The Last Contract of Isako

by Fonda Lee

Get ready to be blown away by this searing standalone space opera where corporate samurai fight beneath merciless stars, and death is always a mere breath away.

Isako is a legendary swordswoman, but every legend has to come to an end. When her long-time client unexpectedly retires, she plans to follow--to walk out into the frozen wasteland of their planet with her head held high and her family enriched by her legacy. But when a competitor offers her a final mission, it's one she can't refuse. Soon, she's thrust deep into a world of corporate espionage, duty-bound duels, and shadowy secrets. What she uncovers will change humanity's existence in the stars forever.

The Last Contract of Isako is the space opera you didn't know you needed: corporate samurai... in space. This is the first adult science fiction novel from the award-winning author of Jade City.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Adult, Fiction, Space Opera, Space, Science Fiction Fantasy

Kindle Edition

Expected publication May 5, 2026

About the author

Fonda Lee is the World Fantasy Award-winning author of the epic Green Bone Saga, beginning with Jade City and continuing in Jade War and Jade Legacy. Her most recent work is the fantasy novella, Untethered Sky. She is also the author of the acclaimed science fiction novels Zeroboxer, Exo and Cross Fire.

Fonda is a winner of the Locus Award, a six-time winner of the Aurora Award (Canada’s national science fiction and fantasy award), and a multiple finalist for the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award. Her novels have garnered multiple starred reviews, been included on numerous state reading lists, named Junior Library Guild selections, and appeared on Best of Year lists from NPR, Barnes & Noble, Syfy Wire, and others. Jade City was named among the Top 100 Fantasy Books of All Time by Time Magazine and has been optioned for television development.

Fonda is a former corporate strategist and black belt martial artist who loves action movies and Eggs Benedict. Born and raised in Canada, she currently resides in Boston.

Reviews

[ଘRory]

_OMG 📢WE HAVE A COVER 🥶❤️.

my most anticipated book for 2026 😋
📢I NEED THE COVER

[richa ⋆.˚★]

I will read anything by Fonda Lee 😌

[Sidney · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 rounded up. rtc 🔜 closer to pub date per publishers request.

[Youssra (semi ia)]

So ready for this to possibly be my new Sci-Fi obsession.

[Lance]

Oh she's (Fonda Lee) taking it (my direct deposit as soon as it hits my bank account)! ESPECIALLY WITH THIS COVER!!

[bee]

WE HAVE A COVER!!

prepare to be sick of me when this comes out

[Rebecca Roanhorse]

You had me at corporate samurais in space, but add a murder mystery with a surprising twist, effortless worldbuilding on a terraforming colony with a big secret, truly heartfelt characters grappling with duty and honor, and you have a slick space opera that in uniquely Fonda Lee. Fans of The Green Bone Saga are going to eat this up.

[Althea ☾]

update 5 (11/21/25): WE HAVE A COVER!!!! the sci fi vibes are SERVING. clearly my most anticipated release of 2026. more genre-bending Fonda Lee with cyberpunk corporate samurais 😩

update 4 (11/19/25): Fonda Lee announcement about this book on her instagram!!

update 3: OH ITS A STANDALONE!!!!! WE HAVE A SCI FI MYSTERY STANDALONE FROM FONDA LEE!!

update 2: [did we get moved to 2026? its okay im okay]

update 1: CYBERPUNK SAMURAIS BY FONDA LEE!!!! p.s. sci fi mystery that’s starring a swordswoman in her 50s…

i am counting down the DAYS. Orbit please love me enough to send an ARC. I am also assuming this is a standalone so... I AM BEGGING

[Janine Ballard]

In the author’s words:

My next novel, The Last Contract of Isako, is a cyberpunk samurai space opera (without the space) that I describe as what you’d get if Akira Kurosawa wrote Dune starring a 50-something give-no-fucks swordswoman on her last job, blended with vibes of Blade Runner plus a touch of John Wick.

https://www.fondalee.com/2023/03/anno...

