The Last Days of Hong Kong

Witch of Empire #3

by G.D. Penman

In the aftermath of the war, Iona “Sully” Sullivan has lost everything; her job, her friends, her fiancé and even her magic. But when an old friend shows up on her doorstep, offering her the chance to undo one of her long litany of mistakes, there is still enough of the old Sully left to get her on the first boat to Hong Kong. A stranger in a strange land, Sully must navigate alien customs, werebear chefs, the blossoming criminal underworld, religious extremists, Mongol agents, vampire separatists, and every other freak, maniac or cosmic leftover with an iota of power as they all compete for a chance at the most valuable prize in all the world; a little sailor doll named Eugene, and the last wish on earth.

Genres: Urban Fantasy

234 pages, Hardcover

First published October 5, 2021

About the author

G. D. Penman is a critically acclaimed and internationally bestselling fantasy author, and the ghostwriter of over 200 books across various genres. Prior to his literary career he worked as a bookseller, game designer, literary critic and editor. He lives in Dundee, Scotland with his partner, children and a vast menagerie of animals.

Reviews

[Lex Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the end of a good and unique series. This series is alt-history/urban fantasy. It is pretty hardcore urban fantasy, with one of the better magic systems I’ve read in a while, so I would recommend this series more towards big fantasy and paranormal fans. If you are not really a fan of those genres, or just dipping your toe in since it is Halloween time, this might not be the series for you.

It is very important to mention that these books HAVE TO BE READ IN ORDER. Sorry, I know caps are annoying but I can’t imagine someone jumping into this series, by reading this final book first, and having any idea at all what is going on. It only took four years to finish this three book series, but there is so much going on, all these different connections and threads, that it took me a while to remember half of what I needed to while reading this installment. If I was a bit confused having read all the books, I think it would be impossible if someone read these out of order. I’m actually thinking of re-reading this whole series, maybe next year, so I can read them all in a row since I know I missed things by not completely remembering.

There is a ton going on in this series but the basic is a world filled with witches, demons, vampires, and more. It is an alt-history of what the world would be like if there had been no American independence from the British Empire and that magic was everywhere. Sully, a witch, is a top agent who solves paranormal crimes and anything else the British Empire needs when it doesn’t want to get its hands dirty.

This was the book that finally tied up all the loose ends that had happened in the series. We find out what will finally become of Sully, Marie, their friends and Sully’s enemies, this book was the closure I think that fans of this series were waiting for. I want to be very careful not to give anything away, but I will say that I found the ending satisfying and was happy with it.

One issue I had in the first book was I thought that Sully started out almost in that predatory lesbian trope going after younger women. Luckily, that didn’t really last as Sully soon wound up in drama with her on-again, off-again vampire girlfriend Marie, and that relationship changed and grew in all three books. In this final book, to tie up some loose ends, there were some time jumps -flashback type things, in some chapters. I’m not crazy about that choice, but it filled in the blanks for certain storylines for us readers. One of the scenes was a flashback between Sully and Marie, and I hated it. Yes, Sully is an asshole, but she is a loveable asshole and this scene didn’t fit in my opinion. It felt like to me that Penman forgot that he was writing a main female character which was a real shame since it did affect my enjoyment which lowered my finale rating.

TLDR: This is the finale book, and a satisfying ending, to the Witch of Empire series. It ties up all the loose ends and questions we as readers might have had. I cannot stress enough how important it is to read this series in order as it has so many connecting plotlines. This series is not perfect, and has a few issues, but it is a very unique alt-history /urban fantasy world with a great magic system. This is pretty intense urban fantasy so I would recommend this series to more hardcore urban fantasy and paranormal fans.

A copy was given to me for a review.

[Elena Linville-Abdo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stars: 3.5 out of 5

I hadn't realized that this was book 3 of a series, so some of the events were a bit confusing, since I haven't read the previous 2 installments. I'm interested enough to do go back and do it though.

I think the most interesting part about this series is the world. I mean it's roughly the present times, but the political, sociological, and magical landscape is very different from our world. It's a world where a wish granted by a demon or a fae can reshape the world to the liking of the person (or political entity) making the wish. So the Mongolian Empire might capture a demon and wish to dominate the world... and the world will have to accommodate for that. If England summons a fae and wants world dominion instead, well, the world will have to change to accommodate that as well. And where the two opposing wishes collide, chaos ensues. Image a world where you can go to sleep in New York, USA, and wake up in New Amsterdam, English Empire. This is good worldbuilding stuff, and I am all in for that!

Now imagine that after a horrible war, the realms of the fae and demons have been severed from Earth. No more wishes. No more world domination overnight. But then news breaks that one demon remains trapped on Earth, so whoever gets it will have the last wish left on this plane of existence. Blood will flow, people will die, cities will be destroyed, as all knowns powers race to get their hands on the prize.

I also liked the protagonist. She is a complex character with a lot of backstory that is hinted on but not entirely explained since this is book 3 in a series. Sully is interesting enough for me to pick up and read the first two books eventually, just so that I understand better what happened to the world before the big showdown in Hong Kong. 

