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'Card Fictions' is, if nothing else, a very fine looking book. It's a small and neat hardback with a classy, clothy cover that includes a little embossed playing card design.

It's subtitled 'Seven Performance Pieces With An Ordinary Deck', and yes it does indeed contain seven effects that don't use gimmicked cards.

The effects include 'Finger Flicker', in which the magician demonstrates that he can flick a spectator-specified number of cards off the top of a tabled deck, even while blindfolded/looking away. An enthusiastic magic shop assistant sold me the book mostly by raving about this trick and getting me to think 'hmm, that sounds cool'.

Other effects include a memorising-a-deck trick, sneaking a card under a spectator's watch while doing something a bit like that Paul Harris 'fastest draw' trick, sensing the colour of cards under the table, a poker deal, and 'Triple Countdown' in which three cards selected by different spectators all prove to be at numbers in the deck specified by them.

I'm going to come straight out and say that I was fairly disappointed in the book, overall. I enjoyed Hartling's writing style very much and felt he had some really good things to say in terms of performance and so on; the effects are all very well explained and there are also a couple of related essays, something I always enjoy.

However, I just didn't feel that the effects were quite as powerful as I anticipated, especially with the level of sleight and management involved in some cases.

To go into a little more detail, the two effects that interested me most were 'Triple Countdown' and 'Finger Flicker'. I am pretty much obsessed with 'any card at any number' so 'Triple Countdown' appealed greatly. It is not a bad trick at all, and it's also a neat use of what I believe mentalists call 'dual reality' . But (from my point of view) it's not really an 'acaan' effect and (from a general point of view) it is only suitable for certain performing conditions.

Meanwhile, 'Finger Flicker' is also pretty good, but once I'd learned it I suddenly realised that in my eyes it really isn't very magical. For performers who like to showcase their (real or) apparent skill with a pack of cards it is probably well worth a look. But if you are of the outlook that you don't want to look TOO dextrous with a deck then this is a no-no.

In summary: Beautifully written, clever and well-presented. Not for beginners. The effects, to THIS reader, not quite living up to their billing. I can easily imagine another talkmagic reader loving the book.

I would be that TM reader

Interesting review, I thought that it was a fantastic book. Standouts for me were Finger Flicker, Triple Countdown (not really Dual Reality), Master of the Mess and Unforgettable.

The material is not that easy, but I feel it represents some excellent thinking, and the essays are especially nice.

me three...

its a lovely book - some very nice thinking, and nods his head towards one of my favourite magic people...lewis jones...

I'm glad my review has attracted some more enthusiastic responses about the book. I could see that some people would love 'Card Fictions' and I gave it an underwhelming review with some reluctance, because it does have a lot going for it. The effects just weren't for me, I guess. In some cases I feel like I know other approaches to similar tricks that are either easier or cleaner.

Hopefully the variety of opinions in this thread will prove useful to people considering buying the book.