Tarot Fiction

Sulis

10-06-2007, 21:14

David Skibbins has a series of 'Tarot mysteries', I've read one of them 'The Eight of Swords' which was very entertaining.
The main character is a tarot reader who seems to get himself involved in crime and he has to get to the bottom of it.
I would read the other books in the series but they are quite hard to get in the UK.

http://www.amazon.com/Eight-Swords-Tarot-Card-Mystery/dp/0312352255/ref=sr_1_1/102-9835447-7067341?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181473849&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/High-Priestess-Tarot-Card-Mystery/dp/0312352344/ref=sr_1_2/102-9835447-7067341?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181473849&sr=1-2
http://www.amazon.com/Star-Tarot-Card-Mystery/dp/0312361939/ref=sr_1_4/102-9835447-7067341?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181473849&sr=1-4

Scion

11-06-2007, 03:01

You might also look at Tarotpedia's fiction page. (http://www.tarotpedia.com/wiki/index.php?title=Tarot_Books:_Fiction)

Mariana

11-06-2007, 05:56

There is also 'Tarot Fantastic' by Greenberg, another short story collection. It's ok, but not great.

coyoteblack

11-06-2007, 10:54

Anyone out there know of any fiction that uses tarot as a subject? I read a brilliant one once about a tarot reader and a supermarket but I cant for the life of me remember the name and have never seen it since. Also read 'The greater trumps' but found it a bit old fashioned for my taste.

piers anthony wrote a book caled tarot I read it when I was younger few times was a real great read

SaintOfScreams

12-06-2007, 05:01

Tarot Cafe is a fictional manga series.

balenciaga

21-06-2007, 01:37

OOPS! I just posted a new thread on "Talking Tarot" about tarot references in Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian" (1985).
I will check out the other forums listed here. (Sorry for the misplaced post).:!:

Sulis

24-08-2007, 10:05

I've just finished reading 'Five of Cups' by Wendy Mewes. I really enjoyed it :)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Five-Cups-Wendy-Mewes/dp/0953600173/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/203-6222586-6606341?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187913877&sr=8-3

RufusJ

24-08-2007, 10:19

Charles Williams, a contemporary of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, wrote a book called "The Greater Trumps", which of course has tarot at its very heart. I've read it several times now and thoroughly enjoy it. The writing is somewhat old fashioned but it's great for a winter's afternoon.

rufusj

Saturness

25-08-2007, 08:44

Joanne Harris, who wrote the book 'Chocolate' that recently became a movie starring Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche, has a book named 'Holy Fools', in which the main character reads tarot cards! This book is really, really great, i do recommend to anyone interested in a nice story, with great characters and a bit of tarot ;)

Glass Owl

25-08-2007, 11:06

Accidentally Engaged by Mary Carter
The main character is a psychic and she also reads Tarot cards. The Prologue's main focus is about the Fool card and the story kicks off with a woman wanting a Tarot reading.

The Psychic Eye series by Victoria Laurie is really fun and the second book in the series is titled "Better Read Than Dead." In this book the psychic (who doesn't read cards) gets a crash course in reading them when her friend convinces her to help give readings for a wedding party.

Lleminawc

25-08-2007, 18:54

The FInger and the Moon by Geoffrey Ashe is not explicitly about Tarot but all the images from the Major Trumps turn up in some form or other. Also the Magus by John Fowles is supposed to be partly inspired by Tarot.

Teheuti

28-08-2007, 14:47

Check out my review of _The Devil, the Lovers, & Me: My Life in Tarot_ at:
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/book...-lovers-and-me/

This book is a memoir written in the style of humorous chick-lit fiction. I think it's a significant work that shows how Tarot can be used for personal insight.

I've also started a thread about the book and just today asked the author if she'd be willing to visit the forum and answer some questions. She said she'd love to.

