Nineteen-year-old Lilla could have an idyllic life, but in The Last Lumenian by S.G. Blaise, she comes face to face with a rebellion and their just cause.
Lilla’s father leads the Pax Septum Coalition, a nineteen-planet confederation. As a princess in her own right, she should be enjoying the status and wealth that comes from living on Uhna, the richest planet in the coalition due to the diamond mines found by her pirate ancestors centuries ago. She most definitely shouldn’t be worried about the rebellion brewing right under her father’s nose. However, when Lilla meets rebels in a refugee camp, she thinks she has found her destiny, a true purpose.
Wanting to fight against the injustice and horrific treatment of the refugees, Lilla tries desperately to prove herself, especially after a disastrous first mission where she not only crashes her ship but also ends up in the hands of General Callum, leader of the Teryn Praelium.
With sparks of humor, the story grips the reader as the stakes are ever-rising with the demands on Lilla building relentlessly.
Known as the “brutes of the Seven Galaxies,” the Teryn army seems hellbent on destroying every world they encounter, but the more Lilla learns about Callum, the less she believes that to be true. When she discovers both she and Callum are concerned about recent murders on Uhna, she realizes their agendas may not be that different. The bodies pile up, and Lilla suspects there will soon be an Era War between the Archgod of Chaos and Destruction and the Archgoddess of the Eternal Light and Order, putting her planet in the middle of two terrifying conflicts.
Eventually, she learns of her identity as the last Lumenian, a creation of the archgoddess to fight the archgod. Lilla must decide which path will take to ensure her people’s survival, but as the rebellion, the Era War, and her love for the dangerous general escalate, she only grows more uncertain of her place amongst any of them. With the clock ticking down, she will have to choose, and the decision may cost her everything.
Lilla’s character is the star of this novel that will pull in readers who want to celebrate her as she proves her worth – to herself as much as anyone else.
Though Lilla’s mother died when she was only five, Lilla still remembers the fierce, beautiful woman who so valiantly fought to keep her only child safe and happy. When she discovers her mother’s secret heritage as a creation of the archgoddess, made to be a perpetual guardian of the light, Lilla fears she may never live up to such a standard. Constantly plagued by doubts in her abilities, Lilla fights like only youth and sheer bravado can to rise above the menial expectations of a contract marriage and a pretty showpiece of the palace.
She fearlessly confronts the archgoddess, telling her that she must earn Lilla’s respect despite the power pouring from the deity. After being tasked with hunting and killing the dark archgod and his minions of destruction, Lilla is rightly terrified, but she refuses to let that stop her. She risks treason, death, and the corruption of her very soul.
However, as much as her passionate fire of youth drives her forward, that passion draws ever more danger towards her.
She plunges into the rebellion after seeing firsthand the cruelty of the overseers and soldiers when one of her friends, a young servant, is taken to the camp and badly beaten for simply being a refugee. Once “inside” the rebellion, she discovers that her mother supported the cause, which cements her resolve.
Lilla doesn’t take the time to investigate whether she truly shares this group’s values. Xor, the leader, uses Lilla’s guilt and self-doubt over her position as the king’s daughter to bully her into deadly situations. And Lilla nearly misses out on an amazing partner in General Callum, as she initially shuns him for his bloody reputation. She even steals from him to aid the rebellion – all the while, Callum has her back, literally and figuratively.
The world of Uhna will entirely transport the reader.
A mixture of magic and science, this place creates an unbelievable environment, where fanged warhorses exist alongside floating elevators and transmitter necklaces that will put the newest smartphone to shame. The magical elements of earth, air, fire, water, and animal will feel both familiar and novel. The past and the future seem to collide here and coalesce into a unique spin on the space opera genre.
The Last Lumenian by S.G. Blaise won Grand Prize in the 2022 CIBA Cygnus Awards for Science Fiction.
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