The Last Edge of Darkness

Echo #4

by Kent Wayne

Echo Volume 4 chronicles Crusader Atriya's time in Mandala City. As Atriya crafts his mind into a psionic arsenal, he realizes that no weapon—no matter how fantastic—will be enough to defeat the Regent. The only way he stands a chance is by vanquishing the ignorance within himself.

Genres: Science Fiction, Dystopia

582 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 1, 2018

Reviews

[S. Lynn Helton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite the ride!
I just finished reading this last book in the series. Wow, what a ride! Some (pretty heavy) philosophy mixed with great action. A very satisfying conclusion to the story.

[V.M. Sang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of The Last Edge of Darkness. Echo 4 by Kent Wayne

Overview.
This is the last of the Echo books and it is a mind-bending experience reading it. It takes Atriya to the final showdown, but along the way he must face up to who he is and what life is all about.

Blurb
The final volume in the Echo series chronicles Crusader Atriya's time in Mandala City. As Atriya crafts his mind into a psionic arsenal, he realises that no weapon—no matter how fantastic—will be enough to defeat the Regent. The only way he stands a chance is by vanquishing the ignorance within himself.

Story
Atriya has finally found his way to the city of Mandala. Here he meets with Lazarus and Dake who take over from Verus in educating Atriya.
Dake is brutal in his teaching. If you think there is no action in this book, you are mistaken. Yes, it explores many aspects of life and religion, but without action it is not.
There are some difficult concepts laid out for Atriya (and the reader) to deal with.

Characters
Atriya’s development continues, and he is a well-drawn character. The others are also believable. If Dake is a bit violent, then he does what he does for the good of everyone. There is also someone who has got the wrong end of the stick, so to speak.

Writing
The writing is good and keeps the reader gripped. Mr Wayne still has problems with lay and lie, though, but that was not enough to send me screaming up the wall because the rest of the book was so rivetting.

Conclusion
I would recommend this book, but you must read the others first or you won’t understand it.

I give it 5*

[Laura Mock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Put your seatbelt on. Echo is a wild ride.

This review is for the whole series.

First, what huge growth in Kent’s writing from book 1 to book 4. It’s really exciting to see a writer’s progression in their craft so clearly as you can see in this series. He starts out strong but becomes downright masterful.

Next, the series itself is a really unique journey through Atriya’s human and post-human progression. Each book captures a specific part of that journey whether it’s the physical process, the thought, the emotional, or the spiritual.

Kent Wayne does it well and makes it engaging. Great job. I definitely recommend this series if you like science fiction, especially military sci-fi, if you enjoy deep philosophical exploration, if you thrive on epic fight scenes, and if you like engaging your brain when you read, rather than letting fluff take over your mind. This isn’t fluff. It’s good stuff.

[Richard Houlden · Rating 5 out of 5]

And amazing end to a captivating saga

I started to read this final instalment of the Echo saga not knowing how I felt about it. There were ideals and perspectives that I'd never considered in my personal life that were before me in black and white so it took me a fair bit of time to understand it and see how the earlier books fit into it all.
Now that I've finished it, I can see where it was all going. I understand a beautiful undertone of spirituality.
The action is mind bending and reality breaking. The concepts are out there. The references to my generation's pop culture is rife.
I'd definitely say go back to book one of the Echo saga and get ready for a ride!

[Barbara Svetlick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like most series, you must start on the first and just read until the end. Volume 4 brought me up to date on what had happened on Echo and then it started unravelling the life of Atriya and his purpose. I haven't read the Afterword yet but Kent Wayne, like many authors, puts himself into this sci-fi thriller on a subconscious level. I will say that the Volume 4 takes you into very intense thoughts making you as confused as Atriya. I truly enjoyed the storyline, loved the characters and descriptions of the backdrop. Well done.

[Joshua J Caviness · Rating 5 out of 5]

What ana awesome journey.

One does not rad Echo. You walk the journey along with the characters. I half expected somewhere along the way to see Roland and his band still searching for the tower. In a way, you do see this and much more. If I could give this book 10 stars or 20 stars I would. This series is one of the best I have read in a long number of years. I am saddened to see it end.

[I. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a progression and not one that is unexpected.in the end it ended as expected but I felt a bit disappointed. It’s hard to describe. That being said, this book completed the series and brought Atriya into the fullness of himself. I really liked Dake, Verus, and some of the Mandala crew. Well worth the read.

[Simon Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mind-bending final outinfg for Atraya!

Wayne and in indeed Atraya, cover a lot of ground in this weighty volume! It continues in the same vein as book 3, but even more so explores the existential, existence, philosophy and everything in between. Don't worry though, there's still big armoured mech fights to enjoy alongside the stellar soul-searching!

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

AWESOME BOOK AND BOOK SERIES

[Michele Langevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable read

I rooted for Atriya the whole way through. Recommend the whole series to grasp the full arc. I am glad to have experienced (read) it.

[Coco.V]

🎁 The complete Echo Series (4 Book Series) is FREE on Amazon today (6/6/2022)! 🎁