In a word...

(roughly translated, it means your naughty bits are fired up, tingly, and ready to rumble.)

In more than a word...
Last Call is my new favoritest book by Tim Powers. From a brain stimulating perspective, this produced a a significant amount of tingle by skillfully stroking a number of literary pleasure points. You know what I mean?


First, I love the way the magical elements are woven credibly into the fabric of the story. They are, simultaneously, both elusive and omnipresent throughout the narrative. The magic saturates the story and blankets the characters, but it’s just outside the vision of “the rest of the world.” Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, one of my favorite fantasy novels, does this very well, as do books Moonheart and Memory and Dream by Charles de Lint.

Last Call pokes the bull squarely in its eye as well.

Second, the magic system itself was smart, suave and tethered extremely well to the story. It also felt unique and internally credible, which is always important for this kind of story. Powers employs an elaborate, complex system of magic based on TAROT cards, with each of the tarot figure representing powerful, mythical “archetypes” through whom magical abilities can be channeled by those with the requisite skill.

Third, the tie-in between the tarot-based magic system and professional poker was brilliant and made wild, wonderful sense within the context of the story. The standard 52 card poker deck is a derivation of the larger tarot deck minus some 22 cards known as the Major Arcana. Thus, all of the hopes, dreams, fears and other intense emotions invested by people while playing cards, even with these “diluted, reflections” of the more powerful tarot, create magical energies that can be drawn upon by those with magical ability.

Again...brilliant.

Finally, setting the book in my hometown of Vegas was a real treat for me, and ly added a bit to my overall happy. Plus, I gotta toss props to Timmy because he got every single geographical reference in the book correct. I know that may seem a “lil bitty” thing, but it shows that he was conscious about getting the details right, and as a reader I really appreciated that.

Tim cares about us and it shows.

PLOT SUMMARY:

As with most of Tim Powers’ books, Last Call is set up as a secret history, in which he uses real life historical figures and related events and creates an “alternative explanation” for such events being motivated by supernatural/magical considerations. Case in point: Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel was not just a famous gangster. He was also a powerful magician and the avatar of the mythical archetype known as the Fisher King. Bugsy’s motivation for constructing the Flamingo Hotel and creating the foundation for today’s Sin City was to create a place of power where all of the energies created through gambling could be drawn upon to sustain him.

Enter Georges Leon, the current avatar of the Fisher King who assumed the role after defeating and destroying Bugsy through a clever and complicated series of actions which, FYI, I thought was handled incredibly well. Now Georges is obsessed with his own mortality and has devised a really NEATtastic skill to keep himself young and spry (not to mention safe). Georges has acquired that ability to instantaneously transfer his consciousness into another body, permanently destroying the personality of the inhabitee. The catch: the inhabitee has to be one of his children.

Enter Scott Crane (fka Scott Leon, Georges youngest son). When Scott was a tyke, Georges tried to pull the old “body snatcher” routine on Scott just as Georges had already done to Scott’s older brother. Well Mama Leon had had just about enough of that, thank you very much, and stopped the ceremony with a .44 magnum shot to Georges potty pole which completed ruined ALL of his luggage (the hanging bag and both carry ons).

Scott and his mom then disappeared themselves leaving Georges with no Scott and no ability to make himself any more babies. However, keep in mind that Georges is one smart hombre and IÂ’m sure heÂ’ll think of something.

Flash forward to 1989Â…andÂ…Â…

ThatÂ’s all the set up I want to give because I donÂ’t want to spoilerfy any of the good stuff for you. Everything above takes place in the Prologue of the book (with a few contextual details filled in so they make sense). The rest of the book is a combination of: (1) a gathering of some amazing characters, both magical and not, as they converge on Vegas to try and seize power from the King; and (2) Georges trying to hunt down and dispose of his competition so he can remain in power with the help of mysterious and dangerous card game known as ASSUMPTIONÂ…I told you he would think of something.

THOUGHTS:

Uh...Sploosh!!

This was terrific and is one that I know I will read again at some point because the amount of information and detail that Powers pours into the story is substantial. The characters, including those representing “archetypes,” are interesting and well drawn. The dialogue is outstanding and the plot, though convoluted and very complex, is engaging as can be. It's excellent.

But the real show stealing is the world-building and the tie-in between tarot lore, Arthurian legend and various mythologies. It was FantastiGASMness itselfÂ….

I only had two gripes with the book that kept me from giving it 5 stars. First, while the ending was satisfying and not exactly a letdown, it wasnÂ’t the earth-shattering, toe curling climax that I was expecting. Second, I was a little disappointed with how a few of the supporting characters had their plot lines tied up in a less than exciting way. I thought it was a bit rushed and it felt Tim was doing little meatball surgery towards the end.

Upon a re-read, these gripes may go away but they do hold the book back just a tad.

Still, an amazing book and one that I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!! Definitely 4.5 stars!!

ORÂ….againÂ….in a word:

audiobook award-nominee-locus award-nominee-mythopoeic-fantasy ...more94 s Kemper1,390 7,301

“Good evening and welcome to ESPN’s coverage of the 1st World Championship of Assumption Poker Tournament at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. I’m your host Mike Honcho and with me is three time poker champion Billy “Busted Flush” Stark. Billy, you can certainly feel the excitement and tension in this room tonight.”

“Mike, you got that right. We all used to think that poker tournaments for money were a big deal, but ever since the recent revelations that magic is real and that much of that power can be harnassed by the use of plain old playing cards, the entire gaming world has been turned upside down."

