I think it’s fair to say that I’m not the target audience for a swashbuckling Sapphic romance — at least, it’s not something that a middle-aged cis straight male would typically read. But “The Last Hour Between Worlds” was one of the most delightful books I read this year, and I’m now a Melissa Caruso fan for life.
“The Last Hour Between Worlds” is the story of a New Year’s Eve party gone terribly awry. Over the course of the party, the mansion in which it’s taking place keeps dropping through layers of reality, moving further and further into chaos, but none of the guests seem aware of what’s happening except Kembril Thorne, a member of the Hounds guild on maternity leave. She has to figure out what’s happening so she can stop it before the leading lights of Acantis fall prey to a wicked power game between deadly supernatural entities.
There were three things I absolutely loved about this book. The first was the pacing: Caruso is a master of the little cliffhanger between chapters, making it almost impossible to stop reading: “Oh, just one more chapter, I need to see how this plays out,” I would think as I flipped over yet another page. And even though there was often a lot of information to convey about the world and its many pitfalls, the action drove on through the exposition, making it fun to absorb the world-building sections.
And the world of “The Last Hour” is the second thing I loved: it’s a richly imagined cosmic tapestry, with complex interactions between levels of reality, and a byzantine political world of guilds and counselors stretched out on top of it. Rather than provide detailed descriptions of all of this, though, Caruso hurls the reader headfirst into it, and we have to pick up the details as they play out in the story. It can be dizzying at times, but also intriguing, with some of the fun of working out a puzzle while the action is playing out and the characters argue and scheme.
The characters and their interactions is, of course, the third thing about “The Last Hour” that I loved. Our main character Kembrel is a “Hound,” a member of a guild dedicated to investigations, particularly as regards to the interactions of “Prime” reality with the layers of Echoes beneath it. Her rival and object of desire, Rika Nonesuch, is a “Cat,” a guild dedicated to espionage and heists of dubious legality. Their interplay as the story goes on is sharp and playful, and their relationship builds slowly as they delve deeper into the mysterious game that threatens this New Year’s party. Along the way they’re encountering representatives of other guilds, various power players in Acantis’ political world, and wildcards like the swashbuckling Jacyel Morningray (the names are delightfully campy and pulpy and fun!).
The next book in the series, The Last Soul Among Wolves, looks just as fun as the first, and I watch its place on my library hold list with great anticipation!
