Book 72 - Tantalizing Tarot

Title: Last Call

Author: Tim Powers

Genre: fantastical fiction

This story is unlike any fantasy I have ever read before, and damn did I like it! The characters are everyday, somewhat unlikeable people who live what appear to be small lives. Bratty kids, run-down houses, beater cars, and rampant vices - and magic channeled through playing cards as representations of tarot cards as representations of godly archetypes that exist in some other dimension that directly impacts ours.

Got that?

The magic system is very cool, although as someone who doesn't know how to play poker I think a large part of the leg work Powers does in his story is lost on me. But still, the story is a good one, and the writing is solid solid solid. What I loved the most was how utterly unpredictable it was - about 3/4 of the way through, I realized that despite everything I knew about this world and characters in it, I still had absolutely no idea what was going to happen next.

Rating: 👠👠👠👠/5