost at cards long ago: his soul.

Last Call is enjoyable, and may forever change the way you play card games. It is not, however, a deep book. Sure, the characters can all quote Eliot as if each were a devoted English major; certainly, there are all sorts of Tarot references from the obvious to the obscure. (I'm still undecided as to whether the book actually follows the pattern of the Major Arcana in its plot; it seems to be the only reason for including some otherwise extraneous scenes.) But in the end, the book takes a somewhat superficial approach to the Tarot cards: many allusions, but few interpretations.

Which is not to say that the book can't be very clever. One clever connection which works very well in the book -- arguably, it is the thematic premise behind the book -- is that between modern casinos and the Tarot. After reading this book, casinos seem as symbolic as the Tarot, and the Tarot seems as tacky as the casinos. Despite the fact that I knew modern playing cards came from the Tarot originally, Powers cleverly plays with this idea by infusing each poker hand with mystical significance, turning modern casinos into oracles and places of power. The mysticism that revolves around Poker in this book remains strangely compelling; it almost makes me want to play so that I can bid on a ten of hearts, thus (according to the book) ensuring my prosperity.

Other mysticism in the book falls flat, however. In particular, the mystical approach to the Mandelbrot fractal left me rolling my eyes, as did a wacky interpretation of mosquito sleep cycles. One of the main characters begins carrying a goldfish in his pocket because he's heard they never die of natural causes, and he wants some longevity to rub off on him; when the bag breaks, I feel no compassion for him. Arguably, the pseudoscience all stems from one character, but I felt it didn't quite belong in the book anyway. The book careens toward the "Throw In Everything Fringe" approach of Robert Anton Wilson at times; focus on the cards would have been fine.

In fact, there are several characters and plot threads in the book which don't really seem to belong. Perhaps their story arcs were cut short because the book was originally too long; at any rate, I felt that the Amino Acids, Bernardette Dinh, and Snayheever did little besides increase the book's length slightly. It feels as though these characters just sat on the bench, waiting for a major character to need something to do. Arky's not doing much in the conclusion? All right, send over Snayheever. Crane needs saving, and Arky's done it too many times? Okay, let's bring in Dinh. These plot threads should have either been expanded or cut out altogether, and I would lean toward the latter.

All that said, Last Call was enjoyable, though not as deep as you might expect. If you don't know much about Tarot, you may find yourself puzzling over hidden meaning in something Powers writes at times. Relax -- if he writes something obscure, it's probably because it's from a picture on a Tarot card; if you find it a compelling symbol, you can look it up in a book on Tarot when you're done (despite all his references to obscure decks, the classic Rider-Waite deck will do just fine). Last Call is not a great book, but it's a good one, and it goes faster than you might expect, considering its length. And at the end, you too will be able to give fun interpretations to ordinary playing cards. You might even be able to quote Eliot.

While I am in no way a "fantasy officinado", I decided to try this book after encounters with the fantastic in writers like Murakami and Pynchon. I greatly liked this book in it's execution of a very smart premise, but was somewhat disappointed by an ending that had too many "special effects" and too little of the brilliance that was so abundant in the first 450 pages.

Jung postulated that the subconscious of the human mind had two compartments, the individual subconscious and an inherited counterpart. This inherited part containing the so-called archetypes, that could be described as inherited personality blueprints.

In this book Powers gives the idea of the archetypes an imaginative twist by conjuring up the existence of a spiritual pool that allows some people to move their minds from one body to another. Especially by embracing the classical archetype of the Fisher King, Powers explores his fictional take on Jung's ideas very successfully.

Last Call is a decidedly post-modern take on the fantasy genre. While it is miles and miles away from Pynchon, Powers does often embrace obscurity to make the reader part of the mystery that his characters walk around in. There are many players and the narrative constantly changes angles and focus. If I would devise a movie-based subtitle, this book could be called "Angle Heart meets Ghostbusters on Independence Day".

Due to its rooting in classical psychology, I considered the 450 first pages of this book as wild, surprising and coherent. Unfortunately, Powers threw a lot of the foundation of his story out of the window during the finale. While it still has the "Independence Day" feeling of may individual strands coming together, the narrative just became too fantastic and arbitrary to me. I am sure that it will give a special effects unit a field day when a movie version of this book will be in the works, but I considered it too shallow considered by the very high level of the preceding part of the book.

Yet, those who have enjoyed the likes of Danielewski and Stephenson should definitely give this book a try.

Not sure where I first picked this up; I have the hardcover edition; the illustration of tarot cards on the dust jacket probably caught my eye. I've read it and re-read it, and pick up new things every time. I've always had an interest in Tarot lore, and incorporating the mythos of tarot, Las Vegas, and the Fisher King made for a fascinating tale.

Rich, lush descriptions of settings during the course of the text really made this story come alive for me; it's easy to see how plausible some of the settings are. Magical and mystical elements blend with real life, and follow the story of Scott Crane through his highly-unusual life as the reluctant heir to the throne of the King. Great references to T.S. Eliot, and other literary works.

Be forewarned, like many of Powers' books, this one will suck you in-- I stayed up late nights, and didn't want to put it down 'till I was finished.

If you like Tim Powers read it, if you are interested in luck, occult and tarot read it, and if you are looking for a good book to take you on a trip to weirdness and back READ IT!