Shadow of the Last Men (Book #1 The Next Man Saga) by J.M. Salyards

Book Synopsis:

In the frozen wastes of the distant future, a killer known as Harrow prepares for his final battle. Technocratic elites have poisoned his world, enslaved his neighbors, and left his entire people destitute and depraved. Now this lone guided missile of a man is willing to shed the last tatters of his humanity to exact his vengeance.

In this first volume of the Next Man Saga, J.M. Salyards presents a novel that sweeps from the apocalyptic Outlands to the palatial luxury of the corridors of power, and finds Harrow about to begin a war of annihilation. Before he can, he discovers allies who might bring him back from the brink. A psycho-spiritualist teenage boy and a disgraced princess of the elites may give Harrow a final tether to life, and as wills and fists collide, the unwilling hero must choose between a future beyond his victory, or death as his only chance for peace.

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About the Author:

J.M. Salyards (born 1982) lives in Maryland with his wife and daughter and dreams of becoming a man of a million words. His breakout trilogy The Next Man Saga begins with Volume 1: Shadow of the Last Men.

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Review:

While I don’t usually go to Sci-Fic books I quite enjoyed reading Shadow of the Last Man. I have seen people compare it to the hunger games, but I think it’s much more than that. The Outlanders and The Last Men seem to be from two different worlds. One filled with spirits and one with weird technology. While the scene and character development of the Outlanders was really easy to follow and picture and made me appreciate their lives and their journey, the scenes of The Order/Last Men was a little harder for me to understand the computers and technology of what exactly they are doing. I think this added to my experience of the book though and made me enjoy it even more. I often would ask myself out loud, “what the heck are they doing now!” I am not sure if it was done intentionally but I quickly came to the conclusion what made the Order superior to the Outlanders was what was making them inferior to defending themselves against them. Sometimes the good ol’ fashion way works best.

I enjoyed most reading about Harrow and Quintain, and enjoyed that in the beginning they were clearly separate from the stories of The Order/The Last Men. It was a smooth transition once the characters were brought together. I quickly grew to love the Outlanders and cheer for them, as quick as I grew to love the Outlander characters and lives I just as quickly grew to hate the corruptness and the Last Men characters.

It took me a while to realize what was happening between Harrow and Alouine but it was because I was more wrapped up in the fight for survival, and it was not easy to trust her character knowing where she came from.

J.M. Salyards, is a talented writer and did an amazing job developing the characters and the scenery, I could close my eyes and feel like I was right there in the moment watching from the side lines.

While Sci-Fic is not something I would usually pick off a shelf on my own, I am really glad I read this novel and would recommend it to anyone wishing to evolve their reading comfort zone. I am excited to read the sequel!

I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars!