Last Call by Tim Powers mixes many of my favorite things: neo-Egyptian mythology, tarot cards with the power to fundamentally disrupt reality, and, of course, poker. Or, in this case, a pseudo-poker game called Assumption, played with a full deck of tarot cards. The name derives from the ability of the ultimate winner to assume the physical body of other players, enabling effective immortality for the lucky few.
The book is a mix of noir procedural and revenge story, with the protagonist managing to out-hustle the bad guys, both at “regular” poker and the other games. There are a lot of vaguely magical trappings: people have affinities to different elemental powers, and there are a variety of ghouls and ghosts and golems, both helpful and not, that are found on the California coast and inhabiting the various extravagances of late-twentieth century Las Vegas. These are intriguing, and if it falls into the wide history of fiction that appropriates various magical and mythological systems in problematic ways, it does so relatively harmlessly.
It’s enjoyable, and a page turner, and even surprisingly creative at points.
#WhatIWishICouldDo
Juggle a half-dozen plot lines, slowly pulling them together into a nice knot at the end that is, with a deft pull, neatly unraveled. Powers knows his craft, and never lets the story careen out of control.