Mary

Glass Owl

28-08-2007, 22:03

Joanne Harris, who wrote the book 'Chocolate' that recently became a movie starring Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche, has a book named 'Holy Fools', in which the main character reads tarot cards! After reading your post I pulled down a book that is one of my BTBR (Books To Be Read) and its by Joanne Harris too. It is titled "Sleep, Pale Sister." On the back cover is says it is "a gothic tour-de-force that recalls the powerfully dark sensibility of her novel 'Holy Fools.'" It goes on to say that it "combines the ethereal beauty of a Pre-Raphaelite painting with a chilling high gothic tale, and is as testament of Harris's briming cornucopia of talents."

What drew my attention to the book in the store was that the story is broken up with pages that state the name of a Tarot card. I don't know if Tarot cards are mentioned in the story or not.
The Hermit
The Star
The Nine of Swords
The Knave of Coins
The High Priestess
The Moon
Change
The Ace of Swords
The Two of Cups
The Hanged Man
Death

Doing a bit of online research on Joanne Harris I haven't seen any mention of her saying that she uses Tarot cards. However, her book "Runemarks" (to be published Sept. 2007), is about runes. On her pesonal website http://www.joanne-harris.co.uk
she talks about the book and runes.

Troubadour

15-09-2007, 07:02

The major arcana is the classical journey of the fool, and it has inspired many fiction writers. I think you could make the argument that everything from The Iliad to the Lord of the Rings is inspired by the Fool's journey in the cards.
Here comes the self-plug... including two of my own, The Last Troubadour... reviewed so kindly and wonderfully by Bonnie Cehovet in Aeclectic's book reviews here http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/books/last-troubadour/ ... and the sequel The Last Quest due next year with the tie-in Troubadour deck... plug over. There's a very famous novel where strangers get together somewhere in Europe -- famous, but I can't remember the name! -- and because they don't speak each other's language they end up telling their stories with the cards...

That's how I view the cards. The entire human experience is summed up in those visual metaphors and they inspire the imagination. It's no wonder they fascinate anyone creative!

Teheuti

15-09-2007, 07:08

There's a very famous novel where strangers get together somewhere in Europe -- famous, but I can't remember the name! -- and because they don't speak each other's language they end up telling their stories with the cards...
The book you're referring to is _The Castle of Crossed Destinies_ by Italo Calvino, translated from the Italian.

Troubadour

15-09-2007, 09:46

That's it thank you, Teheuti!!

ahclem

15-09-2007, 10:26

SixDegrees

15-09-2007, 16:00

I remember seeing a book in the bargain books section of Barnes and Noble not too long ago. The title escapes me, but it had pictures of some RWS major arcana cards on the cover. The Tower is featured most prominently, and I remember from the inside flap that the book had something to do with tarot and death and adventure and so forth. I'm sorry I can't remember more than that, but it might still be there if you care to look (I remember seeing it at multiple locations).

Bonnie

16-09-2007, 23:47

This is a really exceptional book! It is also the first of a trilogy. I cannot wait for the next book which, as Derek stated, is coming out with a companion deck. This should be very interesting!

Blessings,
Bonnie

vision777

18-09-2007, 03:06

Last Love in Constantinople-Tarot Novel for Divination by Milorad Pavic
is a good book I did not finish reading it but I remember it was a story about his life and he was relating the tarot cards to it.

LillyCat

20-09-2007, 21:29

British author Kate Mosse (Labyrinth) has just written a new novel on the tarot and which uses a tarot deck as the central point of the story - I started a thread on it in this section. That might be very interesting but it doesn't come out until October (in the UK) - mind you, if you are from the States, you've probably already got it ;)

6 Haunted Days

20-09-2007, 22:14

I'd heartily recommend the astonishing Little, Big by John Crowley. Not only does a tarot deck play a central part in the novel, but totally apart from that, it's just an amazing book.

Lee Bursten wrote a great review of it (www.tarotpassages.com/littlebi.htm), so I won't bother repeating it here, but I just can't recommend it highly enough. Go read it. Really.

(One note, the Amazon link in Lee's review is to a no-longer-in-print version. The currently available version is here (www.amazon.com/Little-Big-P-S-John-Crowley/dp/0061120057).)

How did I miss this post?!

