Review: The Last Shield by Cameron Johnston
If Gemmell had a small crew of protégés, I think Cameron Johnston has placed himself at their forefront with The Last Shield. A heroic dark fantasy with plenty of grit, high stakes, battles, and bloody-grinned relentless no-giving-up protagonists, The Last Shield is an un-put-downable thrill ride.
In The Last Shield, Briar is the leader of the Regent of Sunweald’s personal bodyguard. Armed with buckler and sword and honed by a lifetime of training, the Shields keep the leaders of their realm alive. When one of them goes rogue, and a mysterious bowman cripples Briar, a devious plot is revealed and it puts the one person Briar loves (but cannot have) in danger–and with that person in danger, all of Sunweald is in danger.
If you mixed Gemmell’s storytelling with Die Hard, I think you would find The Last Shield. With a gruff hero who just won’t die, a villain with evil deeds on their mind, treachery, non stop action and bloody, rather inventive deaths hitting you every few pages in this against-all-odds action film of a book, The Last Shield is going to be popular.
Briar is one of my favourite characters so far in 2024. I punched the air when she won, puckered right up when she was in danger, and really loved her hero’s story. My personal tastes will always lean towards the more morally grey, which you won’t really find in The Last Shield, but for something that I just had a really damned good time reading, Cameron’s Briar was a world of fun.
Another of the other POVs, Kester, was painted as this spoiled brat throughout, which is where at first I was hoping to find that more morally grey character. I would have enjoyed seeing Johnston lean heavier into that aspect of his character. However, the story didn’t really need it more than it needed his redemption arc, and I’m not an author, and this isn’t my book. The Last Shield isn’t about that—it’s more a 90’s action flick in book form. It’s Charlise Theron in The Old Guard, except in a medieval fantasy world. It’s get yourself a beer and a bucket or popcorn, kick your feet up, and forget the world exists while Briar kicks some arse, and I fucking loved that about it.
I’d be quite surprised if The Last Shield doesn’t do well on the heroic fantasy-focussed best-of lists this year. It’s about the most fun reading I’ve had in 2024.
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