“Tonight, we’ve got the ultimate in magic poker challenges, a game of high stakes Assumption where the winner will not only be able to claim the very bodies and souls of the other players to become virtually immortal, he will also become the new magical King of Las Vegas while the ladies will be competing to become the Queen. This opportunity only comes around about every twenty years. And if the game didn’t have enough drama, Billy, I understand that several of the players have some history and bad blood between them.”

“Bad blood and spilled blood in some cases, Mike. First, let’s check out Georges Leon, the current king. Georges overthrew the last king of Vegas, legendary gangster Bugsy Siegel, and then extended his own life by essentially killing one of his own sons. Georges has launched the current Assumption craze by using the card game to get people to unwittingly sign over their bodies for his future use.”

“Certainly a player to be respected and feared, Billy. But tonight he’ll be facing another son of his, Scott Crane.”

“That’s right, Mike. Georges actually attempted to take Scott’s life force when he was just a kid, but the boy was saved by his mother even though he lost an eye in the process. And since he’s one of the mystical Jacks who can assume the kingship, you know what that makes him? A one-eyed Jack.”

“Can Scott hope to contend against his father, Billy?”

“Well, Scott was a professional poker player, and he’s a blood heir to the throne. However, the recent unexpected death of his wife, and subsequent alcoholism has left him vulnerable to his father and other threats from Dionysus. And those aren’t even his biggest problems, Mike. You see, Scott has actually already lost his claim on his body in a game of Assumption he played twenty years ago with his father when neither knew who the other one was.”

“That certainly makes it long odds against Scott Crane. But what about his foster father, Ozzie Crane?”

“Now, Ozzie is one crafty old card player, and he knows all the ins and outs of the magic business. But he’s stayed away from the magic end of thing for years so we’re not sure what he’ll bring to the table.”

“Adding to the family drama, we’ve also got Diana, a daughter of the goddess Isis that Ozzie saved and raised. This young woman will be playing to save the lives of her own sons and take on the role of Queen.”

“Exactly, Mike. We’ve also got several other wild cards in the mix Arky Mavranos, a friend of Scott’s who is dying of cancer and came along to try and tap into some Vegas magic and find a cure.”

“You’ve got to respect a man who rejects traditional medicine and pins all his hopes on finding a miracle in a casino, Billy.”

“There’s also a variety of other Jacks who want to take the throne and see Scott and Diana as the leading candidates to take out. It has been one wild week here in Vegas with gun fights, magic, kidnapping, murder and beheadings. And that’s before the card game has even started!”

“These players certainly better hope that it’s true that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas or the survivors will be looking at some long jail time, Billy.”

“Whatever happens, you can be sure that it should be a thrilling game, Mike. I just hope we all live to see who wins.”

“We’ll be back in a moment to kick off this game of Assumption right after a word from our sponsor, Budweiser.”2011 fantasy magic ...more43 s BradleyAuthor 4 books4,414

I happen to think this Locus and World Fantasy Award winner of '93 deserves all the accolades it got. Indeed, I think it's as readable now as it was back then.

Especially now that we've all renewed our tastes for myths in our reading habits, this one dives deep into the Fisher King while leading us across the US, always eventually winding up in the dark heart of the country... Las Vegas. :)

This is a great mashup of an ex-professional poker player and a chaos-magic Tarot tribute, switching between a lifetime of mystery-reveals, archetype treatments, and a series of choices that lead up to one hell of a tub of regret.

I'm almost tempted to call it a western, but the wonderful worldbuilding and magic system and the effortless writing makes me stand firm in calling this a fantasy. I might even call it an urban fantasy, but the writing is almost Stephen King in scale and feel. The characters are all a real treat.

I'm frankly rather amazed at the quality of this book. And I really shouldn't be. Anubis Gates was amazing as well. I guess I better get book cracking and read a lot more of Tim Powers! :)2020-shelf fantasy31 s Dan Schwent3,087 10.7k

Former professional poker player Scott Crane's life is falling apart, having just lost his wife and been on a beer binge, when aspects of his past have come back to haunt him. Specifically, a bizarre card game twenty years before where he may have lost his soul. But what do his foster father and foster sister have to do with it? And why is everyone trying to kill him?

Last Call is really hard to summarize accurately. You could say it was about a man who lost his soul and tried to win it back. Or you could say it was a modern retelling of the Fisher King legend. Or a story about Bugsy Siegel and the rise of Las Vegas. Or you could say it was all of those things and more.

The story started slow, establishing what had happened before and giving the reader hints at the magic Powers was working. That portion reminded me of Neil Gaiman's American Gods and Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light, both books about ancient gods or archetypes in the modern world. Once the two thirds mark was passed, the book kicked into high gear and the suspense level sky-rocketed. The last one hundred pages flew past. The characters were well developed, even the villains and supporting characters.

While I didn't think it was as good as The Anubis Gates, it was at least as good as Three Days to Never. Tim Powers fans and fans of Gaiman and Zelazny should give this one a read.
2010 new-weird27 s Clouds228 640

Summary: Reminded me of a mash-up of early Stephen King and Neil Gaiman... I loved it!

I'm running miles (and miles!) behind on my reviewing, but I have to say something about this book - so let's bullet point:

- I thought it was a fantasy/thriller based on poker.
- I hadn't read any Tim Powers before and I found it hard to get psyched about the concept
- It won me over pretty damn quick.
- It's excellent - really, truly, I was a fool for not reading it sooner!

Let me get one hang-up off my chest - the blurb on the front:
"The Game: Poker. The Stakes: One man's soul."
That's a great tag line - punchy and dramatic. Shame it's entirely wrong.
"The Game: Assumption. The Stakes: A dozen people's bodies."
Doesn't quite have the same ring, does it?

