The Last Sun
Apr. 30th, 2023 11:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lunasarielThis was supposed to be a long and hopefully not too maudlin post about Big Family Health News, but then I tripped and fell headlong into this book, so y'all are getting the fun review first and the waily-waily-waily IRL stuff whenever I finish the post a little later. :D
The Last Sun, by K.D. Edwards.
May I just say: I fucking LOVED this book. It has so much of what was good about the Dresden Files - the snappy smartass dialogue, the cool fight scenes, the tight pacing, the genuine noir feeling - but so few of what was... less good. I certainly don't get the feeling that "yiiiiiiikes, Harry's attitude towards women isn't just a narrative choice, is it? D:", and when Rune's teenaged apprentice(/ward) develops a crush on him, he shuts that shit right down instead of awkwardly ruminating about how hot said teenaged apprentice(/ward) has become, But I Mustn't.
For all the dunking I now do on the Dresden Files (and don't get me wrong, there is plenty to dunk on), I do think there is still a lot of good in it, particularly in the earlier books. I imprinted *hard* on it, anyway - I came of age, literature-wise, during a huge urban fantasy boom, and Jim Butcher and Laurell K. Hamilton were both huge favorites of mine. I've tried out other urban fantasy authors since then, and some of them have been quite good, but none of them have had the genuine noir snap and patter that Jim Butcher has (had?). But I fell in love with Rune's narrative voice pretty much from the get-go - sharp and biting and furious and funny - but what really sealed the deal was this exchange on page 21 or thereabouts:
"Don't you do it, Rune," Brand said without having to ask what I was thinking. "Don't you fucking dare."
"I'm just going to wait. Over there."
"I'm fucking serious. Get the fuck out of there."
"Right over there." I pointed innocently.
"I will shoot you in the ass, the goddamn ass! I will shoot you in the ass, and you'll be shitting through an inner tube for weeks!"
"I'll be right back," I said.
"In! The! Ass!"
Funnily enough, going by the above exchange, it's K.D. Edwards' delicate, nuanced, and deeply emotive touch with relationships that really grabbed me. A lot of people can write a Snarky Bastard(TM), and some people can write good noir, but so few people can do both of the above, and still have their characters care about each other, deeply and fiercely, both romantically and non-romantically. Rune does have romantic relationships, but it's the fiercely loving, deeply understanding, "I'm with you 'til the end of the line" relationship between him and Brand that really forms the core of the novel. It's not quite a sibling relationship (although KDE does write those beautifully too, especially Actual Paladin Addam and his championing of his frail, outcast, sounds-insane-but-is-actually-seeing-the-future brother Quinn), and it's definitely not a romantic relationship (Rune's sexuality appears to be magically-gifted and aesthetically-pleaseing men, while as far as I can tell Brand's sexuality is knives made of interesting non-standard materials), but it is very clearly love.
This book just hit so, so right for me on so many emotional levels. KDE has built up such a fantastic found family, and didn't beat the reader over the head with saccharine-ness; he just kinda slips in there that sometimes a family can be the last heir of a destroyed noble house and his bodyguard, and sometimes a family can be the last heir of a destroyed noble house, his bodyguard, their teenage ward, the heir's deeply terrifying mentor, the heir's boyfriend, the boyfriend's clairvoyant brother, and their possibly-brownie housekeeper. And each relationship gets plenty of development and screentime (pagetime?), which is a neat trick in a 363-page novel. KDE uses the time he has very efficiently, and just on a narrative craft level I felt like I was learning something new and interesting about at least one character in every scene, and every scene moves the plot forward.
