#The Last Hour Between Worlds

[cephalopod-celabrator]

To all my friends and followers asking why I'm making every post or conversation about discworld, it is just that it is Terry Pratchett and his brilliant novels' turn to occupy the "Obsession" hole in my brain. Although they've never been far from it. Just be grateful it wasn't like my Melissa Caruso books obsession where it was a fandom nobody had heard of so all the posts were utterly irrelevant to any reader except that one mutual- what? Melissa Caruso's coming out with a new book soon? Okay, yall are fucked. I feel no remorse and will never get better <3

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

The Last Hour Between Worlds

fantasy locked room murder mystery

set in a world with alternate universes that bleed into it that get increasingly more eldritch as they go down, following a woman able to step between them

she’s on leave to take care of her newborn, but decides to attend a new years’ party to give herself a short break to socialise

but when everyone is murdered - only to suddenly be alive again, but with the whole building shifted one echo down, she realises she’s caught in a dangerous looping game and will have to find a way to stop them from dying permanently…. with the help of her rival slash almost-ex

very lightly demi-coded bi MC, f/f

[mommybookwyrm]

The Last Hour Between Worlds | by: Melissa Caruso

Kembral Thorne is spending a few hours away from her newborn, and she’s determined to enjoy herself at this party no matter what. But when the guests start dropping dead, Kem has no choice but to get to work. She is a Hound, after all, and she can’t help picking up the scent of trouble.

She’s not the only one. Her professional and personal nemesis, notorious burglar Rika Nonesuch, is on the prowl. They quickly identify what’s causing the mayhem: a mysterious grandfather clock that sends them down an Echo every time it chimes. In each strange new layer of reality, time resets and a sinister figure appears to perform a blood-soaked ritual.

As Kem and Rika fall into increasingly macabre versions of their city, they’ll need to rely on their wits—and each other—to unravel the secret of the clock and save their home.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! One of my most favorite author's new book came out yesterday, and I got to go see her and get my copy signed!!!!!!

Melissa Caruso seriously deserves to be a bigger name, I can not fathom why she isn't.

30ish pages into this one, and I already don't want to put it down.

[wearethekat]

November Book Reviews: The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso

One of my anticipated new releases for this year. New mother Kembral Thorne leaves her newborn at home to attend a New Year's party—only to get sucked into a murderous and magical game between eldritch beings, where every time a mysterious clock tolls, the party drops down one layer of reality. Can Kembral work out what's happening and stop it, with only the help of a woman who once betrayed her?

This is a book with a complex setup—the increasingly dangerous and unstable layers of Echoes, Kembral's job as an all-around investigator and rescuer of people from Echoes, her complicated relationship with her not-ex who betrayed her. In practice, the plot itself is rather simple, with a series of time-loop like party sequences that only Kembral and Rika remember. It's lucky that they seem to be caught in a time loop, because the eldritch being game seems to score points via murdering people...

Kembral herself is an interesting character. Caruso doesn't let you forget at any point that she has a two week old baby, which is an interesting POV as mothers of young children seem to very rarely feature as the protagonist of SFF novels. Kembral's still early on in processing how she's going to manage a very physically dangerous, active career with the responsibility of single parent to a newborn. The other half of her characterization is her formerly spy vs spy dynamic with cat burglar Rika, which after the Incident has overtones of an acrimonious divorce. Over the course of the novel, we get flashbacks of what happened as the romance continues to develop.

A solid but not especially sparkling addition to Caruso's backlist.

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 4.5/5

Book Blurb:

A whip-smart adventure fantasy packed with reality-bending magic, and sapphic romance, The Last Hour Between Worlds is the brilliant launch of a new series from David Gemmell Award-nominated author Melissa Caruso.

In the Deep Echoes, no one can save you.

Star investigator Kembral Thorne has a few hours away from her newborn, and she just wants to relax and enjoy the year-turning party. But when people start dropping dead, she’s got to get to work. Especially when she finds that mysterious forces are plunging the whole party down through layers of reality and into nightmare.

