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WORK TITLE: The Last Sun
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1971
WEBSITE: http://www.kd-edwards.com/
CITY:
STATE: NC
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1971.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Works in higher education. Worked formerly in food service, interactive television, corporate banking, retail management, and bariatric furniture.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
K.D. Edwards is a writer and works in higher education. He has lived in Massachusetts, Maine, Colorado, New Hampshire, Montana, and Washington, and currently resides in Morth Carolina.
The Last Sun, the first installment in the “Tarot Sequence” series, is set in New Atlantis, a magical world inhabited by humans and other humanlike creatures. New Atlantis lies just off the coast of Massachusetts. The city came into being after Atlantis and the human world began battling. Although the fall of Atlantis is never explicitly explained, it is understood that a war destroyed the original Atlantis and had devastating and persistent effects on the Atlanteans and their magical powers. The population immigrated to New Atlantis after the fall of their kingdom.
Magic is ever present in New Atlantis. The most powerful members of society are in possession of sigils, artifacts that cast spells that control the magic of the island. The combat that characters employ in battle is also dependent on magic, as fighters use a combination of spells and weapons.
The Last Sun focuses on Rune Saint John. Two decades ago, Rune’s family was attacked by his fellow Atlanteans. The family’s power was demolished and Rune and his companion and bodyguard, Brand, were the only survivors. Brand is Rune’s official protector, and the two share a mental bond that allows Brand to experience Rune’s thoughts. Though still considered nobility, Rune has little status or power, and is often the butt of jokes among the elite. To survive, the two became hitmen, taking jobs where they could get them. They work primarily for Lord Tower, the head of another high-ranking house. After one job, in which the two are tasked with attacking the Lovers Court, goes array, they are left with Matthias, a teenaged boy and the abused grandson of Lady Lovers. The hitmen take him on halfheartedly, allowing him to follow them as they complete their missions.
Rune’s current job is to find Addam Saint Nicholas, the son of the powerful Lady Justice, who has recently gone missing. Rune starts the mission as he would any other; he questions all who were close to Addam. As Rune and Brand interview family members and friends, they suspect the nobles are not revealing everything that they know. Their investigation takes them to place filled with dark magic and foul play, and dangerous and forgotten monsters. As the trio gets closer to uncovering the mystery, another plot emerges. It seems that Addam’s disappearance may be connected to Rune’s family’s massacre. If Rune hopes to find the boy alive, he must face the trauma of his past.
The people of New Atlantis are often polyamorous, though the protagonists in this story are primarily male. Laura Hubbard in BookPage website made note of this gender imbalance. She wrote that, despite the book’s gender imbalance, the relationships between the men are not merely one-dimensional explosions of violence and conflict, suggesting that the book highlights “the many ways men express their love for one another.” Hubbard points to the love of the Companion Bond between Rune and Brand, Addam’s love for his brother Quinn, and Matthias’s teenage captivation with Rune as examples of this male love.
Hubbard, on the BookPage website, described the book as “a hard-boiled mystery told with breathtaking speed.” Becca Evans in Skiffy and Fanty Show website described the world-building as “consistently intriguing, drawing the reader deeper in with promises of a rich history and unique premise.” A contributor to BiblioSanctum website wrote: “Characters were the heart and soul of this novel,” emphasizing their “thoughtful and wonderfully subtle relationships.” A contributor to Publishers Weekly penned that The Last Sun “combines swashbuckling action, political intrigue, and romance into a fast-paced and enjoyable adventure.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, April 30, 2018, review of The Last Sun, p. 44.
ONLINE
BiblioSanctum, https://bibliosanctum.com/ (June 24, 2018), review of The Last Sun.
BookPage, https://bookpage.com/ (June 12, 2018), Laura Hubbard, review of The Last Sun.
Dear Author, https://dearauthor.com/ (August 14, 2018), review of The Last Sun.
Skiffy and Fanty Show, https://skiffyandfanty.com/ (July 15, 2018), Becca Evans, review of The Last Sun.
ABOUT
Original Photo by York Wilson
Original Photo by York Wilson
K.D. lives and writes in North Carolina, but has spent time in Massachusetts, Maine, Colorado, New Hampshire, Montana, and Washington. (Common theme until NC: Snow. So, so much snow.)
Mercifully short careers in food service, interactive television, corporate banking, retail management, and bariatric furniture has led to a much less short career in Higher Education.
The first book in his urban fantasy series THE TAROT SEQUENCE, called THE LAST SUN, will be published by Pyr in June 2018.
K.D. is represented by Sara Megibow at kt literary, and Kim Yau at Paradigm for media rights.
K.D. EDWARDS WRITES ADULT AND YA URBAN FANTASY.