This is a book about tarot cards. I know a fair bit about tarot - I've got half a dozen of them tattooed on my back. The idea here is that tarot cards (and myths) are symbolic representations of murky gods that lurk in the the human subconscious, and by manipulating that symbolism you can do a kind of magic.

So a hand of cards, read in combination, represent a certain fate - good luck, good health, falling out of love, etc. By trading those hands in card games, when the gods of the cards are paying attention, you can trade fates.

With us so far? Good. It's a great concept.

So one guy - our Big Bad - has figured out a couple of tricks with the cards, which has allowed him to claim people's bodies from them, pushing their minds down into the collective subconscious while he flits between multiple bodies a kind of possessing spirit. But his collection of bodies is getting old, and it's time to 'harvest' the next crop of bodies, which he laid claim to thirty yeara beforehand.

Our hero is trying to avoid that fate.

His gang is cool and quirky. The atmosphere throughout is tense but grounded. The fantasy edge is deniable and dream, but powerfully creepy at times.

I didn't love the hero, Scott - he felt a little bit flat, an 'everyman' character. There's no denying it's effective, but it's never a tactic I can fully endorse - (my favourite protagonists have a bit more individuality!) but I think it's partially this trait that reminds me of Gaiman... that and the exploration and reinterpretation of symbology in myth...

Now, I still have 40+ books I've read that have outstanding... some of which I read over a year ago... so I really should write something... but in conclusion: this is great book, far better than I expected - give it a go, you're in for a treat!

After this I read: Spillover5-star fantasy fantasy-stand-alone ...more18 s Jason PettusAuthor 12 books1,364

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Now that I'm no longer professionally obligated to review 200 contemporary novels each year as part of running the CCLaP website, I've been using 2018 to indulgently make my way through the complete works of a number of authors who I've always wanted to be completists of; and one of those authors is Tim Powers, who has gotten famous over the years for blending multiple types of genres into "New Weird" tales about secret histories that are taking place around us in plain sight. I started with his 1983 Philip K. Dick Award-winning The Anubis Gates , where he combines time travel, the birth of Romanticism in the early 1800s, and the occult elements of ancient Egypt; then next I jumped back to his very first novel, 1976's The Skies Discrowned , a straightforward space opera that's disappointing precisely because of its lack of originality, okay on its own but prophetically plodding when you realize what kinds of startling work was to come from him a few decades later.

But the whole reason I decided to read Powers in the first place, and the books that garnered him such a passionate fan base to begin with, is his "Fault Lines" trilogy from the 1990s, starting with 1992's Last Call which I just finished a few days ago. And wow, it's easy to tell with this one why people started calling him a master of a new genre that he and only he is writing in; ostensibly an "urban fantasy" novel from those '90s years when that genre first became so immensely popular, he somehow managed here to weave together the history of tarot cards, the Christian myth of the Fisher King, Bugsy Siegel and the birth of modern Las Vegas, body-swapping, astral projection, and the seedy underbelly of contemporary Los Angeles, into a unified narrative that not only isn't an incoherent mess, but is actually a dazzling, mesmerizing thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat for over 500 pages.

That's really the thing that's so exciting about this book, and why people get so hooked on Powers; because he's essentially making up his own unique mythos and magical history as he goes here, in a way you've never heard another writer ever describe a secret magical history, but that contains a kind of inherent in-universe sense to it; a world where people perform ad-hoc contemporary rituals using found pop-culture detritus that hearken back to ancient rituals using much more primal material, substituting things kazoos and cigarette smoke in order to replicate arcane rites from thousands of years previously. It's an infinitely clever way to tell a contemporary urban fantasy story, not least of which is because you have no prior frame of reference to the universe he is unfolding in front of you, making every turn of events a new surprise that goes in directions you could've never guessed beforehand.

An unforgettable book, Last Call this week joins that small list in my head of Favorite Novels I've Ever Read In My Life, and I'm excited now about tackling the next book in this series soon, 1996's Expiration Date.

Tim Powers books covered in this review series: The Skies Discrowned (1976) | An Epitaph in Rust (1976) | The Drawing of the Dark (1979) | The Anubis Gates (1983) | Dinner at Deviant's Palace (1985) | On Stranger Tides (1987) | The Stress of Her Regard (1989) | Last Call (1992) | Expiration Date (1996) | Earthquake Weather (1997) | Declare (2001) | Three Days to Never (2006) | Hide Me Among the Graves (2012) | Medusa's Web (2016) | Alternate Routes (2018) | More Walls Broken (2019) | Forced Perspectives (2020)dark fantasy personal-favorite ...more14 s Theo Logos890 149

Last Call is a sprawling, occult thriller for the erudite. The Fisher King Mythos, Jungian Archetypes, Chaos Theory, and Tarot Symbolism are just the opening hand in a high stakes game of occult power in the hidden, eldritch world that underlays everyday reality. And what better place for all this to play out than that bizarre, hedonistic playground in the Wasteland, Las Vegas?

This book is Tim PowersÂ’ masterpiece. a master juggler, he keeps throwing more and more objects into the air and miraculously keeps them all up and spinning. There is a vast cast of flawed heroes and fascinating antagonist. There are multiple storylines that all somehow manage to converge and make sense, all playing back into each other despite accelerating weirdness. But what truly animates this amazing book is a seriously poignant tale of the tragedy of fathers and sons. Powers hooks us with it from the first chapter, and it remains the beating heart behind all the flash and bang of the story through to its end. audiobooks favorites read-more-than-once ...more12 s Wanda Pedersen2,030 424

I wanted to this book much more than I did—there was much in it that appealed to me, but as with Powers’ The Anubis Gates, I found myself somewhat underwhelmed. Much of this reaction will be due to my lack of familiarity with both tarot and (especially) poker. I fooled around with tarot cards in my late 20s, but never really committed myself to learning the art. And I think the kids at the back of the school bus tried to teach me poker during my high school years, but that was many decades ago and my memories are hazy at best.