The Last Contract of Isako is the cyberpunk samurai space opera that’s been percolating in my brain for years. It’s a science fiction mystery chanbara story set on a harsh Arrakis-style tundra planet but blend in Blade Runner vibes and a touch of John Wick. I’m very much looking forward to introducing readers to Isako.

https://www.orbitbooks.net/2023/03/01...

[rina]

pre read: 01/25/26
oh fonda lee how i've missed your writing ☹ been waiting for this book for forever, it's beyond surreal that i get to read it early !! hoping this fills the void in me left by jade city.

[hailee]

FONDA I AM SO SEATED

[Iffy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid 4 stars! This was such a highly anticipated read for me because I absolutely ADORE Fonda Lee’s Green Bone Saga. There are parts of this book that I had a wonderful time with and parts that didn’t quite work for me.

Things I loved: an older FMC who is a badass but also very in touch with her emotions, matured relationships between characters, a few surprising twists, overall writing style, an intriguing plot line.

Things that didn’t work for me: world building was a bit clunky and some of it was revealed at the end and it would have been helpful to know from the beginning, the pacing and overall structure of the story felt off, and the ending was not satisfying.

This was a very zoomed-in story in a really massive world and I wish we got a more zoomed-out picture.

In the acknowledgements Fonda Lee says she last minute changed the structure and the ending so I wonder if I would’ve liked the original better!

Overall, I did enjoy it but I definitely liked the Green Bone books more!

[Cat]

unfollow me now this is the only thing i'll be talking about until 2025

[M was M]

Emily Fox 2025 TBR 🦊

[Izzy⁷♡•°]

I got the arc!!!

[Emily ✞ || [fallon's vrs]]

જ⁀➴ pre-release:
‎‧₊˚✩ 🪐✩˚₊‧ Corporate Samurai In Space ‎‧₊˚✩ 🪐✩˚₊‧

shut. up. and. take. my. freaking. money.

[clicktojointhemafia]

i am s simple girl: fonda lee writes, i read.

[Ellen Gail]

You're telling me this is a standalone space opera, featuring corporate samurai, IN SPACE!?



I am ready to pounce on this the day it's published like a 4am Black Friday shopper.

[Tristan Hourigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fair review provided in exchange for advanced reader copy from the publisher.

A cyberpunk inspired samurai mom on a final corporate espionage job that turns into a murder mystery on a stranded space colony world is a wild premise, and Fonda Lee absolutely knocks it out of the park. This book has been on my radar for a long time after hearing this hook and reading her excellent work on the Green Bone Saga, and the standalone “The Last Contract of Isako” totally delivers.

Characters are wonderfully mature and complex, with very human interactions even amidst action packed spectacle and navigating a distant world from our own that still feels evolved in a believable way. Even badass bounty hunters have aching knees or Mondays at work, and artificial bodes piloted by human brains in their second stage of life display humanity in a totally inhuman situation. Lee continues to be a master at crafting relatable and nuanced characters even in fantastical settings, and the primary cast of the novel is engaging and fully realized.

The worldbuilding is also excellent, with enough history, language, and culture permeating the story to give the standalone novel the feel of a much lived in world one would expect from a latter book of a series. The plot is paced very well with the structure of the book enhancing the twists and reveals along the way (proud to say I figured out one key part early). The prose is descriptive and excellent at both inserting the reader into a character’s head or painting an otherworldly vista.

Overall the novel is fantastic, an easy 5/5 for me, and I can’t wait to see where Fonda Lee brings us next.

[Brandee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for an eARC to read and review before publishing.

YES! The Last Contract of Isako is EXACTLY what I'm looking for in a Science Fiction/Dystopian novel. And even better, I have discovered a new favorite author in Fonda Lee.

