What if you knew there was life after death? Eli is back from the dead… and determined to stop the powerful ascenders who blasted him out to the void. But in the three days he was gone, the world moved on. The girl he loves is determined to build an army of augmented humans to fight the ascenders—with herself as the next Offering. The ascenders are lining up in a death cult based on the … based on the charismatic ascender Eli accidentally released from storage—and all the restraints that have kept the ascender world in balance are now off. Everyone is rushing to be the first to bring a Second Singularity—to reach the numinous world from which Eli just returned—regardless of the cost. And the chaos and bloodshed of the first Singularity show just how high that cost can be. How can he stop the world from hurtling off the cliff when he’s the one who proved there’s something to reach, if only you could learn how to fly?
The Last Mystic is the thrilling conclusion to the Singularity series. This philosophical, HopePunk sci-fi series explores the intersection of mind, body, and soul in a post-Singularity world.
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Nice Conclusion. Eli awakes from death and discovers things are not going well for the Resistance. Lots of action as he does everything in his power to save Kamali and everyone else. Well tied together.
4.5 stars—THE LAST MYSTIC is the fourth and final instalment in Susan Kaye Quinn’s young adult SINGULARITY sci-fi/ dystopian series focusing on the merging of mind, body and soul with the technology of the future.
BACKGROUND: The ‘Singularity’ resulted in most of the world’s population transforming themselves into a hybrid known as the Ascended-part man/part machine but the few remaining humans become what is known as the Legacy-the true descendants of humankind. The Singularity series looks at the struggle between the Ascended and everyone else.
Told from first person perspective (Elijah Brighton) THE LAST MYSTIC continues to focus on the war between the Ascended and the Legacy. It has been prophesied that the world is approaching a second singularity whereby all of the human population will become the Ascended but Eli Brighton, once dead, but now resurrected, is the face of the resistance, a resistance that will soon discover the second singularity has already begun, with the help of Eli himself. As Eli continues to bridge between the living and the dead, the resistance is targeted by the ascenders, time and again.
Eli Brighton has the power of life and death, resurrection and renewal. With his ability to resurrect the dead, Eli’s friends realize that they are at the outset of a new world order.
THE LAST MYSTIC and the SINGULARITY series focuses on the mind, body, and soul: a spiritual storyline that questions the existence of God, and life after death; and if there is something beyond the here and now, where is it, and who will be in charge?. The ascended believe they no longer have a soul, a belief that will be questioned every time Eli enters the ‘fugue’ but Eli’s own death, resurrection and self-actualization becomes the benchmark by which everyone measures their own experience.
Susan Kaye Quinn pulls the reader into a fantastic world of speculative fiction using supernatural, paranormal, science, and futuristic concepts. A world of robotics and AI fused with the human mind allows for the possibility of immortality but at the cost of one’s soul. THE LAST MYSTIC is a fascinating and mesmerizing look at the possibility of the impossible.
The Last Mystic was a great ending to this series. I struggled a bit to get into it at first, but it’s one of those books that only get better the further you get. I thought it was a very satisfying conclusion to the series, although I am left with a bunch of questions about the new situation that arises and how exactly it works and more. That’s mostly because it’s such a big thing that happens. It had some great twists and turns and I like how everything got resolved.
The Last Mystic was off to a bit of a rough start for me, mainly because it’s been years since I read book 3. It took me a while to remember who everyone was and get back into the story, what was going on and then get invested again in what was happening. It’s also a very story heavy book, but the characters are also very important, but there is very little down time or scenes that don’t serve the story. It’s intense. Also when it comes to the subject matter and the sometimes hard to wrap your head around fugue state and gifts that Eli has. There’s so much happening and so much to wrap your head around, so that’s another thing that makes it hard to get into it.
I felt like I had to get in the right mindset for the book and that took a while. The story can be almost a bit too much at times. It’s quite philosophical in nature at times and a bit too much of that for my taste, but on the other hand I quite like how the author handles those topics while also providing the reader with an engaging read. So the first half of the book was a bit of a struggle at times, there also were some parts with the running and fighting I didn’t care as much about, but it was necessary to set the stage. And once the build-up for the end of the book started I was fully invested. I think the author did a great job reminding readers about what happened and who everyone is, that really helped for me.
