Jubei Male. Hong Kong

Last Watch was still an engrossing read but comes across as a disappointment when compared to the 3 preceding novels.

This final chapter in the series seems to be over concerned with a climatic endgame, but the "villains" aren't very interesting characters, and the entire scenario just isn't very engaging. I also think Gesar and Zabulon don't come into play often enough.

Set in the far future, the Earth and the Moon have stopped rotating. On the side where the sun shines, plants now dominate life and humans have become prey to predatory and carnivorous plants.

A critic called this novel "utter nonsense" and by today's standards, the "science" in this novel is indeed quite ludicrous. Aldiss is much less concerned with hard science and credibility, but wants to explore human interaction - and in many ways, this is a coming-of-age story.