One layer down: It's no big deal. Stay alert, and you’ll be fine.

Two, three layers down: Natural laws are negotiable, and things get very strange.

Four layers down: There are creatures with eyes in their teeth and walls that drip blood. Most people who fall this far never return.

Luckily, Kem isn’t most people. But as cosmic powers align and the hour grows late, she’ll have to work with her awfully compelling nemesis, notorious cat burglar Rika Nonesuch, for a chance to save her city—though not her night off.

For more from Melissa Caruso, check out:

Swords and Fire The Tethered Mage The Defiant Heir ​The Unbound Empire

Rooks and Ruin The Obsidian Tower The Quicksilver Court The Ivory Tomb

Review:

Two ex friends/potentially something more are forced to team up to solve a time warping/reality warping trapped time lock murder mystery in this fantastic first book in a series! Kembral Thorne is a star investigator who has finally decided to take some time off from her new baby and go and enjoy the year-turning party.... only it's not going to be as relaxing as she thought. When bodies start dropping and a mysterious forces/figures also start interfering Kembral has her work cut out for her. It doesn't help that the entire party has been dropped through layers of reality and she has to get them through them back to the original one. With nightmare inducing levels, with the laws of reality bending... and dark killer forces out there, Kembral will have to rely on the one person she doesn't want to to help her save everyone, her compelling nemesis, the cat burglar Rika Nonesuch, the one person she used to consider a friend and potentially something more until Rika betrayed her. Yet there is more to Rika's betrayal than Kembral could ever imagine and now they'll have to find a way to work together while healing from the heartbreak of the past... oh and find a way through this twisted reality warping murder mystery. This was such a fantastic and fun read, it combines mystery with a bit of magic and a touch of romance. ! The author builds such a fascinating world and the magic system was so unique and cool. It's so fun and really grabs you throughout the story. The story captures you from the start and really takes you along for the ride. I am so excited for the second book and can't wait to see what happens next with Kembral and Rika!

Release Date: November 19,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Orbit Books | Orbit for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[sffinsiders]

Review: The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso — SFF Insiders

[anwhitebooks]

Everything I read, watched, listened to, or played in October 2024

November 5, 2024 Hello, book nerds! October felt like a long month for me, in a good way. Between multiple concerts and spending a lot of quality time with friends and family, it was an enjoyable and relaxing month. GLINT: Book 2 in the Plated Prisoner series. I’ll be doing a full review when I finish the series, but overall I felt pretty much the same about book 2 as I did for book 1. THE…

[readinginmars]

"Because to turn this year is to hold the next hundred in your hand."

The Last Hour Between Worlds - Melissa Caruso

[nzbookwyrm]

November 2024

[felassan]

.

[cephalopod-celabrator]

I am once again begging you people to read Melissa Caruso. She just recently started a new series with the book The Last Hour Between Worlds and it's so good. Please. She writes queer people and really good fantasy plots. Time loops, living superweapons, the psychology of immortality, body horror, talking cats, the works. Pleeaaasseee.

[skyward-floored]

The Lost Woods aren’t so bad.

Not after traversing them more times then Link can count, at least. Sure the paths shift, and monsters occasionally slip their way inside to hide in the bushes and trees, but Link knows the way to the clearing where he needs to go.

The forest only needs to let him.

His boots cut through soft grass, an occasional crunch belaying a leaf. The song of the woods is on the wind, and Link follows its winding tune, the pipes of water, strings and drums of leaves and branches. Quiet giggles make his ears twitch, but Link knows to ignore them.

He plays the game of the Woods, walking its paths, watching poes with a careful eye to see where they lead. The song dances by, high and low, loud and soft, and the flute that sometimes joins it makes his heart ache.

Time stretches strangely under the canopy of trees and fog— Link feels like he’s been here for hours now, but the glimpses of sunshine that peek through the branches are no different from how it was when he arrived. Link passes through another clearing, doubt beginning to nip at his heels. They’re not called the Lost Woods for no reason after all, and he’s starting to wonder if he hasn’t passed their test this time.

