What do you think?
Rate this book
Sam is the first of the last 13 Dreamers to be revealed. Caught in a covert battle to preserve life as we know it, he must follow the clues to find twelve more Dreamers. Only this unique group can unravel the mysteries of an ancient prophecy and locate the long-lost key to Earth's survival. Sam must not only face two competing factions-The Enterprise and The Academy-but also elude the menacing presence of the masked figure, Solaris, who is always lurking in both dreams and reality. The last 13 Dreamers are always in danger. The group must avoid capture by trained Agents and unscrupulous treasure hunters, as well as thwart security officials as they gain access to museums, libraries, government facilities and archaeological sites, in order to locate the lost pieces of the artifact that will lead them to their ultimate destination. The last 13 must continue on their desperate mission against the odds and face the inevitable final battle. Will they be strong enough to fulfil the prophecy, or is the world doomed? 8 Solaris stands facing us, his arms raised, his flame weapon pointed and ready. Sam's nightmares become more unpredictable and even more dangerous as he seeks the next Dreamer, number six. His search takes him to Cuba, where unknown pursuers, long-forgotten treasure and the perilsof the ocean await. Meanwhile, Eva and Lora's safety hangs in the balance, and Alex makes a terrifying discovery of his own... Enemies are closing in on all sides. Can Sam and his friends stay one step ahead and find the next Gear in time? Sam must find the last 13...only they can save us. Are you one of them? This series needs to be read in order starting with book titled "13" and ending with book titled "1".
192 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2014
9 people are currently reading
592 people want to read
About the author
James Phelan
36 books257 followersJames Phelan is the award-winning author of twenty-four novels and one work of non-fiction. He first studied and worked in architecture before turning to English/Lit, working five years at The Age newspaper, obtaining an MA (Writing) and PhD (Young Adult Literature).
Hachette has published his five geo-political thrillers: FOX HUNT, PATRIOT ACT, BLOOD OIL, LIQUID GOLD and RED ICE.
From 2010-2011, Hachette published the widely acclaimed ALONE trilogy of Young Adult post-apocalyptic/dystopian novels.
In 2013/2014, Scholastic published James' thirteen-book adventure series about the dream work THE LAST THIRTEEN. The multi-award winning series (2014 YABBA, COOL, KOALA awards) has been highly successful around the world, selling over a million copies in 18 months.
THE SPY (Hachette, 2013), was the first instalment in a new series of suspense thrillers with the protagonist Jed Walker, and is followed by THE HUNTED (2015), and KILL SWITCH (2015).
James is currently working on a follow-up trilogy to THE LAST THIRTEEN, more thrillers, and an illustrated middle-grade series titled GRANDPA SPIES.
James has taught writing at post-graduate level and regularly talks at schools, libraries and universities around the world. Since 2006 he has sold over 4 million copies of his books.
Hachette has published his five geo-political thrillers: FOX HUNT, PATRIOT ACT, BLOOD OIL, LIQUID GOLD and RED ICE.
From 2010-2011, Hachette published the widely acclaimed ALONE trilogy of Young Adult post-apocalyptic/dystopian novels.
In 2013/2014, Scholastic published James' thirteen-book adventure series about the dream work THE LAST THIRTEEN. The multi-award winning series (2014 YABBA, COOL, KOALA awards) has been highly successful around the world, selling over a million copies in 18 months.
THE SPY (Hachette, 2013), was the first instalment in a new series of suspense thrillers with the protagonist Jed Walker, and is followed by THE HUNTED (2015), and KILL SWITCH (2015).
James is currently working on a follow-up trilogy to THE LAST THIRTEEN, more thrillers, and an illustrated middle-grade series titled GRANDPA SPIES.
James has taught writing at post-graduate level and regularly talks at schools, libraries and universities around the world. Since 2006 he has sold over 4 million copies of his books.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
May 15, 2019
i think it is a excellent book (reason below)
also i think that sam has a new skill that will do him bad
also i think that sam has a new skill that will do him bad
January 13, 2021
Loved this one! The storyline with Maria was excellent- loved the undersea dive to find the next gear! I’m also really liking the other twists and turns, and glad that Alex is coming back into the picture, I like his story too. Onto the next!