There is a lot going on in this book and it speaks to Tim PowersÂ’ skill as a writer that he managed to successfully weave it together into a cohesive story. Here are some of the elements he incorporates: archetypes & Jungian psychology, mythology of Egypt, Greece and Rome, the Arthur Legend and the Fisher King, T.S. Eliot, Bugsy Siegel, Las Vegas and Lake Mead.

As in The Anubis Gates, there is a body-snatching element to deal with as well. These are the only two books of PowersÂ’ repertoire that IÂ’ve read, so I found it interesting that they both had this esoteric characteristic in common. Come to think of it, poetry featured prominently in TAG as well, so it is obviously a great interest to this author.

Book number 292 in my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.

fantasy interlibrary-loan read-in-2018 ...more11 s Kara Babcock1,991 1,434

I was avoiding this book, and then I decided to read it during my busiest weeks of the term, which in retrospect was a mistake, since it took me two weeks to read! In Ben's reading world, that is an eternity.

This book comes to me courtesy of an ARC of the Subterranean Express edition, which I received when they shipped me The God Engines . I was pleasantly surprised, and I shelved this book to read it when I could get to it. Every time I took it off the shelf and glanced at the back cover, however, I ended up giving it a pass.

Last Call is set in Las Vegas and deals with Tarot, Grail symbolism, ritualistic magic, and manipulation of statistics. None of this stuff really interests me. I lack the ability to get excited about the myths and legends that have arisen out of the culture of mid-twentieth-century America. So I started reading this book with the attitude that I didn't want to it, probably wouldn't it, but I should get it over with and read it anyway.

At first, this attitude was mostly vindicated. But then Powers began tossing out little tidbits that piqued my mathematician's curiosity. He presented the poker powers in terms of probability, statistics, and of course, Mandelbrot. That was kind of cool. And for a bit, it was almost enough to make me forget why this book is difficult for me—almost.

But let me say some good things about Last Call now. The dialogue is often good, and many of the characters—random though they seem—are fascinating in their own way. Despite his understandable use of archetypes, Powers never quite succumbs to stock characters and one-dimensional villains. Deep down inside, this is a father-son conflict, and all of the myriad plots and players dance around this central idea.

Most of the characters I d happen to be on the side of the good guys. I d Scott, most of the time, and Archie and Ozzie and, of course, Diana, who is kind of badass toward the end there. I didn't Georges Leon (or Ricky, or whomever you care to call him), nor did Trumbull do much for me. And Al Funo annoyed me in a way that few characters in fewer books have managed to do.

In addition to the characters and the dialogue, I can also praise Powers' writing in general. He knows how to keep the action going, how to advance the story, and how to whet your appetite for more exposition. I can sort of see what other people admire and appreciate about Last Call, even if it does not enchant me in the same way. Owing to my disinterest in the subject matter, reading this book was more of a chore than an enjoyable diversion. I had to tell myself to turn the page, and the story just seemed to keep on going for hundreds of pages more than it needed.

The plot is convoluted and confusing, and I never really get a chance to care about it all that much. This is a story about the fight for survival, but so much of it is spent not knowing what the hell Scott is fighting. I had to force myself to pay attention and try to figure out what was happening; even then, I found myself skimming through some chapters, just sort of hoping it would all work out in the end.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that my reading of this book was far less involved than most books I read, to the point where I did consider putting it aside more than once. I didn't, and maybe that was the wrong decision, or the right decision—I don't very much know. But I doubt this review was very helpful to you, as ambivalent and vacillating as it sounds to me. Last Call registers on my radar as static, just random background noise with very little in the way of intelligible signal.

2010-read 2010-worst10 fantasy ...more10 s Frederick HeimbachAuthor 10 books19

I loved this. Many of Powers' familiar obsessions are on display: a drunk loser of a protagonist, a villain chasing immortality by possessing other people's bodies, and a magic system that blends pagan, occult, and Christian elements into a weird hash. Yet, the critic was correct who claimed Powers never writes the same book twice. This particular magic system, involving Vegas-style card games played with antique decks of Tarot cards, is dazzlingly original. One example: a magic poker chip transubstantiates into a communion wafer. That is vintage Tim Powers right there.

Powers puts you in the scenes with his descriptive detail: the sights, sounds, and smells of the Nevada desert, or a casino, or a cheap hotel. The descriptions of strategy in a card game Powers apparently invented are especially impressive. And when a male character, forced to disguise himself as a cross-dresser, notices the feel of his heavy makeup in the creases of his face when he smiles, you begin to wonder if there's anything Powers won't do to research his novels.

My one caveat is that the magic in this novel is so inventive and bizarre, it's hard for the reader to anticipate what will come, or to judge characters' acts of magic. That's okay; one should simply relax and enjoy the show. The ending, despite the unpredictable rules, delivers a good dollop of suspense, and we get a satisfying Gothic ending where the Evil Wizard is destroyed by the very power he has unleashed. My favorite author comes through again.11 s Pete Williams6 7

this one nearly as much as Powers's "On Stranger Tides" and more than Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" (similar subject matter).

Powers does a lot of research. Obsessively immerses himself in whatever is available on a time and/or place that interests him, and then goes looking for the gaps in the facts. He runs screaming from Occam's razor and fills the void with the most complicated and far-fetched "possibilities". I love it.