Little Big is on my top 5 books of all time. What complete melancholy enchantment. Each time you read it, something new reveals itself. Like the house, the words rearrange themselves. Crowley is a sheer brilliant word artist, he weaves stardust.

Has anyone seen the amazing 25th anniversary edition? You can get it in many formats, and you do not see this kind of craftmanship anymore! http://www.littlebig25.com/
I'll be getting one soon (I do so hope).

Miss 6

moderndayruth

24-09-2007, 10:39

Single White E-mail by Jessica Adams; i didn't know she was a "psychic astrologer" untill now that i googled the title of the book (couldn't remember the author's name). It's chick-lit, but it's readable, the main character, in search for love, gets online readings and the story is suffused with coincidencies and omens.

ahclem

14-10-2007, 17:56

How did I miss this post?!

Little Big is on my top 5 books of all time. What complete melancholy enchantment. Each time you read it, something new reveals itself. Like the house, the words rearrange themselves. Crowley is a sheer brilliant word artist, he weaves stardust.

Has anyone seen the amazing 25th anniversary edition? You can get it in many formats, and you do not see this kind of craftmanship anymore! http://www.littlebig25.com/
I'll be getting one soon (I do so hope).
And how did I miss your reply?!

My wife gave me a subscription for a Numbered copy of the 25th Anniversary Edition back in 2004 when the project was first announced. It's currently running about a year late relative to their original schedule, but it is going to be so worth the wait. (I just received the "Suppose One Were a Fish" printing test poster and it is absolutely stunning.)

Read this book, people. Seriously.

Mariana

14-10-2007, 19:14

You people have made me very curious about this book, so I've ordered it...

Troubadour

19-10-2007, 02:43

I enjoyed Piers Anthony's book, too (I'm hoping he'll review my book). My favorite all time "tarot-themed" fiction would have to be Ramon Lull's 13th century Blanquerna, which is not so much a book inspired by the Tarot, but the book that probably inspired the early tarot creators in developing various major arcana cards (especially the Fool.. in Blanquera, Ramon the Fool).

I used Ramon Lull and Ramon the Fool as the inspiration for the main character in my own Tarot-themed book (new this season)-- which is both tarot-plotted (Journey of the Fool) and Tarot-character inspired (each major arcana card is a character). The Last Troubadour picked up an unusual "recommended for all public libraries" rating from Library Journal in a review just yesterday: "A handsome troubadour with a beguiling voice leads an astonishing escape heist aided by a witch, a saint, and a couple of knights, monks, and other assorted characters both great and humble. The setting is southern France, the year, 1241. Tales about the Inquisition are not supposed to be amusing and entertaining, but Armstrong (The Game) manages to make them just that while keeping historical integrity mostly intact, if making free use of real and folkloric events alike. The fortified city of Carcassonne-also the location for Kate Mosse's Labyrinth-is held by bickering secular and religious authority much aggravated by the capture of The Jewel, a symbolic leader of the Cathar heresy. Readers will encounter a surprising amount of detail on medieval life that unfolds at a steady pace until the impossible rescue of the Silver Dame at a May Day festival. Two more volumes are on the way, ending at the siege of Montségur. Readers who enjoyed James Patterson and Andrew Gross's The Jester are bound to like this straightforward narrative, and, it should be mentioned, these historical events are a backstory in The Da Vinci Code. Recommended for all public libraries."-

Bonnie

19-10-2007, 03:07

Derek:

Congratulations on that well written, very positive review! I loved Ramon and company, and cannot wait for the secodn book in the series (and the special deck that, crossing my fingers, may accompany it!).

Blessings,
Bonnie

Teheuti

26-10-2007, 03:22

I just stumbled across a novel called _The Wishing Garden_ by Christy Yorke. How could I have missed it? There's even a glowing review by Diane Wilkes:
http://www.tarotpassages.com/wishgard.htm

Anyway, it's a gentle romance in the style of Alice Hoffman or Nicholas Sparks, but with lots of Tarot. The main character is a Tarot reader and sees everything in terms of Tarot cards. Her meanings for the cards are a little bit different than the standard RWS, although the chapter headings are illustrated with that deck.

