I came upon this randomly. I was at the library (support your library!) perusing the 'New Books' shelf, and as usual picking up too many books to read when I had plenty still to get to already at home. I always look at the SF/F section here but rarely does anything new there pique my interest. I saw The Last Sun, noted that it was the first in a series, and that it was not an oversized epic. So, I thought, since I am usually years to decades behind the current in my reading, "I will read a new book". I had changing feelings about this novel as I read it; ultimately it was a winner.

From the first line of the prologue (which is only one paragraph), in which the main character introduces himself in a statement that rivals Kvothe in self-importance, my first thoughts were that the book was trying awfully hard to be ultra-cool. Just consider the main character's and his sidekick's names: Rune and Brand; je ne sais pas quoi dire. Every line they uttered dripped with pure snark. The scene quickly shifts into an intense action sequence, very super-spy-plus-magic slick. And then I came to this:

She had translucent honey wings, a dress made of rose petal, and a scent - a musk - of honey and semen.

Uhh... what?

I tried to remain judgmental about the intense ultra-coolness as I continued to read, but here's the thing: it really is fucking cool. So I got over myself and just enjoyed the ride.

Rune Saint John (see what I meant about the names?) is the last son of the Sun noble Atlantean family, and thus is the titular Last Sun. Atlantis has been destroyed and the characters live in New Atlantis, incorporated from our earth. It is a modern urban environment. This society is ruled over by families with names and characteristics drawn from the tarot deck. It seems that only nobles have access to significant magic ability. Rune is young, in his late 30s if I understood correctly, and his species can live for centuries and get more powerful as they age. His family/estate was attacked and destroyed twenty years prior to the novel's events, with him as the sole survivor. His prime companion is Brand, a human, who is tasked with preserving his life and safety, armed only with non-magical weapons and tactical expertise. They share a psychic/magical bond that is appropriately left only partially explained. Brand is the strongest source of snark in the novel, though Rune is no slouch either. They are hardly able to speak without dropping weapons-grade sarcasm.

The use of combat magic in this novel is awesome and intense. Magic-wielding characters store spells in jewelry or other worn objects in order to release them instantly, and once cast the magic can be manipulated by the caster's willpower, either burning up all of the spell's energy in one powerful burst, or stretching it out for a longer-lasting effect. The fighting is highly physical and strategic. Action scenes are frequent and often literally explosive, and are expertly blocked. The intermittent down-times never last too long; they often jump back into action unexpectedly. All in all, it is a thrill ride, with the intensity steadily ratcheting up to the final confrontation.

Emotionally, the characters feel authentic. Rune and Brand's bond is endearing, for all that they are snipping at each other constantly. Their non-romantic devotion to each other is clear. Other relationships develop through the course of events. It can be noted that this is a LGBT-integrated novel. The book states that Atlantean sexuality is not like human sexuality, being more fluid or less restrictive. Most of the romantic relationships are homosexual; the one featured hetero relationship is not particularly healthy. And yes, there is a little bit of hot gay sex. However, I don't think that this book should be categorized as a LGBT fantasy novel or restricted in any way in its marketing, because that is not the main draw. It is refreshing to see diversity in fantasy, which generally strongly favors straight relationships, and white people for that matter. (The latter are still strongly featured here.)

One thing that I feel on the fence about is the world-building, or rather the world-borrowing. The Atlantean society and magic system are unique and well-developed, I have no issue there. What irked me was that New Atlantis was placed not just in a human world, but in our world specifically. In the first chapter when Rune suggests someone have a Tic-Tac, it hurt my suspension of disbelief. Similarly, Rune takes Percocet at one point, and there were cultural references to specific TV shows. I would have preferred to see generic "breath mint" and "pain pill", which would have achieved the same effect, unless the whole point was to specifically tie in our real world. If this was the case, then I would have preferred that the rest of the story involve the human world more fully; here, humans are only occasionally seen as tiresome tourists. This incorporation into our specific world felt unnecessary. The economics of this society also seemed off in a couple of places. For example, despite the fact that Rune was paid ten times his usual compensation for a certain job, the amount was later said to barely cover his cable bill and washing machine repair.

I found one copy editing flub: a certain character is referred by his nickname, 'Max', about 30 pages before this nickname was identified in the narrative. It happened at the beach.

Thus endeth my minor criticisms.

Overall, The Last Sun was an astoundingly strong first novel, and the sequel is just around the corner. The publisher must have felt strongly about it to approve a publishing interval of mere months. The Tarot Sequence is planned as a nine-volume series, according to the author. I did not intend to start a new long fantasy series, but here I am, drawn in and now committed to consuming the rest of these over the following years, provided that [a: K.D. Edwards|17261493|K.D. Edwards|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1517438249p2/17261493.jpg] does not go all GRRM/Rothfuss on us.