Here, he looks at Vegas, from the early days to the early 90s (when the book was written). It stumbles with some rather silly mathematical conceits and T.S. Eliot falling casually from the mouths of poker hustlers, but I found it to be a very entertaining read. A body-stealing card game played with Tarot, Vegas legend and Arthurian gods, an Elvis impersonator who kills his best friend in hopes of marrying his Chinese sister... OH yeah.more-books--this9 s Wealhtheow2,465 574

Twenty years ago, the main character lost his soul in a game of cards. To prevent his foster sister from suffering as well, he enters into a battle for god power—literally. He and many others race across the country trying to become the new embodiment of the legendary personas that guide humanity unseen. The writing is taut and the pacing is great; the detailed descriptions and various characters’ introspection serve the plot rather than hinder it. The basis for the novel is twisty and complicated, yet at its heart very believable. This is modern fantasy at its best.fantasy urban-fantasy9 s Miguel Angel Pedrajas366 10

Pero, ¿qué maravilla es esta? Powers se ha superado. Una trama que mezcla el tarot, el póker, la magia postmoderna, fuerzas incomprensibles y la peor versión de Las Vegas en una trepidante historia llena de derrotas y victorias.

La novela tiene una trama compleja en el que el mayor problema para el lector es no conocer aún la ambientación que propone el autor. Pero, poco a poco se van desarrollando y explicando algunos de esas zonas oscuras para poder acabar de entenderlo todo. Pero Powers hace bien en no eliminar todas las capas de misterio y suspense, lo que hace un decorado de fondo interesante y atractivo para toda la trama. Retoma conceptos que ya habían aparecido en alguna de sus novelas anteriores, como el Rey Pescador (Esencia oscura), pero no son exactamente iguales ni requieren haber leído novelas previas.

El autor hace un uso magistral de los tiempos y los actos, con un inicio que te atrapa desde el principio. Sabe darle emoción a las escenas de acción pero también a los lazos que unen a los personajes. Y tiene esa fórmula espléndida que Powers emplea en casi todas las novelas, donde el protagonista se esfuerza por sobrevivir, sufriendo todo tipo de perrerías y destrozos físicos y emocionales para anteponerse a la situación. No es un personaje impoluto, fuerte, atractivo. Más bien todo lo contrario. Se equivoca, cae en el agujero una y otra vez, y eso lo hace más humano y lo hace más cercano. Y como en otras novelas, el alcohol es omnipresente.

El argumento, como decía, es algo complejo por toda esa capa de misterio y suspense mágico-tétrico. A veces es fácil perderse, porque encontraremos también diferentes bandos, intereses e incluso personajes que entran y desaparecen en momentos muy concretos. Pero esto también hace más atractiva la novela, pues no puedes evitar querer descubrir qué está detrás de todo esto y si alguno de los bandos conseguirá lo que se propone. Y su magia es tan potente, tan caótica, tan extraña, que suscita miedo y rechazo.

Los últimos capítulos son frenéticos. Tanto que me he leído las últimas cien páginas de una sentada. Y dejan esa satisfacción de que las cosas han encajado realmente bien. Incluso me han arrancado alguna risa por alguna de las situaciones que se provocan en las escenas más tensas.

Es una novela espléndida. Posiblemente no sea para todos los públicos. Soy consciente de que el tema de la magia en la actualidad, las apuestas, el póker mezclado con el suspense no es una cosa fácil de digerir. Pero si le das una oportunidad a Powers descubrirás algo muy loco y que engancha. E inevitablemente pienso que es una novela que encaja perfectamente en el universo de “Unknown Armies” e incluso ofrecer grandes ideas. Veo en las páginas finales de mi edición de Gigamesh que Powers convirtió esta novela en la primera de una trilogía (“Trilogía del Rey Pescador”), publicando después Expiration Date y Earthquake Weather. Qué pena no tenerlas en español todavía.8 s Adam558 391

Last Call should be revered as many things, one is a great novel of the American West with a focus on that dark heart of it all, Las Vegas. A dark fantasy or magic realism pitched somewhere between Leiber and Pynchon and Eco. Secret history, noir, and Jodorowsky styled surrealism combine in a dark demented trip through the major arcana, poker, chaos theory, the Fisher King legend, and wealth of literary allusions(Rudy Rucker, T.S. Eliot, M.R. James, and many more). Great eccentric characters makes this an absurd comedy as much as itÂ’s a thriller and quest story. Powers tempers some of his weirdness(not much though) into this mature and excellent novel.horror-disguised-as-literature8 s Mike (the Paladin)3,147 1,934

Again, if I keep reading Tim Powers I'll have to start a "Weird Fantasy" shelf. AND again I won't say too much about the story as anything could give a "sort-of-spoiler".

Here Powers (again) takes several different folklore, supernatural belief, superstition...and just plain weird stuff, and molded it together into a good story. Using some of the actual history of the Tarot Deck and adding a good deal of imaginary lore with some other ingredients Mr.Powers has whipped up a good yarn. I it, I ordered the rest of the series.

I can recommend this one, at least to some of you. Who among you will it and who will not...well is anybody's guess.

:)

Enjoy...and be careful about which card games you play and definitely know what you're wagering.fantasy7 s The Pirate Ghost (Formerly known as the Curmudgeon)278 64

Another twist on the Arthur Legend from Tim Powers. This one is uniquely unusual (yes, imagine the song in the background, "People are strange, when you're a stranger...") It deserves a longer review than this, so I'll update it later.

