103 pages • 3 hours read
Rodman PhilbrickThe Last Book In The Universe
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2000A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 16-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 16 Summary: “In the Latch of the Vandal Queen”
Lotti Getts has a lot of nicknames, including Nails, because of her specially-made razor nails, and the White Widow, because most of her "luvmates" (99) have not lived long. Lotti only noticed Spaz once before, on the day he lost his family unit, and she told him he had “bad blood” (99) before banishing him from the latch. Spaz has a feeling they knew he was coming. Lanaya isn’t afraid because they know her to be a kind proov. She gets out of the takvee voluntarily, saying she’s come to trade, while the others hide inside. Lotti stares at her in a way that “[m]ost normals would be afraid to stare like that at a proov, but not Lotti” (100). Lotti questions her, asking what she has to trade, because there’s someone running mindprobes into her latch, where probing is forbidden under penalty of death.
She checks the takvee, lifting Lanaya out of the way to do so and putting her down on the hood, and finds the trio hidden inside. Once she gets them out, they do their best to excuse and explain the situation, but Lotti isn’t interested; Spaz says he’ll do whatever she wants if he can see Bean. He thinks Billy Bizmo, a known former “luvmate” of Lotti’s, has already told her why he’s there. After a conference with her Vandals, she tells the group that if they can deliver the probe runner, Spaz can visit Bean; she commands that they “Do it or die!” (103).
Chapter 17 Summary: “Looking for Probes in All the Wrong Places”
Lanaya’s instinct is to try to find Bean and then run away, but Spaz explains that Lotti would have his whole family unit under watch, and they would all be in danger. They have no choice but to find the probe runner. Ryter admits Lotti is a “brutal but brilliant” (104) leader. While the Vandals have not followed them in the takvee, they do find themselves in the Brick Yard where no one lives, except for rats. Lanaya’s second idea is to find where to buy probes, which Ryter thinks is a great idea, and Spaz suggests pretending they want to trade for probes. They head to Traderville to “become criminals” (106) so that the probe runner will come to them first. Traderville is an area of the city under the old skyrails where fast trains used to pass overhead. Spaz describes the traders like thieves who will rip you off if given a chance, like the time he ended up giving them the shirt off his own back.
Lanaya suggests that she do the talking in Traderville. There are goods from all over the Urb and different latches. First, Lanaya makes a quick and safe trade of earrings for edibles, and when she hands some to Little Face, he says her name, which makes Spaz jealous. Lanaya leads the group to a large stall, where she asks to speak to the master, Bender. A girl selling "luv-scents" makes a sound and he appears. Bender knows Lanaya and seems happy to see her, but he balks when she asks about probes; no amount of coaxing can change his mind—they are forbidden and mean certain death. Taking a different approach, Lanaya leans in close enough for them to have a rushed and whispered conversation. Lanaya then beckons the group along with her to a part of Traderville where the stalls are replaced by shacks guarded by armored thugs and inhabited by “luv-girls” (110). Spaz’s first instinct is to shield Little Face, but he realizes the child will have seen worse growing up on the streets. Ryter is just as worried as Spaz, yet Lanaya remains unfazed, as though she’s playing a game and nothing can touch her. She warns them to be still “while the Furies check [them] out” (110) and just then, figures in black-hooded capes with skull masks and black daggers approach, creeping out from between the shacks.
Chapter 18 Summary: “Mark of the Assassin”
Spaz says he’s heard of the Furies but never seen one. They are supposedly all female, although their hooded capes make it impossible to ascertain. Lanaya takes charge, telling the Furies she brings offerings for Vida Bleek, the boss of the underworld traders and in his own right, a man as powerful as Lotti Getts. Vida appears before Lanaya and focuses quickly on the promise of “offerings” (115). Lanaya says whatever it takes, she will bring, but he’s unimpressed by her wealth or power. Lanaya reveals she’s after mindprobes, which Vida reiterates are forbidden and carry a death sentence.
Vida leads the group into a shack he refers to as his office but is clearly just the most convenient space for them to speak privately. He asks Spaz to explain being in a latch from which he was banned and is unsatisfied by Spaz’s answer that it was important that he visit his family unit. Vida suggests Lanaya is not after probes for herself, but for an act of treachery; his informants tell him that the Latch Queen set them up to betray the probe runner. Then Vida reveals that he’s plotting to take over the latch with his Furies, who are more feared than Lotti’s Vandals. He is amused at Lanaya’s question if they are free to leave. Vida says all probes and the equipment to use them originate in Eden, and that her “ignorance is an insult!” (117). Just as he is ready to give the signal for them to be killed, Vandals attack from all sides and the quartet attempts to flee, running for their lives away from the battle that has broken out.
Chapters 16-18 Analysis
In Chapter 16, the readers are introduced to Lotti Getts, the female latchboss during Spaz’s upbringing with Charly and Kay. She is known for her long razor nails and is referred to as the White Widow because she has killed most of her former luvmates. Her description recalls Billy Bizmo’s introduction in Chapter 5: “Billy with his sharp, crooked nose, and curly hair like tufts of rusty iron, and his ratty yellow teeth, and the pale scars on his neck and jaw where somebody tried to kill him once and missed. Somebody no longer among the living, guaranteed” (27). The description, paired with Spaz’s revelation that “[t]hey say Billy was once her luvmate, one of the few who survived, and that’s why whenever there’s a latch war, Lotti and Billy are usually on the same side” (102), is certainly enough to make the reader question Spaz’s assumption that the perpetrator is dead. Lotti, fighting Billy as an equal adversary, may have dealt those old wounds still visible on his neck and jaw.
The connection between the proliferation of probes and the degeneration of society and community life is solidified in Chapters 17 and 18. In this latch, probes have been banned due to their harmful effects; however, someone has been “running” (or, smuggling) probes into the latch, presumably from Eden. From the law and order abounding in this latch and Lotti’s firm hold on her territory, the lack of probes appears to have had a positive impact on the latch. However, the latchboss admits to an influx of the illegal wares into the neighborhood; these goods are coming through underground, and she wants them pushed back out. She is willing to bargain for the help of Spaz, a proov, and their friends to help eradicate the problem (or at least create a diversion).The result is a massive battle between herself and nemesis Vida Bleek, the closest thing to a riot seen in this latch.
Finally, the reader is introduced to Vida Bleek, a character whose very name describes his role in this narrative.“Vida” means “life” in Spanish, and “Bleek” is an alternative spelling of the English “bleak.” “Bleak Life” does seem a fitting name for the lord of the underworld who gets his head cut off when he tries to usurp the Latch Queen’s throne. Similarly, “Lotti Getts” seems a fitting name for a latchboss who “gets a lot” of power, profit, and strength, for example and who loses quite infrequently.
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