My Most Hyped 2026 Release Of The Year!! The Last Contract of Isako Review!

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:00]Hello, hello, and welcome to a review of The Last Contract of Aza Ray, the new Foundry book that comes out May.

[00:00:09]Not very specific. It's been a while since I've posted, so just to give a bit of housekeeping. Um firstly for this video, I am hungover. I do have a Powerade here to help revive me.

[00:00:22]And uh I got a new job, and as a result, I haven't as much time to make videos, and I haven't had too much of an urge to, honestly.

[00:00:34]Uh and I've had my April wrap-up or March, whatever it was, sat there filmed and just not edited for like 3 weeks. And I I I think I've realized that I don't want to edit it. Um I think I'm kind of done doing wrap-ups.

[00:00:52]I think now to the few people who will watch them, because reviews don't do well, I think I'm just going to post individual reviews for books I want to talk about.

[00:01:03]Uh and that'll be sometimes frequent, sometimes not at all, depends on the books I'm reading, whether there's something to actually talk about. I was looking forward to The Last Contract of Aza Ray. Uh for those who know me, know that I love The Green Bone Saga. Um I have read those three books. Haven't read Untethered Sky. Haven't read Foundry's other series. Haven't read The Settlers of Janloon and all the other stuff in the Green Bone world. So, I am just those three books, uh but they are some of my favorites. I love books honestly all of the books in the Green Bone. I think I I gave them all 4.5 or 5.

[00:01:45]So, and it's been a few years since I read them. I I read them back in 2022, I think, or something like that. Yeah, when this was announced, Last Contract of Aza Ray, I'll give you the synopsis as they write it in here. Aza Ray is a legendary swordswoman, but every legend must come to an end. When her long-time client unexpectedly retires, she plans to follow to walk out into the frozen wasteland of their planet, leaving her family enriched by her death. But when she's offered a final mission, she can't refuse, especially when she realizes who lies at the center of it all, Martin, her last and worst apprentice, who somehow made his way to the top. As she's thrust into a world of corporate espionage and shadowy secrets, what she uncovers could forever change humanity's existence among the stars. This is a very good book, which for those who are fans of Foundry, that is not surprising. That is to be expected. Sorry, the cats are going to [ __ ] insane-o style right now. But that is to be expected. Foundry is an incredibly gifted um writer, fantastic at fight scenes, fantastic at slow-build character work.

[00:02:52]Way that this novel functions is rather than an action-packed balls-to-the-wall kind of John Wick-esque, which is an inspiration referenced from her. It is simultaneously then allowing these slow moments. You have a lot of build-up of her relationship with other people in her life, her child, her um like previous colleagues, her uh one-time um apprentice, things like that. And it one of it's one of the enjoyable parts of the book, in my opinion, is is the fact that it is a slow build, a slow burn to appreciate these characters, and um it's a very it's a very intricate plot um in the sense of there's a lot of unraveling of things, because you are investigating uh like Aza Ray is essentially trying to investigate and find a flaw in someone to then exploit that to stop them being raised up in the the company. And so, alongside that, you kind of discover this disappearance of Martin. And so, she becomes kind of focused on this where is her one-time apprentice? Is that going to be the weakness? What's going on? And yeah, the book unravels that way, and you discover more.

[00:04:22]I would say that that those are the big positives in my mind. It was a it was a very intricate plot that had fantastic writing. I I constantly wanted to pick the book up and constantly enjoyed myself reading it. The issues arise from firstly, the the twist, if you want to call it that, to me was predictable. I predicted it. I I I have to admit, I am someone who is like a throw-spaghetti-at-the-wall kind of guy, so quite often I will predict things in a book, because I'm like, "Well, I threw out enough guesses that one of these had to work out." Whereas this was like I had two main ideas of what I thought was going to happen, uh or like the the mystery of how it like what happened. And by the halfway point, I was like, "Well, this is definitely this one." And then that turned out to be the case. So, uh that was a detriment, because I think that you know, I don't think I'm a particularly clever person, so if I worked out, I think quite a few people will.