May 23, 2018
I'm starting to feel count down reading half of this series.
June 7, 2018
Book six and almost half way as the series putts along, all very much the same as before. Time to take a break from this and come back refreshed later on!
January 1, 2020
Feels a little more forgettable and a fair bit slower than the five books before it. Hopefully the remaining books in the series pick up the pace.
September 27, 2021
All of the found 13 are being used to some advantage in this book. Sam isn't the only one being chased.
December 24, 2024
We are seeing a widening of the story that is set up nicely all along this series. Still with this series and reading on to find out what happens next.
May 1, 2022
The story just continues getting better! On to the next one!!
February 28, 2017
February
The Last 13
James Phelan
Overall book 6 is the most action packed yet. Again they find new dreamers but the main characters remain the same. The main characters are, Sam, Eva, and Jack. They are still on the hut to find the rest of the last 13. The book does take a turn as Eva begins to have more dreams. instead of having that on dream in the first book, she is beginning to have more dreams. At the same time, everybody is still trying to figure out what happened to the academy and who did it.
The theme of this book is to persevere. no matter how hard things are in life, there is always a bright side in things. Like Eva and Sam, even though they went through things that no normal person will ever experience, they always look at the bright side of things. That means, if something terrible happens to you there is always a good think that you can take out of that experience. An example of this is, if your favorite pet passed away. Even though he passed away, imagine all the amazing times you had together.
The Last 13
James Phelan
Overall book 6 is the most action packed yet. Again they find new dreamers but the main characters remain the same. The main characters are, Sam, Eva, and Jack. They are still on the hut to find the rest of the last 13. The book does take a turn as Eva begins to have more dreams. instead of having that on dream in the first book, she is beginning to have more dreams. At the same time, everybody is still trying to figure out what happened to the academy and who did it.
The theme of this book is to persevere. no matter how hard things are in life, there is always a bright side in things. Like Eva and Sam, even though they went through things that no normal person will ever experience, they always look at the bright side of things. That means, if something terrible happens to you there is always a good think that you can take out of that experience. An example of this is, if your favorite pet passed away. Even though he passed away, imagine all the amazing times you had together.
July 10, 2014
Another quick read from James Phelan, Eight slips back into the formulaic writing of the earlier instalments of the series. Sam’s adventures are getting darker and the world is becoming more dangerous for Dreamers.
This book is mainly set in Cuba, with Sam tracking down and recruiting the next Dreamer, Maria. But it’s not only about Sam (who’s getting decidedly boring and tedious to read about)! We’re also following Eva and Lora, who are being held hostage by Mac, and Alex, who is on his first Dreamer related solo adventure. I found it tremendously more exciting to be with those characters than with Sam, especially the ladies!
One of my favourite things about Eight is that Sam makes conscious decisions to alter the dreams that he and Maria have seen about the discovery of the next Gear. Readers get to see the impact of changing things so that the dreams don’t play out exactly as they would otherwise, but are also introduced to the futility of the exercise: some things are obviously going to happen anyway.
This book was quite predictable and didn’t deviate from the other books: Sam narrowly escapes Solaris, has a dream, follows it to some other country, recruits a Dreamer, finds a Gear, gets stuck in a battle with his enemies in a cliffhanger ending. Although the books are written for younger audiences than myself, I’m finding it hard to believe that even young folk won’t find these books repetitive.
But there is a lot of action and adventure! It’s a heart-stopping ride from the very first page, and I’m sure most readers will be swept along!
Eight has expanded the world of the Dreamers considerably. With each new book there are more secrets to be exposed and the link between the Dreamers, how they were created, and Da Vinci’s machine are becoming clearer.
Although I enjoyed reading Eight, I keep waiting for this series to become something more. I like that the secondary cast are getting expanded roles, because the books are becoming boring with only Sam running around saving everybody.
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for review.
You can read more of my reviews at Speculating on SpecFic .
