Le Fanu
To be honest, I don't think it's purporting exactly to do that. The name might be a little misjudged. But all those RWS clones that we love (I assume that's a *we*, maybe just *I* if you prefer) are showing different moments, different perspectives, different concepts of a single slice of PCS' ideas for a card. The Llewellyn or Hanson Roberts or - insert-favourite-deck-here are not showing the exact same RWS moment. We can still read with them.I'll be skipping this one.
For me, the charm, utility, and downright genius of the RWS artwork is its delicious ambiguity. That's what makes readings with it so effective. Whatever one thinks of Pamela Colman Smith's draftsmanship skills, the ineffable mystery she imbued in the cards is, in my opinion, what accounts for the popular success of the deck (and of tarot in general).
Thus, I would prefer to keep my brain uncluttered and free of images that purport to show me what happened in front of, behind, above, below, in the future, or in the past of the RWS cards. As the reader, that's my job.
I think to judge this deck on a yardstick of "it's-just-the-next-moment" is a shame. I think that as a reading deck it works better than that. At least for me. It's more a case of shifting the stress slightly and still seeing the same scene. Some cards are imperceptibly different. There are a couple I can't quite see such a significant difference. But I keep coming back to it. I felt that, since 1983 when I first started using the RWS, I've been getting a little staid with it. I love this new shift - much better than the New Vision, which didn't work for me at all. I admit that there is loads in PCS´ artwork, but not sure that after three decades it still surprises me. It doesn't. I'll be honest. I don't think I'm a philistine but I don't actually think that PCS' artwork is inexhaustible.
I like it (PCS' artwork) but I've been looking at it for a long time. I'll come back to it afresh sometime soon. Honestly Lee, I think if you could have a play with it and do a reading for someone, I bet you'd quite like it... It isn't sacrilege, really I do think there's more to it as a reading deck than just "what comes next".