I wasn't in love with some of the author's narrative choices though. For example, the constant jumping around the timeline was confusing and frustrating at times. I understand that the author wanted to fill in some gaps in Sully's life after her miraculous recovery without giving too much away at the beginning of the book, but to me, that kills the tension. Here we are, in Hong Kong, the epicenter of an epic battle and Sully's life is at stake... then we jump back 5 years and see her talking to some random character in New Amsterdam.

And probably a lot of the confusion is because I haven't read the previous books, so I don't know who those characters in flashback are. I'm sure regular readers enjoyed when some of them got their comeuppances, but to me, it fell flat.  

My other problem was that there were simply too many players in this game and it took real effort to keep track of all of them and what they wanted, apart from the doll containing the demon. On the other hand, I'm interested enough to go back and read the first two installments. So all in all, great story and very interesting world. I will definitely revisit this to hopefully understand the story better.

PS: I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Jane Shambler · Rating 5 out of 5]

First off. When I requested this book I didn't realise that it was the final instalment of a trilogy. It's the reason my review is a little late. Yes, I went back and read the first two. Reason being, this isn't a stand a lone novel. You really need to read them all.

The key character is awesome. She is just up my street. Her name by the way is Sully. Even if you don't enjoy the book I will challenge anyone to say they dislike her. She is totally relate able.

Through out the books Sully's character grows and the world changes. So instead, in this book we see her dealing with a very changed world. I seriously can't tell you too much because it would spoil not only this book but the previous two as well.

Ok, so go pick up The Year of the Knife and The wounded one's then read this. Trust me you won't be disappointed.

Enjoy!

[Jill Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been such an amazing trilogy! From the very first pages of the year of the knife, Penman has had me hooked. Sully is a fabulous character, full of piss and vinegar, sass and quirks, and foibles and frailties. She is utterly relatable, even if nothing about her personality, life, or the situation she finds herself in Bear any resemblance to any of my own. This, I think, is Penman's true gift as a writer - an uncanny knack for crafting a personality so large it jumps off the page and resonates with everyone, regardless of seeming similarities or their utter absence.

Add to that a tremendous gift for wholly original world-building, spot-on pacing, and a sense of action, adventure, and absurdity that is second to none, and you have all the makings of a hit. It has been some time since I read the first book. There is a tremendous amount of cross-referencing and loose-end-tyng in this final installment, yet I never found myself feeling lost despite the reintroduction of myriad characters and situations from the earlier books. This is another credit to Penman - he's done a masterful job bringing in just enough references to earlier actions and events and characters to keep the reader familiar enough to be able to follow this third book without feeling lost or compelled to go back and re-read the first two.

That being said, I'm dying to go back and re-read the first two. I have a feeling there are a lot of small details that I may have glossed over in my read this time, given the lack of immediacy with the events of the first two books. It will be a delight to do so though, and I am looking forward to the chance!

Thanks to the publisher and author for my obligation-free review copy.

[Bethan Hindmarch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’VE JUST WORKED OUT THE TITLE.

That’s so damn clever… The title obviously, not me. Damn I hope you gave yourself a proper pat on the back Gray.

Anyway
We’re off to a good start, aren’t we. You’ll have to excuse me, please, as I’m suffering from serious book hangover. The kind where… you’ve finished the book, so you stare off into space thinking about it, then your hands reach for it in an attempt to return to reading it. But there’s nothing left to read…

The Last Days of Hong Kong is the third and final instalment of G. D. Penman’s Witch of Empire series (The Year of the Knife and The Wounded Ones) and I screamed just a little bit when Gray sent me an arc. If you’re somehow not aware, I love these books. Well mostly – not to distract from the excellent writing, humour, alternate history storylines and murder mystery – I love Sully, the protagonist.

I’m going to try really hard to review this book without spoilers for it or the series as a whole…

The Last Days of Hong Kong was the perfect end to this trilogy; the second book worked as an escalation of events and themes from the first, and following that I wasn’t really sure where the trilogy could move on to. But rather than tackle an even bigger mystery, and even bigger ‘bad’, instead we’re faced with a whole new set of circumstances. The world has been irrevocably changed, and so too has our protagonist.

Last Days is essentially a heist story – there’s only one wish left. One wish that can remake the world into whatever best fits the highest bidder’s dreams. But Sully did not go through all that previous shit (there was a lot, go read the books) to have it all wiped away by a doll in a sailor suit (seriously, go read them, Eugene is a treat). Sully must acquire the demon and escape Hong Kong (and the very many factions desiring the demon for themselves) in one piece.

