Last Call
by Tim Powers

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Book Reviews of Last Call

Book Review: A Monument to Imagination
Summary: 5 Stars

Scott Crane is a man who loses. As a child, he lost an eye. As a young man, he lost his soul in a card game. As an adult, is wife dies and he loses his will to survive. Until he is drawn to Las Vegas, where the last Fisher King died, and learns his is one of four Jacks vying for the right to assume the King's place.

It sounds wacky and ridiculous and I'm sure it would fall flat in any hands but those of Tim Powers. But Powers is a master of Urban Magic, at finding mystery in the oridinary and in drawing conclusions from history that might only be inferred by a madman. But once he has cast his eye on a subject and explained it to us, it all makes sense. We wonder why we never saw it before.

In typical fashion, Powers has selected Eliot's "The Waste Land" as a sort of working illustration of the story, writing elements that make you stop and think "Oh, ho! Eliot was in on it, too!". Powers uses the poem to good effect, as he has with the Romantic poets in "The Stress of Her Regard" and other works.

I don't get excited about many books or many authors, but this is one of the best. Powers is an amazing talent, always satisfying, always fresh and always jaw-droppingly unique.

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• Books > Subjects > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction
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• Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy