The Last Sun – The Tarot Sequence #1 – K.D. Edwards

Rune Saint John, last child of the fallen Sun Court, is hired to search for Lady Judgment’s missing son, Addam, on New Atlantis, the island city where the Atlanteans moved after ordinary humans destroyed their original home.

With his companion and bodyguard, Brand, he questions Addam’s relatives and business contacts through the highest ranks of the nobles of New Atlantis. But as they investigate, they uncover more than a missing man: a legendary creature connected to the secret of the massacre of Rune’s Court. 

In looking for Addam, can Rune find the truth behind his family’s death and the torments of his past?

 

Review

This book had been on my TBR for such a long time and I’m so glad I finally got around to reading it.  I used to dabble in tarot a bit when I was younger and reading that tarot was the centre theme in The Last Sun immediately piqued my interest. Edwards has created a very interesting world filled with vividly painted characters that keep you glued to the pages.

 

Rune Saint John, or Lord Sun as is his rightful title as the only living member of the Sun Court, is a bit of an outcast in New Atlantis. When he was young the Sun Court, his Court, was invaded and massacred. The only survivors were him and his bodyguard and companion, Brand. Even though he survived, he endured a horrible assault from masked men and to this day struggles with the trauma. Strangely, the story starts at the very beginning of a similar heist in Heart Court, where Rune is tasked to steal data from the Court’s labs. Strange, you might think, why would he participate in something that has changed his life forever? After what happened to Rune’s family, the powerful Lord Tower took Rune under his wing and he now acts as a sort of agent for hire for the Tower, which explains his minor role in the heist.

Lord Tower’s next assignment is a bit more personal though, as he asks Rune to search for his missing Godson: Addam Saint Nicholas, the son of Lady Justice. The search leads towards a mythical and almost undestroyable creature, something Rune can’t deal with on his own.

 

I loved the world-building in The Last Sun. The Major Arcana has a subtle but omnipresent influence on the story, not at all as I was expecting. It’s a fascinating way of incorporating tarot, that’s for sure! Every Major Arcana is represented in a Court and the members of the family possess certain powers that relate to that Arcana. The heads of the families are the strongest and have a powerful aspect that they only use in the most dire situations. With Rune being the only surviving member of this family his aspect is starting to get more powerful throughout the book. It’s fascinating to see how these aspects present themselves and how Rune comes into his power more and more.

New Atlantis is the new place the Atlanteans have created for themselves after their World War destroyed the fabled Atlantis we all know from legend. Having an outright magical World War and ultimately having to relocate has obviously exposed the Atlanteans to the humans. They don’t seem to care that much though, as New Atlantis was literally built by relocating whole buildings and areas from all around the world to the island the Atlanteans now call home. All this magic used to drag buildings across the world to New Atlantis also had some obvious backlash. Outside New Atlantis there is a whole portion of the island called the Westlands. All the magic flying around has corrupted this land and turned it into an unpredictable wasteland full of horrible and deadly creatures.

 

Rune is such an entertaining and loveable character. Struggling to fight his inner demons whenever they rear their ugly heads, but also battling the real-life demons thrown at him during his investigation with humour, poise and strength. I adored Rune! The mental connection he has with Brand is perfect for battle coordination, especially when you both have a varied and significantly different arsenal of weapons to fight with. This leads to an interesting relationship and dynamic between the two. They share feelings through their bond and their close connection has made Brand  extremely overprotective of Rune. To the point where he sometimes turns into a petulant child when Rune asks him to do something he doesn’t like. You might expect that with a bond like that they would have grown together as a couple. I’m glad the author didn’t take this path, because I think the relationship between Rune and Brand is very different and powerful sort of love that is on a whole other level than romantic love.

That doesn’t mean there is no romantic storyline in this book, because there certainly is. I feel like I’ve been reading more and more books lately that feature a very real romance, something I’m usually very critical about. The Last Sun can now be added to the list of books with romances I loved. The blossoming relationship was handled with tenderness but was also laced with outrageous flirting that made me smile on more than one occasion.

 

The Tarot Sequence definitely has me hooked! It has interesting world building, compelling characters, is action-packed and doesn’t shy away from making its hero vulnerable.

 

Release Date: June 12th, 2018
Publisher: Pyr
Age Group: Adult
Pages: 363
Format: ARC
Source: Received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review