A review by thewulverslibrary
The Last Gifts of the Universe by Rory August

3.0

The Last Gifts of the Universe by Rory August is the story of the Home worlds and their technological achievement that led them to the stars. There, they found a graveyard of dead civilisations and ruins of unknown origin. Home knows that they are the last civilisation of the universe and whatever came for the others will come for them next. Archivist Scout is tasked with scouring these dead worlds for technology - anything that might be useful to survival. During an excavation, Scout unearths something unbelievable: a message from a alien who witnessed everything thousands of years ago.

This is a fun, humorous story that August has written and they have crafted a space adventure like no other. There is heartbreak and sorry but also moments of hope and pulsating euphoria. This was an enjoyable piece of science fiction that was noticeably endearing and uplifting. There is a relatable fear of being the only humans in the cosmos and August has definitely brought out the goods to showcase this.

The story itself was easy to read and the prose was fantastic. As an author, August has brought out their strong points with humour and character. My only issue was that I felt this was a repeated trope that became predictable the more we went on.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.