The flame of rebellion burns across the solar system in this dazzling conclusion to Linden A. Lewis's stunning First Sister trilogy perfect for fans of Red Rising, The Handmaid's Tale, and The Expanse.
Astrid is finally free of the Sisterhood, yet her name carries on. She's called the Unchained by those she's inspired and the Heretic by those who want her voiceless once more. Now Astrid uses knowledge of the Sisterhood's inner workings against them, aiding the moonborn in raids against abbeys and Cathedrals, all the while exploring the mysteries of her forgotten past.
However, the Sisterhood thrives under the newly appointed Mother Lilian I, who's engaged in high-stakes politics among the Warlords and the Aunts to rebuild the Sisterhood in her own image. But the evil of the Sisterhood can't be purged with anything less than fire....
Meanwhile, Hiro val Akira is a rebel without an army, a Dagger without a Rapier. As protests rock the streets of Cytherea, Hiro moves in the shadows, driven by grief and vengeance, as they hunt the man responsible for all their pain: their father....
Transformed by the Genekey virus, Luce navigates the growing schism within the Asters on Ceres. Hurting in her new body, she works to bridge two worlds seemingly intent on mutual destruction. All while mourning her fallen brother, though Lito sol Lucius's memory may yet live on.
Yet Souji val Akira stands in judgment on them all, plotting the future for all of humanity, and running out of time before war erupts between the Icarii and Geans. But can even the greatest human intellect outwit the Synthetics?
Title : The Last Hero
Author : Linden A Lewis
Series : The First Sister Trilogy (book three)
Format : eBook
Page Count : 642
Genre : sci-fi
Publisher : Hodder & Stoughton
Release Date : November 8, 2022
Reviewer : Micky / Hollis
Rating : ★ ★ .5 / ★ ★ .5
Micky's 2.5 star review
I found The Second Rebel rather confusing as a mid-trilogy installment and I have to be honest that confusion was constant throughout this final part. The strengths of this world lie in some of the characters, some of the world-building and the queerness woven throughout. This was a buddy read and I am more grateful than normal for that, we split this long read into four and had a chat each day. Those chats helped us all try and get this world into some clarity; there was so very much going on.
Character-wise, I continued to like Hiro, Lito and Luce. I liked some of the other characters but I came to absolutely dislike Astrid in this book. She had far too much page-time for my liking and her constant need to make stupid decisions and walk into traps felt on repeat. Alongside her, Lily was also a bucket of dislike for me, untrustworthy and a bit insipid.
I liked seeing the synthetics fleshed out more and finding my way to some understanding of how they worked. The evil father continued to be evil.
The last few pages were a nice epilogue, good to see but for me overall, this has been an up and down series. This book was sorely in need of a key to refer to on characters (including their alternate names), which character was connnected to which, different locations and which species/race was from where. That would have helped a hell of a lot with the constant confusion.
I enjoyed the first book but I feel like this series has gone down in enjoyment with each book, sadly.
Hollis' 2.5 star review
The good news? This series is finished and so is any continued effort required on my part. It was also another great experience with the buddies along for the ride with me. The bad news? Unfortunately, things did not quite end on a bang for this series. Which isn't to say there weren't some big events and big-ish twists and betrayals but I was instead overwhelmed by how the majority of this (particularly the first two sections) felt like the book-one era slog I had to force myself to push through. And also because so many of the characters I had felt emotional connections to throughout the first two books, who helped to push me through some of the worst of what came before, just didn't end up being who I thought they were. Either for reasons that I could rationalize (begrudgingly) but not agree with or because I just couldn't find myself caring anymore.
Which isn't to say there weren't an emotional moment or two that did make me feel something but, at least in the case of one situation, said emotional beats felt.. cheated by how things played out in the end.
I'm sad we are ending on something of a low note but at least this didn't start out as a huge love only to disappoint. It was pretty middle of the road all the way through. Though it has to be said : the good parts were good. It just continually felt overwhelmed by other parts that weren't. There was a lot of interesting and thoughtful dialogue in this series, about so many things, and I would maybe try this author again. Maybe this just wasn't the right fit for me.
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