Deck Review: Steampunk Art Nouveau Tarot

Luca Strati (art) and Jaymi Elford (text), Steampunk Art Nouveau Tarot. Torino, Italy: Lo Scarabeo, 2022.  ISBN: 9780738774084. (Link to Llewellyn, US Distributor).

Genre: Tarot cards

Subgenre: steampunk, art nouveau

Format; 78-card deck with little white book

Source: I own this one.  

The Hermit-IX

This deck comes in a tuck box with the 78-card deck and a little white book (LWB). In typical Lo Scarabeo way, the LWB is in multiple languages. This one has four languages: English, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. It seems they cut back on translations as other LWB's had up to 6 languages or more, including German, sometimes Russian too. This LWB has 64 pages; the English content has 21 pages.

The LWB, written by Jaymi Elford, includes a one-page introduction and description of the deck's concept. It teases a tale of airships and steampunk; we just get small hints of a steampunk world. Next we get the card entries for the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana. The Major Arcana and Minor Arcana card entries describes card scene in a sentence or two followed by meaning keywords and reversed meaning keywords. The LWB ends with one card spread: the 4-card Engineer's Method, a "layout to gain insight into your own processes" (21). 

Four of Cups

It would have been nice if Lo Scarabeo had commissioned a companion book. You get mentions of characters and steampunk settings but aside from names and a very minimal description of a word or two, you are left wondering what you are missing. That aside,  you get the minimum basics in terms of card meanings. If you are a beginner, you get enough to get started. However, to further your learning you may consider adding a good Tarot handbook. LWB meanings are mostly within the Rider Waite Smith (RWS) tradition. 

The card art by Luca Strati is very nice, blending art nouveau style with steampunk.The art is colorful; blue and gold are predominant. We get plenty of gears, automatons, and machines. The art is well within RWS, and it works well for all card reader levels. Art is expressive, so can work for intuitive readers. The art tone is on the soft side, not too bright. It is very nice art to look at. 

The card labeling is minimal. Major Arcana cards just have a Roman numeral. Minor Arcana cards have Arabic numeral or court symbol with suit symbol. That works for me, and I often like decks with minimal card labels. The cards measure about 4 1/2 inches by 2 1/2 inches. The card back art features an antique clock and gears. It is nice, but it is not reversible. The card stock is thin and adequate with a very light gloss finish. Cards shuffle and slide with ease. 

Fans of steampunk, fantasy, and/or science fiction will want to add this one to their collections. It can work well for beginners, but as I noted add a supplemental Tarot book to aid learning. Otherwise, the deck works for all levels. It works well for me, and I really like it. 

4 out of 5 stars.