The Last Minder: The Chronicles of Majjen by Fish PhillipsMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
A completely involving sci-fi thriller...
Forty-some years ago my uncle gave me a science fiction anthology. It was a thick red hardback that I read from cover to cover. It inspired a lifelong love of the genre. The stories in that book made me think outside the box. They filled me with awe for the imagination it took to write them. That book still remains in my collection today. The title is OMNIBUS OF SCIENCE FICTION, edited by Groff Conklin, a well-known and prolific editor of the genre. It was published in 1952, the Golden Age of Science Fiction. It’s a substantial volume, 562 pages, with 43 stories divided into sections relating to a common theme. Some stories are fun, some are thought-provoking, and some are adventurous. I love them all.
The Last Minder: The Chronicles of Majjen by Fish Phillips is a wonderfully written and richly descriptive novel with brilliantly drawn characters and settings. The author weaves a well-crafted science fiction story that draws the reader in from the opening chapter. Skillfully constructed, this sci-fi is infused with historical fiction and fantasy elements that will have you turning the pages from beginning to end. There’s plenty of imagery in the writing style that makes you feel you are right there in the story, and that’s something I look for in a good book.
The plot is intricately sculpted as the synopsis suggests: ‘A high concept, futuristic, social science fiction thriller where the life and death of humanity hangs on the actions of a lone man well past his prime… An elderly war hero with rejected superpowers must overcome a broken mind to survive his last mission on an alien-controlled earth in the distant future… Benny is a damaged man at the end of life. A hero of World War II, he just wants to live out his final days and die in peace… Majjen is a time-traveling alien. He has spent centuries searching for someone like Benny to fulfill his covert mission… Majjen flashes him forward centuries to an earth ruled indirectly by benevolent aliens. They foster global tranquility with the help of humans and androids committed to the roadmap for peace. The deeper this world draws in Benny, the more he realizes that everything is not as it seems. Despite this, Majjen has presented him with one opportunity he never thought possible. The chance at redemption.’
I enjoyed the story, character development, and dialogue. There were plenty of plot twists that I didn’t see coming and that added to the book’s mystique. When I stopped reading to work, I found myself wondering what happened in the book, and replaying parts of the novel in my head to see if I could figure more out. It has been a while since I enjoyed a book this much. It’s a well-written and fast-paced sci-fi thriller. Highly recommended and looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.
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