Troubadour
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."-
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."-