The Last Watch

The Divide Series, Book 1

By: J. S. Dewes

Narrated by: Andrew Eiden, Nicol Zanzarella

Length: 16 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's Summary

"Both readers are brilliant and nail the characterization in a way that instantly connects them to the listener. Everything here is top-notch." (Booklist, starred review)

The Expanse meets Game of Thrones in J. S. Dewes' fast-paced sci-fi adventure The Last Watch, where a handful of soldiers stand between humanity and annihilation.

The Divide.

It’s the edge of the universe.

Now it’s collapsing - and taking everyone and everything with it.

The only ones who can stop it are the Sentinels - the recruits, exiles, and court-martialed dregs of the military.

At the Divide, Adequin Rake commands the Argus. She has no resources, no comms - nothing, except for the soldiers that no one wanted. Her ace in the hole could be Cavalon Mercer - genius, asshole, and exiled prince who nuked his grandfather's genetic facility for “reasons”.

She knows they’re humanity's last chance.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books

©2021 J. S. Dewes (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

Critic Reviews

"An epic tale of survival at the end of the universe." (Megan O'Keefe, author of Velocity Weapon)

"Crisp writing, vivid characters, and a plot that beguiles the imagination. The Last Watch is a stunning military sci-fi debut. I was hooked from the opening lines. If you like science fiction, then this book is definitely for you." (Jasper T. Scott, USA Today best-selling author)

"The Last Watch is an amazing debut. The smart world-building and explode-off-the page action scenes make it perfect for fans of The Expanse and other fast-paced Sci Fi. I predict that Dewes is going to be a 'must read' author for years to come." (Michael Mammay, author of Planetside)

Good story but the F-bomb got really old.

So, I really liked the story, tried to slug through the F-bomb literary style but gave up.
I have worked in the coal mines and been in the military so the word doesn't shock me.
However using the word for every display of emotion really gets old.
If it doesn't phase ya, give the book a try. But as a warning, decide early, because Audible will limit your
ability to return books if you try and fail to get past the language and give up.

Fantastic scifi action

Every few months I try one of these big scifi epics hoping they'll be good. I want to like the genre even though they so often disappoint. But I keep trying in the hopes I'll eventually find a book like The Last Watch. Absolutely fantastic in every respect, and something that should please any fan of the genre. I'm already preordering the next book in the series and grateful the wait won't be terribly long.

Not hard SF; more of a YA novel

There are many reviews suggesting that this series of novels will fill the void left behind as the Expanse draws to a close. This work simply does not live up to that hype.

The entire novel is aimed at a Young Adult audience. It lacks sophistication and maturity. The characters are child-like in their emotions and responses. The political intrigue is laughably inept and there is not even an attempt at making any of the alien technology seem real or explainable.

Unfortunately characters can only be as intelligent as the author who creates them, and this author clearly has no experience in science, military affairs, or politics which are the essence of the plot of this work. The reader should not be miles ahead of the characters in ascertaining what is happening in the imaginary universe that the characters supposedly have inhabited their entire lives.

As many other reviewers have pointed out, there is too much of a deus ex machina quality to the character Cav who miraculously solves every technical issue in a universe where all technology seems to be constructed with Lego block simplicity. Grab a warp core - literally pour fuel into it - and plug it in. Inane.

The action is contrived. The resolution is pat and replete with tropes like the massive, ancient, alien machine that can be activated by present day humans. The Captain of the ship makes Hamlet seem decisive. The much touted romance will only seem as such to an adolescent.

I cannot recommend this book to anyone over the age of 13 who is a true fan of science fiction.

Worth the read

overall the book was very enjoyable but the pacing was a bit off-putting. There were some excellent moments and one in particular in the latter half of the story that was enough for me to go ahead and pre-order the next book!. looking forward to the next half of the story!!

Great Story. Great narration!