The Last Sun
Publishers Weekly. 265.18 (Apr. 30, 2018): p44.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Last Sun
K.D. Edwards. Pyr, $17 trade paper (384p)
ISBN 978-1-63388-423-6
Edwards's debut combines swashbuckling action, political intrigue, and romance into a fast-paced and enjoyable adventure. New Atlantis is a self-contained nation of magic users, ensconced on Nantucket Island after a devastating war and ruled by courts named for the major arcana of the tarot. Rune St. John and his bound companion and bodyguard, Brand, are the last survivors of the fallen Sun Court; they make a living doing odd jobs involving varying degrees of danger, mostly for the formidable Lord Tower. After participating in an attack on the Lovers Court, Rune and Brand end up shielding the sheltered and abused grandson of Lady Lovers and searching for the missing son of Lady Justice. Their quest leads them to a conspiracy that involves undead monsters and murder, and may be connected to the fall of Rune's court and the brutal assault he endured afterward. Rune is an entertaining narrator, and his bond with Brand provides a strong emotional cornerstone for their martial and magical skullduggery. Edwards's intriguing worldbuilding and appealing characters set the stage and pique the reader's interest for sequels. Agent: Sara Megibow, KT Literary. (June)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Last Sun." Publishers Weekly, 30 Apr. 2018, p. 44. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A537852262/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=b9fa1be1. Accessed 13 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A537852262
The Last Sun
An intriguing urban fantasy debut
BookPage review by Laura Hubbard
Web Exclusive – June 12, 2018
Rune Saint John isn’t from a dying house: he’s from a dead one. Two decades ago, Rune’s fellow Atlanteans attacked the seat of his family’s power, destroying their court and leaving only Rune and his companion, Brand, behind. The two survived by becoming guns for hire, scrounging where they could and taking what jobs came their way. When Rune and Brand are saddled with caring for a teenager as a result of one of their odd jobs, their new charge Matthias is the least of their worries. Their latest employer, the Lord Tower, tasks them with finding the missing scion of House Justice, Addam Saint Nicholas, and their world is quickly turned upside down. As they search for Addam, they are pulled into a labyrinthine plot that threatens not just Addam’s life, but all of New Atlantis.
The Last Sun is K.D. Edwards’ debut novel, and if this first installment is any indication, her Tarot Sequence is going to be a breathtaking ride. A hard-boiled mystery told with breathtaking speed, The Last Sun is something unexpected in urban fantasy. Edwards forces readers into the not-quite-human narration of an Atlantean and insists we adapt. Other staples of the genre are set in well-known cities primarily inhabited by humans, like The Dresden Files’ Chicago or Neverwhere’s London. The Last Sun describes a city that is wholly new and utterly fascinating—a world alien from what we have come to expect from urban fantasy.
An easy criticism to make is that there is very little gender diversity within The Last Sun. The majority of the speech comes from men, and all of the action within the book is driven by men, with few exceptions. However, for all of its fights, high-speed chases and monsters rising from the grave, this story is as much about the many ways men express their love for one another as it is about the conflicts between them. There’s the protective love of the Companion Bond between Rune and Brand, Addam’s love for his brother Quinn, and Matthias’s teenage infatuation with Rune. In a genre that so often focuses on romantic love to the exclusion of all else, a book that manages to have so many non-romantic, complex and loving relationships between men is both revolutionary and long overdue.
Any fan of urban fantasy will enjoy this moving and sardonic magical mystery. Edwards has set up a fantastic ride—one that we can only hope will continue to surprise and delight in the second book in the series, The Hanged Man, which is due out next year.
Medium
The Last Sun
By K.D. Edwards
17
ISBN 9781633884236
Published 06/12/2018
Science Fiction & Fantasy / Fantasy / Urban Fantasy
Book Review: The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards
Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of The Tarot Sequence
Publisher: Pyr (June 12, 2018)
Length: 384 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
It can be a dog-eat-dog world out there—especially if you’re an Atlantean. Rune Saint John learned that lesson early on the hard way, following a bloody coup on his family when he was just a young boy, which tragically resulted in the complete destruction of the Sun Court. Now, years later, rumors about that day still fly among the elites of New Atlantis, who love to gossip about the Sun’s sole survivor whenever the nobility holds their swanky soirees. For even though Rune is still considered royalty, his family’s downfall ultimately cost him much of his status and power, and as such, he and his loyal bodyguard Brand often find themselves doing odd jobs for Lord Tower, the head of another high-ranking house.