It’s hard to really describe the type of series this is. It’s intense and deep. It poses some big questions and answers those as well. It’s science fiction and poses some deep questions about who have souls or not and what those are, as well as what it means to be human. It’s fiction, but it also feels real in a way. It’s really interesting to follow along this series and I think the ending really does it justice.
While the first half could be a bit of a struggle for me at times to get back into, by the second half when things started preparing for the last part of the book and the conclusion I was fully invested. I wanted to see how the characters could resolve this volatile situation. And the question that this series is about and has been building up to the answers all come to a conclusion here. All those questions get answered and we get a whole new perspective. The build-up of the previous was necessary and an important part of Eli’s journey, but it’s like only in this book you only really see what’s been happening and see the true scope of this world. I know this all sounds vague, but it’s hard to really describe this book and I don’t want to spoil anything.
I am not sure what I had expected this last book to be like, but it wasn’t this. And at the same time this is such an awesome ending to the series and fit the theme of the series perfectly. I also like how the novella’s set in this universe tie in with the big questions and even some characters that play a role here. Although I haven’t read all the novella’s yet before I read this one, I do plan to go back and read those to get those final pieces. You might get even more satisfaction from this book by reading the novella’s before this book. Until this book I hadn’t truly grasped the role those novellas have.
There are a few small plot lines and some side characters that I would’ve liked to see the resolution off at the end, but at the same time the epilogue how we get it now is enough so you can imagine yourself how those might go. I also have some questions about the whole fugue thing and the big change that happens that don’t get fully answered, but at the same time I think that’s okay. It is a satisfying ending that changes everything and leaves me to imagine what the future will be like for this world.
It really has been quite the adventure to follow Eli and see how he fits into this world and the journey and changes he goes through throughout the series. There are some more changes and development that happens in this book as well. And I like the role he plays into changing things, but I also like how while he so instrumental to the change, that he’s not alone and the people who stand by him are important too. It was exciting to see how Kamali also fulfilled an important role here. And it’s great to see how much those two care about each other. I also was happy how while there was some struggles they went through, there was very little drama and they still obviously cared about each other. In fact the reason they go through those struggles at the start of the book is because they care so much.
To summarize: This series really is something different than what I normally read. The Last Mystic is an awesome ending to the series. I did struggle a bit through the first part of the book as it had been a while since I read the previous book and had to get back into this series and remember who everyone was and what is going on and get in the right mindset. The author did do a great job putting in enough reminders about who is who and what’s going on. This is quite the intense read. It’s almost philosophical in nature at times, with the questions it poses and the answers to those. There are some big surprises in this book and how the whole struggle gets resolved. I had a few questions left mainly about the big change and how this all works and a few side characters that I would’ve liked to see what happened with them. I enjoyed following Eli along on this journey and was also happy with how much the other side characters help along the way. I thought this was a great ending to the series and I would definitely recommend it to science fiction fans.
I’ve been craving another Singularity Series book, and Susan Kaye Quinn has more than delivered with the stunningly fantastic concluding volume in the series, The Last Mystic (Book 4). Eli is back (back from the dead) and it’s great that he is as everything is heading for a pretty scary ascender “final solution” that only he can really (hopefully) deal with. Can he really be the bridge for all humanity, both legacy or ascender? Read and find out. Long standing questions are finally answered in a story that’s totally engrossing. This is great stuff, and highly recommended.
The Last Mystic starts off strong, with Eli coming back from the dead, and the excitement escalates from there. This is an action-packed, exciting, heartwarming story that shows what people can do when they come together with a common goal.
I love this series and although I am a little sad that this is the end, I’m totally satisfied with the ending—and this series as a whole. This genre is not my typical reading material but Susan writes amazing stories, no matter what genre she currently writing and I’ve loved everything of her’s that I’ve read. She does not disappoint!
You really need to check out the Singularity series. You’re going to love is just like I did!