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38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Into something rich and strange, June 10, 2001
I'm really a T.S. Eliot [fan], and I knew I was going to like this book when the discarded bodies of the evil Fisher King murmured lines from the Wasteland to each other. Powers takes the real world that we live in, and paints a ghost world behind it, full of the things that we both hope and fear are true. The smoke in a casino eddies to show the flow of fate. Ghosts are real, and they want you, but you shouldn't go with them. The center of the book is the cyclical battle to become the spiritual Fisher King-- he who (together with his queen) can interact directly with the archetypes. Every twenty years, all the possible candidates (Jacks) converge on Las Vegas to see who will hold the crown. The contest rules are a mish-mash of superstition, gambling, violence, mythic lore, and poetry. The year that the book begins, the Jack who presents the most serious threat to the ruling King is the son he tried to destroy while still a child. Scott Crane is a one-eyed gambler and reluctant heir to the throne who is thrown back into the ring by the death of his wife Susan and the knowledge that seizing the throne is the only possible way to reclaim the rights to his body-- something he gambled away while still a teenager. I read this book obsessively, and I can't imagine reading it any other way. It deserves and command close attention.
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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Spiritual Underbelly of Las Vegas, April 22, 2005
Last Call isn't the kind of book that would usually jump out at me when browsing in my local bookstore. I don't have much interest in gambling and the noir genres associated with it, and I would probably set this book down after reading the dust jacket. But a good friend of mine, who has the uncanny ability to know exactly what would be to my taste in fiction, lent me the book assuring me that I would love it. And once again, she knows my taste better than I do. This book is a masterful tale that weaves elements from crime noir, fantasy, the Tarot and TS Eliot into a magical realist stew that is suspenseful and highly entertaining. Think Umberto Eco without the pretention and the obscure Latin phrases and you get an idea of what this book is.
Scott Crane is a marked man. Saved from a fate worse than death as a child he is rasied by an old superstitious gambler named Ozzie. Ozzie has irrational fears. He never plays cards on water and is always using the billowy patterns of smoke to sense the "feel" of the cards. He also takes unusual percautions to protect his anonymity and instill this in his fosterson. Scott and his sister think Ozzie crazy until one day when Scott dares to play in a mysterious poker game on Lake Mead that uses a real Tarot deck. Subsequent to that Scott finds himself locked in a deadly struggle with The Fisher King, who has the power of immortality through assuming new bodies from his gambling victims. It all comes to a head during one unholy Holy week in which Scott and his sister must outthink the King and many other potential rivals to the "Throne" of Las Vegas.
Powers writing is excellent in this novel. He is a master at mapping complex and interweaving plots and injecting them with the right amount of symbolism. Knowing a bit about the Tarot and the medieval Grail legends can help one to enjoy the rich symbolic texture of the novel, but Powers' gifts make the meanings clear even without a background in this material. He also has a gift for vivid characterization, even of the more peripheral characters. One character is destined to play the Fool card in the drama and manifests as a homeless man who lives in special "boxes" all throughout Vegas. Another peripheral character is a homicidal hit man with a pathological need to be friends with his victims first. These characters all have the veneer of reality over them but resonate deeply with the archetypes that Powers is using as the generating symbols of the novel.
This book is a fast read, but a thoroughly enjoyable one. It is rich, darkly comic in places and always suspenseful. Though considered by some to be a fantasy writer, or a science fiction writer, these categories are too small for a writer of Powers ambition. If you enjoy the novels of Eco and Kundera and are looking for something with a similar atmosphere but less burdened with "meaning" this is a wonderful book for you. It's engrossing, but not too heavy and wonderfully written.
Chris Forbes - RIP Bob Z
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Amazing Tale, June 9, 2002
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!
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