But this time, their employer has charged them with a doozy. It appears that Addam Saint Nicholas, son of the powerful Lady Justice, has suddenly gone missing. Tasked to track down the young man, Rune and Brand start their investigation by questioning those closest to Addam, including his family, who may know significantly more than they are revealing. The deeper they dig, the more they also find evidence of foul play and dark magic. And as if that weren’t enough, the case is further complicated when our characters are saddled with an unexpected houseguest, to whom Rune must play guardian. Everything comes to a head when they discover that Addam’s disappearance might have links to the massacre that destroyed the Sun Court, and Rune has no choice but to face the terrible things done to him in the past if he is to uncover the truth to preserve his family’s legacy.
I enjoyed The Last Sun a lot. Everything about it—from its amazing characters and relationship dynamics to the action-packed plotline and incredible world-building—seemed perfectly aligned with my tastes. Still, like most debuts, it had its fair share of flaws, and I’ll be sure to go into those later, but to start, I definitely want to talk about the elements that really worked for me.
First things first: the world-building. Wow. Just wow. I can hardly remember the last time I was this blown away by such sheer magnificent creativity and imagination. I haven’t seen world-building of this caliber probably since Max Gladstone’s Craft Sequence. I could easily go on for pages about what impressed me, but the following are some key features that stuck out. One, the story takes place in an alternate world with many similarities to our own, but with the inclusion of magic as well as the existence of supernatural beings. History also differs dramatically, with the Atlantis being a real place (albeit previously unknown to humans) until the continent was destroyed after the Atlantean World War, which revealed its magic and left the ruling families scattered across the globe. Two, these powerful houses are all named after the Major Arcana of the tarot deck, and their nobles are practically godlike compared to mere mortals thanks to their access to and control over magic. Three, as the prince of a once great house, Rune also possesses a good deal of magical power, including a special mental bond with Brand, who takes his role as protector very seriously. Their mental connection means Brand feels what Rune feels, a perk which actually allows them to communicate quite effectively.
Speaking of which, there’s the character development. Rune is a fascinatingly deep and complex character, with a well-crafted back story, and he’s not even my favorite of the bunch (that honor would belong to Matthias). Granted, it’s a heavily male-dominated cast, sometimes with too little variation in the personalities to set each person apart, but I have to admit, this was an extremely entertaining group to read about, with their lively banter and camaraderie. I also have to mention the queer-friendly themes and the fact that the inclusion and representation of the LGBT characters in this book felt very natural and meaningful, as opposed to being reduced to a mere symbolic gesture or selling point. Without a doubt, the characters were the heart and soul of this novel, and I loved reading about their thoughtful and wonderfully subtle relationships.
In terms of criticisms though, I thought The Last Sun suffered from one minor, but not insignificant, problem. Mainly, it almost feels as if there’s too much going on. The plot might be action-packed, but it’s also arguably the weakest aspect of the book, by which I mean it was decent and entertaining, but still paled in comparison to the spectacular world-building and character development. While you had plenty of skirmishes and nail-biting escapades, ironically my favorite parts of the book were always and unfailingly the quieter parts of the novel, when Rune had his moments of connection with other characters. To me, these were the defining moments of the story, worth more than all the action scenes put together. And yet, the latter was what we mostly got, to the point where the idea of another umpteenth battle sequence actually became unbearably exhausting, so that by the halfway mark I was already skimming over a lot of them.
Still, I can’t emphasize how impressed I was at how all the pieces came together. With so many ideas and moving parts, this book easily could have become a disaster, but in K.D. Edwards’ capable hands, The Last Sun instead became a special series starter full of promise and potential. Despite some hiccups, I enjoyed the book immensely, and I’m excited to see what the sequel will bring.
BOOK REVIEW: THE LAST SUN BY K. D. EDWARDS
POSTED ON JULY 15, 2018 BY BECCA EVANS
A fascinating tale of magic, beings of immense power and their unique governing system, and even Atlantis, The Last Sun is K.D. Edwards’ debut novel with Prometheus Books, which promises an engrossing trilogy to follow a solid beginning. With a court system based on tarot and the Major Arcana, powerful magics, and mythical dangers around every corner, Edwards brings a new Atlantis to life just off the coast of Massachusetts, and pulls readers into a twisted missing-person investigation that is covering up much more sinister plots.
Rune Saint John is hired by Lord Tower to find Addam Saint Nicholas, the missing son of Lady Judgement, who is hidden somewhere in New Atlantis, a city raised after Atlantis fell in the war with humans. His search for Addam leads him and his Companion, Brand, to dangerous sites across the city and against violent enemies, revealing a deeper plot against Rune himself that Addam is only tangentially a part of. And when a strange, impossible creature finds Rune, there is little time left to track down the culprits and save the city from ruin.
