By David T. Valentin
The Last Sun
Book one of The Tarot Sequence series
By K.D. Edwards
Urban Fantasy
★★★★
Urban fantasy often gets a bad rap, considering the quantity of books in genre right now. But make no mistake—K.D. Edwards The Tarot Sequence series is a unique gem in the genre right now.
The Last Sun introduces us to New Atlantis, a magical civilization that now lives off the coast of Massachusetts on the island of Nantucket after their society was discovered and destroyed by the human nations who feared the Atlanteans. The book, which takes place years later in the 21st century, follows Rune Sun the heir and last living member of the Sun court of New Atlantis after his court was mysteriously destroyed in an unsanctioned raid. After Rune is hired by his guardian and one of the many ruling Arcanum of New Atlantis, Lord Tower, to find his godson Addam, the plot runs much deeper than just a bad business deal.
What sets K.D. Edwards off from other Urban Fantasy novels/series and even other fantasy books is the way he ties in fantasy, mystery and politics in an intriguing way that unravels as necessary from the perspective of his characters. At times, the slow unraveling of the world we find ourselves thrusts in is a bit jarring and leaves us with questions in a more confusing way than intriguing one. It certainly makes for the first half of the book a bit slow to get to, but by the time you’re half way through, you’ll be flying through the pages until you reach the end and you’re begging for more.
Although for the first book Edwards slacks on his worldbuilding, his character development and their backstories leaves much to be desired in the best of ways. Each character is packed with a ton of personality, leaving it hard to pick a favorite character. And even once you pick a favorite, you’ll be quickly falling in love with the next new character introduced. Pack that with some awesome action sequence, well timed jokes and a fun magic system, and you have yourself a recipe of being instantly hooked.
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