The Last Sun

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars | 1,978 ratings

Price: 21.83

Last update: 01-10-2025


Top reviews from the United States

Megan
5.0 out of 5 stars An incredible debut
Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2018
I know I'm not the only one with a distressingly large amount of books on my tbr pile. But sometimes a book catches your eye, and it has a pretty cover or the protagonist has a cool name and you think, sorry tbr, but why not. These spur of the moment books often turn out to be just ok, sometimes less than ok, sometimes more. And sometimes, just sometimes mind you- it wouldn't be one of the most special things about being an avid read if it happened all the time- but sometimes the book you never saw coming turns out to be one of the best books you've read in your life.

So I guess you could say I enjoyed The Last Sun.

So, Atlantis. No, come back, don't be turned off! The worldbuilding is one of the best parts of this book (I'm going to say that about every part of this book by the end of this review, I can see it now). So, Atlantis. Or rather, New Atlantis. The under the sea version is no more, and the Atlantians who outlived the city have built a new one in America, existing as kind of a new city-state in the world. They also built their new city by buying and magically transporting old and unwanted buildings from all over the world, which means that this book is peppered with delightful little history of architecture lessons that I never got tired of.

New Atlantis is governed by ruling houses, and it took me an embarrassingly long time to realise they all reflect tarot cards. Yes I know the series is called the Tarot Sequence. Shut up. Or hero, Rune, is the last scion of the Sun Throne. His father and house were wiped out by persons unknown when he was a teenager, and so while he's technically a scion and heir to his house he also has to take odd jobs to make ends meet. Rune is the best. He's funny and just the right amount of self-depreciating and being inside his head was a blast. This book does this thing where an unfamiliar term or concept will be introduced and then Rune will kind of pause the narrative and take the reader aside and explain it. Which, written down like that sounds info-dumpy and boring, but Rune's voice is so engaging that I didn't care at all. And it was kind of a new feeling too; if I was confused by something I didn't have to try and figure it out from context clues, I knew I just hang to hang tight for a minute and Rune would catch me up. I appreciated it his consideration for my mental energy levels.

Rune has this bodyguard/magically bonded companion named Brand, and did you know that magically-bonded-companion is one of my favourite tropes? (Actually, it's almost creepy how this book pretty much went down the list of my favourite tropes and ticked them all off... Right down to character and possible love interest must take shelter but, wait, what's this? only one bed???!!???) And only scions can cast magic, so non-scion Brand has to rely and guns and super-cool bodyguard senses to keep Rune safe. He is delightfully competent and fun to watch in action. Plus, such bromance.

Speaking of scion magic, such a cool system. Scions can only cast spells by charging sigils, which are rare items mapped to their owners. And Rune of course has only a ragtag little collection of sigils so he must get creative with their use. This book has so many epic battles, each one a mix of magic and non-magic weaponry, and they never got boring or repetitive. The rules of the magic system are laid out well, and the power-creep over the course of the book feels natural. If epic bad-arse moments are you thing then please, step this way.

I feel like I've barely even scratched the surface of all the things I loved about this book. Characters? Amazing. Worldbuilding? Legit some of the best I've read. I'm not talking Sanderson attention to detail, but just so much cool and well thought out stuff. Prose? Every sentence made me happy. Plot? Gripping. The main story wraps up, but I will say this is clearly book one of hopefully twenty-seven, so there are loose ends. Another thing I must mention is that there is sexual violence in Rune's past, and while it doesn't happen on-page there are some pretty confronting flashback moments. I was ok with this, and found it to be handled well, but I know some people choose to avoid this in their reading. Also, I honestly didn't notice it while reading, but realised after I was done that there's a slight lack of female characters which again, doesn't bother me, but I know it's a concern for others.
Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it! Fresh new urban fantasy!
Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2019
Aaaah, I loved this book so much!

Do you like witty banter? Do you like liberal use of the f word? Do you like books with rag-tag groups working together to get stuff done? Do you like mysteries and magic and all kinds of mayhem? Do you like Tarot cards and/or the legend of Atlantis? If you like any and / or all of the above, this may just be the book for you. ????

I don’t know how I’d classify this book except perhaps as urban fantasy (it’s fantasy and it takes place in a city and it does very much feel like it fits in with that subgenre as far as tone) but it’s a new kind of urban fantasy and for that alone it has my attention. (No offence, because I love UF, but you get a little tired of the same old same old after a while.) I love everything about the world-building because it’s all so very fresh feeling. An Atlantean magical ruling class built on the concept of tarot cards? Yes please. The city of New Atlantis itself is amazing–a mishmosh of various historical buildings brought together on the island of Nantucket and made into something new, but not necessarily shiny. This city, and its society has a dark side. Necromancers, wild magic, ghosts of the past…they all exist here too. And where there’s power to be had, well people don’t always play well together to begin with. The different houses have their little alliances, and it’s interesting to see the dynamics. I think we’ll get to see even more of that in the future of this world (at least I hope!).

The number one thing I loved about The Last Sun is that it’s just such a fun ride. I can’t even count the number of times I laughed out loud while reading this book. It also has lots of great action in it. The pace is great and it makes for a quick read, but a satisfying one. That being said, while all the wise-cracks and sarcasm (ugh, this book gets me) were fantastic (FANTASTIC), it’s not a surface level type of book at all. There are some very dark things that our characters are dealing with, especially Rune, our main protagonist. Orphaned as a teenager, he’s the last surviving member of his Arcana, or house. The only one that survived along with him is his human companion, Brand. I love Rune and Brand’s relationship. It’s a bit odd since Brand never had a choice in being bonded to Rune as a baby and they’ve always been together, but it’s clear that they both care very much for each other. And Brand has been the one to see Rune through some very dark times. They’re both sarcastic and like to snipe at each other but it’s all a lot of show. Rune is clearly someone who still has a lot of things to deal with, things from his past that won’t allow him to fully move forward, although he’s beginning to take some baby steps. I think we’ll get to see even more character development as the story progresses and I’m excited for that.

As for other characters, well, they’re all great. Some you don’t know quite what to think of at first, whether or not they’re to be trusted, such as Lord Tower (kind of a mysterious guy) and Addam (how much does he know and whose side is he on). Also, Brand and Rune are suddenly given over custody (so to speak) of a teenager, Max, who is like Rune, the last surviving member of his Arcana. I love Max because he is such a teenager but he also very much wants to join the group and obviously, like Rune, has a lot of things to deal with. This group of characters comes together and they make…a kind of family in a way. And if there’s one thing I absolutely love in stories, it’s found families.

Overall, this book was one hundred thousand million percent right up my alley as a reader and hit all the right spots from world-building, to characters, to pretty much everything. There is a bunch of other stuff that I could talk about this book (ah, the romance, aaaaaah) but I don’t really want to go into it because I don’t want to spoil this book for anyone. My advice–just go read it. My only regret with this one is having taken so long to pick up a copy. 5/5 stars.

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