The beginning heist felt like it was trying to tell a completely different story, but it eventually comes together because it seemed necessary to introduce one of the major characters, and leads into the larger investigation. Rune’s search for Addam doesn’t begin until chapter three, which is when the real story takes off. The plot that follows is intricate and well done, though it lacks some key exposition to explain certain background factors that affect the story.
The worldbuilding is consistently intriguing, drawing the reader deeper in with promises of a rich history and unique premise. The magic of New Atlantis relies on spells cast through sigils, expensive artifacts that are only possessed by the most powerful members of society. The form of combat that is a running theme throughout the novel also relies on these spells, with intricate descriptions of the magical effects that make up battles. I loved the mechanics of the battle magic and weapons, and each scene is a masterclass of fast-paced adventure. There’s also an interesting setup for sexuality in this universe—poly relationships are accepted, even the norm, and there is no taboo sexuality or identity. Rune himself is gay, and it’s never made out to be a huge deal (but there is some romance and a slightly steamy scenes).
However, Rune also has hefty trauma in his history, which leads me to this warning: Rune was raped as a young man, the same week his father was murdered, and there is at least one upsetting line that references the specific trauma.
Edwards gives mere glimpses of the background of New Atlantis. There are several mentions of the war that destroyed the original Atlantis, but it’s unclear just how that war was started, and why it had such devastating effects on the Atlanteans and their power. It feels like Edwards teases readers with the possibility of a prequel, which I would be happy to read. The original Atlantis and Rune’s family history is fascinating, even from just the barest tidbits that are dropped throughout the novel. But it also would have been easy to give readers a little more context, rather than dropping into a story that seems to be lacking an integral piece of its foundation.
That said—the world that we do see intimately through Rune’s eyes is almost overwhelming in its descriptions. The people in this work are as varied as their city, by species, race, orientation, and power. The magic is an enigma, the ruling class secretive and haughty. And this book is ultimately snarky and fun, lending brevity to a serious plot. The broad world of New Atlantis is unique and engrossing, and Rune and Brand are a pair that will last the ages, as long as they don’t get killed first. Rune is a flawed and powerful main character with a brilliant secondary cast, and his story is far from over. The Last Sun does a great job setting up several problems to be addressed in the sequels, and is a great beginning to a series that I hope does very well.
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?
Dear K.D. Edwards,
So apparently after Atlantis was destroyed, the people who lived there built a New Atlantis on the island somewhere within the limits of State of Massachusetts. New Atlantis people live very interesting and exciting lives. Often such excitement turns deadly. Oh and I had to talk myself into accepting as given that Courts who rule the city are divided according to the Cards of Tarot deck. I have very passing familiarity with Tarot cards, basically some of them sounded familiar and some powers are explained along the way, however I am sure that a lot of magic that will come into play later will come as a surprise for me, and probably the names of Magical Courts alone served as some kind of clues/foreshadowing, but were lost on me.
The book is written from the first person POV and Rune Saint John, last member of the Sun Court narrates it. When he was fifteen Sun court was destroyed, his father murdered and he badly hurt ( raped). Now Rune and his Companion Brand do odd jobs on behalf of Lord Tower and whoever else hires them I am assuming.
In the very beginning Rune and some other Atlantians participate in the “sanctioned raid” on Lovers court – because they “turned bad” (paraphrase). I am not sure yet just how much I accept this premise – that as long as the raid is sanctioned, it is okay to destroy one of the courts ( simply because Rune’s court was destroyed years ago and it is clearly presented as a huge trauma for him). However the whole book presents Rune as a good guy and I do not have much reason to distrust him either. In any event, as a result of this raid Rune is giving an Oath to the Arcana of the Lovers court and ends up getting her grandson Mattias ( Max) as a ward.
Shortly after Lord Tower Rune’s sometimes ruthless employer and Arcana ( Leader?) of one of the most powerful courts in New Atlantis hire Rune ( and where Rune goes Brand does) to find Addam, one of the sons of Lady Justice who disappeared and could be in mortal danger.Rune starts the investigation and this quick breath of the air after the raid on Lovers Court is almost the last one in the book. The action starts moving fast and furiously and one of my small criticisms of the book is that I needed a breather. I love action, I really do, but occasionally in this book ( NOT all the time) it was a bit much for me. Not in a sense that it hurt the pacing, but I did not feel that it always advanced character development.
I know this feels contradictory with what I just wrote, but the character development did take place and interactions between Rune and Brand and Max and couple other characters were great, sweet and occasionally even humorous amongst all the action, I just wanted more.
If you are looking for romance, all I can offer you is – maybe, there are definitely pointers that it may happen later and there is attraction, but right now I would not call it a romance yet.
I know it is the first book in the series and there are some questions left unanswered. I am very much looking forward to Rune’s further adventures.