This book is mainly set in Cuba, with Sam tracking down and recruiting the next Dreamer, Maria. But it’s not only about Sam (who’s getting decidedly boring and tedious to read about)! We’re also following Eva and Lora, who are being held hostage by Mac, and Alex, who is on his first Dreamer related solo adventure. I found it tremendously more exciting to be with those characters than with Sam, especially the ladies!
One of my favourite things about Eight is that Sam makes conscious decisions to alter the dreams that he and Maria have seen about the discovery of the next Gear. Readers get to see the impact of changing things so that the dreams don’t play out exactly as they would otherwise, but are also introduced to the futility of the exercise: some things are obviously going to happen anyway.
This book was quite predictable and didn’t deviate from the other books: Sam narrowly escapes Solaris, has a dream, follows it to some other country, recruits a Dreamer, finds a Gear, gets stuck in a battle with his enemies in a cliffhanger ending. Although the books are written for younger audiences than myself, I’m finding it hard to believe that even young folk won’t find these books repetitive.
But there is a lot of action and adventure! It’s a heart-stopping ride from the very first page, and I’m sure most readers will be swept along!
Eight has expanded the world of the Dreamers considerably. With each new book there are more secrets to be exposed and the link between the Dreamers, how they were created, and Da Vinci’s machine are becoming clearer.
Although I enjoyed reading Eight, I keep waiting for this series to become something more. I like that the secondary cast are getting expanded roles, because the books are becoming boring with only Sam running around saving everybody.
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for review.
You can read more of my reviews at Speculating on SpecFic .
May 19, 2014
This may just be my last review for this series. I'll keep reading the series but as long as it follows the same old formula and it rates the same average rating, there's no need for more reviews - I'll only be repeating myself.
Why keep reading then? I have a goal. To start actually finishing all the series I've started reading over the last few years instead of reading the first book or two and then forgetting about them, no matter if I liked them, didn't really like it or can't remember anything about it. Only if I truly hated will I steer clear of it. So I will be sticking with this series until the end.
So what to say about Eight, book six in the series? This time Sam ends up in Cuba, looking for a girl named Maria, the next Dreamer, to lead him to her Gear. Turns out as well as being able to base-jump off the Eiffel tower, run from bad guys, shoot a dart-gun and never get hurt, Sam can also swim very long distances. Superkid much? Major eyeroll moments do occur a lot for me in this series. Anyway, they go for a long swim and find an abandoned 500 year old ship, then swim some more while their friends are in Canada fighting bad guys. What an exhausting life!
For all my eyeroll moments though, I can't help but kind of enjoy it. Sure, its farfetched, but hey I love adventure stories. I'm glad there's a wait for the next one though, three in a row seems to be my limit cause I'm getting a little over it.
Why keep reading then? I have a goal. To start actually finishing all the series I've started reading over the last few years instead of reading the first book or two and then forgetting about them, no matter if I liked them, didn't really like it or can't remember anything about it. Only if I truly hated will I steer clear of it. So I will be sticking with this series until the end.
So what to say about Eight, book six in the series? This time Sam ends up in Cuba, looking for a girl named Maria, the next Dreamer, to lead him to her Gear. Turns out as well as being able to base-jump off the Eiffel tower, run from bad guys, shoot a dart-gun and never get hurt, Sam can also swim very long distances. Superkid much? Major eyeroll moments do occur a lot for me in this series. Anyway, they go for a long swim and find an abandoned 500 year old ship, then swim some more while their friends are in Canada fighting bad guys. What an exhausting life!
For all my eyeroll moments though, I can't help but kind of enjoy it. Sure, its farfetched, but hey I love adventure stories. I'm glad there's a wait for the next one though, three in a row seems to be my limit cause I'm getting a little over it.
June 13, 2016
I would say it has been at least a year since I read the books that are previous to this novel, meaning that in that time my reading expectations have risen. Now meaning that this series isn't as good as I remember.
There's seems to be a lot of repetition, but not with plot stories. Said is almost always used, sometimes chucking in replied, smiled or mocked (the only other ones used).
