Last Exit

by Max Gladstone

American Gods meets The Amber Chronicles in Max Gladstone's Last Exit: A hitchhiker wizard gathers her estranged friends to defend the world from her long lost lover―and the monsters that return with her.

Imagine that the American highway system is a vast magical network binding city to city. By soaking up magic from intentionally directionless travel, initiates can slip into alternate realities. Stray too far from our America, though, and things get weird. And dangerous. And terrifying.

When visionary mathematician Zelda Qiang was in college, she learned how to travel from one alternate reality to another. Her response was to take her friends on a road trip to strange new worlds. Six of them set out. Only five returned. Zelda’s lover, Sal, betrayed them: she walked into the jags―sharp cutting shadows like cracks in space―and didn’t come back.

Now Zelda still walks the road alone, a wandering magus keeping the jags from breaking through. But now Sal is coming back―with Dark Things in tow.

• ISBN10: 0765335735
• ISBN13: 9780765335739
• Publish Date: 8 March 2022
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Tor Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

Last Exit is the latest novel to come from the mind of Max Gladstone, a science fiction and fantasy author I've been reading for years. Naturally, that meant I had to scoop it up! Though, if I'm being honest, that cover would have drawn me in regardless.

A decade ago, Zelda and her group of friends learned that they had a unique ability, which they called knacks. These knacks let them travel to alternate realities. There's a catch, of course. There's a rot threatening each reality they visit, and it is up to her crew to battle it wherever they go.

But again, that was a decade ago. When their battle was lost, they all parted ways. Unable to bear the pain and guilt of it all. Except, Zelda doesn't want the group to remain in the past, so she will do what she does best. She hopes.

“Monsters never died, they only slept a while.”

I want to preface this review by saying that I distinctly remember loving Max Gladstone's writing – though it feels like it has been a while since I read anything by him. So naturally, I was quite excited when Last Exit made its way to my desk.

At a glance, Last Exit is a lot to take in. That actually proves true even once you begin to delve deeper, but moving on. The character names all feel weighted, having references that no fan can miss. As for the story, readers are thrown into the deep end. All the characters already know their abilities and are only now coming back around to using them. It's a twist that makes readers feel like they have to work to catch up.

I didn't mind any of that, as it certainly worked to keep me interested and invested. Though in truth, I wouldn't have minded getting to know the characters a little bit better before everything kicked off.

What I loved the most about Last Exit because of how unique it feels. It's a fantasy world-hopper tale, but it has shockingly dark twists. Throw in a wide array of characters (and a solid amount of representation, too), and as I said before, there's a lot to take in a while reading – and that's grand.

Thanks to Tor Books and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Read more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Last Exit is a SF/crossworlds fantasy with horror elements by Max Gladstone. Released 8th March 2022 by Macmillan on their Tor/Forge imprint, it's 400 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is an impressively well written crossworlds quest fantasy. The original group of university friends has dispersed over 10 years following the loss of one of their number in an alternate-world. They didn't just bring back small trinkets from their earlier adventures however, there's a creeping rot and malevolent decay which has followed them through the shadow worlds they visited and is now seeping into the "real" primary Earth. Zelda is world-weary and beaten but convinced to give it one last try to reassemble her friends from the past and save the world(s).

There is a compelling dystopian story here, very much action driven, but with well rendered characters who haul the reader along willingly or not. I didn't particularly *like* all the characters (especially Sarah, whom I wanted to smack most of the time), but I found myself deeply invested after about 20% and raced to finish it. The author is remarkably skilled at his craft, and I found no rough edges with the writing or characterizations. It's a dark but intelligently told imaginatively wrought and worthwhile story.

This is the story of a road-worn, cynical, exhausted Don Quixote, gathering for one last desperate (and probably destined to failure) tilt at doom.

Four and a half stars. Elements of body horror, violence, and gore. This would make a good choice for library acquisition, for fans of SF/fantasy, and a superlative choice for book-club reading and discussion.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.