Haven't finished it yet, so am taking it on my trip to Egypt.

Mary

Kevink

12-06-2008, 18:44

If I recall correctly, Piers Anthony's Cluster series, as well as the Tarot trilogy
deals with tarot.
_Last Call_ by Tim Powers might prove interesting.
_The Raven Ring_ by Patricia Wrede has an interrupted card reading as a major part of the plot.
_Little, Big_ by John Crowley is very good too. There's a nice new edition coming out this summer that I'm getting, I like the book so much, but there are lots of paperback copies around.

Richard Pickman

09-08-2008, 14:52

The Magus by John Fowles (http://www.amazon.com/Magus-John-Fowles/dp/0316296198/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218256944&sr=1-1)

I just read this book, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The tarot does not directly play a huge part in the story (at least not overtly), but it is definitely in there. This is a creepy, compelling, and disturbing book. Highly recommended.

Cerulean

18-08-2008, 12:36

Kimberlee Auerbach's book is reviewed nicely and warmly by Teheuti and I waited for it to come in paperback...lovely 12 card spread and following chapters
do a good almost-from-real-love-life accounts...realistic enough and entertaining enough to feel real.

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/books/devil-lovers-and-me/

But the book that captured my imagination for it's curiously shadow-and-twilight feel is an English-based novel called Beyond Black and it's the novel that has the Tower on the front. The RWS cards that are photographed and he slightly aged bu U.S. Games Systems Inc is still visible on the lower right side of he cards ad the Death card and the Fool card are slightly visible in back.

It's more a psychic-suspense-with a kind of chilly humor and matter-of-factness
from the standpoint of a psychic who makes her living in a kind of twilight world. The main character does psychic readings and small venues in the townships and working class areas of London and the country. She's got a low-class psychic
spirit guide whose quite irritating, but she's also being helped by a young divorced woman who an efficient assistant. The efficient assistant is trying to learn to be a psychic herself. I've only started the book and the way the spirit guides and tarot images pop up in the mind of the main character is quite---well, a good read if you like a chilly novel on a very warm afternoon.

Darn good fiction! I'm going to google it...

http://www.amazon.com/tag/books-mantel/products

Hope this helps!

Cerulean

Polympolym

19-08-2008, 02:31

Cardcaptor Sakura is the best thing I know so far.

reine de saba

20-08-2008, 19:02

I read Mantel's Beyond Black three times and obviously adored it.

Just read a positive review in the New York times for the Grift by Debra Ginsberg, about a charlatan tarot card reader who suddenly receives genuine psychic abilities and what that does to her life and the business she's built up.

here's the review
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/books/20schi.html

-saba

balenciaga

21-08-2008, 00:43

I Just read a positive review in the New York times for the Grift by Debra Ginsberg, about a charlatan tarot card reader who suddenly receives genuine psychic abilities and what that does to her life and the business she's built up.

Saba just read my mind.:)

memries

21-08-2008, 00:50

Roberston Davies was a Canadian author. His books were must reads in college. His credentials are amazing really.
Anyway some of his books involved Tarot. In fact one was about a gypsy family. It seems so long ago not sure of the name it might have been the Manticore. I would not mind reading them all again. In those days I did not have Tarot cards but was interested.

Trump Lloyd

21-08-2008, 03:55

Occult/noir/mystery: The Last Days of Madame Rey by A. W. Hill. The the prologue and the twenty-one chapters are illustrated by small RWS images. The book cover uses a TdM death card image. Haven't read it yet. Bought it from Amazon for a penny + shipping.

In The Last Days of Madame Rey, Raszer's task is yet another daring rescue, this time to retrieve an ambitious young lawyer from the wrong side of the karmic tracks. But once hired by Fortis Cohn's worried father, who hopes to free his son from the spell cast by right-wing demagogue Bronk Vreeland, Raszer finds himself at the vortex of a startling series of eerie events.

