The final book in the First Sister trilogy was The Last Hero (science fiction, 616 pages) by Linden A. Lewis.

“Astrid is finally free of the Sisterhood, yet her name carries notoriety. She’s called the Unchained by those she’s inspired and the Heretic by those who want her voiceless once more. Now Astrid uses her knowledge of the Sisterhood’s inner workings against them, aiding the moonborn in raids against abbeys and cathedrals, all the while exploring the mysteries of her forgotten past. The Sisterhood, however, thrives under the newly appointed Mother Lilian I, who’s engaged in high-stakes politics among the Warlords and the Aunts to rebuild the Sisterhood in her own image. But the evil of the Sisterhood can’t be purged with anything less than fire … Meanwhile, Hiro val Akira is a rebel without an army, a Dagger without a Rapier. As protests rock the streets of Cytherea, Hiro moves in the shadows, driven by grief and vengeance, as they hunt the man responsible for all their pain: their father. Transformed by the Genekey virus, Luce navigates the growing schism within the Asters on Ceres. Hurting in her new body, she works to bridge two worlds seemingly intent on mutual destruction – all while mourning her fallen brother, though Lito sol Lucius’s memory may ultimately live on. Yet Souji val Akira sits in judgment on them all, plotting the future for all humanity, and running out of time before war erupts between the Icarii and Geans. But can even the greatest human intellect outwit the Synthetics?”

THIS IS NOT A SPOILER FREE REVIEW

If you’ve read my past two reviews for The First Sister and The Second Rebel, you might remember that I was uncertain how I wanted to discuss or rate these books because of how dark, violent, and hopeless the first two books were for me, and also because I wanted to reserve overarching judgment for once I’d finished the entire series.

I’m grateful to report the third book addresses pretty much all of my concerns and while things in the story do get so, so much worse, the characters have learned and grown because of their experiences. Many even learn to trust each other, what sacrifice truly means, and how even the best of intentions can be twisted with time, power, and money.

I didn’t mention this in my review of The Second Rebel because it was pretty much one of the worst things a person could go through, but Luce is definitely my favorite character in the series. Though what happens to her is downright horrifying. A good portion of The Second Rebel showcased Luce’s artistic abilities and when she volunteers to be the test subject for the Genekey virus and then her body is broken, I was actually pained at her loss of color vision. I’ve done some coloring work on my own for my own art projects and I showed those projects to someone with very limited color vision and they couldn’t see any of the patterns or colors. I haven’t actually worked on coloring anything since. So taking away an artist’s ability to see the world around them is a cruel thing.

However, Luce doesn’t allow the choices she made as a sacrifice for the greater good to make her the cruel person Sorrel or Ofiera. She continues to allow herself to be a bridge to save as many lives as she can. While Sorrel gains power and uses that power for genocide and mass attacks, Luce offers herself, first to the Genekey virus, and then to the synthetics, in order to truly offer everything living a chance at life and self-determination. She never backs down from doing what’s actually right for everyone, and she doesn’t strut around talking about her sacrifices or what sacrifice truly means like Sorrel does. She acknowledges and accepts her own choices and her new physical limitations. The Asters help her by making her that absolutely awesome glow-in-the-dark cane and a gravchair, then they make sure she has time and assistance to get where they need her to go, AND! they include their disabled folks in their evacuation plans.

No character in this series has an easy journey, but it’s because everything happens to all of them that they are each able to contribute to showing how humans are selfless and kind and capable of change – capable of learning and growing and doing better. Honestly, the end exchange with the Synthetics is fantastic because it talks about how we are all flawed and have made so many mistakes and that what we really need to move forward is a common goal, not a common enemy.

There’s a lot about this book particular that holds up a mirror to our own modern world. Those in power are abusive and destructive, even if they might have started on their path with the best of intentions, but accepting people as they are, helping each other however we can, and learning love and trust can make the world a much better place.

Overall, I think this book brings the series up to a solid three on my rating scale. While the third book is a very good book, I don’t know that I can get through the first two books’ darkness again in order to reread the series.

Lewis, Linden. The Last Hero. Skybound Books, 2021.