K. D. EdwardsReseñas

DNF 57%
idk i just kept waiting for Brand to be as funny as everyone said he was, i didn't care for the characters much, the world building was just too much information at once, the action scenes were good but the cast of characters just weren't it for me...

This series is so close to my heart.

I do kind of wish Queenie had more agency aside from making food and sweeping Corbie out of frame lol, but otherwise I loved getting to know Zurah, loved the bits between Mayan and Corinne, loved the Dawncreeks, and of course, Brand. My boy remaining the True Main with his endless competency and athletic grace while Rune literally trips down stairs, sets off the wrong sigils, and flubs his way thru an interrogation. IlovethemIlovethemIlovethem.

I’m so excited for the next book.

Ohhhh my god, hyperfixation time.

Apparently Edwards is planning a spinoff series focused on the kids, which seems completely reasonable though I also want to know what is happening to Rune. This book is set during the events of the previous book but focused on Max, Quinn, and Anna—the intro says it was actually begun when production limits forced the excision of a lot of material from that book. Anyway, it provides new information about what happened and what it’s like to be Quinn, who sees so many futures that he can have trouble dealing with the present.½

For some reason I thought this would be YA (possibly because of the cover) but it most definitely is not. Really funny, cool magic system, great characters, good action scenes. A super entertaining read!

Wow, that is some marvelous word-building right here! It reads almost like some awesome MMORPG at times, what with the sigils and spells and magic. The universe of The Last Sun is original and complex - I’m pretty quick on the uptake, but it actually took me some time to fully grasp the structure of the houses/courts here. The book is fast-paced and action-packed - with a few epic battles and zombies thrown in for good measure. The characters are wonderfully developed - every single one of them is a three-dimensional individual.

Rune - our tarnished, tragic MC - is a very engaging narrator. He’s a complicated and multifaceted character with hidden depths. The horror of what had happened to Rune when he’d been just a boy was addressed a couple of times in the course of the story, and even if it wasn't particularly descriptive (thank goodness), some people might find it triggering. It’s more than enough to realize the brutality of the event, as well as the devastating effect it’d had on Rune’s life. He’s tough as nails and projects a strong front, but as the story unfolds, it becomes clear he’s far from over the rape. Rune’s close relationship with Brand - the only person he’d let himself be vulnerable with - is probably the only reason he hadn’t fallen apart immediately after that. It holds him together.

The friendship/Companion bond between Rune and Brand is beautiful. It’s also the most prominent relationship here. It’s not the only important one, to be sure - there’s Rune’s friendship with Max and Quinn, and his budding romance with Addam - but it's up there. Brand is Rune’s rock. His no-nonsense, gruff ‘bodyguard’ that doesn’t take shit from anyone, even (especially?) from Rune. Even though it’s implicated that Companion bonds aren’t anything unusual in this universe, Rune and Brand’s bond is just special. There’s a pervading impression that in their case, the caring goes both ways. Also, Brand is the king of poker-faced banter - his one-liners were hilarious and gave this book life.

There’s not enough Addam here! He’s PRECIOUS - this sexy knight in shining armor. He’s just so wholesome and sweet - the perfect balm for Rune’s bruised and battered soul. Under different circumstances, this type of character would irritate the hell out of me, but his unobtrusive presence grew on me from the start. The tender moments between him and Rune gave me such sweet hope - Rune seems to have this impression that he’s used goods, but Addam’s attention slowly worms past his defenses. Their chemistry is great, too, even with Rune’s expected hangups. Addam is definitely a keeper.

This series is off to a great start!

The second book in the series doesn’t disappoint. I’d say it’s even more entertaining than The Last Sun - there’s more action, more first-class banter (the bits I highlighted still crack me up), and the eponymous villain is super creepy. The story definitely gets darker here, but not overwhelmingly so, because the moments of nail-biting tension are perfectly balanced out by the humor and the deep friendships that remain one of the strongest points of this series. The ending is very satisfying and hints that Rune’s investigation will finally reach some kind of resolution in the following (last?) installment.

