The Final Dawn

Atrophy, Book 5

By: Jess Anastasi

Narrated by: Raquel Beattie

Rian Sherron is a lot of things. Captain of the spaceship Imojenna. Ex-war hero. Ex-assassin. For years, he's traveled from one end of the galaxy to the other, both trying to escape his demons and get revenge on the shape-shifting aliens responsible for his slow demise into hell.

That all changed the day Rian rescued an Arynian priestess from slave traders. Ella Kinton is everything Rian both fears and admires. Ella is everything he never let himself admit he wanted. Together, they must face a harrowing choice—come together and defeat the Reidar, or fall apart, leaving the universe in total chaos.

Contains mature themes.

©2021 Jess Anastasi (P)2022 Tantor

Hard to suspend disbelief

Both the writing and narration made it difficult to immerse myself in the story. First and foremost, after four books of Rian being an emotionless husk, he gets his humanity back and yet I wasn’t sold on his newfound personality. Likewise, after four books of Ella being a pacifist ice princess, I wasn’t sold on her going rebel Princess Leia. As such, their romance did nothing for me. I was thankful the sex scenes were few and short.

Beyond the pallid personalities, the story was 15 hours of telling instead of showing. The plot was chaotic and repeatedly unrealistic. Hundreds of people, then Reida, die and the characters have a moment of anguish and then the story barrels on. This MC, then that MC, and this villain, die … and then aren’t dead, and then have new powers… Good fiction makes things up but delivers a consistent framework; this story came up with new canon seemingly out of nowhere. Victories happen without effort. Sci-fi westerns are my jam, so I was very disappointed at how little this final book moved me.