Review – The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Science Fiction/Cyberpunk
Length: 523 pages
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: May 5, 2026
ASIN: B0FPCBH5NG
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Borrowed ebook from Library
Rating: 4/5 stars

“Isako is a legendary swordswoman, but every legend has to 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 with her head held high and her family enriched by her legacy. But when a competitor offers her a final mission, it’s one she can’t refuse. Soon, she’s thrust deep into a world of corporate espionage, duty-bound duels, and shadowy secrets. What she uncovers will change humanity’s existence in the stars forever.”

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I borrowed this on ebook from my library.

Thoughts: This was a very well done book that is set on another planet that humans are trying to terraform. This planet is run by the corporations doing that terraforming. The corporate leaders have high level assisstants similar to samurai that advise them in strategy and perform difficult jobs for them. This has a very cyberpunk feel to it with a lot of asian influence in regards to the samurai/ronin mentality. Previous to this I attempted to read the first book, “Jade City”, in Lee’s Green Bone Saga. I got 50% of the way through that book and stopped reading it, I just wasn’t a fan of the Mafia-like politics.

Isako is a legendary samurai on exclusive contract to a promising corporate executive, when her company loses a war against another company she is forced to layoff a bunch of workers to the ultimate resignation. Then when the corporate executive she works for resigns himself, she is left as a ronin without a leader. That is until she finds out she isn’t. Her contract has been transferred to another corporate executive and she is given one final contract before she also must resign.

The first half of this book is told primarily from Isako’s perspective. We watch as she tries to hunt down clues and resign herself with her new situation. The second half of this book is told from the viewpoint of one of her apprentices.

The world building here is intricate and complex. We find out more and more about the world as the story unfolds. This is a colony of humans far from Earth on a very inhospitable planet. I felt a bit disappointed as the “why” behind these people’s situation unfolded, it seems like greed and power rule everything here.

I enjoyed the first half of this book despite it being a bit slower paced then I would like. Isako is a woman who is amazing at her job but she is still a real person with feelings and needs, she’s trying to balance everything and this is very well protrayed. I also enjoyed that Isako is older and trying to deal with all the body limitations and hormonal tumult that entails. I love that the society created here tries to lean into people’s strengths. Isako has a full kith to support her in raising her daughter and there are people there that enjoy the work of raising children. It allows Isako to still be part of her daughter’s life while doing what she is good at and enjoys.

For the second half of the book we switch to the POV of one of her apprentices. I found this a lot less interesting. We already know what happens because we have been through this timeline from Isako’s perspective already. The moment Isako walks into that clinic I realized what had happened. Then we have another couple hundred pages of story basically laying out how things got to this point from another perspective. It was too long and too repetitive. This second half should have been more concise.

The end also leaves something to be desired. It is very open-ended. You get some resolution on things but not much. I believe this is a stand alone book, but the way things are left this could be the start of a series. If it is I probably won’t continue it. This was a tough read for me and I struggled to be excited to pick this up, especially through the second half.

My Summary (4/5): Overall this was a mixed bag for me. I really liked the world-building and the blend of cyberpunk with samurai themes. I also really enjoyed Isako as a character. The first half of the book was a bit slow but I liked how Isako seems so real and her decisions so hard. The second half I thought was repetitive and unnecessary. I think all in all Lee builds amazing worlds but that they are a bit too politically heavy and the story moves a bit too slow for me. I most likely won’t pick up the next book in this series if this is a series (I wasn’t clear on if is a stand alone, but the open ending makes me think maybe it’s not).