I have two questions, though: (1) When’s the next book coming out? and (2) Where do I get a Quinn?

Well, I don't actually know how to rate this because I don't think it was a good idea to read it before reading the series

I was lucky enough to get an eARC of this book and it was just absolutely amazing! It has everything I loved about the prior books- the snark, the action, bad ass fighting scenes and some of the best found family moments to be written (this series really is just about Rune collecting people into a family).

Rune Sun is back, trying to reinstate his court in New Atlantis. But a new threat—Lady Jade—seems to have the powers of Old Atlantis and is claiming to want to overthrow the ruling powers on behalf of the disenfranchised. There’s adventure and further revelations about what happened twenty years ago when Rune was tortured and his court destroyed. It’s a fine entry in the series but there’s clearly much more to do.

Top marks! I am absolutely loving this series. It reminds me in many ways of Ilona Andrew's Hidden Legacy series which I also enjoy but I like the writing much much better in this series. The world building aspects are phenomenal and I am completely invested in all of the characters. I can't believe I am going to have to wait till next year for the next book :(

Excellent.

I was relieved when the ferret showed up.

I would love if the world building in this story was better. Not just the outer world of Nantucket, but the inner world of Rune and Brand. Perhaps this will happen in later books? So many questions left unanswered, things like explaining how a human is chosen to be a companion, how the parents of said human feel about this, much less the human in question. Is there a really a choice in the matter? Don't get me wrong, Brand is a great character, and half the time I was disappointed we don't get his perspective in the story. I'd love to hear what's going on inside his head.

I have read some truly awesome UF over the years, so this story suffers a bit in comparison, but, taking it on its own merits, it's an OK story. The magic elements are familiar, if a bit well worn (e.g. nothing earth shattering or new), the world could use some smoothing out, but the author does a good job of staying within the boundaries of the rules he lays out for the use of magic. It's not a world I would want to live in, but each to their own, yeah?

Not being much into Tarot, other than as an entertainment thing, I wasn't too bothered by the use of the Arcana names, etc., as descriptors and house names. The scions are all a bunch of over privileged brats, as most such high born tend to be. Rune, of course, is an exception, being the last of a fallen house. You can hear the bitterness though when he points out that he exists as an object lesson to others of his class and that there is no sympathy to be had for such (he lies about not caring much).

I could have lived happily without Addam's come-ons to Rune. He's an interesting character and a great older brother, but he flirts outrageously and annoyingly with Rune and, yeah, it got on my nerves (though, evidently, not on Rune's. Whatever man).

I love this series, The Tarot Sequence. K.D. Edwards has such an amazing imagination, I never know what's coming next. Rune Saint John, the protagonist, exudes confidence, behaves rashly, and somehow manages to survive yet another impossible situation. The supporting characters, especially Brand and Addam, add texture to an already rich canvas.

The Hourglass Throne is next. And I'm waiting.

A great escapist read guaranteed to please.

Excellent, excellent characters, excellent plot, excellent setting

I just love this family. Individually and as a group. I'm ready for the third book, Mr. Edwards.

Can't wait for the next one.

I love that this is the beginning of a planned series. Edwards has an outline for all 9 books. The action is well paced. The banter is witty. The relationship of Rune and Brand is wonderful. I like spending time with these characters.

There are plenty of authors who are great at world-building. Usually they start at the beginning, carefully explaining the world they created. Some might say, (maybe even I said it), that it's infodump. It might be, but you can imagine the world so clearly, you can place yourself in the setting and imagine the surroundings before the story truly starts.

K. D. Edwards does it differently. He drops the reader in the middle of the action, thus making them feel disoriented. I didn't know where I was, or when. I thought I was going to read a book in the medieval setting (maybe I should have known from the blurb that it's not). The confusion only lasts for a chapter or so. As we go on more and more details are revealed, but by the end I felt like I was still not getting the full picture, not the way I'm used to. I suspect the more I reread this book, the more I understand, and the more easier it will be to read.

