3 out of 4 stars
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The fantasy End of the Last Great Kingdom by Victor Rose is the phenomenal story of Brimstone, a young Mage just discovering his new magical capabilities. When the school he attends to hone his craft turns on him, he gathers the other misfits to form the Crimson. The Crimson serves as a vigilante group of Mages of whom society has deemed not powerful enough to rule their own kingdom. Will Brimstone lead this bunch to victory? Will the evil rulers prove victorious once and for all?
Firstborn as Leaf, an orphan with a developing set of talents that is confusing to the townspeople who raised him, Leaf transforms into Brimstone when he completes his first Mage test when he conquers another student in a physical battle. When given the task of forming a team to complete the next Mage challenge, Brimstone picks the other misfits of the school: Heat, Brick, and Neutron. As the story develops, this newly formed team known as Crimson face much larger battles than anticipated.
I loved this book, and was impressed with the writing flow and quickly developing storyline. The author did an excellent job outlining the main story points and attacking these points concisely and with an exciting pace. Brimstone is forced to make tough decisions from the first part of the novel, but the author endears him to me as the reader in such a way that I did not judge him when he made terrible choices. Born without a family, Brimstone is on his own from a very early age and uses his intelligence and natural instinct to challenge the villains.
This book is the first of a series but was written without the typical boring setups of a typical fantasy series. The author does an excellent job resolving the main storyline in the first novel, but leaving enough of the plot open for the reader to want to read the next book in the series. There was enough finality in the first novel that the reader can be satisfied with just reading this book, but I am confident that a majority of readers will wish to read further.
I give End of the Last Great Kingdom 3 out of 4 stars, for its excellent writing flow, the wonderful set of main characters, and vivid imagery. I took away a star for the excessive violence depicted in this book; sometimes it took away from the main storyline. I recommend this book to anyone looking for their next great fantasy series with a strong main character.
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End of the Last Great Kingdom
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