3 out of 4 stars
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The Last City of America by Matthew Tysz was one of the most exhilarating stories I have ever read. What was once the beloved country of America is turned to ruins by a virus called Hephaestus, which causes conception difficulties. The population became zilch and the last of the American people were split up between seven cities. Each of these seven cities is run by a host or sky lord, some of which are completely deranged. The America we know no longer existed and the people who were left lived in fear and poverty. Some cities fared better than others but all sense of normalcy was gone. There was no hope or happiness and the war between the cities was never ending. This story will touch the soul of anyone that reads it and will undoubtedly demonstrate what our society would end up like if something devastating happened to our country.
This book was intense to read but I enjoyed every minute of it. It seemed to portray what goes on in the world currently such as conflict to obtain power and greed. A way for someone to achieve these things, is to rule with a heavy thumb. Sound familiar? Keeping people complacent and living in fear is the easiest way to secure their willingness to follow.
After reading this book I especially enjoyed the vividness the author used to describe the country and the way people had to live after the downfall of America. I was clearly able to picture the new founded cities and desolate areas that were not inhabited by humans anymore. I also appreciated the way it jumped around to each character; this helped keep each of them fresh in my mind. There were some very gloomy parts and a couple of my favorite characters ended up dying, (the author had his reasons) but it still upset me nonetheless.
The Last City of America would make a very worthy film, I say this mainly because people don't read much anymore and a sci-fi fantasy of this standing would slay it in the box office. The author created an abundance of characters, some of which last throughout the entire story and some who had an early ending. Each character had a solid role to play in the story, and I had strong connections with all of them. Tysz did an excellent job hiding some of the characters’ true ambitions which kept me wondering if they were good or evil. Once I reached the end I realized that most of them are both in actuality and they choose their own paths based on their experiences and dilemmas.
I would rate The Last City of America 3 out of 4 stars. I was completely absorbed with this story and had a hard time putting it down. It had very little grammatical errors, and with the length of the book that was reasonable. I would recommend this book to mature audiences because the story line is very comprehensive and a younger audience may not get the gist of it. In truth this book reveals what our world leaders have been doing all along, with power comes greed, and with greed comes the want for more power. In order to gain that power one must encourage fear to ensure our docility, which has us begging for someone to show us the way.
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The Last City of America
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