Last Star Standing
ThrillerAdded on January 13, 2026
Description
"A thoroughly entertaining adventure with imaginative action and an appealing hero.” - Kirkus Reviews (starred)"A deeply addictive read." - SPR editorial review“Taylor melds original worldbuilding, dramatic flair and a lively, down-to-earth storytelling style, bringing 2094 Earth to vivid life. RECOMMENDED” - US Review of BooksThe Kirkus-starred speculative thriller Last Star Standing is set in 2094, when Earth has been conquered by the extra-terrestrial Xirfell.Aiden, a brilliant yet headstrong outsider, is part of the underground resistance. Undermined by his leader, rejected by his girlfriend, ousted from the inner circle and confronted by betrayal on every side, he recruits a group of overlooked outcasts and stakes everything on one last mission... His courage is unquestionable, but can Aiden control his temperament? And what about the glorious but unreliable Ravene?Kirkus-starred, Taylor's Last Star Standing has won Third Prize in the Incipere Book Awards (Action/Adventure) and was a finalist in Chanticleer's International Book Award's Cygnus Award, The Eric Hoffer Awards, the International Book Awards, and the Wishing Shelf Book Awards. It lost all its reviews when Unbound, its original publishers, released the copyrights to almost all its fiction authors. EXCERPT:The Enlightened One seemed – or was it only my imagination? – to be gazing directly at me. Pushing swiftly past Petra I extended my hand. He turned, made a strange gesture, almost of benediction, then wired the back of my hand with that thick blackened stump. An instant surge of heat pulsed up my arm and throughout my torso. Then a wild swirl of fuchsia-slashed-with-orange flashed beneath my eyelids, as if the same stars, fiery and spot-lit against the black, had been injected into my brain. My every corpuscle felt fired, an almost intoxicating sensation, especially after the chill of the poison. I half-stumbled, almost squashing a smallish alien, and only saved myself from falling at the last second.
Reader Reviews
Aliens have taken over the Earth. The northern hemisphere was particularly hard hit—London, New York, and Shanghai are all ruins. For some incomprehensible reason, the Xirfell have spared the Australasian Academy, but Aidan has already been expelled from there. He’s a rebel, one of the few things in his life he’s been proud of. That is, until he’s captured by the Xirfell. Then his only hope is a quick death, before he can betray his comrades.He is tortured and framed for murder, but he is also g
We pick up the story with Aiden Tenten, a 30-ish-year-old rebel, captured and being interrogated by an alluring female named Ravene – a high-ranking agent (of all things, the King’s daughter) of the Xirfell regime. Clearly, Aiden and Ravene share some history and surprisingly, a bit of chemistry. This adds immediate intrigue as the reader is forced to piece together the backstory. This is accomplished through the wonderfully addictive, compelling, and sardonic internal monologue of Aiden, a high
Last Star Standing by Spaulding Taylor is an intriguing dystopian thriller with scifi elements. It was compelling and entertaining, and kept me interested from beginning to end.I really enjoyed the main character, Aiden. I feel he brought a lightness to this story, even though he’s a quite serious character. He’s fighting to save the world, and he feels like a real, live human. The writing of this character pushed this novel forward.The world building is quite intense in a good way. There are lo