So in that regard, it’s a straight-forward enough plot. But there is so much at stake now, and Sully is not the same witch she was (despite what the cover is claiming). What I always loved about Sully was her no-nonsense kickassery with flashes of vulnerability. What we have on our hands now is a Sully who has had plenty of time to reassess a couple of things; she’s emerged from the fire with an outlook that allows for a great deal more vulnerability, and flashes of no-nonsense kickass. Her evolution has been the most incredible journey, and straight away on the very first page Penman had me breaking my heart for her:

She knew that who she had been was down there somewhere, but each and every time, she had to make the decision whether what she might find out was worth the dive and the pain. Very little was.
Ok so, somewhat spoilery for book two, but Sully had lost her memory, and we return to find her having pieced a good portion of it back together. Her approach to rediscovering herself was at times poignant, as above, at times so thought-provoking:

Catholic school was another cluster of memories that Sully hadn’t put too much effort into retrieving. What was the point of rebuilding yourself if you used the same crumbling bricks?
Losing my memory is a genuine fear of mine, aided, not in a small degree, by just how distressingly forgetful I am on a day-to-day basis. Sully’s fastidious rebuilding of herself, relearning of who she was and how that should shape who she now is, was a very large and important aspect of the story as a whole and one that resonated hard with me. This will be a difficult subject for plenty of people out there, and Sully’s handling of it, well, Penman’s, was just beautiful.

Something I really loved about Last Days was that we were treated to flashbacks of other moments in Sully’s life, mostly revolved around Marie. In my review for The Wounded Ones, I discussed how mother-daughter relationships were represented, and there was a great deal of focus on Sully’s mother. But in Last Days, the focus is very much on the more important woman in Sully’s life. Despite the demons, curses, vampires, warring empires, magical planes of existence, bureaucrats, were-bears, etc, the driving force of this book was a love story. It sounds like it would be too much, that something here would have to give; but this is a testament to Penman’s staggering storytelling abilities that, actually, what we have here is an exciting, page-burning action-packed night in Hong Kong and an utterly heart-breaking love story.

Show me what you really are and I’ll leave you anyway.
– sob –

I should stress, this story was also fun by the way, soul-searching themes of accepting one’s true nature aside. Sully’s snark still jumps from the page, and Penman still knocks out plenty of brilliant lines that had me properly sniggering:

Up close, the guy had a pencil mustache and enough oil in his hair that Sully was surprised the British hadn’t invaded it.
All in all, this was the story I’d been waiting for; it met all my expectations then went above and beyond them, not just for an entertaining read, but for Sully herself, too. Penman drops a whole load of new trouble in your lap; it’s a neon-lit grimy noir world with a sucker-punch of soul. Go, pick up these books, introduce yourself to Iona ‘Sully’ Sullivan; you won’t be disappointed.

[Sonia Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sully, maverick officer of the Empire, destroyer of a civilization, responsible for the death of the Fae, a legend who has lost her memory. All ingredients for a very different book to what I expected. The main reason I requested this was my love of all things to do with Hong Kong, and even though this is a reimagined, vampire riddled city the story still oozes with the essence and dynamic of this complex place.
The story moves between the present and pivotal moments in the past to flesh out the character who is Iona Sullivan and how she earnt her reputation as a person not to be messed with.
The world Sully inhabits is one where demons exsists and can grant wishes, these wishes were used to fight wars and each wish remade the timeline. The escalation of wishes led to the banishement of demons to hell - all but one and this is the demon that Sully is sent to retrieve. However other parties are interested in this last wish on earth and they will stop at nothing to possess it...
I enjoyed this novel and would read other works by the author - in fact it looks like there are previous books of Sully so that will keep me busy. My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for access to this ARC.

[Renata · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the aftermath of the war, Iona “Sully” Sullivan has lost everything; her job, her friends, her fiancé and even her magic. But when an old friend shows up on her doorstep, offering her the chance to undo one of her long litany of mistakes, there is still enough of the old Sully left to get her on the first boat to Hong Kong. A stranger in a strange land, Sully must navigate alien customs, werebear chefs, the blossoming criminal underworld, religious extremists, Mongol agents, vampire separatists, and every other freak, maniac or cosmic leftover with an iota of power as they all compete for a chance at the most valuable prize in all the world; a little sailor doll named Eugene, and the last wish on earth.

The Witch of Empire fantasy fiction series has a smorgasbord of characters and an assortment of genres. A secret agent-cum-witch who uses magic to crack cases, a demon taking up residence in a cuddly soft toy, a chef with information about vampire cartels - The Last Days of Hong Kong is a fun ride all along.

[CorrieGM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love it, when things come together.
Sully, mean agent in book one, pitchforked to another job at the end of that book, trying to cope with her new function in book two, fighting the whole world in book three.
I did not see the end coming, which is just as it should be.
A lot of the events in books one and two will be explained in book three.
And of course a lot will not be really explained at all. For me that is part of the fun.

[Judith Blaauw-Klaver · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very nice read and the complete trilogy is something I would recommend others. Even with all the violence, it is an easy read and the main characters are great.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boy oh boy I love this series. Seriously, go and pick up __Year of the Knife__ . Go on. Do it. I'll wait. It's set in an alternative history (which is a misnomer because it's set in present day) where magic is a thing that works alongside technology. America is pretty much the original 13 colonies who recently won freedom and became their own nation, New York is still New Amsterdam (why they didn't change it I can't say) and just.... masterclass worldbuilding.

I can't really talk about this book without really spoiling the two previous so I'll just say this. If this is the last book of the franchise, I'd be satisfied with it. It kind of wraps everything up nicely and has as much a happily ever after as these books ever get. Five stars.