Book Review: The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee, narrated by Mary Robinette Kowal & Dillon Sikles


4.25/5 stars. Before I read the Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee, I had heard about the wonderful characters and their growth throughout the story. After reading that trilogy, I agreed that the characters were great; however, except for two secondary characters, the growth of her characters was lacking. After reading this story, I believe she has done a much better job in demonstrating depth and growth of her three main characters, and for that reason, this novel is far superior to her previous work. The three primary characters are all ‘atier Contractors’ who work for an agency that assigns one Contractor to each Director of various governmental units responsible for maintaining human presence on the planet Aquilo. I appreciated that Isako and Kob were both fifty, at the ends of their respective illustrious careers, and in positions to make some difficult choices in their lives. As a person in my late fifties, I can relate to their circumstances and had a stronger connection to these two characters.

Set in the distant future of humanity when humans have moved beyond Earth to find other planets to terraform, Lee does an excellent job of representing all of humanity’s faults and failings in this unique world. There were a couple of places in the novel that made me question Lee’s choices as she wrote this story, one relating to the storytelling structure and the other about her choice of plot twist. These moments decreased my overall enjoyment of the story, but this is still a solidly entertaining and engaging science fiction novel with a unique premise, excellent prose, and a wonderful setting. I highly recommend it for all scifi fans and all Fonda Lee fans!

Finally, I also listened to much of this book on audio as I read along with the physical copy of the book. The narrators both do an excellent job with the story and I also highly recommend the audiobook.

I hope that Ms. Lee writes more science fiction in the future. She has a distinct knack for telling fascinating space stories about humanity’s far future.

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