Is it because of what I’ve done since last I’ve been here?

But then something in the air, in him, clicks, eases, Link doesn’t know the word. But it’s like a fog lifts from his vision, and the path he needs to take is suddenly obvious. Link follows the pull past flowers and stones, over a barely-there path. It guides him through the yawning mouth of a log, and birds softly chirp as he emerges into a familiar clearing.

Fog drifts past his boots as he looks around, and a single shaft of sunlight breaks past the trees, drawing his vision to sparkling blue.

Link exhales, and steps forward, squirrels and other small creatures darting away into the bushes. He steps up onto the small stone platform, and doesn’t move for a long moment, looking at where the Master Sword sits with wisps of fog and sunlight dancing around her. Waiting for him.

“Hey old girl,” Link says softly, and for some reason his throat aches as he rests a hand on her hilt. “Been a while.”

The metal under his skin is both hot and cold, warmed by the sun’s light, and cooled by the stone it rests in. Despite years exposed to the elements, the Master Sword isn’t covered in greenery like it was the first time Link found her. Nor is her shine diminished in the slightest. Her blade is dimmed only because she rests, her power waiting for the next hero who needs her.

Who just happens to be Link again.

A shaking sigh escapes him, and Link puts both of his hands around her hilt, the electrifying hot-and-cold sharp-and-soft thrill of her power zipping through him as he pulls.

The Master Sword slips loose just like it did when he pulled her the first time, and Link raises her to the sky, the fog parting and fading away. The sunlight brightens somehow, making her sparkle and glow, and Link’s throat tightens again.

He hadn’t realized until now how badly he’d missed her.

Link lowers the blade again, running a hand over her cool steel as he studies her, looking over her finer points to familiarize himself with the weapon once again. Something is different, he realizes after a minute or two. And when it finally dawns on him what it is, he holds the Master Sword tighter, almost hugging her.

“I’ve grown,” he says quietly.

The blade fits his size now.

Instead of the still-pudgy hands of a child grasping at her hilt, there’s the worn hands of an adventurer ghosting along the metal, scars catching in her grooves. There’s blood staining his hands now that wasn’t there before, yet she still allowed him to pull her.

“You fit better, now,” he continues, voice shaking a little. “Hopefully this’ll... make things easier.”

His breath hitches, and Link swallows it back, clasping the sacred blade in his arms like one would an old friend.

He squeezes his eyes closed.

“I guess I thought I wouldn’t be doing this again,” Link whispers, ghosting his fingers along the gem in her hilt. “Not... not after the last one.”

Not after what I did.

The metal seems to warm just a hair, like the sunshine got pulled into it, and Link rests his head against the Master Sword, allowing a single drop of saltwater to trail down his cheek.

“Thanks,” he croaks, and the softest, faintest of chimes echoes in his heart.

It’s enough to pull him from the grief that was threatening to swallow him up again, and Link sets aside the weight of an island, and focuses instead on the weight of the sword, and his kingdom.

He’s needed. He can’t get lost in grief.

Link breathes out, running his hand along the steel one more time, and then he gently sheathes her, stepping down from the platform.

“Here we go again old girl,” he says as he steps outside of the clearing, weary with grief, but determined to stop the evil returning yet again.

He closes his eyes.

“One more time.”

A single pure note chimes in his chest, and Link feels something other than grief wrap itself around him, urging him forward to take another step, to press on despite the weight.

It feels a little bit like hope.

[akkivee]

mtc track sample~ i think what’s most notable about this sample is that

there’s change happening within juto’s force and it seems to be related to chuuoku

we have once again expressed how tired we are of chuuoku shenanigans

samatoki has been shown several times to have been moved by ichiro’s words and ideals as of late and it seems to have come to fruition here with samatoki seeing the block party and believing in a power that can change this shitty world

rio’s mates are ready to take down chuuoku once again lmao and mtc seems to want to stop them

[abigailspinach]

[carcarrot]

dream time