Novel about Marseille deck?

[Psy]

Hey everyone!
I wondered if you could help me. Apparently, i'm somehow isolated from tarot novels , as i dont seem to be able to find any novel spinning around tarot heavily which is also rather modern.
I say this because i read Italo Calvino's Castle of crossed destinies and was a major dissapointment...

So, the thread is aimed for those who have read cool entertaining and why not enlightening novels about the Marseille deck, and want to share their thoughts about them.
Of course, reccomendations are more than welcome !

So, what have you guys read ?

John

 

[Psy]

oooooooooooooooooook, so no marseille novels !

 

[Debra]

The problem I had with the Castle of Crossed Destinies is my eyes kept crossing from boredom.

This one will keep you awake: Last Call, by Tim Powers. The deck is the "Lombardy Zeroeth." A fantastic read. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Call_(novel)

I haven't read it, but there's The Last Troubadour: http://www.amazon.com/Last-Troubadour-Song-Montsegur/dp/1601640102

There's a list of tarot-related novels and movies somewhere over at the tarottotes.com website, too.

 

[Psy]

I too got too bored at reading it ... The stories were so forced and senseless...

Anyway, thanks a lot for the recs !!! I'll check them out !

John

 

[Debra]

Also the sci fi oldie "Nova" by Samuel Delany...not hard to find. I've always liked it.

 

[Nevada]

Well it's not modern except maybe to someone born early in the last century -- it was written in 1932 -- and I can't vouch for how good it is or how much Tarot is involved, because I haven't read it yet. But I have The Greater Trumps by Charles Williams on my to-be-read stack. It was recommended by Scion in another thread. The review by Nigel Jackson at Amazon says it involves "the prototypal deck of Tarot cards..." Hmm, I think that review just moved it up in my reading stack a few notches.

There are the fantasy (or SF?) novels by Pierce Anthony that involve Tarot. I haven't read those yet either. But they're twenty or so years old, so I guess "modern" will depend on how old you are. I think the titles are:

God of Tarot
Vision of Tarot
Faith of Tarot

There are also four recent mysteries (2000 to present, not sure of exact years) by David Skibbins: Eight of Swords -- which I reviewed at Amazon and on a thread somewhere here. He also wrote three mysteries that I haven't read yet: The Star, The High Priestess, and The Hanged Man. The first one was a fun read, and I still intend to read his others. I just haven't taken time for much fiction in recent years. (I really should though.)

But I don't know that any of those I've listed specifically involve the Marseille.

 

[Greg Stanton]

The novel "Little, Big" is, IMO, one of the greatest novels ever written. Tarot cards play a small but significant role in the plot — a deck that resembles a regular tarot deck but has trumps that differ (called the "lesser trumps" by the author). The Cousin, The Banquet, etc.

An emotional, but difficult read. If you can read the last 50 or so pages without getting them wet, hats off to you.

 

[Debra]

I'll second the motion for "Little, Big."

 

[Lillie]

Little, Big is a wonderful book.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is also a wonderful book and has a Marseilles deck featured in it, though it is not a main part of the plot or anything like that.
But it's a brilliant book and worth reading regardless of the cards.

 

[Dogmother]

Lillie you're absolutely on the button with "Jonathan Strange"! I'd adore that book without a tarot mention at all. But I liked that it was in there.