Synopsis
A dying universe.
When the Home worlds finally achieved the technology to venture out into the stars, they found a graveyard of dead civilisations, a sea of lifeless grey planets and their ruins. What befell them is unknown. All Home knows is that they are the last civilisation left in the universe, and whatever came for the others will come for them next.
A search for answers.
Scout is an Archivist tasked with scouring the dead worlds of the cosmos for their last gifts: interesting technology, cultural rituals — anything left behind that might be useful to the Home worlds and their survival. During an excavation on a lifeless planet, Scout unearths something unbelievable: a surviving message from an alien who witnessed the world-ending entity thousands of years ago.
A past unravelled.
Blyreena was once a friend, a soul mate, and a respected leader of her people, the Stelhari. At the end of her world, she was the last one left. She survived to give one last message, one final hope to the future: instructions on how to save the universe.
An adventure at the end of a trillion lifetimes.
With the fate of everything at stake, Scout must overcome the dangers of the Stelhari’s ruined civilisation while following Blyreena’s leads to collect its artefacts. If Scout can’t deliver these groundbreaking discoveries back to the Archivists, Home might not only be the last civilisation to exist, but the last to finally fall.
Review
The Last Gifts of the Universe is a hopeful and entertaining jewel of a story — a gift that keeps on giving, right to the very last line.
Scout is an Archivist. They scour the universe for traces of other civilisations that were destroyed by terrifying monsters known as Remnants. When Scout finds a cache of data that could hold the secrets of defeating the Remnants for good and saving the universe, they’ll race across the stars to extract the information. The problem is that Scout’s not the only one who’s on the trail.
This book feels like Indiana Jones in space, if Indiana Jones was a total geek and obsessed with his cat. Scout is likeable and relatable, despite their encyclopaedic knowledge of alien cultures and movies with giant robots. As far as characters go, I was rooting for Scout right from page one. It’s a book that really is bursting with character.
Along for the ride, Scout travels with their brother, and the sibling element adds real heart to the story. But in terms of pure scene-stealing gravitas, you can’t beat Pumpkin the cat.
The style of this book is more playful than serious. Don’t expect hard sci-fi. Do expect to spend the whole book smiling. It’s a joy to read, and a thoroughly entertaining tale. Having said that, the overall themes that run through the book are poignant and rich, delving into the impact of corporate greed and the effects of grief, and the story leaves you with plenty for your mind and heart to chew on.
One of the highlights for me was the way the plot balanced what Scout was going through in the present with the historic account of a previous civilisation (and their encounter with the Remnants). This back and forth between the present and the past was beautifully paced, and kept me wondering where the story might be going while also creating a genuine build towards the climax.
If you like your sci-fi sprinkled with fun, this would make a perfect fit for your shelf. But don’t mistake this book as being just a light-hearted romp through the galaxy. It digs down into your heart to reach surprising depths, but never loses its sense of humour along the way. If The Last Gifts of the Universe were stored in a data cache on a faraway world, it would be well worth the trouble of digging up.
To be released on April 7th, 2022
Leave a Reply