The Last Hour of Gann by R. Lee Smith

 

I don't know if I can properly convey what a marvel this book is. My friend bought me a copy of this in ebook a long time ago and this is my third time reading it. Every time I find something new. On the surface, it is pretty similar to a lot of other alien monsterfucker books that are out. The heroine is plucky and comparatively unafraid of her circumstances. The hero is a lizard man and yet still compellingly attractive. What makes this book stand apart-- beside the length-- is the depth of the world building and how fleshed out and complex the characters are.

Amber and her sister sign up to be colonists when they run out of options on Earth. But something goes wrong and they end up on a planet that seems to be called Gann, which is inhabitated by a bunch of dangerous creatures, including the lizard race, called the "dumaq." From their ruling class is Meoraq, who's like a cross between a samurai and a Crusading knight, and has the personality of a lizard-man Sesshoumaru. After his father's death, he has doubts about taking a wife and becoming the steward of his house, so he has decided to make a pilgrimage to their holy place, Xi-Matezh.

Along the way, he encounters the humans and it's just... omg, so beautifully done. The other humans are all pretty awful, but they're awful in such a realistic way that it's hard to hate any of them without feeling a tiny glint of empathy too (only a tiny bit, though). You know an author is good when she can make you feel such love and hate for her characters. I loved the romance between Amber and Meoraq, and the strife that they had to go to for their HEA was seriously stressing me out. There's amazing twists, daring escapes, professions of love, and so many surprises. Even knowing what was going to happen, I still found myself shocked at how powerful some of the scenes in this book were.

I also loved how the author managed to make faith such a focal part of this book. Whether you're religious or not, I think everyone relates to feelings of doubt and uncertainty that comes from questioning your faith and whether you're living the life that was intended for you and also, what happens next? Meoraq's faith is badly shaken several times over the course of this book and I thought that was just as interesting a part of his character development as the emotional one he had with Amber.

Quick warning that there is a lot of rape and violence in this book and there are also moments of dubious consent between Meoraq and Amber (on both their parts; she gropes him when she thinks he's asleep). I don't think the author did anything for shock value and it seemed more for the purpose of exploring how people are exploited in certain power dynamics and what happens when a corrupted society is allowed to fester, so I wasn't too upset by it, but I know some people don't want to read about that at all. So it is here. But FWIW, I do feel like the author treated the matter with gravity and respect. No matter how horrible it got, I never felt like she was milking the events of the book for shock value.

So yeah, that's THE LAST HOUR OF GANN. It was just as good as I remembered and as with every book of hers I read, I find myself questioning my own abilities as an author because she goes to places, in such glorious detail, that I'm not sure I would ever dare to tread.

4.5 out of 5 stars