Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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Welcome back! Today we’re talking about The Last Contract of Isako, by Fonda Lee.

You may know Fonda Lee from The Green Bone Saga, a fantastic series that's one of my all time favourites. So naturally, you might be hoping for ‘more of that’. But Last Contract is so very different.

Last Contract is a sci-fi novel that’s part old western, part old samurai, a little cyberpunk, and part corporate drama. It’s about an old samurai woman, Isako, who is responsible for 'firing' people, if you know what I mean.

This is fundamentally a character drama. A deep, ponderous exploration of an old warrior at the end of a long, bloody career. It’s often a slow story, with sharp, sudden moments of profound violence.

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00:00 Intro Song
00:22 Overview of Last Contract
02:14 The Concept
03:11 Worldbuilding
06:00 Character Work
08:32 Plotlines of Mystery
09:46 Themes - Eat the Rich
12:21 Weaknesses
14:52 Representation
15:52 Content Warning
16:22 Is the Ending worth it?