[00:05:31]Um obviously that will affect people more than others. Some people don't mind about that. Uh but the problem is is that the twist that there is an important thing to reference in this book that at around the maybe 50 to 60% mark, there is a perspective shift and a time switch, where you are provided context, and you have about 150 pages of a different character's perspective, and discovering all the things that led to the twist you've just had at the end of the first part. And that was a real That was a point where I was worried about the book, because I was kind of like, "Oh, no, this is um we're now going to go through the labor.

[00:06:18]I understand how this could have happened, because I guessed the twist, which meant I guessed how I thought it happened. I will say the book continued at the same pace and same intensity, same uh it is a character study on this this person that you switch perspectives to, that I thought was exceptionally good.

[00:06:39]And my big positive for the book is the theme work and the the uh allegorical elements, the way that we've kind of transplanted over the real world. And so, you've got someone who worked in client services with Foundry.

[00:06:55]That's what she did as her career. And you're essentially reading about the damage that that kind of career can have, the sacrifices you have to make, the burnout involved. You're essentially reading about the burnout of the character.

[00:07:14]Uh and the other thing is that the character is um definitely like a it's referenced from a like like a lower socioeconomic background. And so, it's like that you're watching the burnout of this guy who just wants to make it, wants to be comfortable, wants to have a life, wants to live. And the the willingness to sacrifice to do that, and how that gets lost, and sometimes just in the need to thrive, the things you can do to your morals, the things you can change about yourself to justify that. Uh and it was fascinating, in my opinion. And um I would say that the book is quite cynical uh in conclusion, quite cynical in the outlook on the world, cynical um and I appreciate that, personally. I I think it's hard to look at the world now and not feel cynical.

[00:08:09]And so, um there's a lot to like about the book. I I The issue with the like I said, the predictable nature of the twist, but then also, in my humble opinion, who am I to tell Foundry how to [ __ ] write a book? But I personally think that rather than reading 300 pages with Aza Ray, to then go, "Okay, now I'm cut." And then for the next 150 pages, you're with a completely different character.

[00:08:39]I think if it could have been integrated, flashback chapters, one every 50 pages, one every 40 pages, whatever, to tell the same story that's happening in that big chunk, but weave it and thread it to then have this idea I I I would because of the the twist is predictable, so there was no need to build to the twist. I think it would have worked even better if it was interweaved as a like a reveal, rather than a twist, per se.

[00:09:16]And I think that would have I think I would have appreciated the intricacies of that. It would have taken a lot of um finesse, but Foundry is someone who is capable of that finesse. And so, yeah, I I I wasn't a big fan of the the way it was structured. I I wasn't a big fan of that that switch, but I enjoyed the reading experience.

[00:09:42]They're two separate things, in my opinion. So, at the end of the day, I have given it a 3.5, because I I enjoyed the book. It's a good book.

[00:09:53]That's a seven out of 10, seven out of 10, good.

[00:09:57]Not quite great, not to an eight. Not quite average, not quite a five or six.

[00:10:03]Good book. I don't think this is going to reach the the FIFA pitch of Greenbone.

[00:10:08]But I do think that a lot of people will will love it as well. I'll be interested to see people's thoughts when they've read it.

[00:10:15]Um cuz obviously I haven't engaged with reviews. I just read it. I knew I wanted to. Love Lot Fondly. So, I went in blind and like to the point like I said where I didn't even read the synopsis on the book. I just went in and I had a good time.

[00:10:32]Um it actively made me want to read read Greenbone.

[00:10:35]Which is always something. I believe we're done here.

[00:10:38]If you did enjoy, please do like, please do subscribe. Let me know your thoughts on whether you're excited to read uh Last Contract with Zuko. Thank you for Orbit for sending me a copy. God bless.

[00:10:48]I appreciate it. Saves me $40. I'd be interested to see whether she does anything else in this in this world. Definitely could imagine reading in this world different parts of the company, that kind of thing. I could see that happening. And I'd be interested to know whether I'd be interested.

[00:11:07]Um but yeah.

[00:11:10]Thank you for watching. Have a nice rest of your day.