Last Call by Tim Powers · 24 July 2007
First of all, I need to thank RampantBicycle for recommending this book on the symbolism thread over at the Poppetplanet forums after I requested a list of good titles that featured Tarot cards. You may recall that the Arthurian Tarot Deck influenced my interest in Arthurian lore. I also credit the Tarot with raising my awareness of symbolism and stoking my love for books based on old lore.
My study of the symbolism in Tarot Deck was the first alternate philosophy that I delved into, and it was fascinating. It’s been years since I picked up my old decks (sadly they’re in storage now), but I remember the thrill of looking for patterns and learning the archetypes that the Tarot is based on. Like many ancient beliefs, the symbols of the Tarot have seeped, renamed, into modern times and part of my love of reading is tracing the universal symbols and truths of human nature throughout the centuries.
Last Call by Tim Powers is a book that fuses those symbols with modern life. Symbols have power, and every age has a particular symbol that it associates power with. Last Call took the modern mantra that “Money is Power” and illustrated how money could come to effectuate the literal transfer of power in a dynasty, how power can corrupt, and how underneath all modern symbols are the ancient symbols, the universal truths that must be acknowledged and obeyed. Powers chooses the perfect setting for these ideas, using Las Vegas, the modern city that pays homage to money, vice, and power as the seat of the dynasty.
It was June 20- in pre-Christian times the first day of the month-long celebration of the death of Tammuz, the Babylonian fertility god, who reigned in a desert region where the summer sun imposed a sort of hot winter’s death on the growing cycle.
There would be a new King reigning at the end of the celebration on July 20.
The characters in the book are represented by their symbols in the power struggle. The current Emperor is Georges Leon, a gambler. The book begins on a special day that Georges shares with his son. After the prologue, the book traces the path of Scott Crane, a doomed man. Scott’s wife has died, and her death has torn his comfortable world apart. He’s telling the neighbors she’s just sick, drinking his breakfast, and when his next-door neighbor opens his mail and shoves a repo letter from the bank at him, Scott decides he needs to take up Poker again to pay the bills.
When Scott drives home from his game a man in a white Porsche tries to kill him. Then Scott comes home to find his dead wife whispering to him from beneath the bedroom covers and he finally realizes that his life is going to change, whether he wants it to or not.
Scott reaches out to his neighbor, Archimedes Mavranos, and together they embark on a quest to save Scott’s life. Along the way, they meet a cast of characters, each playing a symbolic role in Scott’s quest. As Scott learns the rules that govern his new existence, he must ultimately make the choice of which of his fated destinies to embrace by learning which rules to follow.
”What if it’s the only way?” she asked softly. “Do you remember Sir Lancelot?” Crane shook his head stubbornly, and she went on. “He was riding to rescue the Queen, Guinevere, and on the way he had to ride in a cart. It was a horrible disgrace to ride in a cart in those days; criminals were paraded up and down the streets In them, so that people could jeer and throw things, okay? Lancelot hesitated for just a moment before climbing in, and afterward, when he had rescued her, she wouldn’t speak to him because of the brief hesitation, because for a couple of seconds he had put his personal dignity ahead of his duty to her. And he agreed that she was right.”
Scenes with cards signal the major plot changes in this book. Cards are power and power has its own rules. You don’t talk in front of the cards. You don’t play for money at home. When you’re playing and the smoke settles a certain way over the table, and the drinks start tilting in their glasses even though the table is flat, you fold, and fold fast. And when a person shows up who resembles the symbolic representation of a Tarot archetype a little bit too closely for comfort, you take notice.
I thought for a long time, trying to put my finger on why I liked this book so much. Sure, it had a powerful plot and a memorable cast of characters. It was full of action, drama, suspense, and mystery. But what really got me was the mood. Powers created a sense of doomsday momentum that started off gradually and built to its inevitable conclusion, taking no prisoners along the way. It reminded me of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and classic film noir movies.
Death and doom flirted with the characters in every chapter, and the characters flirted back. This constant interplay made for an edgy story that left me wondering just who would ultimately be sacrificed to the power of the cards. When the chips start falling and the characters show their final hands, there are more than a few surprise, but Powers ties in his many subplots so they all resolve in a way that seemed inevitable and logical.
This is a book that deserves to be read twice. In my quick re-skimming of a few chapters while writing this review, I noticed the outstanding job that Powers did in consistently sprinkling the book with symbolism. Since I knew where the plot was headed, on the second read I was able to concentrate on the subtler foundation of mythology, mysticism, and history that is threaded through the book. Lovers of arcane knowledge will find much to delight in references to Asian and Egyptian mythology, Jungian archetypes, the legend of The Fisher King, and the poetry of T.S Elliot. Novices will find much food to further study the same.
This is the first book that I’ve read by Tim Powers, and I’ll definitely read more. I’ve seen The Anubis Gates recommended several times. There are also two more books set in the world introduced in Last Call, Expiration Date and Earthquake Weather.
This book was reviewed for the 2007 Book Awards Reading Challenge.
All Tarot card pictures in this post are from the Morgan Greer Deck.
Arthurian Legend,
Book Awards Reading Challenge,
Gambling,
Las Vegas,
Poker,
Tarot,
Tim Powers,
Urban Fantasy,
World Fantasy Award
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Jackson · 25 July 2007, 08:54
< /media_blackout> Welcome back, Kim!
jean pierre · 25 July 2007, 09:47
oooh! i like the film noir sound of the book. initially i was thinking, hmm, sounds interesting, but maybe not my kind of book, even though i like the tarot quite a bit.
but when you mentioned that then i thought, ooh, that could be very interesting!
Nymeth · 25 July 2007, 13:44
“The Anubis Gates” has been recommended to me quite a few times before too. I also love the sound of this one, though! The plot, the characters, the mythological references and the mood all sound very appealing to me.
Kim · 25 July 2007, 15:29
Jackson – Thanks!
Jean Pierre – This book was so dense (in the best possible sense of the word) it was really hard to capture in a review. From reading your own reviews, I think you would like it.
Nymeth – So many great books, so little time! I’ve put all 3 of the Powers books I mentioned on my “will read eventually” list. I’m really curious about the others in this series, as I’ve heard that the second one isn’t quite a sequel, but the third one ties the first two together. It sounds like an interesting concept on a trilogy that I’d probably check out even without the added incentive that the next books will probably be as good as the first one was.
jean pierre · 26 July 2007, 08:11
aah, cool!
Dark Orpheus · 26 July 2007, 17:23
I’ve always been meaning to pick up Tim Powers – from what I hear, the Arthurian symbolisms are heavy in his books – which interest me. But ‘Anubis Gates’ is the one friends asked me to try first.
Thanks for posting this review. I need to set aside time for some Tim Powers in thw near future.
Kim · 26 July 2007, 19:39
Dark Orpheus – Anubis Gates sure seems highly recommended. I’m looking forward to your review if you get to it before me :)
jean pierre · 27 July 2007, 03:11
oh wow! i just clicked on the card. very cool!
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