Event Horizon – Jackson Utz

The Eternal Lifeline series comes to an astonishing close in this crazy, sci-fi/dystopian book. The trilogy took us on a journey of Sebastian and his friends cleansing the universe of all evil, and it all comes to an end in this last book of the trilogy. 

Plot

Two months after Sebastian set out to cleanse the universe of all evil, he is tasked with the most difficult task yet. He must save his friends from their eternal lifelines severing completely. 

Sebastian sets out on a journey with some new additions to his group and travels back to Earth, to Eden Village where his journey began. He’s come a long way from cutting trees in the woods, to now cleansing the universe and saving his friends with magic on his side. 

Sebastian comes face to face with the Spirit of Time, and through countless points of history, he takes Celeste’s sword Event Horizon to the important events that got each and every member of his group to that point. 

Along the way, Sebastian comes across countless versions of Zuri, and he realizes his love for the girl who showed him the world. In order to save everyone, he must do the impossible. 

I think that this storyline was super interesting. I was worried that the book would let me down since Ares just completely changed over to the good side, and they therefore had no enemies to defeat, however, the story took me to different places in time and it was so cool to see how each place connected to Sebastian and his friends. Each place they visited pretty much made sure that everything would go according to plan, and along the way they come across even deadlier enemies while also learning a bit more about themselves. 

Characters

Okay so this is where I started to have some issues. Of course, I totally loved the characters that we’d already met, and that was great, but I definitely had some problems with the way that the “bad guys” kept turning to the good side. Why was it so easy for Ares to switch to the good side? Like come on, they could have saved so much time in the last book, and literally could have saved three of Sebastian’s friends if Ares just realized what he wanted sooner. It honestly just didn’t make any sense to me. Not only that, but we move on to later meet Sangre once again (who we found out was actually Cedric from the last book), and he completely turns to the good side too. I can’t tell if it was because he was afraid of dying again or he just completely changed his beliefs in the system that he’s known for pretty much his entire life. It’s just overall super confusing to me that the enemies that Sebastian had to defeat just changed to their side so quickly. 

This being said, I did love the characters we’d already met. Sebastian has grown so much after the past few books that he’s almost a completely different person. His development was amazing, and he’s gone from being a wood cutter to using magic and defeating some of the world’s deadliest enemies. Along with that, he’s able to continue his journey while his friends are in critical condition which I think shows great strength and determination. 

There’s also Zuri who I feel like we find a bit more about in this book. Her story has always been a mystery to me and I loved seeing her at different points in time. She’s always been a strong character that’s been able to stand up to her enemies, however, we see how she becomes that character and who her family is. It’s really interesting to see a character that I’ve loved so dearly, develop into the person that they now are. 

I also have to mention Sebastian and Zuri’s relationship. Coming from book one, I knew that they’d be something special and their automatic connection was so beautiful to see. They’ve been partners in crime since they met and it was honestly so adorable, so I was just waiting and waiting until they’d get together and finally be happy. It was clear that Sebastian held strong feelings for Zuri and was incredibly protective of her, and I think that’s what pretty much fueled this entire book. After reeling from the loss of Zuri, Sebastian realizes that he has to get her and his friends back and he travels through time seeing Zuri in countless places, realizing his true feelings, and being motivated by bringing her back to his side. It’s truly a beautiful relationship that’s motivated Sebastian to do the impossible. 

“That’s all we have in this world: God’s grace and the Devil’s embrace.”

Setting

This book takes us to many places throughout history. We start the book out on Mars after the battle at the Imperial Palace. The palace is destroyed, however the rest of the city remains the same with the seven rings of citizens distributed based on class. Later though, Sebastian and his companions travel back to Earth where we see his grandpa’s resting place, and then Eden Village once more. 

From there, we travel through history and see a few different places, such as Dallas, Texas on the day that the city was destroyed, and the Mystic Empire that Zuri mentioned in the earlier books. 

I feel like the settings here were some of the most important parts of the book and I liked how we saw different periods of history and the setting changed with that. I feel like it was important to understand how each period in history has formed that land to its own and it was really cool to see. 

Writing

The writing in this book was well done. I can definitely say that it could use a bit of work, however, I enjoyed it. 

There were times in the book where the huge info dumps were really unnecessary, and I did feel confused at times so I had to reread certain parts, however, the point got across to me so that’s the most important part. I definitely feel like the book could be greatly improved with some revision, just because some parts were just too much. I didn’t need to know every little detail about every little thing, I kind of just needed to know the basics to understand what was going on. 

In Conclusion… 

I definitely enjoyed this book and it’s a story that’s so unique and different to me that I’m sure I’ll remember it. The characters and their growth was so amazing to read about and I loved their relationships with each other. I feel like this book had a lot more content and it was the right way to end the book with everyone having a happy ending and the closure that was needed. 

Rating: 4/5⭐