The Last Science
by Etzoli
"How did you do that?"
"Short answer? Magic is real."
Nestled deep in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, something is emerging. Kept in absolute secrecy, it seeps into a fading town, quietly shared from person to person. For Alden Bensen, a directionless high school graduate, this discovery could mean an escape from his empty existence. To Rachel DuValle, perpetually underestimated and dismissed by the world, magic represents a chance to become something much greater than herself.
In the face of an unsuspecting world, their decisions shape the growth of a budding society discovering untold power. This potent force offers anyone the power to change humanity forever—or send it cascading into swift and total annihilation.
The Last Science is an ongoing science-fiction / fantasy web novel series created by Etzoli. New chapters will be posted on Fridays—plus bonus chapters on Mondays—for as long as it takes to tell the whole story. Each chapter is pretty long (average ~8000 words), so find somewhere comfy to read. This is a series for readers who really like to dive into the content.
This story will also be published weekly at my website (https://etzo.li). There will be no differences in content, but slight differences in formatting. Feel free to read at whichever site or app you prefer. If you're enjoying the story, consider dropping me a vote over on Top Web Fiction, or come say hi on Discord. Thanks!
Need more to read? Check out my other story, Epilogue — a post-fantasy psychodrama. Now complete!
This story is a participant in the Write til the End pledge. It will be completed, no matter the cost.
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A Unique Perspective On Magic
First, I would like to appreciate that the author has constructed a narrative that is quite lovely and is strikingly original, in a time where many things seem to not be. I hope to eventually achieve such originality in my own work, but that is probably not to be discussed in a review.
Magic is a topic of literature that I've nearly always had a passion for. I've seen its origins and use through numerous types of fiction, and have been quick to learn what I can about it through that fiction. I find it to be a good sign when a fiction begins discussing it quickly within the pages, so that more can be learned and built upon as soon as possible. The Last Science does this very well, and I was enveloped almost immediately. I'd never seen magic done with such physical based power! It was refreshing to see, to say the least. I look forward to seeing where it's origins come, beyond being located within Rallsburg. It's already developed quite a ways.
The narrative itself has been quite fast paced, perhaps a little more than I was ready for. I quite enjoy the character switching aspect, as it allows the author to tell the story from more than one perspective, thus giving a more universal view of situations. Perhaps two or three chapters from Alden's view before jumping into another person's perspective would have been better for me, but I can understand where the author would jump quickly to another person to set, well, the setting.
I'm not much of a person to look into Grammar. Everything I've read has been spelled correctly, and written correctly as far as I can tell.
The characters are, as should be, the star of the story. The beginning narrative, seeing our first experience with magic within this fiction through Alden's, and witnessing these small town perspectives as magic begins to exist within this universe have all been quite stunning. The amount of emotion and description the author has put into the characters has been wonderful to witness. The connections between all of the communities of Rallsburg has also been nice to see.
I am currently catching up, and will write another interview when everything is out (which I am definitely looking forward to!)
Thank you for your time, and I hope you appreciate this book as I have.

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A Magical Drama/Mystery Worth Exploring
The Last Science is a bit of a genre-mixer that defies ready classification. Despite the fantasy tag and the magical elements, the story immediately shrugs off the expectations of a stereotypical "teenager gains magical powers" story. Instead, The Last Science is a rich drama/mystery story which uses magic as the foundation for a compelling plot and characters and provides far more than simply a story "about" magic.
In fact, to some extent the magical elements of the story contrast starkly with the grittiness of the plot and the normalcy and relatability of the characters. The focus of the story is not on exploring the magic itself but rather the implications of such power when injected into a quiet college town and the lives of its inhabitants. In this sense the story reflects many of the themes typically found in technology-based or science fiction stories (justifying the sci-fi tag), which is reinforced by the way the story's magic is shown to have its own consistent mechanisms and limitations which the characters are continually attempting to explore and understand.
When I say the characters are "normal" I mean that they are not superheroes or stereotypes, but real people with their own hopes, concerns, and intermixing relationships and all of the complications that ensue. It is not to mean that they are mundane or boring. Quite the opposite, each character in The Last Science seems to carry their fair share of mystery and intrigue which leaves no doubt that each one has a story of their own to be revealed in time. The Last Science manages an excellent balance of weaving rich layers of mystery and intrigue through each character and location the reader encounters, while also revealing enough information as the story progresses to let you know that it isn't just a tease. The plot incorporates and expands on each mystery it establishes and makes clear that there's real substance to everything it hints at.
I hadn't originally meant for this review to be quite so glowing and I would include criticism if I had any at the moment, but the truth is that I'm hooked and frankly I have a hard time thinking of reasons why others wouldn't be as well. I strongly encourage anyone interested to give it a try.

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Please READ
So I came straight from the author’s other work, epilogue, and all I can say is wow are they consistent.
The characters all have their own motives and flaws, making for interesting interactions. Each seems to be well thought out, making them believable and real.
The story itself is awesome. With the novel being based on magic, it is executed with an originality that seems to be the authors expertise. The idea of how humanity would react to the appearance of magic is perfectly executed with different factions working with their own ideals and motives.
I don’t really know what to say but read this serial, it’s fantastic!! Then only flaw that I can point at is that I have to wait for the first chapter of book 2 at the moment!

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Slow to Start But Turns Out It's Really Worth It
Took me about a week, but finally got caught up. Being a fan of writing styles with more brevity, I had difficulty getting into the story in the first few chapters. I'd guiltily admit of skimming quite a bit at first.

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Magic on Campus
This story has taken magic and put it in a new context. It is hard to do this and do it well. On that note the magic in this story seems like it has a more personal touch that doesn't happen to often in fantasy. The author does a great job of using the small college town environment to their advantage, making it so everyone knows mostly what's going around. I look forward to new chapters and see wherever this story goes.

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Slow but steady wins the race
Who cares if it's slow when it's this good?
The characters are realistic and detailed, the plot is interesting, the setting is so real I want to move there (except I don't because it's probably going to get blown up), and there's a crazy amount of potential for more here. Author's really got pacing down in the recent chapters too, you can really tell it's building up to something crazy.
Everyone should be reading this.
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Stunning
What a debut. I came here from the author's site because I need everyone to be reading this. And this is only book 1? More, right now! The writing is pitch-perfect and the plot is only getting more ambitious. I haven't ever seen this idea tackled like this. I need more. Keep going, Etzoli, and we will follow!

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Great start
Love how it's started. Drew me in and I hope to see where it goes :)

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Nicely Paced Read
I've been reading this story during my breaks at work. The chapters are nearly perfect length for me to get through while eating my lunch.
I can't say much about the story without risking spoilers, but its quite interesting.
I can't wait to read what happens next!

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great start
I'm really enjoying the story. nice change of pace from the usual fantastical Uber heroes. Much better than 3 stars I think. I can't wait to see where this story goes and how the characters develop and relate. Strangly believable, in as unbelievable a scenario can be. please keep going.