The Last Astronaut: Book Review

Welcome back, dear reader. Now, now, there’s no need to get so excited. I know you’ve been eagerly waiting for my lovely reviews and regular content to start back up but the screaming is a bit much.

Before I dive right into the review, just wanted to remind you that the space horror anthology I curated and edited, The Darkness Beyond The Stars, comes out August 31st! That’s right, this Thursday! Grab your pre-orders here:

Additionally, I also hosted a special book launch event this past Saturday. If you missed it, don’t cry. You can watch the recording here:

Now onto the review! Today’s theme is space horror after all so I’ll be reviewing The Last Astronaut! Don’t worry, I kept this review spoiler-free!

The Author

David Wellington, aka D. Nolan Clark, aka David Chandler is the author of twenty-two novels of action, suspense, and drama. He got his start in 2003 with the online serialization of Monster Island. He has also worked in comic books and video games and has published dozens of short stories in a wide range of anthologies. His novel, The Last Astronaut, was shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke award. Visit him at his website or follow him on Twitter!

He was also kind enough to write a brilliant foreword for The Darkness Beyond The Stars!

The Book

Mission Commander Sally Jansen is Earth’s last astronaut–and last hope–in this gripping near-future thriller where a mission to make first contact becomes a terrifying struggle for survival in the depths of space.

Sally Jansen was NASA’s leading astronaut, until a mission to Mars ended in disaster. Haunted by her failure, she lives in quiet anonymity, convinced her days in space are over.

She’s wrong.

A large alien object has entered the solar system on a straight course toward Earth. It has made no attempt to communicate and is ignoring all incoming transmissions.

Out of time and out of options, NASA turns to Jansen. For all the dangers of the mission, it’s the shot at redemption she always longed for.

But as the object slowly begins to reveal its secrets, one thing becomes horribly clear: the future of humanity lies in Jansen’s hands.

— The Last Astronaut Amazon landing page

Shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award 2020, The Last Astronaut is a space horror novel set in the future, which follows astronaut Sally Jansen whose disastrous last mission saw the end of human-operated space missions. Until a monstrous alien object appears and is flying straight for a collision course to Earth. Jansen gets a second chance to lead a mission. Her teammates have no experience with space travel and the alien object is host to bizarre dangers, Jansen has her work cut out for her, indeed.

The Review

Okay, let’s lay it out:

• strong female lead

• space horror

• cosmic horror

• massive creepy alien object

The Last Astronaut has everything I love in a space horror novel and I enjoyed every page of it. Sally Jansen is a really compelling character. After a disastrous mission to Mars, she is blacklisted from the industry and works in salvage, until an old colleague reaches back out to her. Classic. They need her help. I love Jansen as a character. Equal parts strong and flawed, Jansen drives the reader further and further in the dark interior of the alien object, lost in its shrouded halls as well as her own mental struggles. I was cheering her on, feeling her pain and frustration and fear as things got more and more twisted.

The Last Astronaut starts very sci-fi and, when the crew reaches the object, quickly veers into cosmic/weird horror territory —- much to my delight!

Wellington’s prose is very direct and compelling, his characters are diverse, his scenes cinematic, and the horror within the alien object? Well, I won’t spoil anything. I will say that the suspense/horror ramp up at light-speed, culminating in an deliciously insane ending.

One fun thing to note is that David Wellington actually interviewed astronauts as part of his research into this novel! It absolutely shows as the portrayal of NASA feels really authentic.

This is definitely one of my favourite books ever.

10/10

x PLM