Jordon
Wow, I really loved this book. As soon as I heard that it was kind of like the Night's Watch in Game of Thrones with the impending doom, but sci-fi, I was all for it. The Last Watch was a very fun, action filled read.
Cavalon Mercer has been banished to the Divide at the end of the universe, where space ends and no one knows what's beyond. At the Divide there are outposts (which are old spaceships that barely run) where prisoners are sent to keep an eye on the Divide and a possible oncoming invasion of aliens that nearly wiped out the human race years ago. This is where the GoT Night's Watch vibe comes from.
First off I didn't really like Cavalon Mercer, in the first chapter he comes across as this strong, arrogant guy, but as you read on, you find out that he's basically just a boy and has no experience in war or fighting. He's all talk and thinks he's more important than he is. Although he is very intelligent. That was jarring to realise, I'm not sure why the first chapter portrayed him as this arrogant, cocky, strong idiot - he was the opposite.
The character I was most interested in and preferred reading was Adequin Rake, the commander of the prison outpost. All we know about her is that she is feared and respected by all the prisoners, she's no-nonsense, and she treats everyone as humans, not just dirt underneath her feet. That was a refreshing outlook for a person in a high position to have to be honest. She was the strong one, she knew how to command, how to fight and how to protect everyone. Albeit, her flaws were that she wanted to do it all herself so no one else was hurt. She was a great character to read.
Though, the main aspect I loved about this story, is the science. As always with me when it comes to sci-fi. First off, the setting at the edge of the universe, like whaaat?! How cool. Physics really comes into play here. Recently the outpost has been experiencing more and more time rifts, where their doppelgängers appear and the characters witness a possible future that is about to happen. Usually this happens minutes before and then time catches up with itself. Why does this happen? Because their outpost keeps drifting outward further to the Divide where gravity changes time. There's so much more to the science, and I loved every minute of it.
Perhaps the most unexpected part of the book, that I absolutely loved, was the little bit of romance that appeared. I definitely did not expect any romance in this kind of action sci-fi but wow, it was so well done. It was a small part but also, it had me wanting to read more, I was very invested in it.
Overall, The Last Watch had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I loved it!
