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The Last Ranger by J.D.L. Rosell

Summary

Betrayed. Hunted. Left for dead. But not even death itself can keep the last ranger from vengeance.

Leiyn “Firebrand” is no stranger to a fight. A brash ranger of the Titan Wilds, she takes up her bow to ward against the colossal spirit creatures known as titans, ever a threat to the colonies she has sworn to protect.

But no amount of skill can guard against treachery.

When tragedy strikes the rangers’ lodge, Leiyn vows to avenge the fallen. But if she is to succeed, she must embrace a power within her she has long denied.

Power to move mountains and rivers.

Power over life and death.

She did not choose this path, but Leiyn knows her duty. For if she fails, the legacy of the rangers dies with her-and all the Titan Wilds will fall into shadow.

Review

I really enjoyed this fast paced adventure set in a fascinating world.

In The Last Ranger, Leiyn is a deeply flawed protagonist, due to circumstances of her birth she is able to use magic that she believes is cursed because it is wielded by the natives of the Titan Wilds. Her father raised her to hate the natives and she has suppressed her magic her whole life because of this hatred. She is also rash and quick to anger. Because of this, Leiyn is a difficult protagonist to like at times, but I am not against an unlikeable protagonist. Though she often makes stupid choices, she starts to change over the course of the novel and learn to accept who she is and examine her prejudices. She is forced to spend a significant amount of time with a group of natives and though by the end of the novel she has not become a completely different person, she has made progress and I expect that will be an ongoing development in this series. Through Leiyn, the author invites us to examine our own prejudices, and think about things from a different perspective.

The highlights of the book for me were the world and the magic. I loved how they focused so much on nature, with giant nature spirits called Titans and mysterious sentient beings known as dryvan. The magic is also heavily based in nature and life. Leiyn has shut herself off from the magic her whole life so we don’t know a lot about it but she is able to sense the life force of all living things and use it to heal herself and others, as well as presumably many other things we will learn about in future books. The natives of the Titan Wilds are able to awaken and control Titans with the magic so I’m excited to see that in action.

This book is very fast paced. From the beginning of the novel we are running and we don’t stop until the end. Despite this there is a good amount of world building and we get periodic flashbacks of Leiyn’s history at just the right moments to help us understand her and the choices she makes. There are plenty of actions scenes, which are written very well, and I really enjoyed seeing the bow and arrow as the weapon of choice for our protagonist instead of the usual sword or axe. I recommend this novel to anyone looking for a fast, fun, adventure and I look forward to reading future novels in the series.