BOOK REVIEW | THE LAST SHIELD | CAMERON JOHNSTON
Book Information:
The Last Shield by Cameron Johnston
Series: N/A, Standalone
Genre: Fantas
Intended Age Group: Adult
Pages: 368
Published: August 13, 2024
Publisher: Angry Robot
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…
At the beginning of the book, Briar suffers a life changing injury in the line of duty. The injury, a poisoned arrow to the leg, leaves her changed forever and with an inability to serve her duty to the regent of the the land of Sunweald. The first part of the book deals with Briar’s failed rehabilitation, and the realisation that she can no longer be close to the man that she has come to love in the years protecting him, so that the rightful heir, Kestor, can take his place as heir to the throne.
As the seasons move on and Briar comes to the realisation that the injury that she has taken has, in her mind, left her incapable of doing her job. She plans to take a bow from castle duties and make her way to her brother’s farm, convalesce and reevaluate her life. However, things don’t go according to plan, and as she takes her leave, a band of brigands under the leadership of sorcerer Imperatrix, storm the castle whilst it is at its weakest. They kill most of the inhabitants that they deem worthless and take the nobility hostage in the hope that they can break into the secret vault of magical artefacts under the castle.
Let me take you back in time to the mid eighties.
Imagine little old me at the tender age of fourteen. I had tried for many years to get into fantasy and had struggled with the old Tolkien bloke’s huge tome, struggling with the formal language that it was written in.
Going to the local library, I wanted something different to the normal steady diet of horror and had found things like David Eddings and Terry Brooks. However, one day I stumbled on a shiny new author called David Gemmell and his first book, Legend. I took this home and devoured it in a day, and it has been one of my favourites since (in fact I read it again earlier this year!)
When reading The Last Shield, this put me firmly in mind of reading Legend and the excitement that I had when I read the exploits of Druss the Legend as he defended a castle against insurmountable odds. Now I know that The Last Shield is billed as a kind of fantasy Die Hard, and I have seen many reviewers referring to this, but for me, whilst it does have these elements and it is an obvious tonal reference, I felt that the book had the same qualities of Legend that I love so much. It has the flawed, older character fighting for against a foe that by rights should beat them to a bloody pulp. It has a similar brand of characters, and you can’t help falling in love with the main character Briar who, similarly to Druss, fights against what ails them the most. As well as that, there are a good set of side characters. Alaric, the Lord Regent, stoic in his mind to carry out his duty. Then there’s Kestor, the foppish heir to the thrown who undergoes a kind of redemption arc, and finally there’s Gwilherm, who is there for comic relief.
Now, some may say that these are archetypal characters, but I have no problem with that. I like archetypal characters when they are done well, and I thought that in The Last Shield they were done very well indeed.
The world building of the book is interesting, based on a Celtic influenced society, but with a quasi Christian culture in one country and what could have been a Viking style country at the other side. However, the world doesn’t encroach too much, except when the story needs it to.
In addition to this, there is a magic system that works when needed, but doesn’t give too much explanation of the mechanics of the system, and there are also magical creatures in the form f the Fae.
The Last Shield is a great piece of escapism. It doesn’t demand too much off your attention and is a good little page turner. Yes, the book does take some time to build Briar’s character, showing how she reacts to adversity etc, but when the main plot kicks in, the pace of the book just flies.
If you are going to read one fantasy book this then make sue you read The Last Shield.
Author Bio & Information:
Cameron Johnston is a Scottish writer of fantasy and lives in the city of Glasgow in Scotland. He is a member of the Glasgow Science Fiction Writers' Circle, loves archaeology and mythology, enjoys exploring ancient sites and camping out under the stars.
On Twitter he is @camjohnston.
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