Could Vreeland's Mt. Shasta-based Military Order of Thule be unleashing the unnatural earthquake spasms rippling through Northern California? Has April Blessing, Raszer's stunningly sensuous and far too independent-minded operative, misjudged her ability to handle Bronk's fascination with her?

Most importantly, what ancient mysteries are encode on the document left behind at Madame Rey's Palmistry & Tarot Parlor by a doomed film executive?

The author's site is at awhill.net

balenciaga

21-08-2008, 21:48

Ambrosia

21-08-2008, 23:00

Wow! I had no idea this thread had been dredged up again. Thanks for all the reading suggestions guys, there's certainly some interesting food for thought in here. :D Id forgotten all about posting this question. Awesome! Still blimmin wondering about that book with the Tarot reader and a supermarket though LOL!

aja

26-08-2008, 02:51

Memries, you are correct. The books that you're thinking of though are "The Lyre of Orpheus" and "What's Bred in the Bone." "The Rebel Angels" is the first book of this trilogy, and I don't remember if Maria's mother and uncle are featured much in it or not (it's been a while since I've read it) "The Manticore" is from a different trilogy, IIRC

Skydancer

16-09-2008, 02:49

Has anyone mentioned Accidentally Engaged? Cute read.

Also The Castle of Crossed Destinies by Italo Calvino? Super idea.

*S*

[well if I would have read more carefully I would have seen they are mentioned on the first page. duh!]

Great lists, btw. I am going to go Amazon shopping again here pretty soon. Well - okay; after New Year's.

Teheuti

18-09-2008, 06:51

Occult/noir/mystery: The Last Days of Madame Rey by A. W. Hill.
Just finished this book and loved it. Perfect for when you want an intriguing mystery/thriller with an occult/alternate realities twist. It may be a bit far out for some. There's not a whole lot of tarot reading but lots of references to the tarot and its history ala Paul Foster Case. Also some interesting use of the BOTA/GD Kabbalistic associations.

starlightexp

19-09-2008, 02:08

Johathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke make use of the older decks in the story...mmmmmm love that book

memries

19-09-2008, 02:37

Thanks Aja..I was looking again today when this thread came up again.
I think The Fifth Business was about archetypal symbols as in "trickster" as well which would relate to Tarot.

I am going to start reading everything he wrote. And reading over the Trilogy's I have read as well. There is such a lack of accomplished writing on the market and I am really tired of reading, writing that is not inspiring.

I just finished reading Herman Wouk's Inside, Outside and I found it marvellous as well. I don't know how I ever missed that one of his but I did.

Egypt Urnash

01-10-2008, 12:22

Alan Moore and J.H. Williams' comic book Promethea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promethea) is, for most of its run, a tour through the entire Sephrioth, with encounters with most of the Tarot cards along the way. Crowley pops up, as does chaos-magician favorite A.O. Spare.

(Issue 12 is a quick overview of all the Major Arcana; the rest of the series' run is the tour along the Sephrioth. 1-11 set up the world and the situation.)

It's pretty difficult reading in places, with the occasional strange panel layout. And certainly not for kids; Moore gets very very direct about what 'putting a wand in a cup' is a symbol for early on. Ahem.

It does not, necessarily, succeed as either an entertaining read or a discourse on Moore's variety of chaos magic, but it is one damn interesting experiment.

Debra

01-10-2008, 13:33

NOVA, by Samuel R. Delany. A wonderful old sci-fi book--I'd say proto-cyberpunk--with a card-reading central character; hinges on questions of fate and free will. I re-read it every year :D

Probably two bucks in any decent-sized used bookstore with a big paperback sci-fi section.

Anam Cara

01-10-2008, 13:59

Up to page 93 of "The Grift" by Debra Ginsberg - just published -
The main character talks about every issue in tarot that can be discussed, as we do here on AT. Who knows, maybe the author is one of us:)
This book is waiting on hold for me at the library!
Thank you balenciaga for suggesting it!
First I need to finish "Sepulchre" - about a hundred pages to go...
I'm really enjoying the read and the references to Tarot.
:heart:cara