Plus with the characters. They ALL have the same personality, maybe not Socilist (not that spelling but close enough) cause we don't know him well enough. But I wouldn't be surprised if the bad guy was the same as the rest of them. They all have similar humour, which is not the case in life, let's be real. They all speak the same as well, sometimes older, more intelligent people will use longer words but nothing more to differentiate between the characters.
While I'm at this I'll also talk about the description implied. I barely know anything about the new characters, and the old but I may have forgotten. Only clue I have to what the locations they are at are from the cities named. There's no describing the busy streets or what the buildings within the city are like. There's nothing and it makes the story so much blander.
Overall I'm quite disappointed as I know this plot could have a produced a very good series, but due to things lacking in potential, it has lead to be this series.
There's seems to be a lot of repetition, but not with plot stories. Said is almost always used, sometimes chucking in replied, smiled or mocked (the only other ones used).
Plus with the characters. They ALL have the same personality, maybe not Socilist (not that spelling but close enough) cause we don't know him well enough. But I wouldn't be surprised if the bad guy was the same as the rest of them. They all have similar humour, which is not the case in life, let's be real. They all speak the same as well, sometimes older, more intelligent people will use longer words but nothing more to differentiate between the characters.
While I'm at this I'll also talk about the description implied. I barely know anything about the new characters, and the old but I may have forgotten. Only clue I have to what the locations they are at are from the cities named. There's no describing the busy streets or what the buildings within the city are like. There's nothing and it makes the story so much blander.
Overall I'm quite disappointed as I know this plot could have a produced a very good series, but due to things lacking in potential, it has lead to be this series.
June 14, 2015
I don't know if it was the Caribbean setting or exploring underwater reefs, wrecks and caves, but this book seemed to have a more laid-back feel - which was a good change of pace. Eva, Lora and Alex are in the thick of the multi-player, allegiance-twisting action this time, while Sam, Dreamer Maria, Tobias and Xavier soak up the Caribbean sun.
I want Sam's travel itinerary. Maybe some enterprising travel agent (pun intended) could set up the Last Thirteen tour...
And, yep, there's another cliffhanger.
I want Sam's travel itinerary. Maybe some enterprising travel agent (pun intended) could set up the Last Thirteen tour...
And, yep, there's another cliffhanger.
February 25, 2016
This series is about 13 Dreamers, some of them genetically modified, some not. Sam is the first of many, the person who will lead to all 13 through their dreams. There are many people trying to find Gears to complete the Bakhu, to find the Dream Gate. The Enterprise and the Academy have formed an alliance, and Mac says that he is on their side, but can he be trusted? Solaris and Stella are still on the hunt for more pieces, and with 2 in hand, will they succeed?
Recommended definitely to people of ages 10 to 14. This series is full of action and adventure.
Recommended definitely to people of ages 10 to 14. This series is full of action and adventure.
May 10, 2016
No real review because it has the same layout as the last five books.
We are still quite enjoying reading these books. They are really hard to put down and my daughter hates when I say we can't read anymore.
The end of this book was insane and we instantly had to pick up the next one to make sure everyone was ok.
We highly recommend these books to anyone who likes YA books or wants to read them with the children.
We are still quite enjoying reading these books. They are really hard to put down and my daughter hates when I say we can't read anymore.
The end of this book was insane and we instantly had to pick up the next one to make sure everyone was ok.
We highly recommend these books to anyone who likes YA books or wants to read them with the children.
August 1, 2014
such a thrilling read. it keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end. i have a love/hate relationship with the cliffhanger endings. they're good when i have the next book but bad when i don't haha. onto 7!
June 24, 2014
A great mind-blowing book, Sam's adventures get darker and darker, and it gets harder for him to survive...
November 9, 2014
Story is getting more complicated with double crossing and more potential dreamers being revealed.
Read
October 6, 2015Is a good book
October 10, 2016
Great book lots of adventure. Had me hooked.
Read
November 2, 2016This was a good book in the series.
March 12, 2019
Great book
Epic book series, full of suspense, hard to stop reading . Love the characters and the events. I loved it
Epic book series, full of suspense, hard to stop reading . Love the characters and the events. I loved it
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews