I'm a fan of Max Gladstone and had high expectations about this book as the blurb sounded right for me.
It took some chapters before I started to make sense of the characters and the story. I felt confused at the beginning and nearly DFNed.
When things started to made sense I loved the story, the original world building, and the characters.
This is a book full of visions, a dystopia that mixes different elements and makes it works.
Max Gladstone is an excellent storyteller and this story, even if is not one of my favorite, is recommended.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on NetGalley. Thanks to Titan Books for providing an ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

ABOVE AND BEYOND

When I first stumbled upon Last Exit, I thought it had all the marks of a book that I would love, but ultimately, it exceeded my expectations. I'm a sucker for alternate realities and a ragtag, apparently doomed band of adventurers trying to save the world against all odds. I did get the crazy worlds and their in-between, the dysfunctional found family, the road trip rife with danger and mystery (ha! the characters do have an exchange about the usage of the word "rife", and apparently, it stuck with me). But nothing, not even the excerpt I read before turning in my request, prepared me for the characters' being so much more than the literal driving force (because you know, road trip) of the story, the made-up worlds' allowing for a sharp social commentary, and the writing's being nothing short of evocative (poetical at times), despite the horrors our heroes endure.

POWER PACK

Gladstone has a flair for writing strong, distinctive characters (I practically never had a problem with the change of perspective), and I'm also pleased to report that there's a lot of (sometimes intersectional) diversity weaved into the group. Zelda and Sal (short for Sally) used to be in a relationship, and Sally is Black (so is her cousin June); Ramòn is Latino and gay; Sarah is Native American. It's worth noting that every character (June included), since starting to travel the multiverse, developed a "knack" related to their personalities and/or needs. (Not that such a thing makes superheroes out of them - but more of that in a minute).
The story moves on three different, alternating plans: the original group of five (Zelda, Sal, Ramòn, Sarah and Ish) meeting in college, forging a bond and discovering a way - part science, part magic - to step into alternate worlds; the terrible incident that resulted in Sal's being lost to the rot that is swallowing the multiverse; the present quest, where the group, reunited after a ten-year estrangement, is forced to face Sal - and the rot - again, and maybe, ultimately, destroy both.
Last Exit beautifully (and painfully) captures the feeling of being young and brilliant, yet lost and afraid, at the start of your college years - especially if, like Zelda, you're a lesbian in the closet (more like, someone who's still waiting for her queer awakening to happen) from an evangelical family, or if, like Ramòn, you're a gay man from the wrong side of the tracks. It also does a great job of letting us into the characters' heads in the present, tackling love, grief, guilt, anger, loyalty, motherhood, and weaving them into a complex, so very human tapestry, even in the face of preternatural danger and events and powers - or even more so because of those. For all their abilities, our protagonists are damaged in more than one way, and imperfect, and weary, and often vulnerable. Oh, and speaking of protagonists, how can I forget Ramòn's Challenger - I haven't met a car that was such a character of its own since Baby and Dean Winchester exited the scene...

THE AMERICAN NIGHTMARE

When I started reading Last Exit, I was expecting an epic multiverse romp through wondrous yet terrible worlds, and in a sense, I did get it. What I didn't expect was for the characters, and the worlds themselves, to also bleed from the kind of wounds that hit so close to home. Gladstone tackles privilege, oppression, and our inability to shape a better world either because we don't want to or because we aren't even trying anymore. And for "world" I mainly mean "America" in this case, since the author builds his story not only around "elements of the American myths - the muscle car, the open road, the white-hatted cowboy" (as the unabridged US blurb states), but also around the country's short-sightedness, prejudice, greed, and will to crush everything and everyone that doesn't align with certain standards. There's so much of the "real world" woven into a tale about alternate, often logic-defying universes, so much that I didn't expect a story like this to have - but also love, beauty and, ultimately, faith in the human race. In conclusion: Last Exit is a visceral book, thick - or is it "rife"? 😉 - with everything under the sun, and a demanding one (also because it's several hundred pages long), but don't let that discourage you if it sounds even remotely like your jam. You will probably love it far more than you'd expect...exactly like I did.

Despite having read most of "Last Exit" with a perpetual frown on face ("Just WHAT is going on?!!"), I really enjoyed it. The writing is great, the plot kept my mind spinning, and the characters are believable. I wish I'd had some kind of "cheat sheet" though to help my brain deal with the concept! Maybe a second read would help.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

Max Gladstone’s LAST EXIT was a tricky high-concept novel which was tricky to wrap my head around and I struggled to make sense of the first fifty pages, but as things moved on the weirdness became more understandable and nicely fused science fiction and fantasy. Other reviews have mentioned Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, but it reminded me more of The Talisman.