For now, this is a fun book in the spirit of Declare, with a unique blend of the unusual woven through actual historical events. The story is set in the near past but reaches back as far as "Bugsy Malone" and the gangsters who hatched Las Vegas. In this story, Tim Powers weaves the complex Tarrot mythology, mixing it with an almost Texas Hold 'em- obsession with poker and the Arthur Legend Theme is reminiscent of "The Drawing of the Dark," another favorite of mine.

It's a recommended read. I enjoyed it very much. Tim Powers attention to detail is very reminiscent of James Carpenter's Oscar winning movie "Titanic" (which, in my opinion won the Oscar because of attention to detail and respect to historical events and facts, not because of the chick-lit love story he wove around them.)

Warning, it's weird in an almost 1960s counter culture movie sort of way weird. It's also worth the read.arthur-connection colorful-supporting-characters crime-action-adventure ...more7 s Olethros2,679 496

-Póker, religiones, mitos y tragedias de diferente índole.-

Género. Narrativa Fantástica.

Lo que nos cuenta. Georges León tiene una extraña relación familiar con su esposa y sus dos hijos, una posición de poder en Las Vegas que va más allá de lo económico para adentrarse en una misteriosa versión de lo sobrenatural, una afición por el póker que supera tanto el propio juego como el dinero y, además, un oscuro pasado. Décadas después del fin trágico y violento de la unidad familiar, su hijo menor, Scott Crane, adoptado por un veterano jugador en su infancia y marcado por la repentina y reciente muerte de su mujer, vuelve al circuito de póker en unas circunstancias bastante raras y recuerda muchos de los consejos crípticos y a menudo desasosegantes de su padre que quedaron grabados en su mente.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...6 s Cat RamboAuthor 240 books538

One of my favorite, favorite books of all time. I love the way the Tarot and the Arthurian stuff is used, as well as the Las Vegas setting and its ghosts. This is a book I reread once a decade or so. The best of Power's (many) good books.7 s oguz kaan273 31

*Bal?kç? Kral hikayesine a?ina olan arkada?lar için neredeyse genel hatlar?yla kitab?n büyük k?sm?n? özetliyor. Ufak bir ara?t?rma size çok de?erli bilgiler verebilir:)

** Son Ça?r?, o?luna babal?k yapamayan bir adam, kendi kan?ndan olmayana babal?k yapan bir adam, yetim bir kad?n ve erke?in, tarot kartlar?, ruhlar, sonsuz ya?am, Las Vegas ile iç içe geçmi? hikayesiydi. Kitab?n aç?l?? sahnesi vah?i ve kanl?yd?. Devam?nda ortal?k sakinle?ti?inde merkeze do?ru bir kovalamaca sekans?na dönüyor. Kovalan?rken, kaçt???na yakla?maya çal??man?n gizemini ve zorlu?unu dengeli bir ?ekilde yazar öyküye yedirmi?. Bu sayede kaybolman?n biraz kolay oldu?unu dü?ündü?üm anlat?m tarz?n? da dengelemi?ti. Kovalamaca sayesinde paragraflarda bir ak?c?l?k vard?. Yine de çeviri, benim okuma sürelerim, yazar?n karma?as? da birle?ince tam olarak kavrayamadan yar?s?n? okudu?um bir roman oldu. Öykünün sonuna do?ru hala yeni kavrad???m noktalar olmu?tu.

***Karakterleri modern Amerikan toplumunda bulunan güçlü ev kad?n?, alkolik ta?ra erke?i, ya?l?l?ktan ölmeyi unutmu? bir adam ve tedaviyi do?aüstünde arayan hastan?n bir araya geldi?i geni? yelpazeli, Avrupa, M?s?r mitolojisin destekledi?i rolleri ya?ayan garip bir topluluktu. Kitap boyunca var olan de?i?imin çok ba?ar?l? bir ?ekilde aktar?ld????n? dü?ünüyorum. Kitab?n ba?? ile yolculu?un sonunda ki karakterler aras?nda ki fark, anlat? boyunca meydana gelen de?i?iklikler ile güçlü bir ?ekilde beslendi?i için kitab?n en güçlü yanlar?ndan birisi olmu?. Silik ve motivasyonsuz karakterleri olsa da hepsinin ete ve kemi?e büründü?ünü hissettirmesi bak?m?ndan -hayalet bölümlerinde bile- ba?ar?l? buldu?um bir kitap oldu.

****Umar?m devam kitaplar? da dilimize kazand?r?l?r. Kitap sonunda bir nevi kendini ba?l?yor dolay?s?yla tek ba??na ('standalone') bir kitap olarakta okunabilir. ?ehir de geçen ve büyü sistemi fazla belirgin olmayan kitaplar? seviyorsan?z Son Ça?r? tam size göre, okumal?s?n?z.american-literature dark-fantasy urban-fantasy6 s Rachel (Kalanadi)748 1,481

I was expecting this to be a real madcap high-stakes adventure in Vegas... and it was surprisingly slow-paced and dark. The main character, Scott, is a sodden ineffective drunk for most of the book (alcoholism and the desire to drink being part of his magically threatened condition, I guess), none of the characters were particularly able, and I wasn't rooting for anyone. Except maybe Ozzie, who had a good heart and was an actual good father (I'm raging a little bit about how both his kids just ignored his advice, and walked straight into a magical trap).

Powers really gets the description across. His settings and characters are quite vibrant. He nails that glitzy, seedy underbelly of Vegas and gambling and mobsters. But while I was impressed with the atmosphere, the plot was bloated, the purpose unclear, and it's about 200 pages too long. Prologue chapters and final few chapters/epilogue were the best, and if the whole book had been paced those parts, it would have been faster, more of an adventure, less of a slog.