My favorite part of The Last Contract of Isako is Isako herself. I love and admire the fact that Fonda has given us a FMC who is not only older (50), but a FMC who is a bad-ass that can joke about menopause in one breath and cut down her enemies in the next. And what I really appreciated was Isako's journey through what she thought she believed and how she had to challenge those beliefs when faced with new information and situations. What does loyalty look like when what you've dedicated your life to is no longer loyal to you?

Fonda also creates a plot that is interwoven with conspiracy theories, old friends reunited, and new paths to be forged. I was engaged the whole time, and although I love that this was a standalone, I was definitely disappointed when it was over.

The Last Contract of Isako is reminiscent of the Arc of a Scythe trilogy by Neal Shusterman and the John Wick movie franchise; however, it unequivocally stands on its own.

[kaylyn]

umm omg? i'll be insufferable when this comes out.

[Already Overbooked · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trust isn't part of the equation

[Tori]

I GOT AN ARC I AM SO EXCITED

[LambchoP]

This sounds awesome! I loved her last standalone novella, I'm sure this will be just as great. Here's to hoping I can get an ARC! ;)

[Stella]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BookManiac]

Cyberpunk space opera by Fonda Lee with samurai influence as well? Why would I not read it???

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Last Contract of Isako was my most anticipated new release of the year, and it did not disappoint. Thank you so, so much to Netgalley and Orbit for the ARC.

The story follows Isako, an atier contractor who is taking on the final contract of her career before "resigning", which is essentially walking into the waste of the planet and dying. This last job is seemingly impossible, but she has to find a way to accomplish it if she wants to resign with dignity and a nice monetary bonus for her daughter.

The world building comes at you quickly in the beginning, but it's so interesting and spread out just enough that I thought it was well done. The more I learned about the Aquilo settlement, the more I grew to both love and hate it. The society is incredibly corrupt, but it was so interesting.

I really loved the overall plot of the story as well. The way you unravel what the hell is ACTUALLY going on was incredibly well done, and I was engaged the entire time in how everything would end. I think Fonda Lee did a great job of kind of showing you what the twist was, then giving you the opportunity to learn how it was going to happen and I just absolutely loved that. There were hints that something bigger was going on than you originally think and you then get to unravel that web, and oh boy is there a web to unravel. Once you read you'll know what I mean. I thought the story was very well paced, and I never got bored.

Isako was fantastic. The journey she goes through emotionally is incredible and she has such satisfying growth. I found myself really caring about her and I was incredibly invested in everything working out for her. There's also another character I absolutely loved, I won't mention them cause it's a bit of a spoiler but they were incredibly well written and again, had a fantastic arc.

I cannot say enough good things about Fonda Lee's writing. She always manages to pull me into her stories and get me emotionally invested in her characters, even when they're maybe not the best people. This was yet another incredibly written work from her.

The only thing that is maybe not perfect was the world building in the beginning. It was just a lot going on with only a few plot beats to go with it, but those plot beats were pretty dramatic so it made up for it.

Overall, I ate this up and absolutely loved it. I think this is a book that anyone can love. It's not overly complex, has a lot of great themes of corruption and power, and incredibly well written characters.

[nes ౨ৎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

i could talk your ear off about how good this book was, but i’ll keep it short. i’m not a science fiction fan, not really, but i am a huge fonda lee fan. every book of hers that i’ve read, i’ve loved— and that certainly applies to the last contract of isako, too.

”To serve is to live. To live is to die.”

it was truly such a good book. i loved isako and her arthritic knees that inconvenienced her on the daily yet didn’t once stop her from handling shit like a total badass. i LOVED the secondary characters. i even loved the science-fiction setting (that’s a first for me). all in all, i’d recommend this to everyone without a second thought.


*an arc was provided in exchange for an honest review.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had such a great time reading this one! What a breath of fresh air to have an older FMC. I was worried at first because the story started a bit slow for me but it didn’t take long to become invested in the characters and world.

Lee’s writing is exceptional, and while I felt the world building could have been a little more fleshed out, it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book at all.

Overall Rating: 4 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[Maëlys]

corporate samurai in space goes so hard???????