In this novel the high concept revolves around American highways which double up as magical networks which link cities and by default alternate worlds with different realities. The main character Zelda has been doing this for over ten years and has a group of friends she travels with, the story partially revolves around one of her friends (and lover Sal) whom she loses in another dimension. In these other places the travellers have ‘knacks’ which are a bit like superpowers which only work in certain places.

As they move from reality to reality they identify a Rot which is spreading through the worlds which they struggle to stop, or at least Zelda does. LAST EXIT was a fairly chunky book and could have been trimmed of a decent number of pages as it turned into a slog around the middle section and became repetitive. However, the descriptions were great and the exploration of the relationship between Sal and Zelda was nicely handled. It just took too long getting to an ending which was slightly underwhelming. But if you are a fan of long meandering genre-bending books LAST EXIT has a lot to offer.

I think I have my first candidate for cleverest book I'll read this year. Gladstone's prose always tends towards the more literary in style and has a poetic flow and rhythm. This was certainly the case with <i>How to Lose the Time War</i> and if anything, <i>Last Exit</i> is even more lyrical. I won't summarise the plot as so many others have already done so but this is genre bending, intelligent and full of mathemagics. If you are a hobbyist physicist (like me) I imagine the basic premise of this book will be very appealing. (Unless you hate multiverse theory - why would you hate multiverse theory?!) It's one part horror, to two parts sci-fi, blended with a commentary on becoming the people we were meant to become, or failing to do so, with a light sprinkling of rather bleak romance. There are several pov characters and I found I enjoyed all of them, but especially Sarah. Also Ish and Zelda, herself.



Alright, a hint about the main thrust of the plot: imagine you broke up with your closest group of friends sometime during college. These are people you had adventures with, that you felt you could conquer the world with. But something went wrong. You all went your separate ways. Now, ten years later, you have to get everyone back together for on last adventure because it's the only way to put right what went wrong. Oh yeah, and it won't necessarily be solved in this universe or on this timeline...



This was a completely addictive, stunningly wrought story. It won't appeal to everyone - Gladstone takes no prisoners with his writing; you either keep up or the story is not for you. But if you can tune into the fact that every word is important here, nothing will be quite as you expect, then this delivers on its promise and then some. Excellent book and a very satisfying read.

Ten years ago, young, fresh, college going Zelda and her friends set out on an adventure. Not a typical college road trip. Rather one where the American highways worked like a magical network linking cities, where you could slide into alternate worlds, where reality completely changes from our own.

When Zelda discovered she could move from one reality into another she recruited her friends to join her. They all discovered they have a ‘knack’ during their travels. Zelda is a fighter. Ramon can always find a path to anywhere, through anywhere. Ish can find anyone, anywhere. Sarah can prevent harm from happening, and is the group medic. Sal - Zelda’s partner - keeps them all connected.

As they travel from reality to reality they realise that a Rot is spreading. They fight against it, but it is spreading fast and threatening to end the world. All of them. The team decides to do a final push to eliminate the Rot once and for all. Things go terribly wrong and they lose Sal, and the group falls apart, going their separate ways, back to normal lives. With the exception of Zelda, who keeps roaming the roads, fighting back the Rot when she can. Suddenly ten years later Zelda has something happen that sparks hope. So she reaches out to the group, to reunite them. For one final chance. But can they rekindle their friendships and work together to save the world in time?

I really wanted to enjoy this book. On paper it had everything I enjoy. Creepy worlds, with equally creepy monsters chasing people. Scenes of pure terror such as in the subway (no spoilers) were fantastic. A magical world, magical abilities. Wonderful descriptive scenes of destroyed, post apocalyptic worlds, perhaps bringing fear to us about the fate of our own dimension? People with ‘knacks’ influencing everyday life. But at its crux, the story is about friendships and love, lost, broken, rekindled. It is told from varying points of view, and jumps in timelines, but even this doesn’t do enough to break up what becomes somewhat of a monotony. I found it a bit of a slog to finish, as the characters became a continual repeat of the same self pity and torment, and the story too drawn on. As for the ending…..I definitely didn’t feel it was worth sticking it out for! Very well written, but too meandering, drawn out, and not for me.

*I received this copy from NetGalley for review but all opinions are my own.