Oh, and speaking of every scene! Another way TLS reminds me of the Dresden Files is that the pacing is very good. I think the last time I've been in this state of taking every spare minute to read/"aaaaaaa I gotta find out what happens next!!!" was Mélusine, and I don't know if I would call Mélusine's pacing *good*. Compelling, yes, but it was so uneven that I'm not so sure about good. TLS is very high-octane, and moves along at a pretty good clip, but events never become muddled or confusing, and KDE balances intensity and "OK, now it's time for a fucking break" quite well. I noticed what may have been an actual Dresden Files reference (or maybe this has just become a ubiquitous urban fantasy thing?), where, about 2/3 through the novel, the hero realizes he's been running on no sleep for at least two days, and has been beaten up at least two or three times in that period, and either faceplants or is sat on (lovingly!) until he gets some rest. The fight scenes, too, were just a pleasure to read. The magic system isn't particularly original (it's kinda D&D style, where most spells have to be prepared ahead of time and stored in sigils, but a small number of cantrips [yes, actually called cantrips] and other spells can be cast at will), but the author is clearly having fun with it, and does some interesting things with combining spells, like using a Shield spell as, basically, a malleable plane of force to contain, direct, and concentrate a Fire spell. There were other, less quantifiable, types of magic, such as clairvoyance (which is rare and terrifying for everyone involved), necromancy (Very Bad; Do Not Touch), whatever tf is going on with various fae-adjacent individuals, and weather magic. Actually, I'm wondering if the weather magic was a very subtle nod towards Tamora Pierce's Circle of Magic books. Weather magic only shows up, like, once, and that's to drive home the object lesson that weather systems are Very Fucking Complicated, and ought not to be fucked with to the extent that it's more or less forbidden. I wonder if this was a reference to Tris in Circle of Magic, and that one scene where Niko impresses upon her that weather systems are super complicated, and messing with them is *super* dangerous... but he kinda needs her to move some weather around. XD
My path to TLS was a surprisingly long one. I remember coming across it a few years ago at Powell's, but deciding not to get it - more fool me, or maybe it just wasn't Time yet. I came across it again... last year, I think? when the library put together its massive yearly Staff Recommends list. A coworker whose taste I admire put TLS down as their rec, and the name rang a bell for me. I checked it out of the library a couple of times, but never actually got around to reading it. That one rec must have struck a note with plenty of people (or maybe it was featured somewhere else?), because there was always quite a queue for it, so I had to give it back pretty quickly. But now I have the proper combination of time and brainspace to read it, and MAN am I glad I did! Sadly, the above-mentioned coworker of exquisite taste (his previous recs have included some Bujold titles as well as Winter's Orbit :D) has now left the library and moved back to the East Coast, but wherever he is, I hope the good karma of having recommended an excellent book finds him.
It's actually kind of hard to fully state how squeeful I am for this book. There were a couple of rough moments that seem indicative of a new author (including one highly visible and spoilery typo), but the bones, as they say, are good. I loved how fiercely the characters were allowed to love each other, and the many forms that love took. Most of these are very Rune-centric, but a) he *is* the main character (or, as Addam insists on calling him, Hero), and b) his head is actually a pretty fun place to be, which is a little surprising considering how much shit he's been through. I love his devotion to, and respect for, Brand. I love his *facepalm* at being saddled with a snotty-nosed and Very Teenage teenager to babysit...until he realizes that Max is actually fucked up in very similar ways to Rune himself, at which point Rune Aggressively Adopts him. I love his surprisingly gentle affection for Quinn while simultaneously being deeply weirded out by him. I love his deep and abiding respect for Lord Tower, which doesn't in the least stop him from recognizing (and pushing back against!) some of Tower's... less admirable qualities. I especially love his burgeoning relationship with Addam - it takes him a long (if understandably so) time to realize that Addam calling him "Hero" all the time, gifting him priceless magical heirlooms of his house, and ending up nude (or close to) when the two of them are alone a statistically unlikely number of times is, in fact, indicative that Addam is making a move on him, and not just teasing, practicality, and Atlanteans being Like That, in order. Although it is that, too.
Oh, and! This book has such a ridiculously satisfying amount of competence porn. Pretty much every character's love language seems to be either "come with me to do something difficult and dangerous," or "stay behind to guard my back and allow me to go do something difficult and dangerous," and a lot of the moments that hit me the hardest were when someone (usually Brand) had to watch someone they love (usually Rune) go into danger without them, only to show up and triumphantly rescue them in a The Cavalry Has Arrived moment. I first really started getting invested in the Rune/Addam ship when they got into a firefight with some ghosts in a crowded public area (likeyado), and Addam, who was temporarily out of offensive spells, used what magic he had to protect bystanders, clear paths to the exits, and keep debris out of Rune and Brand's paths so they could concentrate on fighting. Rune definitely noticed this - the compassion, as well as the quick thinking - and was very quickly "HEART EYES, MOTHERFUCKER." And I'm not just talking physical/magical competence here. One of my favorite Brand scenes was him snapping at Rune, realizing that he was stressed and upset and taking it out on his friend, acknowledging that, and apologizing. Like, in what other world would the stoic, snarky bodyguard get to be emotionally competent on top of *supremely* physically competent?