This is an awesome story and I have 2 new narrators to follow! Very different concept, good character development & the ending is not exactly what you might think. It’s a good start to a great series.

void! its terrible!

its just people running away from explosions for 16 hours or so. with a pointless love story thrown in. its bad, really bad. supposedly strong characters behave as schoolgirls in love for the first time, poor worldbuilding, a million close calls and people heroically sucrificing themselves. its not even a fun-dumb book. its just dumb-dumb.

I don’t know why I chose this book, it must have been free…

The basic premise of this book, humans battling a collapsing universe, is ridiculous. The author obviously either doesn’t know just how big the universe is, or he didn’t let that knowledge get in his way. I struggled mightily with “a willing suspension of disbelief“. I have nothing against space operas, and often enjoy them, but I do prefer just a little science in my science fiction.

That said, the story was entertaining enough, and the characters were believable enough, that I finished the book. However, I won’t be looking for a sequel.

Exciting new scifi series!

J. S. Dewes created a complex new universe to explore with the Last Watch. Throughout the story, we're given a lot of good world-building details about the various powers that play, Each element of the universe is filled out nicely, with the Legion, Titans, and Sentinals, to the Mercer family and other royal houses, to the Viators, Savants, and the Drudges, it was all interesting and well told. I liked all the characters, especially Cavalon. The action scenes are exciting, and the imprint technology was badass!

The only reason this isn't a 5-star for me is there are some scenes with a little too much techno-babble, and some conversations sort of circle over themselves and repeat. Most of the conversations between Adequin and Griffith feel like they come to a logical conclusion then sort of pick back up and continue. Not the end of the world, but it happened just enough times to pull one star.

Overall, awesome, exciting story with some really clever and interesting ideas throughout. Fans of Battlestar Galactica, Mass Effect, and those looking for Game of Thrones in space are going to love this one. I'm looking forward to continuing the story.

Interesting, but uneven

Decent but uneven story. Good ideas, but narrative gets bogged down in the details of minor events and the repetition of interpersonal conversations and inner monologues. Narrators are OK. Not a bad listen, but could have been more.

Enjoyed this one

Although the "Science" seems really far fetched, this was a fun story with interesting characters. looking forward to next book.

Not my cup of tea

Struggled to finish the first of the books, unlikely I will finish the second as really lost interest. Some enjoyable characters but jumped around too much especially with the different styles of narration.

Sci-Fi at its best!

Superb from start to finish and the sequel is downloading as I type this

Enjoyable and original deep-space adventure

3.5 out of 5 - I liked it! It was an original idea, and the whole 'Nights Watch in Space' thing is definitely apt. The story takes some interesting turns, the setting is interesting and the stakes are well established and, frankly, couldn't be higher! Everything unfolded at the right pace to keep me interested and while there wasn't really any one 'stand out' feature, it was just an enjoyable story.

I felt the performances were great, although it did amuse me how the two different narrators both performed the character of Griffith. Zanzarella voiced him as a silky smooth Irishman, where Eiden voiced Griffith as a gruff soldier who at certain moments ALMOST sounded a little Irish, but at other times sounded Native American.

One thing that prevented the story from really excelling was the prose, which was heavily bloated by the POV characters' ruminations on what is currently happening, sometimes inexplicably detouring into their past in ways that felt very 'tell' rather than 'show'. And someone really should have picked up on some of Dewes' writing tics, such as the 'quirked eyebrow' (I think I noticed close to two dozen of them) and frequent usage of an action, expression or noise which "was equal parts X and Y". Diaglogue was also clunky in parts.

The characters had plausibility issues as well. Adequin continually flagellates herself for things which she patently had not control or foresight about. Towards the end, another character calls this out as one of her faults, so I guess it was intentional on the author's part, but it had still irritated me for most of the book. Much is made of Cavalon's multiple university degrees, yet whenever these are called into use it ends up being for a task which seems disappointingly basic. Like in the final sequence when his expertise is required to, apparently, fill up a tank of hydrogren and press a clearly marked button.

Even though these niggled persisted throughout, I did finish the book, was glad I had done so, and might even consider reading the next one.

Space Action Soap Opera

Too much romance for my taste. Also too much focus on describing every breath, sigh, nod etc.