{"id":18372,"date":"2023-09-26T07:00:57","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T11:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?p=18372"},"modified":"2023-09-24T22:40:15","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T02:40:15","slug":"review-last-day-first-tim-lebbon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-last-day-first-tim-lebbon\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: The Last Day and the First by Tim Lebbon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"18373\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-last-day-first-tim-lebbon\/last-day-first\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/last-day-first.jpg?fit=185%2C272&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"185,272\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"last-day-first\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/last-day-first.jpg?fit=185%2C272&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-18373\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/last-day-first.jpg?resize=185%2C272&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"cover of The Last Day and the First\" width=\"185\" height=\"272\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Last-Day-First-Tim-Lebbon\/dp\/1786369958\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2FW12HR5N0OS0&amp;keywords=The+Last+Day+and+the+First+Tim+Lebbon&amp;qid=1695607553&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=the+last+day+and+the+first+tim+lebbon%2Cstripbooks%2C135&amp;sr=1-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><em>The Last Day and the First <\/em>by Tim Lebbon<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>PS Publishing (July 2023)<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>72 pages; $24 hardcover<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Reviewed by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/BluGilliand\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Blu Gilliand<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In Tim Lebbon&#8217;s novella\u00a0<em>The Last Day and the First<\/em>, we miss the apocalypse. It&#8217;s already happened. We miss the confusion, the destruction, the panic, the bloodshed. We miss the desperate struggle for survival. We miss the loss of life and the downfall of society.<\/p>\n<p>What we get instead is the last few, quiet breaths of humanity as we give way to the next inhabitants of this world.<\/p>\n<p>Lebbon&#8217;s greatest gift as a writer is his ability to find the beauty and strength in otherwise horrific circumstances. Here we have a village with a handful of inhabitants, living out their lives deep in the safe green spaces between the crumbled remains of cities. As long as they stay off the roads they&#8217;re relatively safe; cross one of those ribbons of asphalt and they&#8217;re apt to be killed by something they call a scorer.<\/p>\n<p>Soon they stumble across a strange new sight, something they come to call the bloom. Before long, it becomes apparent that this, and other blooms that crop up in the wild, are not a new danger; rather, they are a next step for a healing planet.<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s a melancholy tone to this story, a peaceful sort of acceptance the main character, Rose (who may in fact be the last woman alive) adopts as she realizes she is witnessing humanity&#8217;s final days. There&#8217;s no anger, no last-ditch effort to turn the tide, no race for a cure or a weapon or an answer. There&#8217;s just understanding, and a strange kind of hope for a future none of us will be around to witness.<\/p>\n<p>Tim Lebbon is an author we don&#8217;t talk about enough.\u00a0<em>The Last Day and the First\u00a0<\/em>is a reminder of how powerful his work is, and how lucky we are to have him out there, creating stories for our enjoyment.<\/p>\n<p>Also, I&#8217;d be remiss not to give a quick shout-out to artist Tamislav Tikulin for the gorgeous cover art gracing this book.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Last Day and the First <\/em>is highly recommended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Last Day and the First by Tim Lebbon PS Publishing (July 2023) 72 pages; $24 hardcover Reviewed by Blu Gilliand In Tim Lebbon&#8217;s novella\u00a0The Last Day and the First, we miss the apocalypse. It&#8217;s already happened. We miss the confusion, the destruction, the panic, the bloodshed. We miss the desperate struggle for survival. We &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-last-day-first-tim-lebbon\/\" class=\"more-link button bg-gold white\">Continue Reading!<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Review: The Last Day and the First by Tim Lebbon&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[80],"tags":[301,1112,871,3029],"class_list":["post-18372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-blu-gilliand","tag-ps-publishing","tag-review","tag-the-last-day-and-the-first"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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