Last Exit is a 2022 science fantasy novel by Max Gladstone. The story follows a group of former college friends who stumbled upon an incredible secret: a way to travel between parallel universes, or "alts". During their adventures in these other worlds, one of their number, Sal, was lost to the rot, an otherworldly force which seemingly seeks to corrupt and obliterate every universe one by one. Devastated by loss, the group split up and made an attempt to live normal lives.
Years later, Zelda, the unofficial leader of the group and Sal's former girlfriend, is traveling around the USA fighting incursions of rot in her own universe, when she discovers that the past isn't done with her yet:
Sal is alive. She's changed. And she's coming back.
- Failure Is the Only Option: Zelda firmly believes that if they can reach the crossroads at the center of everything, they'll be able to fix all the alts and banish the rot for good. A previous failed attempt is what got Sal lost, and the rest of the group believes it's hopeless. They're correct, sort of. What Zelda wants to do is not only impossible but not actually the solution. There is no big single reset button that will fix everything at once, and the rot is not inherently evil.
- Light Is Not Good: The white-hatted cowboy is a representation of order and security, and all of the most toxic aspects thereof (constant surveillance, brutality, etc).
