Tarot Fantastic

Delaplace, Barbara: "In the Cards", George Wilson has found a purpose sadly lacking in his day job (a lab technician running tests of impressive appearance and little value for a pointy-haired boss) and family (a brother perpetually plunging into get-rich-quick schemes). George's real talent for guidance lets him help serious clients: a teacher concerned about a child's problems, a stressed-out CEO. But when George's brother makes a colossal blunder, George must choose between violating his card-reading principles and abandoning his brother to loan sharks. de Lint, Charles: "Wild Horses" opens in Newford with the viewpoint of Dan, dreaming of horses running free while enmeshed in the chains of heroin addiction. The rest of the story (in 3rd person) follows Cassie, a card reader in the open-air market of the Pier, beginning on the day Dan's sister Laura asked Cassie to help find him. Cassie has two decks of cards: a Tarot deck, and a beat-up deck of more unusual cards with a strange history. In her view, "magic" is a word with two meanings: one for those who don't want to think, and one for those who seek tools to deeper understanding. The story is non-linear, one thread tracing Cassie's search for Dan, another her own past - how she came to read cards through her own search for a missing friend. Excellent story of overlapping worlds, and not just the spirit world and the material world. Perception, after all, is the heart of magic. Edgerton, Teresa: The "Tower of Brass" contains only two living things: the magician Magnus and his daughter, brought with him long ago upon fleeing persecution (or criminal charges, as the case may be). Rosamund longs for a companion other than the clockwork servants, but has no experience of consideration for living things. Then a magical accident - is it? - brings Nick to the otherwise lifeless island, with a nagging memory of having heard of these inhabitants before...(Apparently not set in the Goblin universe.) Edghill, Rosemary: "The Intersection of Anastasia Yeoman and Light", like that of light and a prism, makes visible that which wasn't visible without those things. The narrator's reading for Anastasia at a party turns up two 5 of Cups, marking her *own* life's turning point: writing or editing? (Ironically, this story is itself poorly edited.) She thinks of conventions as a kind of Elf Hill, visited frequently, in which she sees the last author she ever expected: herself. Effinger, George Alec: "Solo in the Spotlight" Sick, sick, sick. :) For his first official reading, the President's psychic adviser must use the First Daughter's Tarot cards - a Barbie Tarot deck. (Told from the President's viewpoint, whose significator is the King of Shoes - err, Swords...) Elliott, Kate: "The Gates of Joriun" One of the strongest stories herein, though like the Hanged Man, it embodies in a state of suspension. The narrator, sister of the rightful heir, has always been her brother's great strength, and the usurper sw

the first several stories are much more traditionalistic and common, though they do have some originality to them.. that is, the ideas are wattered down, and the plots are a tad cliche.. soon though, very soon in it, some the third or fourth story, it delves into the delightful realm of mystic horror and nostalgic drama.. fairly recent as well, so you can expect that much of what we find in everyday culture is also present in the present-day tales.. a great deal of fun to read.. personal favorites: chattel, the intersection of anastaisia yeoman (sp) and light, and the tower.. seriously recommended