OFFICIAL AUTHOR BIO: Melissa Caruso writes books of murder, magic, and mayhem. Her published fantasy novels include the Swords & Fire trilogy (THE TETHERED MAGE, THE DEFIANT HEIR, THE UNBOUND EMPIRE) and the Rooks & Ruin trilogy (THE OBSIDIAN TOWER, THE QUICKSILVER COURT, THE IVORY TOMB), all from Orbit Books. Her newest book, THE LAST HOUR BETWEEN WORLDS, arrives in November 2024 and launches a new series. Her debut novel was shortlisted for the Gemmell Morningstar Award in 2017, and her books have received starred reviews and made countless Best Of lists. Melissa is a tea drinker, larper, and mom, and lives in Massachusetts with her video game designer husband, two superlative daughters, and assorted pets.
FORMAT/INFO: The Last Hour Between Worlds was published by Orbit on November 19th, 2024. It is 384 pages and told in first person from Kembral Thorn's POV. It is available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: All Kembral Thorne wants is a night off from responsibility, but she's not going to get it. Usually a member of an investigators guild known as the Hounds, she's been on leave for a few months caring for her newborn child. Tonight, she's attending one of the biggest parties of the year and trying to enjoy an evening of not being a mother. What she gets instead is a party under attack; even worse, the party appears to be caught in a time loop. Somehow unaffected by the memory loss that comes with the time loop, it's up to Kem to unravel the dark ritual that's ensnared the party. And to do that, she'll have to enlist the aid of Rika, her archnemesis from a rival guild of thieves.
The Last Hour Between Worlds is a fun puzzle box of an adventure. I really enjoyed the elements of Kem trying to work out the rules of the time loop. What resets every loop? Who loses their memory? Who's behind the ritual? And how do we break the loop? This is all wrapped up in the additional complication that every loop, the party enters a weirder, more surreal version of their world, adding new dangers to the situation. To top it off, there's only so many loops that will happen until the manor - and everyone in it - is wiped out for good.
(A quick aside, I loved how every chapter heading featured a clock with a moving hour hand so you could keep track of which number loop you were in. It also creates tension as you see the hand getting closer to what will be the final loop where things become Extremely Dire.)
It's not just investigative work moving the story forward, there's some great action sequences. The party keeps coming under attack from different sources, creating some great set pieces as Kem and her allies have to fend off incredibly dangerous foes. These beings are so powerful that it becomes less about outright killing the enemy, and more about how to stall them long enough for time to run out and the loop to reset. I do love clever heroes, so watching the team come up with creative solutions was great.
What didn't quite land for me was the romance subplot between Kem and Rika (and it is a subplot, this is not a romantasy). This story essentially takes place over one night; even with Kem and Rika having a pre-existing history, it's hard to nail that kind of relationship building in that short a window of time. I think my biggest frustration may have come from the fact that there was clearly a misunderstanding in their past that's led to their current animosity, and it takes an incredibly long time before the two finally unpack what really happened. It was one of those times where I was internally shouting "Just tell her already!!" in the hopes that we could unstick whatever was keeping these two apart.
The last little nitpick I have is complicated for me to unpack. On the one hand, I think it is FANTASTIC to have a mother as a female lead. As a new single mom, Kem is wrestling with some big decisions, including whether or not she should keep doing a dangerous job that could get her killed and leave her daughter an orphan. She loves her job, but is it worth the risk to her daughter's future? This is all great content that we don't see a lot of in fantasy, and I loved its inclusion.
But it was also mentioned so often that it began to be a bit much, especially in the first half of the book. Every few pages it felt like there was a new reference to Kem's motherhood, from the changes pregnancy wreaked on her body to the decisions she's grappling with. Maybe this is an accurate reflection of how all-consuming new motherhood is (I'm not a parent myself), but I did feel that the number of references could have been scaled back a bit while still getting the point across.
At the end of the day though, The Last Hour Between Worlds is a great self-contained fantasy adventure. While this is the first of a trilogy, you can read this first book as a standalone and come away completely satisfied with the experience. If you like a blend of action and mystery, strange macabre worlds, and mayhem at a grand party, I definitely recommend checking this one out.
The Last Hour Between Worlds is a fun puzzle box of an adventure. I really enjoyed the elements of Kem trying to work out the rules of the time loop. What resets every loop? Who loses their memory? Who's behind the ritual? And how do we break the loop? This is all wrapped up in the additional complication that every loop, the party enters a weirder, more surreal version of their world, adding new dangers to the situation. To top it off, there's only so many loops that will happen until the manor - and everyone in it - is wiped out for good.
(A quick aside, I loved how every chapter heading featured a clock with a moving hour hand so you could keep track of which number loop you were in. It also creates tension as you see the hand getting closer to what will be the final loop where things become Extremely Dire.)
It's not just investigative work moving the story forward, there's some great action sequences. The party keeps coming under attack from different sources, creating some great set pieces as Kem and her allies have to fend off incredibly dangerous foes. These beings are so powerful that it becomes less about outright killing the enemy, and more about how to stall them long enough for time to run out and the loop to reset. I do love clever heroes, so watching the team come up with creative solutions was great.
What didn't quite land for me was the romance subplot between Kem and Rika (and it is a subplot, this is not a romantasy). This story essentially takes place over one night; even with Kem and Rika having a pre-existing history, it's hard to nail that kind of relationship building in that short a window of time. I think my biggest frustration may have come from the fact that there was clearly a misunderstanding in their past that's led to their current animosity, and it takes an incredibly long time before the two finally unpack what really happened. It was one of those times where I was internally shouting "Just tell her already!!" in the hopes that we could unstick whatever was keeping these two apart.
The last little nitpick I have is complicated for me to unpack. On the one hand, I think it is FANTASTIC to have a mother as a female lead. As a new single mom, Kem is wrestling with some big decisions, including whether or not she should keep doing a dangerous job that could get her killed and leave her daughter an orphan. She loves her job, but is it worth the risk to her daughter's future? This is all great content that we don't see a lot of in fantasy, and I loved its inclusion.
But it was also mentioned so often that it began to be a bit much, especially in the first half of the book. Every few pages it felt like there was a new reference to Kem's motherhood, from the changes pregnancy wreaked on her body to the decisions she's grappling with. Maybe this is an accurate reflection of how all-consuming new motherhood is (I'm not a parent myself), but I did feel that the number of references could have been scaled back a bit while still getting the point across.
At the end of the day though, The Last Hour Between Worlds is a great self-contained fantasy adventure. While this is the first of a trilogy, you can read this first book as a standalone and come away completely satisfied with the experience. If you like a blend of action and mystery, strange macabre worlds, and mayhem at a grand party, I definitely recommend checking this one out.
3:00 AM | 
Posted by
Caitlin G. |
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