Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings. Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them. In this week’s Waiting on Wednesday, I highlight one of the most exciting fantasy books of 2024 with The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso.
Last week I had a lot of fun listing the top fantasy books of 2023 that I was most excited for, and frankly the rest of year is looking very strong in terms of fantasy fiction. Due to how much I focused on 2023 in recent weeks, I thought I’d take this opportunity to look at fantasy fiction coming out in 2024. In particular, I wanted to take a look at an awesome book from March next year that I think has a lot of potential, The Last Hour Between Worlds by the talented Melissa Caruso.
Caruso is an exceptional author who has been one of the top authors of fantasy fiction in recent years. Debuting back in 2017 with the first book of her Swords and Fire trilogy, Caruso has been unstoppable ever since. I deeply enjoyed her first trilogy which followed an odd-couple duo of a clever young noblewoman and the ultra-destructive mage bound to her. This amazing trilogy was really good, and I loved all three books, The Tethered Mage, The Defiant Heir and The Unbound Empire. Caruso followed this series up immediately with her cool Rooks and Ruins trilogy, which was set in the same universe. I haven’t had a chance to read this sequel trilogy yet, which is something I deeply regret, but that won’t stop me from checking out Caruso’s compelling new book when it comes out in 2024.
This new book, The Last Hour Between Worlds, features an outstanding and intriguing new story that feature some unique time travel elements. This fantastic book will apparently follow two fun protagonists, an investigator and her thief rival, as they find themselves investigating a series of killings and a deadly, time altering clock. This book sounds pretty damn awesome, especially as it features rival guilds, unique magic and cool characters, all set around a fantastic and dark murder mystery plot. While I am already a pretty big fan of Caruso and her books, the plot for The Last Hour Between Worlds has made me even more excited for this upcoming book and I have a strong feeling this is going to be one of the best books of next year. 2024 honestly cannot come soon enough, especially with epic novels like The Last Hour Between Worlds coming out.
Plot Synopsis:
Follow a star investigator and her rival as they journey through layers of reality to save the world as they know it in this whip-smart adventure fantasy about rival guilds, reality-bending magic and unexpected mystery.
Kembral Thorne is spending a few hours away from her newborn, and she’s determined to enjoy the party no matter what. But when the guests start dropping dead, Kem has no choice but to get to work. She’s a member of the Guild of Hounds, 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 city.
The Unseen Library 