If you love the old Star Treks, Star Gate and anything 80’s sci-fi, The Last Dance by Martin L. Shoemaker is a must read. This was one of my favorite Kindle reads of the year. It was well written, fun and incredibly intelligent. You can tell Shoemaker loves space and the book maintains a good grasp on the science involved with space travel as well as the complexity of human behavior and emotions when millions of miles away from home. There’s nothing I hate more than a book that glosses over science completely (unless it’s magic..of course!) so I really appreciated Shoemaker’s approach in The Last Dance. The true emotion elicited by this book was reminiscent of reading “The War of the Worlds”…i.e..it totally could happen.
Set on the Aldrin, a space craft that shuttles people from Earth to the Mars colonies in 2083, The Last Dance untangles the very complicated story of Captain Nicolau Aames who is accused of treason and his loyal crew, accused of mutiny.
As Inspector General Park boards the Aldrin and conducts her investigation into Aames and his crew, she encounters the true complexity of space travel, the nuances of human interactions and the explosive political tensions between the Mars/Earth and Civilian/Military bureaucracy.
Aames, by all accounts is an asshole. But he is consistent, incredibly competent and exceptionally fair. He’s also stubborn, arrogant and routinely pushes people to their breaking points. His list of political enemies reaches from Earth to Mars. His crew, however, is unswervingly loyal and exceptionally competent themselves, leaving Inspector General Park to dig for an unbiased truth from the testimonies of a crew who respects their captain and stands by him, even against accusations of mutiny and treason.
The Last Dance was so much fun to read and I cannot wait book two: The Last Campaign.
5 Stars because I love retro sci-fi. 🙂
Until next time, happy reading friends.
-R
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