Last Among Equals by Peter J. Aldin

I discovered one of my favourite authors had a book on Kickstarter. It was quite some months ago and finished on a high, having smashed several goals. Why did I back it when I knew I’d probably see him at one of those mini-conventions I like to haunt? Because it’s a book and I’m gullible when it comes to books…but you’ve probably figured that out by now. I read this while in the worst parts of shingles and I suspect my brain wasn’t quite focussed on the book. I’ve forgotten most of it and that’s both a good thing and a bad thing.

Bad, because it means I’m going to struggle to write something coherent. Good, because it means I get to read it again as if it’s the first time. It’s that kind of book, one that stands up to multiple reads. I dived right into it to find the one, singular, note that I wrote for myself. I’ve no idea why I wrote it and now I reread that bit I don’t find myself wanting to write about it.

And then there’s the problem of being sucked right back into the book. I’m remembering more the more I read and finding it just as hard to stop reading as the first time. This time, though, I don’t have the excuse of needing to be in bed resting with shingles. I mean, yes, I still have shingles, but I have far more energy and I’ve been sick for three months. It is beyond time I stop resting all day and start doing stuff.

Aldin takes us through a world where there are grudges that last and run very deep. Where people make odd alliances in order to try and save their countries. There are some fairly standard concepts in this book. But it’s in the execution that Aldin makes things shine and feel brand new.

In reminding myself of how it came into my possession I discovered I’m probably eligible for an ebook as well. The ebook comes with some bonus material. Sounds like a great thing to load onto my phone for whiling away the hours on a long trip. Unless I take this copy with me and ‘accidentally’ leave a great book somewhere for someone else to discover. I’ll consider this.

I also discovered that there’s likely to be a sequel. I do hope this sequel takes less than the fourteen years to write that this book took. But I did notice there is lots of room for a sequel and possibly one after that. I really want any sequels Aldin produces. I love this world and the characters in it. And I’d write more things about what I want, but that might be spoilers.