Kembral Thorne needed a break. She’s a new mother, and although she’s used to the strain and stress of plunging through alternate realities (echoes) in her job as an investigative Hound, motherhood has proven a new challenge. But a ball at the turn of the year is a chance for her to relax, both away from Emmi and from her job. However, as the ballroom is plunged into ever deeper and darker nearby dimensions, Kembral has to team up with her rival, a thieving Cat named Rika Nonesuch, in a dimension spanning plot that might yet cost all of their lives.
This is the story of Melissa Caruso’s The Last Hour Between Worlds.
Caruso blends several inspirations for her intensely interesting worldbuilding and plot. Like a good stage magician, she focuses on what is necessary and needed for the plot and lets other things be in the amorphous fog of possibility. Given that the book mainly takes place in one house and the surrounding city, there are a lot of unknown questions one might have about this secondary world. The tech level for instance. There are no mentions of cars, trains or high technology. Is this early 19th century (in our terms) tech? Earlier? There is a complexity and integration of the society which suggests it is post-Renaissance, so I want to say this feels like the 18th or 19th century in our tech terms. But aside from some interesting artifacts, that doesn’t ever come up (there are also no firearms, either.).
But not focusing on that allows Caruso to focus on the oligarchic nature of the city government (and the people, power and politics of same, which becomes plot relevant) as well as of course the magical nature of the world. In this world, we have the prime level of reality, and then we have echoes, which can be thought of as sub-levels of reality. These grow dangerous rather quickly and only people like Hounds can get you out easily if you slip down into one. The deeper you go, the more alien--or more precisely fey (there is a strong faerie theme in the book) it gets. There are immortal beings called Empyreans which are basically lords of the Fey, with dangerous powers, and a dangerous interest in the affairs of Prime. Their games and conflicts set off the plot that our main characters find themselves in. But they feel authentically part of the Echoesverse of multiverse/secondary worlds that the characters find themselves plunged in.
As far as the plot, I hesitate to spoil much of it, but the main conceit is that there is a “groundhog day” effect in the plot that is a clever bit of plotting on Caruso’s part. How and why and what the main characters need to do in the trap they find themselves in, I leave for the reader to discover. This is I will say a novel where the reader needs to pay attention, as things happen that Kem doesn't quite realize are important, but in retrospect are important clues to a perceptive reader as the plot goes on.
And then there are the action beats. Readers of her previous two series know that Caruso has a penchant, skill and talent for writing action sequences. On the cover of this novel, you can see the silhouette of a woman in a ballgown carrying two swords. If any symbol could be said to encompass and give you the essentials of what you are going to get in a Melissa Caruso book, that silhouette is exactly indicative of it. And Kem, being a skilled fighter, and with a variety of ever more eldritch and inhuman opponents, delivers the combat action beats. There are plenty of other kinds of action that Caruso delivers on, daredevil chases and flights through the city, a perilous climb where the ladder itself is trying to eat you, and much more besides. Well insulated and immersed in the aforementioned worldbuilding, the action beats provide the hits of adrenaline just when you think things might have gotten too quiet.
But it is a balancing act, as always. Caruso is a strong proponent and explicator of her theories and ideas of writing (as seen on social media) and she puts them into practice here with the characters of Kem and Rika, as well as the secondary characters. We get a full character arc for both of our main protagonists as we really get to know them and their deals, and get character development within themselves and against each other. Oh, Kem and Rika have a *history* and that gets hashed out in the middle of the chaos of what is happening at the party.
Caruso gets major points in my book for having a new mother as her main character. While Emmi (her daughter) is offscreen for the entirety of the book, the fact of her motherhood is one that informs and infuses Kem as a character. She’s not used to being a mother and perhaps having lost a step to sleepless nights and the rigor of pregnancy. She’s has to and does need to learn to adapt to the new situation and the consequences of being a new mother. Emmi herself, and Kem’s relationship and hopes for her do at one point become plot relevant, but explicating that would be rather spoilery. But being a new mom is central to who and what Kem is, whether she will acknowledge it, or not. Kem may be a Hound, investigating and sometimes rescuing people from the Echoes, but that’s not all she is, not anymore and the novel explores that conflict.
And then there is Rika, the other half of this relationship/rivalry. She’s a Cat, as opposed to Kem’s Hound (not subtle, dogs and cats, living together), which means she is a professional procurer. Yes, she is a thief and a good one. But again, as with the worldbuilding, the way these various groups interact, Hounds and Cats and others, is more complicated than you expect. Hounds and Cats can be on the same team, although that is uncommon and can lead to friction. And when Cats and Hounds are on different sides of something...well, then, drama can happen for certain. We get a good sense of where Rika is coming from, filtered from Kem’s point of view (which is what we stay in for the duration of the novel).
But where Caruso also excels is in drawing secondary characters that also come off of the page as well. A lot of authors would be content (even pleased) to hit the character notes that we get from Kem and Rika as their sparks (of more than one variety) come off against each other (did I mention this is a queer friendly, and putatively queernorm book?) . However, Caruso does a great job with the secondary characters, the antagonists, the innocent victims, and the aforementioned Empyreans. All of them come across distinct, interesting and well drawn. The “groundhog day” approach of the plot and narrative means we get to see interactions play out multiple times especially in the beginning and get a good reinforced view of the various characters in the ballroom.
My favorite secondary character has to be the vivacious Jaycel Morningray, who is definitely too much trouble and too impulsive for her own good, but I was charmed immediately by her the moment she came out onto the page. A date with her might be too much for my heart (I could imagine her wanting to challenge Dave McCarty to a duel) but it would be SO much fun. And I am so out of her league, anyway. Kem and Rika realize that she IS too much trouble and in the course of trying to solve the problem, decide not to try and bring her into the solution. But, of course, Jaycel being Jaycel, she gets into the mess *anyway*.
With a strong cast, action beats, and very interesting worldbuilding, The Last Hour Between Worlds shows that Caruso’s talents, formerly confined to more traditional epic fantasy worlds in the Swords and Rooks and Ruin series, can and does translate to other fantasy realms as well. This appears to be the first of a duology, and there is plenty of material, character, plot and worldbuilding wise, for that followup. I’m already looking forward to it.
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Highlights:
Fascinating and interesting world and plotting, Multiverse, Fey and more!
Excellent action beats
#teamjaycel
Reference: Caruso, Melissa The Last Hour Between Worlds [Orbit, 2024].
POSTED BY: Paul Weimer. Ubiquitous in Shadow, but I’m just this guy, you know? @princejvstin.
