“Do we need to talk about last night?” he asked. “Absolutely. That’s how I always get ready for battle, talking about my feelings”
― K.D. Edwards, The Last Sun“Oh, I get it. You think this is one of them big, fancy rescues. Boy are you about to be embarrassed.”
― K.D. Edwards, The Last Sun“You saved me,” Matthias said to me from behind Brand. I couldn’t quite identify the expression that lit up his face, but it wasn’t nearly as comfortable as plain gratitude. “You saved my life.”
“If we get you killed your first week, people will make fun of us,” I said.
― K.D. Edwards, The Last Sun
Rune Saint John is the last surviving member of his clan and the last scion of the Sun Throne. Twenty years after his family was murdered and his house destroyed, he and his partner Brand keep themselves fed by performing the unsavory, and sometimes illegal, missions given to them by their benefactor, The Tower.
I won’t go into the entire backstory but, to keep things simple, Atlantis was real and was ruled by the Arcana – long-lived beings of immense power. When Atlantis was discovered, a world war ensued until a treaty was made between the Arcana and humans. Now, most Arcana and other magical beings live in an enclave on Nantucket Island.
During a sanctioned raid against another house, Rune avoids death by accepting a powerful sigil in exchange for delivering a package. It turns out that this package is a seventeen-year-old heir of a fallen house, and the destination is the teen’s 21st birthday.
In addition to this, The Tower contracts Rune and Brand to find his missing godson, the second heir to another powerful house.
I enjoy fantasy but I do not enjoy entirely new and complex magical worlds. This world of New Atlantis is rooted in the human world, but spells and magical creatures are everyday occurrences. Rune and Brand still have to pay the bills and maintain their shared car – a broken-down Saturn. Rune has firepower – literal fire – passed down by blood. Brand is human and is a walking arsenal. His purpose in life is to protect Rune, and this has been his duty since they were paired in the crib as infants. I get very strong Dean Winchester vibes from Brand. His banter with Rune and his no-fucks-given attitude brings me life.
What keeps this story interesting, at least for me, is the underlying mystery of what happened twenty years prior when Rune’s father was assassinated. Although destroying other Arcana is not uncommon, the motivations and alliances that lead to it have never been uncovered.
The reason I’m giving this four stars instead of five is the huge, flashing content warning of violent sexual assault as a major plot point. The assault happened in the past, but there are multiple flashbacks that I believe will continue in the second and third books of this series.
If there had been something else that was not this particular plot point, this would have been the ideal fantasy book for me. The dialogue, the characters, and the world are almost perfectly in tune with my sense of humor.
Other content warnings include anorexia and references to the enslavement of a minor.