Book Review: The Last Ranger by J.D.L. rOSELL
The Last Ranger gives the reader a beautifully vivid world full of lush terrains, awe inspiring beasts and political entities looking to get ahead by whatever means necessary at every corner.
Leiyn is a ranger of the Titan wilds, a vast wilderness housing many dangers including the Titans themselves; giant God like creatures slumbering in the depths of the forests, until awakening to wreak havoc on unsuspecting settlements. Her job is to scout the lands either solo or with a crew to ensure the safety of the land, its creatures, and her fellow rangers. Under the tuition of Tadeo she has learnt to be one of the best. She will have to put those skills to use, if she is to put the pieces of what comes next together.
When tragedy strikes and the Ranger’s lodge falls, Leiyn somehow survives, reaching into her mahia, her curse. The secret of magical ability she carries around close to her chest. Through survival, she seeks vengeance, only as she moves forward in her quest, she becomes more and more caught up in a much bigger political game than she bargained for.
If she fails, the legacy of the rangers dies with her. She cannot let that happen, even if that means showing the world, just what she can do.
There was so much I enjoyed about this first instalment of a new series, the worldbuilding, magic and sheer magnificence of the Titians being my top picks.
One of my favourite things in this book was the feel of the world itself. If you are looking for a video game feeling adventure in book format, look no further. From the hidden caches of supplies hidden skilfully by the rangers to the side characters who acted somewhat like NPC’s but may play a bigger part in the long run, The Last Ranger allows the reader to feel immersed in the world like they are exploring it themselves. For visual readers, the prose of this book was also immersive and vivid. A lot of terrain is covered here and seeing the differences of the landscapes verses the cities/towns made it come alive. From the landscape, creatures and roads travelled Rosell has really given the reader a feel of the world.
Next up on the praise list is the mahia, the magic. Lieyn our main protagonist holds a secret. She was saved at birth by shaman magic allowing her to pull lifescence from others and into herself. There life stealing/healing powers were always described to her as something to be ashamed of, something to keep under wraps at all costs. As the magic slowly seeps through the book, the reader is made aware of why that fear may be in place but also gets to experience what this ability looks like and how it can help or hinder the team we are adventuring with. This magic carries grave consequences but also has immense power and I think we have only scratched the surface. As the book progresses, so too does our characters curiosity and we get to see mahia blossom. I can’t wait to see more in future instalments.
The last thing I will mention here is the side characters, creatures and of course the titans. We are in a forest filled world, teaming with supernatural creatures, spirit animals and the almighty Titans. The reader gets a good look at each of these in turn, from the forest witches who can shape shift to suit their needs and the spirit animals keeping watch over Lieyn as she makes her way through her travels. However, the most impressive and most video game element (if we are thinking boss like creatures) were the Titans. These giant beasts’ slumber amongst the lands but something inside Lieyn stirs them to life. We had some really cool scenes with these beasts, land turtles, river serpents and even a kraken were all part of this tale. If you are a fan of those monster of the week vibes in a beautiful setting that carries high stakes, you’ll have a good time here.
My main criticism would be the amount of fade to black moments we had with Lieyn as she got into strife, she would hurt herself, fade to black only to wake up and do it again. There was a good chunk of the book where this got repetitive for me personally and I would have liked to have seen the fallout of the actions leading to those “end scene’ moments.
Overall, I think J.D.L. Rosell has written one hell of an adventure and has made me interested in picking up more of his works. I am already looking forward to seeing where this one goes!
