TL;DR Review: Grueling, gritty, and grimdark as hell. A main character who takes badass and resilient to a whole new level.
Synopsis:
A gender-flipped Die Hard set in a mysterious castle, Cameron Johnston’s The Last Shield is an engaging fantasy read, perfect for fans of John Gwynne and Mark Lawrence.
The ancient forest realm of Sunweald is bordered on two sides by far mightier nations – a precarious situation. At its centre, the Sunweald Palace is home to the Lord Regent and the heir to the throne, together with numerous precious and powerful artefacts. The Palace is protected by the realm’s elite Shields, dedicated to guarding the royal line against all foes.
A group of vicious brigands called the Wildwood Reivers have been stealing arcane artefacts and smuggling them across the borders, out of Sunweald. And the objects they most desire are stored in the mystical Wyrm Vault, hidden away deep in the bones of the earth, within the walls of the Palace itself.
As political and religious tensions mount, Sunweald’s druids prepare to enact rituals for the Summer Solstice – but the Wildwood Reivers and their treacherous allies have other plans. It falls to Briar, the commander of the Shields, to defend the ancient corridors and secret tunnels of the Palace.
The odds may be against her, but she’ll see every enemy head adorning a spike or she’ll die trying…
Full Review:
The moment I heard the premise for The Last Shield, I knew I was in for a bloody (and I do mean that literally) good time. But, oh boy, was I underprepared for just how much carnage and chaos this book was going to deliver—and I say that as the highest compliment possible.
Briar is the Commander of the Shields of Sunwealden, the elite warrior and guard force protecting the young king-to-be Kester and his uncle, the regent Alaric. From the very beginning, we see that the main threats she’s had to deal with are assassins more than brigands, bandits, monsters, or enemy kingdoms. But whatever her foe, she will meet them with her signature blend of implacability, cunning, speed, and peerless skill at arms.
However, even the fiercest warrior isn’t invulnerable. A poisoned arrow to the leg nearly kills her, and though she recovers, she’s just a shadow of the warrior she was. She soon comes to see that she can’t keep up with the kingdom’s enemies and so resigns her post and plans to slink away to retirement where her reduced capacity won’t get the young king or the regent (for whom she’s got feelings she has been unable to act on for a decade) killed.
And that’s when traitors launch their attack on the fortress. A clever ploy has already reduced the force of Shields, and the rest are either slaughtered, captured, or turned. Leaving only Briar to defend the castle, protect her king, defeat the enemy forces, and stop the evil sorceress from gaining access to the kingdom’s magical vault of treasures.
This story was GRIMDARK as hell, in all the best ways possible. There is a great degree of violence that frequently dances into the realm of brutality, and we’re treated to a front row seat as the traitors take the castle and butcher everyone who might oppose them, then again as Briar cuts her way through the traitors.
The action was razor-sharp, frenetic, and beautifully paced. Briar fights with a wonderful pragmatic ruthlessness and cunning calculation that makes her a true pleasure to watch. Her skill, training, and instincts are peerless, and make her a force of violence that can never be underestimated.
But really, it’s her resilience that makes her such an immense badass. From the beginning, she fights a battle against the poison that’s ravaging her body, then against her own weakened, ravaged body as she stubbornly claws her way back to being a warrior. There are countless scenes where we watch her approaching the edge of collapse, and cheer her on as she finds just one more shred of strength to keep forging on.
We are keenly aware of her pain and limitations in every scene, yet we watch her dig deep and fight on—and on and on and on. There are countless moments when she is pushed beyond her limits, when it would be so easy to lie down and give in to the pain and hopelessness, but her refusal to quit makes her a true hero in every sense of the word.
The Last Shield is an immensely enjoyable read—if you like your fantasy grim, grueling, and bloody, I cannot recommend it highly enough.
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