Last Call is a fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 novel by Tim Powers

Tim Powers

Timothy Thomas "Tim" Powers is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels Last Call and Declare...

. It was published in New York by Harper Collins in 1996 with ISBN 0-380-72846-X. It is the first book in a loose trilogy

Trilogy

A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...

 called Fault Lines; the second book, Expiration Date

Expiration Date (novel)

Expiration Date is a 1996 fantasy novel by Tim Powers. It was nominated for both the Nebula and World Fantasy Awards in 1996.-Plot summary:There are two main protagonists and two main antagonists....

(1995

1995 in literature

The year 1995 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*The Dylan Thomas Centre in Swansea is opened by Jimmy Carter....

), is vaguely related to Last Call, the third book, Earthquake Weather (1997

1997 in literature

The year 1997 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Tom Clancy signs a book deal with Pearson Custom Publishing and Penguin Putnam Inc. , giving him US$50 million for the world-English rights to two new books . A second agreement gives him another US$25 million for a...

), acts as a sequel

Sequel

A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...

 to the first two books.

Major themes

Like many of Powers' novels, Last Call features a detailed magic

Magic (paranormal)

Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...

 system, here based on divinatory tarot, and draws on mythical or historical events and characters, in this case Bugsy Siegel

Bugsy Siegel

Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel was an American gangster who was involved with the Genovese crime family...

 and the development of Las Vegas

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

 casino

Casino

In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...

s as well as the legend of the Fisher King

Fisher King

The Fisher King, or the Wounded King, figures in Arthurian legend as the latest in a line charged with keeping the Holy Grail. Versions of his story vary widely, but he is always wounded in the legs or groin, and incapable of moving on his own...

. Powers makes use of T. S. Eliot

T. S. Eliot

Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...

's poem The Waste Land

The Waste Land

The Waste Land[A] is a 434-line[B] modernist poem by T. S. Eliot published in 1922. It has been called "one of the most important poems of the 20th century." Despite the poem's obscurity—its shifts between satire and prophecy, its abrupt and unannounced changes of speaker, location and time, its...

throughout, which also features the Fisher King legend.

Awards

Last Call won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel

World Fantasy Award for Best Novel

This World Fantasy Award is given to the fantasy novel or novels voted best by a panel of judges, and presented each year at the World Fantasy Convention.-1975:...

 and the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel

Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel

Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel is one of the awards given by Locus Magazine.-External links:* * *...

in 1993.

External links

• Last Call at Worlds Without End