‘The Last Observer’ by Dr G. Michael Vasey
Review by Alienora Taylor
Read at a gallop, this slim racehorse of a novel impressed me enormously with its speed and performance. I was unable to halt the literary ‘ride’ – and nor, in all honesty, did I wish to!
Dr Vasey plays with the conventional understanding of the word ‘observer’ to create a very different ‘tune’, one which contains within it the ability – inherent within most esoteric training – to affect reality through the medium of the imagination, of thought.
And, in Vasey’s intense fictional world, it is precisely this ability which is under attack by what could be defined as the Dark Side.
I do not wish to give the plot away because I think there is something to be said for delayed gratification – and the twists and turns of Vasey’s novel are a pleasure to be savoured!
I will, however, say this: his descriptions of the world of Ritual Magic, and particularly the rituals themselves, are brilliantly done – and eminently believable.
I love the way the Alison/Zeltan and Stanley/Edward strands interweave – and the twist at the end came as a shocking surprise.
I think it very clever the way Dr Vasey has stitched together the worlds of Quantum and of Magic to produce a colourful tapestry which allows us to ponder upon, and question, the nature of reality – and, indeed, our place, as collections of mutable atoms, within that.
I thoroughly recommend ‘The Last Observer’ – and shall be re-reading it myself before long!
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