There is some rough stuff here, mostly having to do with Rune's history as a rape survivor, and Max's strongly-implied history of the same. I thought this was handled pretty well, with delicacy and tact. There are some fairly vivid flashbacks, and it becomes clear over the course of the novel how it's affected Rune. And how it's affected those around him, too - Brand going absolutely fucking ballistic on some idiot who gets handsy with Rune, Addam being all courteous and respectful and not treating him like he's broken when the Big Bad briefly traps Rune in his worst memories (and kinda sidelong implying that, hey, I'm going to be the literal physical embodiment of Justice one of these days; hit me up if you ever find out who those dudes are and we can fall on them like a ton of bricks; it'll be a fun date night! :D), and Brand goes from "ugggghhhhh how long do we have to babysit this kid before his family can come pick him up?" to "if his family shows up here I will drop a napalm grenade on them" when Rune mentions his suspicions re: Max's backstory to him.
There are some horror elements/gore as well. Nothing that was too much for me, and again, it was all handled in a way that served the story, but this might be a stumbling block for someone for whom necromancy/zombies/lichs are a big Nope Trope.
So, yeah, I liked this book a normal amount. I've already requested the next novel, The Hanged Man, from the library, and I've discovered a delightful treasure trove of bonus stuff on the author's website, including an interim novella, which I've barely begun but hope to have finished in short order. :D
The Last Sun, by K.D. Edwards.
May I just say: I fucking LOVED this book. It has so much of what was good about the Dresden Files - the snappy smartass dialogue, the cool fight scenes, the tight pacing, the genuine noir feeling - but so few of what was... less good. I certainly don't get the feeling that "yiiiiiiikes, Harry's attitude towards women isn't just a narrative choice, is it? D:", and when Rune's teenaged apprentice(/ward) develops a crush on him, he shuts that shit right down instead of awkwardly ruminating about how hot said teenaged apprentice(/ward) has become, But I Mustn't.
For all the dunking I now do on the Dresden Files (and don't get me wrong, there is plenty to dunk on), I do think there is still a lot of good in it, particularly in the earlier books. I imprinted *hard* on it, anyway - I came of age, literature-wise, during a huge urban fantasy boom, and Jim Butcher and Laurell K. Hamilton were both huge favorites of mine. I've tried out other urban fantasy authors since then, and some of them have been quite good, but none of them have had the genuine noir snap and patter that Jim Butcher has (had?). But I fell in love with Rune's narrative voice pretty much from the get-go - sharp and biting and furious and funny - but what really sealed the deal was this exchange on page 21 or thereabouts:
"Don't you do it, Rune," Brand said without having to ask what I was thinking. "Don't you fucking dare."
"I'm just going to wait. Over there."
"I'm fucking serious. Get the fuck out of there."
"Right over there." I pointed innocently.
"I will shoot you in the ass, the goddamn ass! I will shoot you in the ass, and you'll be shitting through an inner tube for weeks!"
"I'll be right back," I said.
"In! The! Ass!"
Funnily enough, going by the above exchange, it's K.D. Edwards' delicate, nuanced, and deeply emotive touch with relationships that really grabbed me. A lot of people can write a Snarky Bastard(TM), and some people can write good noir, but so few people can do both of the above, and still have their characters care about each other, deeply and fiercely, both romantically and non-romantically. Rune does have romantic relationships, but it's the fiercely loving, deeply understanding, "I'm with you 'til the end of the line" relationship between him and Brand that really forms the core of the novel. It's not quite a sibling relationship (although KDE does write those beautifully too, especially Actual Paladin Addam and his championing of his frail, outcast, sounds-insane-but-is-actually-seeing-the-future brother Quinn), and it's definitely not a romantic relationship (Rune's sexuality appears to be magically-gifted and aesthetically-pleaseing men, while as far as I can tell Brand's sexuality is knives made of interesting non-standard materials), but it is very clearly love.
This book just hit so, so right for me on so many emotional levels. KDE has built up such a fantastic found family, and didn't beat the reader over the head with saccharine-ness; he just kinda slips in there that sometimes a family can be the last heir of a destroyed noble house and his bodyguard, and sometimes a family can be the last heir of a destroyed noble house, his bodyguard, their teenage ward, the heir's deeply terrifying mentor, the heir's boyfriend, the boyfriend's clairvoyant brother, and their possibly-brownie housekeeper. And each relationship gets plenty of development and screentime (pagetime?), which is a neat trick in a 363-page novel. KDE uses the time he has very efficiently, and just on a narrative craft level I felt like I was learning something new and interesting about at least one character in every scene, and every scene moves the plot forward.
