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A review by glimnore
Last Call by Tim Powers
4.0
There is so much going on here....
Tim Powers has successfully written a masterpiece worthy of the highest praises. His ideas are original, unexpected, and weird as all heck. Reading the Last Call is very much unlike any other book I have read.
Gambling, statistics, probability, tarot, divination, psychology, it's all here. That's the magic system.... Which isn't that much of a system. It's so soft that it can be a bit frustrating at times, but it's so weird that it's refreshing compared to the hard systems that are so prevalent in fantasy now.
I wish I could summarize the story in its entirety, however, I feel that I would not do it justice. This is a book for people who read Neil Gaiman's American Gods and wanted something less 'Divine' and more 'Earthly'. This is a book for people who love Jung's archetypes and the weird parallel mythologies of the world. And the best part is that it's the first book of a three part series.
A single star was docked due to the uneven character development of the main leads throughout the book and for some pacing issues about 70% in.
Aside from that, it's a read I would definitely recommend. Tim Powers is definitely getting put on my list of Authors to keep tabs on.
Tim Powers has successfully written a masterpiece worthy of the highest praises. His ideas are original, unexpected, and weird as all heck. Reading the Last Call is very much unlike any other book I have read.
Gambling, statistics, probability, tarot, divination, psychology, it's all here. That's the magic system.... Which isn't that much of a system. It's so soft that it can be a bit frustrating at times, but it's so weird that it's refreshing compared to the hard systems that are so prevalent in fantasy now.
I wish I could summarize the story in its entirety, however, I feel that I would not do it justice. This is a book for people who read Neil Gaiman's American Gods and wanted something less 'Divine' and more 'Earthly'. This is a book for people who love Jung's archetypes and the weird parallel mythologies of the world. And the best part is that it's the first book of a three part series.
A single star was docked due to the uneven character development of the main leads throughout the book and for some pacing issues about 70% in.
Aside from that, it's a read I would definitely recommend. Tim Powers is definitely getting put on my list of Authors to keep tabs on.