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| Author | Tim Powers |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Rick Lovell |
| Language | English |
| Series | Fault Lines series |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | William Morrow & Co |
Publication date | 1992 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 479 |
| Award | Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel (1993) |
| ISBN | 0-688-10732-X |
| OCLC | 24468483 |
| 813/.54 20 | |
| LC Class | PS3566.O95 L37 1992 |
| Followed by | Expiration Date |
Last Call is afantasy novel by American writerTim Powers. It was published byWilliam Morrow & Co in 1992. It is the first book in a loose trilogy calledFault Lines: the second book,Expiration Date (1995), is vaguely related toLast Call, and the third book,Earthquake Weather (1997), acts as a sequel to the first two books.
The novel focuses on Scott Crane, a professional gambler and grieving middle-aged widower who is the son of Georges Leon, a powerful occultist and mobster. Decades earlier, Leon killedBugsy Siegel to take over the latter's rackets and assume the mantle of theFisher King. Leon also uses a system ofTarot card sorcery to transfer his consciousness into other people's bodies in an attempt to attain immortality, at the cost of turning the person into a mindless automaton. Leon began this magical rite with young Scott before the act was interrupted by Scott's mother who shot and wounded Leon and hid Scott under an assumed identity.
As an adult Scott realizes the events of his youth are unresolved and impacting his current life. He reconnects with his estranged foster father Ozzie and foster sister Diana to confront Leon.Last Call is set mostly in and aroundLos Angeles, California andLas Vegas, Nevada.
Like many of Powers' novels,Last Call features a detailedmagic system, here based ondivinatory tarot, and draws on mythical or historical events and characters. Powers uses details of real-life mobsterBugsy Siegel's life, and the development ofLas Vegascasinos as well as the legend of theFisher King. Powers also makes use ofT. S. Eliot's poemThe Waste Land throughout, which also features the Fisher King legend.
Powers' self-imposed rules prohibit him from disregarding established historical facts and timelines, instead finding alternate supernatural explanations for real-world events which he incorporates into his fiction, a genre known as a "secret history".
Last Call won theWorld Fantasy Award for Best Novel and theLocus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 1993.[1]
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