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Title: The Last Coin by James P. Blaylock ISBN: 0-441-47075-0 Publisher: Ace Books Pub. Date: May, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.99

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Average Customer Rating: 4.56 (18 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: Brilliant modern fantasy
Comment: If you think fantasy is multi-volume novels about groups of midgets searching for lost jewelry then you probably won't like _The Last Coin_. James Blaylock creates a fantasy world in modern day Southern California that is far more interesting and far more terrifying than anything you'll find in any of the works by Tolkien wannabees. such as Robert Jordan. _The Last Coin_ is about the evil Jules Pennyman's struggle for the 30th piece of silver that was paid Judas Iscariot for the betrayal of Christ. Once Pennyman has all thirty pieces of silver he will gain vast dark powers and be able to rule the world. Pennyman's foe is innkeeper Andrew Bergen, who begins to suspect that something is up with Pennyman when he moves into his boarding house. As the book progresses more and more is revealed about the coins and how they are all coming together under Pennyman's conttrol and how the ultimate fate of the world lies in the bumbling Andrew's hands.

Rating: 5
Summary: Quirky, humorous--If it doesn't click right away, keep going
Comment: Several years ago, I sat down and tried to read this book. At the time, it just didn't click for me (maybe it was my mood--who knows?). When I finally came back to it last week (after exposure to a couple of other Blaylock novels), I was immediately caught-up in the magic.

Quirky, at times almost insane, characters band together to battle an evil man who is intent on hording the 30 pieces of silver paid to Judas to betray Christ. When the coins are all together in one place, the person who owns them will wield untold power. In the midst of trying to start a bed and breakfast inn, the hero, Andrew Vanbergen, realizes that he has come into ownership of the last coin of the title and engages in a battle of wits with the mysterious Pennyman, who owns the other 29.

James P. Blaylock, along with his friend Tim Powers, is a master of this sort of thing, drawing together a wide array of seemingly-unconnected incidents and historical allusions into a conspiracy that makes a lot of sense. Coupled with quirky characters and humourous incidents, this is a marvelous, memorable novel.

Rating: 5
Summary: Foibles Foil the Apocalypse
Comment: The evil Jules Pennyman is out to collect 30 ancient silver coins, each one a magical talisman, paid to Judas to betray his Master two millenia ago. The last coin lies somewhere in Southern California, and Andrew Bergen, a foolish, but likeable loser is its unwitting caretaker.

In this unlikely setting, Blaylock unfolds a realist-fantasy of subtle humor and adventures that don't quite cross over the border into farce. Populated with such delightful obscurities of American culture as Wheetabix (used to be Ruskets, no sugar added, got mushy real fast) cereal and a Nash Metropolitan, the novel delights as much with trivial backdrops as with plot and character.

The plot unfolds as a competition between the court jester (Bergen) and the evil magus (Pennyman). Thinking himself a great schemer, Bergen's innocence keeps getting him into misadventures that slowly advance and unfold the plot. Pennyman, meanwhile, acts directly, and with Knowledge. Although he sees through Bergen, cannot fathom his behavior, and therein lies the possibility of saving the world.

Quirky. Adventurous. More fun than a barrel full of hobbits. A must read unless your fantasy just =HAS= to be populated with dragons, orcs, and the like. ...

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