The secret history of Las Vegas
Written: Aug 24 '08 (Updated Aug 24 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: A strong novel and a powerful example of the "secret history" genre.
Cons: Only loosely tied to prequels/sequels, when it's an obvious candidate for extended dedicated series treatment.
The Bottom Line: I strongly recommend Last Call to fantasy readers and to those interested in the "secret history" genre.
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| tlknapp's Full Review: Tim Powers - Last Call |
I recently re-read Last Call, ten years after my first reading, and found it just as compelling the second time around as the first. It's a solid fantasy novel with strong characters, a plot that keeps the reader on tenterhooks, and several worthwhile themes (the nature of existence, the importance of relationships, etc.).
First things first: Powers's specialty is the "secret history" -- the novel set against the backdrop of the real world but with strange and magical things going on behind the scenes. He prides himself on adhering to the known historical facts and timelines, but fills the interstices of both with matching, mythical power struggles.
In Last Call his topics are poker and Las Vegas.
We know that "Bugsy" Siegel built the Flamingo in the desert and that the dusty town eventually became a gambling mecca.
Per _Last Call_, what we don't know is that Vegas's raison d'etre in Siegel's scheme was to make him immortal by allowing his mind/soul to seize control of others' bodies and use them; that Siegel was killed by a competitor in this enterprise; and that the struggle to become and remain the "king" in an archetypal/supernatural "court" continues.
Siegel's killer is Georges Leon, a gambler who has already assumed control of one of his sons and is about to treat the younger son in the same fashion when his wife intervenes, sending the son off into anonymous exile and committing suicide before Leon can force her to betray him.
Fast-forward two decades: Scott Crane, an orphan adopted by a poker player who found him twenty years before, becomes embroiled in the plot when he plays a game of poker (a game called "Assumption") which turns out, unbeknownst to him, to be part of this whole body-stealing process.
Fast-forward another two decades: The world begins to fall apart around Crane as the process reaches its climax, and he finds himself in a fight for his life, body and soul.
Powers ably weaves the myth of the Fisher King, the archetypes represented in the Tarot Deck, the history of Las Vegas, and the rules, rituals and attractions of poker into the tale. Through side plots such as the struggle of Crane's neighbor and compatriot to defeat cancer, he also brings in some of the "Big Questions" about reality and what strange things underlie it.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
tlknapp
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Member: Thomas Knapp
Location: Saint Louis, MO USA
Reviews written: 82
Trusted by: 11 members
About Me:
Libertarian activist, writer, publisher of Rational Review and Kn@ppster.
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