I know a lot of people seem to love this book. There are tons of praising it here. I think it was mostly not to my taste. If you enjoy Stephen King or Neil Gaiman (particularly American Gods), it'll probably really appeal to you. I don't love any of those things.

I would also to point out that this book should come with some content warnings: Alcoholism, drunk driving (SO MUCH drunk driving), homophobia / transphobia, fatphobia, references to blackface, some possibly insensitive or racist portrayals of an Asian character (who seems to be half-Vietnamese, but is only ever called "Asian"). All of these things left me with a bad taste in my mouth.fantasy fantasy-masterworks winners-wfa5 s Ola G457 40

7/10 stars

My full review on my blog.

Dang. I wanted to love it much more than I did. Sadly, the most well-known Powers's book, the one that won both Award for Best Fantasy Novel (1993) and World Fantasy Award for Best Novel (1993), doesn't hold a candle to Anubis Gates or even The Drawing of the Dark, or basically any other Powers's book I have read. Maybe it's me, maybe I'm simply older by thousands of pages and hundreds of books and, as a result, that much more picky. Maybe it's the archetypes and myths, about which I tend to know a thing or two, and Powers's version of them did not impress me. Or maybe I just read it at a wrong time.

Whatever the reason, I did struggle with this book quite a lot, and after a quick start I got mired in a bog of indifference and was lured away, multiple times, by the will-o'-the-wisps promises of better books. (And they were better!) Only recently I did go back and I managed to finish it, at last, but it was a rather more bitter than sweet experience. I guess I'm not enamored of Nevada and Las Vegas, or poker, or the very literal interpretations of the Fisher King and sacred marriages, and cyclical rituals of death and renewal. It's Powers had read Frazer's The Golden Bough at some point, was blown away by it, then and decided to adapt it to his own purposes. I mean, he had every right to do this, but by the same token he shouldn't be too surprised if people who have professional interest in cultural anthropology are not impressed - particularly considering that The Golden Bough itself had over time lost some of its claims to veracity and overall allure.

I have to hand it to Powers, the story starts with a bang. Archetypal magic within Tarot cards, Poker played for eternal life, reminiscences of Saturnal quest for immortality... I was intrigued. I was immersed. I wanted to know more! But then, a sudden flat line - the main character, the prodigal son escaping the clutches of cannibalistic father thanks to the sacrifice of his mother, who sells himself away, unknowingly, to that same father, in a tragic twist of fate, inexplicably turns into a couch potato (if potato could drink alcohol). What's worse, it seems that at least this particular transformation was irreversible - despite all the action and plot twists, and vestiges of agency Powers tried so hard to bestow on him, he remained a couch potato till the very end.

So, unlikable protagonist. Been there, done that. It still could've been saved. But this time around, the fabled magic of Powers's twisted mind felt flat as well. The archetypes as giant figures residing deep in the unconscious and called to the conscious parts of the mind through Tarot cards? The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hijack the power of archetypes and become one in a special time of year and through a special set of circumstances? Literal interpretation of myths is a very tricky proposition, particularly when you're trying to bind so many and so varied myths together. And maybe because I detect traces of Campbellian obsession with The Hero with a Thousand Faces, my last call is "bullsh*t."

[...]

Score: 7/10fantasy fiction horror5 s Ferio647

Una montaña rusa de personajes y arquetipos jungianos cruzados con dioses de diferentes panteones y figuras del Tarot: mezcla explosiva donde las haya. La documentación del autor es, como acostumbra, magnífica, y el desarrollo de la historia es una locura muy bien llevada hasta un final que, si acaso, peca de sencillo.

Recomendación: ir apuntando en un cuaderno adjunto quién es cada personaje, con qué facción se alinea, dónde está en cada momento y en quién o qué podría convertirse. De cualquier otra manera, el ejercicio de memoria será intenso, particularmente si pasan días entre las sesiones de lectura.5 s Santiago Gª Soláns795

8/10

Se antoja todo un acierto por parte de Gigamesh el recuperar esta novela, publicada por primera vez en España con el título de "La última partida" en 1993 por Martínez Roca, y hacerlo con una nueva traducción que —sin desmerecer la previa— mejora la experiencia lectora, y el renovado título de "Última ronda". Es cierto que veinticinco años dan para cambiar muchas perspectivas, pero esta parece ser una de esas novelas que han mejorado con el paso del tiempo o con la adquisición de un mayor número de referentes por parte del lector que esto suscribe. Y es que el bagaje cultural del que hace gala Powers para ofrecer su particular recreación del mito del Rey Pescador puede llegar a resultar incluso apabullante por momentos. Desde los arquetipos jungianos sobre el inconsciente colectivo a los mitos artúricos, pasando por las figuras del tarot, la historia compartida de la mafia y Las Vegas, el poker en sus muchas variantes y los juegos de probabilidad en general, la teoría del caos, la geometría fractal, mitologías diversas —griega, egipcia…— que terminan mostrando sus similitudes, y una peculiar revisión de La tierra baldía de T.S. Elliot. Y todo ello en el magnífico y sórdido escenario de una Ciudad del Pecado en pleno crecimiento y apogeo, repletas de jugadores y de misterio, en la que va a desarrollarse una partida muy especial. Una partida en la que un grupo de aspirantes van a jugarse el destino a una mano de cartas esperando que les conceda el mayor de los premios que puedan concebir. Y si hay que hacer trampas, ¿acaso no se han hecho desde el primer momento en que se repartieron las cartas? "Última ronda" se desvela así como un thriller de intriga entre lo mundano y lo esotérico con mucho, mucho fondo simbólico.

Reseña completa en Sagacomic:
http://sagacomic.blogspot.com.es/2018...4 s Estanteriadecho509 53

Tim Powers sorprende con su increíble trabajo realizado en Última ronda al entrelazar el mundo del póker con lo sobrenatural y el esoterismo mientras hila su historia utilizando la leyenda del rey pescador. Un libro inolvidable que aunque ha tenido algunas partes que se me han hecho algo pesadas, me ha fascinado de principio a fin.

Reseña: https://laestanteriadecho.blogspot.co...4 s Boy Blue513 88

I made myself a coat
covered with embroideries
out of old mythologies
from heel to throat
but the fools caught it
wore it in the world's eyes
as though they'd wrought it
song let them take it
for there's more enterprise
in walking naked.


What a ride!


Last Call is a superior American Gods. It takes old mythologies and archetypes and weaves them through the glamour and history of Las Vegas. It's long and quite a heady brew but it's very enjoyable. You've got Tarot Cards as archetypal power roles, the Arthurian Legend of the Fisher King, a bit of hivemind body jumping action, chaos theory, high stakes gambling. If I was visiting Vegas on holiday this would be my book of choice.


There's a case to be made that the main character is pretty average. His continued efforts at self-sabotage grow tiresome after about 400 pages as does his wavering belief in the truth of the supernatural events occurring all around him. He comes right in the end and it could be said that his low points are a product of the curse he's got but even still it can be hard to read a character handicapping themselves when they already have such a powerful nemesis. Part of Scott's problem is that he doesn't seem to have any personality traits, and especially not any able ones. He was born to his role and there's no nurture that gives him perceivable skills. Which brings me to the another gripe, it seems that his adoptive father (Ozzie) didn't do enough to protect him from harm 20 years ago. Although arguably Ozzie atones for this by making the ultimate sacrifice for his adoptive son in the present. It just seems strange that Ozzie teaches him all the ways of poker but none of the ways of power, especially knowing who he is. It's also odd that Ozzie scoops up Diana as well. There's no explanation why he wants to be the adoptive father to these powerful children or how he knew where they'd be. His knowledge and backstory actually remains shrouded in mystery through the whole story.


Many criticise the character of Snayheever. Was he necessary? Probably not. Did he add some colour? Yes. Did he also add confusion? Yes.


I actually would have d some more Jacks as candidates, or maybe one to take each suit and for there to be more of a battle between them. This could have been a way of showing Scott as more capable.


It was also never really made clear how Diana's mother used her power, what sort of queen she was. Frustrating.


Tell you what though, Tim certainly has some writing Powers.america magic-realism phantasia ...more4 s Rick Davis843 119

I think I finally realized who Tim Powers reminds me of: Charles Williams. The way in which he weaves the mystical, spiritual world with the physical, natural world is exactly Williams's enigmatic novels. This realization came to me while reading Last Call because, in many ways, it reminded me of The Greater Trumps by Williams, another book that focuses on Tarot Cards and the archetypes they invoke.

the other books I've read by Tim Powers, the heroes all have some gritty, brutal physical punishment to go through before they reach the end of the story...that is if they reach the end of the story. No one is safe in a Tim Powers novel. Powers is never one to pull punches; James Bond may get into a knock-down fistfight and be just fine in the next scene, but Powers's protagonists feel every bruise, every break, and every cut.

Powers is in top form for Last Call. If the idea of a fantasy/horror book featuring Arthurian myth, Las Vegas, high stakes poker, tarot cards, the poetry of T.S. Eliot, ancient gods, vengeful ghosts, gangster Bugsy Siegel, and a cast of bizzare, broken characters that could have stepped straight out of a Flannery O'Conner story appeals to you, then you really need to read this book. If you want something less noir-ish, gut-wrenching, or bizarre, I'll understand. You'll just be missing out on one wild ride.

------------------

Content Note: Just a friendly warning. For those who are sensitive to it, there's a good deal of rough language in the book. fantasy4 s Josh415 23

Takes place in a universe riding on an underlying magical force that expresses itself in things playing cards, and especially tarot cards. Want to know what kind of day you're going to have? Deal yourself a hand and see what comes up. So if you live in a world where cards and dice really matter and really tell you something, Las Vegas is a nexus where a lot of serious stuff goes down, so naturally that's where the bulk of the story plays out.

I generally get huffy when stories lean on cliched mysticism, and am terrifically uninterested in the lure of Las Vegas, but this is a really good book and it won me over. The mystical elements are woven so deeply into the fabric of the world it becomes a part of the story rather than a crutch. Tons of interesting ideas and atmospheric throughout.

Recommended by Dan.fantasy4 s Peter37 2

Up there as my favorite Powers novel (tied with Declare and edging out Earthquake Weather because it's a sequal), this is the novel where he learned to get the reader though his main character's dark-night-of-the-soul without losing the forward momentum of the plot. A heady mix of gambling, American mythology, and clever occult conceits, this novel shows Powers is at the top of his form -- engaging characters, humor, horror, pathos, thrills, and a certain kind of meloncholy awareness that, while there are no second chances, there are always new attempts. Read the synopsis if you want to know about the plot; I am just telling you that it's a read that rewards a little effort.alternate-history fantasy horror4 s Melissa McShaneAuthor 68 books807

One of my favorite books ever. There's just too much going on here: the mythos of the Fisher King is wrapped up in gambling and Tarot and the history of Las Vegas, the plot hinges on a bizarre and brilliantly-conceived game of poker, there are ghosts and dead kings at the bottom of Lake Mead.... It seems the more I love a book, the harder it is for me to describe it without just saying, "Read it. Read it now."arthurian-mythology contemporary-fantasy fantasy ...more4 s Richard1,175 1,082

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