Oh, and speaking of every scene! Another way TLS reminds me of the Dresden Files is that the pacing is very good. I think the last time I've been in this state of taking every spare minute to read/"aaaaaaa I gotta find out what happens next!!!" was Mélusine, and I don't know if I would call Mélusine's pacing *good*. Compelling, yes, but it was so uneven that I'm not so sure about good. TLS is very high-octane, and moves along at a pretty good clip, but events never become muddled or confusing, and KDE balances intensity and "OK, now it's time for a fucking break" quite well. I noticed what may have been an actual Dresden Files reference (or maybe this has just become a ubiquitous urban fantasy thing?), where, about 2/3 through the novel, the hero realizes he's been running on no sleep for at least two days, and has been beaten up at least two or three times in that period, and either faceplants or is sat on (lovingly!) until he gets some rest. The fight scenes, too, were just a pleasure to read. The magic system isn't particularly original (it's kinda D&D style, where most spells have to be prepared ahead of time and stored in sigils, but a small number of cantrips [yes, actually called cantrips] and other spells can be cast at will), but the author is clearly having fun with it, and does some interesting things with combining spells, like using a Shield spell as, basically, a malleable plane of force to contain, direct, and concentrate a Fire spell. There were other, less quantifiable, types of magic, such as clairvoyance (which is rare and terrifying for everyone involved), necromancy (Very Bad; Do Not Touch), whatever tf is going on with various fae-adjacent individuals, and weather magic. Actually, I'm wondering if the weather magic was a very subtle nod towards Tamora Pierce's Circle of Magic books. Weather magic only shows up, like, once, and that's to drive home the object lesson that weather systems are Very Fucking Complicated, and ought not to be fucked with to the extent that it's more or less forbidden. I wonder if this was a reference to Tris in Circle of Magic, and that one scene where Niko impresses upon her that weather systems are super complicated, and messing with them is *super* dangerous... but he kinda needs her to move some weather around. XD
My path to TLS was a surprisingly long one. I remember coming across it a few years ago at Powell's, but deciding not to get it - more fool me, or maybe it just wasn't Time yet. I came across it again... last year, I think? when the library put together its massive yearly Staff Recommends list. A coworker whose taste I admire put TLS down as their rec, and the name rang a bell for me. I checked it out of the library a couple of times, but never actually got around to reading it. That one rec must have struck a note with plenty of people (or maybe it was featured somewhere else?), because there was always quite a queue for it, so I had to give it back pretty quickly. But now I have the proper combination of time and brainspace to read it, and MAN am I glad I did! Sadly, the above-mentioned coworker of exquisite taste (his previous recs have included some Bujold titles as well as Winter's Orbit :D) has now left the library and moved back to the East Coast, but wherever he is, I hope the good karma of having recommended an excellent book finds him.
It's actually kind of hard to fully state how squeeful I am for this book. There were a couple of rough moments that seem indicative of a new author (including one highly visible and spoilery typo), but the bones, as they say, are good. I loved how fiercely the characters were allowed to love each other, and the many forms that love took. Most of these are very Rune-centric, but a) he *is* the main character (or, as Addam insists on calling him, Hero), and b) his head is actually a pretty fun place to be, which is a little surprising considering how much shit he's been through. I love his devotion to, and respect for, Brand. I love his *facepalm* at being saddled with a snotty-nosed and Very Teenage teenager to babysit...until he realizes that Max is actually fucked up in very similar ways to Rune himself, at which point Rune Aggressively Adopts him. I love his surprisingly gentle affection for Quinn while simultaneously being deeply weirded out by him. I love his deep and abiding respect for Lord Tower, which doesn't in the least stop him from recognizing (and pushing back against!) some of Tower's... less admirable qualities. I especially love his burgeoning relationship with Addam - it takes him a long (if understandably so) time to realize that Addam calling him "Hero" all the time, gifting him priceless magical heirlooms of his house, and ending up nude (or close to) when the two of them are alone a statistically unlikely number of times is, in fact, indicative that Addam is making a move on him, and not just teasing, practicality, and Atlanteans being Like That, in order. Although it is that, too.
