The Last Watch
The Expanse meets Game of Thrones in J. S. Dewes' fast-paced, sf adventure The Last Watch, where a handful of soldiers stand between humanity and annihilation.
The Divide.
It’s the edge of the universe. Now it’s collapsing—and taking everyone and everything with it.
The only ones who can stop it are the Sentinels—the recruits, exiles, and court-martialed dregs of the military.
At the Divide, Adequin Rake, commanding the Argus, has no resources, no comms—nothing, except for the soldiers that no one wanted.
They're humanity's only chance.
My Review
Sometimes a book doesn't hook you in for a few chapters, or even for the first hundred pages. J.S. Dewes's The Last Watch hooked me in from the opening line! To be completely honest, that's a rare feat for me. I'm the type who doesn't get fully captured until I've gotten to know the characters a little more. So thank you, Dewes, for giving me a laugh with that LOL-worthy beginning!
The Last Watch is told from two different characters' points of view. The first is Cavalon, a trouble-making royal prince who's just trying to do his cinnamon-roll best in a space (pun-intended) that's trying to kill him. His banter and wit are absolutely hilarious, and his antics made me both feel sorry for him and roll my eyes at the same time. I felt like he needed a hug or two.
The other point-of-view character is Adequin Rake. Unlike Cavalon, she didn't immediately suck me in. She seemed a bit of a stickler for the rules and too hesitant to make snap decisions for a spaceship captain. Though, in her own words, she's not exactly a captain. Adequin quickly became a badass boss however, and I loved every second of it. Her protectiveness of her crew is just perfection. No exaggeration when I say her and Cavalon's dynamic had me smiling constantly. She tries to protect the poor fool from his own faults, and he just wants to prove himself useful to her.
Oh, and I can't forget to mention the other crew members. Everyone played a part in getting the job done, and I believe every side character had me feeling some emotion at one point or another.
As for the plot of The Last Watch, it was a little slow after the first couple of chapters, but then $hit hit the fan. So much happened so quickly, and I didn't know how anyone was going to make it out of any of the situations in one piece. I mean, I love me some spaceship explosions, but these were so crazy and my poor little heart just couldn't take it! I didn't want any character hurt.
While overall the action was great, there were some instances, like with any good sci-fi book where scientific (or made-up scientific) terms are used to explain events and actions taken by the characters, that could be a bit disorienting for non-sciency minds like mine. Especially when spaceships are the setting. But again, I'd expect nothing less than some crazy technical jargon in a well-written sci-fi. I just wish my brain was smart enough to actually comprehend what everything means. 😫
I now know that this space-romp adventure has a sequel coming soon, and I've already requested it on NetGalley. I am 100% in for future installments in this series! Consider me a non-official member of Adequin Rake's crew. There's no way I could miss out on any quests undertaken by this particular team. They already made me tear up at the end, and I'm totally ready to rally behind them when things undoubtedly continue to go sideways.
All in all, the comparison of this book to The Expanse and Game of Thrones is correct, especially for fans who love the "stranded and underfunded warriors at the edge of the universe" storyline like with GoT's Night's Watch. I'd also say that The Last Watch has a lot of crossover appeal to young adult readers of series like The Illuminae Files or The Aurora Cycle, maybe even Red Rising. Honestly, The Last Watch is simply pure fun with some space fighting and time hiccups to keep readers on their toes.
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