Not much romance can be found here. It's a very fast-paced, action-packed story and I had to read carefully, my brain is not up to this speed. Maybe that was my only problem. To me it was hard to read.

I loved Rune and Brand and the other characters too. I'm a bit lukewarm towards Addam. But every character is unique.

Brand is bae *.* And that's the most important assessment of the book.

I didn't struggle as much with this as with book 1, mostly because, while it was still action-packed, this installment focused more on the political side of things. I know that sounds scary, but it's not at all overwhelming or boring (at least those are the two emotions I find myself feeling when it comes to politics in books). So the pace was somewhat slower and I had time to understand what I was reading.

Brand got to shine in book 1 with his bodyguarding skills, now it was Rune's turn to use his knowledge. But their roles were equally important. Rune couldn't do this without Brand and well, there wouldn't be a Brand without Rune.

You #Brune shippers, first of all that's a terrible shipname, secondly I'm convinced that's not the direction the story will go. I'm also warming up to Addam and I'm starting to feel the connection there. Addam is so good and noble, no wonder he's a scion of the Justice court.

Along with the action, we got plenty of humor too. And some creepy, gory, ghostly stuff. :)

So in a way I enjoyed this more, because I could follow along more easily.Looking forward to the next instalment.

Almost a year since these scenes have been written. Life still sucks (with or whithout the pandemic if you ask me).
Thank you for the laughs, I had a good time.

Update (3):

I've tried several times to start this book and failed miserably. Maybe, because we hit the ground running, no explanation for anything, we think on our legs and figure out things as we keep running (so to speak).

The story eventually sucked me in. Huge nod to Rurik, he's one of the reasons I continued.

Never a dull moment. Looking forward to reading the next installment :D

----------------
Update (2):

Рюрик! Какая встреча! Cколько лет, сколько зим, да еще в родном Массачусетсе! :D

Я подозреваю, что это именно "ДЕ" (the) Рюрик, если учитывать количество русских персонажей, заинтересованных в воскрешении кого-нибудь великого, могучего и потустороннего. Не очень свежий (9 век это вам не просто так!), к сожалению, но зато болтающий на прекрасном американском :)
----------------
(1):

There is a non-stop action and we are thrown right in without so much as a hint of the nature of the chaos that we find our protagonist in. It all unravels later and pieces click together, eventually, but for some time it is a matter of annoyance and it does take one out of the story, at least a couple of times.

This book is growing on me, despite my extreme dislike of all things dead (not scary, they simply don't do anything for me, hence me skipping pages).

Easily one of the best new urban fantasy books I have read in a long time. Top notch writing, world building and characterization. This is one of those series where you are immediately looking for the next book.

This is an engaging and unusual story, and I liked it a good bit - but it also has some glaring issues.

First is that it needed a more thorough edit, both for occasional clunky prose and some inconsistencies in story details. Second is that it had a number of fatphobic comments from our heroes, which made them less likable to me.

But the biggest issue is that despite being a very gay book, the storytelling is drenched in sexism. The women characters are mostly half-drawn archetypes (the nice but powerless caretaker, the wailing victim), and the main exception is a terrible character - a weak, manipulated, foolish and anorexic young women who ends up being literally picked up and carried around by men more than once). This is particularly notable in big battle scenes, described as being all hands on deck situations - but all of the hands in question seem to be men. WTF. I think this is another thing that a better editor would have caught and attended to.

That glaring problem notwithstanding, I would still recommend this book for its other good qualities. Rune's narration is appealing, and the plot is interesting. A number of significant threads are left for the sequel or sequels, so I'll be picking that up when it's released - and hoping for some better women characters.

I really enjoyed the breakneck pace of this story. It's also quite funny ("He's an intern.") Edwards doesn't waste time giving a lot of back story, but I picked up what I needed when I needed it. I also liked the genre and gender-bending parts of the story, especially the mix of science fiction and fantasy. The action served the story (rather than the other way around), and the characters were interesting and grew on me over time.