Oh, and! This book has such a ridiculously satisfying amount of competence porn. Pretty much every character's love language seems to be either "come with me to do something difficult and dangerous," or "stay behind to guard my back and allow me to go do something difficult and dangerous," and a lot of the moments that hit me the hardest were when someone (usually Brand) had to watch someone they love (usually Rune) go into danger without them, only to show up and triumphantly rescue them in a The Cavalry Has Arrived moment. I first really started getting invested in the Rune/Addam ship when they got into a firefight with some ghosts in a crowded public area (likeyado), and Addam, who was temporarily out of offensive spells, used what magic he had to protect bystanders, clear paths to the exits, and keep debris out of Rune and Brand's paths so they could concentrate on fighting. Rune definitely noticed this - the compassion, as well as the quick thinking - and was very quickly "HEART EYES, MOTHERFUCKER." And I'm not just talking physical/magical competence here. One of my favorite Brand scenes was him snapping at Rune, realizing that he was stressed and upset and taking it out on his friend, acknowledging that, and apologizing. Like, in what other world would the stoic, snarky bodyguard get to be emotionally competent on top of *supremely* physically competent?
There is some rough stuff here, mostly having to do with Rune's history as a rape survivor, and Max's strongly-implied history of the same. I thought this was handled pretty well, with delicacy and tact. There are some fairly vivid flashbacks, and it becomes clear over the course of the novel how it's affected Rune. And how it's affected those around him, too - Brand going absolutely fucking ballistic on some idiot who gets handsy with Rune, Addam being all courteous and respectful and not treating him like he's broken when the Big Bad briefly traps Rune in his worst memories (and kinda sidelong implying that, hey, I'm going to be the literal physical embodiment of Justice one of these days; hit me up if you ever find out who those dudes are and we can fall on them like a ton of bricks; it'll be a fun date night! :D), and Brand goes from "ugggghhhhh how long do we have to babysit this kid before his family can come pick him up?" to "if his family shows up here I will drop a napalm grenade on them" when Rune mentions his suspicions re: Max's backstory to him.
There are some horror elements/gore as well. Nothing that was too much for me, and again, it was all handled in a way that served the story, but this might be a stumbling block for someone for whom necromancy/zombies/lichs are a big Nope Trope.
So, yeah, I liked this book a normal amount. I've already requested the next novel, The Hanged Man, from the library, and I've discovered a delightful treasure trove of bonus stuff on the author's website, including an interim novella, which I've barely begun but hope to have finished in short order. :D
no subject
Date: 2023-05-01 06:59 am (UTC)This particular compare and contrast to Dresden Files had not occurred to me, but you are so right!
while as far as I can tell Brand's sexuality is knives made of interesting non-standard materials
Hahaha, I mean, it wouldn't surprise me XD
You've already seen a lot of what I thought about the book (and I will respond over there), but I want to say that I think you'll enjoy The Hanged Man, based on the specific things you called out as liking (I enjoyed it too! but it's even more relevant to your interests, I think. There is also a book 3, which I haven't read yet, but I'm assuming you will get to it shortly, and that will be my impetus to catch up :)
Also awww at you using the Harry = Dzur icon :DDD
no subject
Date: 2023-05-02 03:54 am (UTC)This particular compare and contrast to Dresden Files had not occurred to me, but you are so right!
The more I think about it, the more similarities leap out at me, but this was one of the first ones.
I think you'll enjoy The Hanged Man, based on the specific things you called out as liking
:DDD
I'm assuming you will get to it shortly, and that will be my impetus to catch up :)
See ya there! :D
Also awww at you using the Harry = Dzur icon :DDD
I may have been thinking about this precise confluence of fandoms for Unknown Reasons. ;)
no subject
Date: 2023-05-02 06:10 am (UTC)Aww, haha! This is not an inaccurate description of my state, but I am also rather fond of these books! (and by "these books" I definitely mean "Brand Saint John" :P)
no subject
Date: 2023-05-05 03:16 am (UTC)Oh, this was another thing I forgot to say! I find it endlessly hilarious that the names in this series tend to either high fantasy/fantasy-flavored (Rune, Ciaran) or generally kind of timeless (Ella, Michael, Matthias), and then you have... Brandon. XD I guess Ashton and Quinn are also kind of Gen X/Millennial names, but Brand's full name reveal literally made me lol.