When I picked up The Last Exodus by Paul Tassi and started reading, I was disappointed to learn that it was about yet another alien apocalypse. Having just finished The 5th Wave series, I wasn’t sure I wanted to delve into another similar tale. Fortunately, this book was set apart in two ways: (1) the apocalypse here was absolute — in a very short time after the beginning of the story, all life on Earth would cease to exist; and (2) the protagonist Lucas teams up with a rogue alien to escape their (almost) dead planet. The alien, a scientist calling himself Alpha, has deserted because he doesn’t believe in his people’s policies. He has a spaceship but no crew, so he enlists the aid of Lucas and a woman called Asha to fly the ship to a planet where he hopes to find sanctuary.
The Last Exodus is published by Talos Press, an imprint of independent publisher Skyhorse Publishing, and as such has many more mistakes in punctuation, spelling, and so forth than books published by the Big Five. That being said, it is well-written and a good story. The characters are complex and well-developed. Tassi tells a tale of desperation — three individuals thrown together by circumstance, who must work together to survive. Combined with much action, both on Earth and in space, it is very engaging. I had a slight problem with the ending, which is almost, but not quite a cliffhanger. I would have preferred a more satisfying conclusion. Still, it’s worth a read, and I will definitely pick up the next book in the series when it is available.