THE LAST SUN by K.D. Edwards – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards
Series: The Tarot Sequence #1
Published by Pyr Books on June 12 2018
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 384
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Bursting with complex magic, populated with fascinating and lovable characters, and written in sparkling prose, The Last Sun can’t possibly be a debut. And yet.

Pyr is knocking it out of the park lately, folks. And I mean you need to start paying attention if you aren’t already. After I was bowled over by Tracy Townsend’s debut last November, The Nine, I figured they wouldn’t be able to top themselves. But along comes The Last Sun by debut author K.D. Edwards and once again I’m left in awe of how amazing a debut can be. I loved everything about this book: the characters, the relationships, the humor and snark (oh yes, some serious snark!), the magic system, the world-building, the pacing and the writing. The story may seem familiar but Edwards injects his own special touches into what could have been a “been there, done that” urban fantasy.

The story takes place in New Atlantis, created after the Atlantean World War destroyed the original Atlantis, displacing all the great ruling families of the Arcana. Rune Saint John, the last surviving member of the Sun Court, is occasionally hired by Lord Tower for jobs that require discretion and magical skills . Accompanied by his ever-present Companion Brand, Rune is powerful enough to command respect among the other Atlanteans, but the downfall of his family empire is still a sore spot. When Lord Tower asks Rune and Brand to find his missing godson Addam Saint Nicholas, Rune agrees.

But as Rune and Brand start their search and begin to interrogate members of Addam’s family, Rune suspects that Addam’s disappearance is tied to some very dark magic. As one clue leads to the next, Rune and Brand sink further and further into danger, especially when they discover that someone may be using dangerous summoning magic in order to tip the political balance of the families.

The Last Sun has a fantastic ensemble cast, something I’ve really come to appreciate lately. Although I do want to mention that this is largely a male ensemble cast, with very few female characters in the story. And those female characters are mostly relegated to the background with little influence on the outcome of the story (except for one, who actually figures into the plot to kidnap Addam). BUT I honestly did not care—which is strange because I’m a big supporter of female-centric fiction—because the male characters stole my heart. The relationships were, for lack of a better word, delicious. Rune and Brand have been bonded since infancy and have literally grown up together, rarely leaving each others’ sides over the years. Brand is human but has been carefully trained to protect Rune at all costs, and I loved that while Brand must use traditional weapons to fight, like guns and knives, and Rune uses spells, they are perfectly in tune with each other.

And for those of you who love snarky characters, I could not get enough of Brand and Rune being snarky to each other! At first I thought there might be sexual tension between them, but their relationship is much deeper and more complex than simple lust. But when Addam enters the picture, that’s when the sparks start to fly. I loved that Atlanteans do not always have traditional male/female relationships, they believe in group marriages and are not concerned with the sex of the person they fall in love with, so it wasn’t too much of a surprise to see a same-sex relationship between two of the main characters. Addam’s presence in the story added some fun and flirty banter—and if you are the sort of reader who appreciates good ol’ flirting in stories, you’ll really enjoy it here—as well as some tension among the group. And a fourth character named Max adds another layer of tension, as Rune has agreed to take care of him until he reaches maturity. And lets just say Max has some feelings too. All these feelings the characters have (or don’t have) for each other get tangled up, and it was simply a blast to read.

Addam just looked at me, long enough to have me fidgeting. He finally said, “You interest me, Hero. I’m fairly sure you saved my life, and a simple thank you seems so small. I don’t know whether I should pay you handsomely, or invite you into the shower with me.”

“We take checks,” I said, before I could get uncomfortable or act stupid.

But hey, don’t worry because the romance part of the story is really very small compared to the rest. What sets this story apart from other urban fantasies I’ve read are a couple of things: the world-building and magic system, and Edwards’ writing skills. The author drops us right into his world with very little explanation, and the reader figures out the details of the world as we get deeper into the story. The whole idea revolves around the Tarot, and you may notice that some of the characters’ names relate to various tarot cards: the Sun, Justice, the Lovers, the Tower, etc. The rulers of each of these “families” are called the Arcana and they have immense power.

The story is set in New Atlantis, which came about after the destruction of the original Atlantis during the Atlantean World War. Atlanteans live alongside humans, who are now aware of their existence, as well as that of other supernatural creatures like vampires, pixies and many others. And one of my favorite elements was the way the city was constructed: by using a kind of magic called “translocation” to literally transfer famous historical buildings from all over the world to New Atlantis. It’s a fantastic idea and I don’t want to say much more than that because you should discover all the intricate details for yourself.

I also loved the magic system, which uses sigils, receptacles for magical spells like jewelry and other small trinkets. Atlanteans are able to meditate and channel magic spells into these sigils to take with them out into the world, and the spells can be released with a simple touch whenever they are needed. And in The Last Sun, the characters desperately need those spells to fight the dangers they face. 

And I was really impressed with K.D. Edwards’ prose. He just has a way with words that I found completely refreshing, and his dialog was really good as well. This quote will give you a good idea of both his writing style and his humor:

We both swore as something lumbered into view.

It was huge. And shaggy. It had orange-brown fur and forklift-shaped tusks. It looked like it had chewed through the barbed wire around Jim Henson’s workshop and fled into the wild.

And yes, there is plenty of action, as Rune and Brand follow the clues that will bring them closer to the truth about what happened to Addam. But Edwards smartly adds in an emotional element to his story by giving Rune a painful secret from his past that he’s trying to deal with. Oddly, the mystery aspect of the story—trying to find out who’s behind Addam’s kidnapping, among other things—didn’t end up being the big reveal I was expecting. This story really is about the journey rather than the destination, and when we do find out what’s going on, by that point I almost didn’t care. I simply wanted to hang out with these characters and follow them on their adventures, whatever those might be.

Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy. Above quotes were taken from an uncorrected proof and may differ in the final version of the book.