The Last Dwarf

by B.D. Murphy

Times are hard for Hallr, the last dwarf. Hunted constantly by witches, his best chance for a meal is fighting and scavenging the grim spoils of human wars. Alone, he desires a place without being attacked by witches.

Meanwhile, a small band of seekers risks everything for the chance to find the dwarven city of Molgan. There is Milfred, a blacksmith desperate for the secrets of dwarven steel, his apprentice Agnarr, the witch healer Sheyla, who hides a dark past, and Kaleb, a giant-sized kid with a knack for puzzles. Their combined quest leads them to the very gates of Molgan. But the legends only tell a small part of the story.

The ancient city holds the dragon-guarded treasure they believed had already been looted. Still, it also has a terrifying it was abandoned after a brutal attempt by witches to seize control. The danger that exiled the dwarves is not gone; it’s merely dormant.

They came to find a city and its secrets. Now, they must decide if they are prepared to protect it before history repeats itself and all the answers are lost forever.

A dragon doesn’t buy anything, so why is gold a treasure? How does a city inside a mountain feed its people without a single farm? And what dark truth drove the dwarves from their legendary home?

366 pages, Paperback

Published January 22, 2026

About the author

B.D. Murphy started writing when the world hit pause—and he hasn’t stopped since. He’s the kind of author who sees a mystery in every machine, a plot twist in every algorithm, and a story hiding in your Wi-Fi signal. With a brain wired for engineering and a heart full of curiosity, Murphy crafts sci-fi that’s clever, sneaky, and just a little bit subversive. If you like techy thrillers, real-talk characters, and endings that make you say “wait, WHAT?”—he’s your guy.

Awards:
Feathered Quill first place – Science Fiction 2025 – Sidney and Watson
Readers' favorite Silver 5-star winner – Science Fiction 2023 – Pandemic Hacker
Readers’ Choice Book Awards Finalist - Science Fiction 2025 – Nanite Evolution

https://amazon.com/author/bdmurphy

Reviews

[Joseph K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book

I really hope there are more books set in this universe as these characters deserve more time to shine. I also want to see the dragon flying out at some point around the world. Very good characters and story. Lots of action, magic, and dwarf architecture too which was fun. I enjoyed this book and want more. I recommend it even if there is not more…but I want more.

[Tonya]

The concept of this novel was good and interesting but the vast amount of grammatical errors made this book borderline unreadable. To be fair I did DNF this book with 100 pages left due to the absolute garbage writing and abundant errors. I hope that this can be edited in future editions so that I can give it another shot.

[Book Reviewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Last Dwarf, B.D. Murphy tells a grounded epic fantasy story about Hallr, a worn-down, possibly last surviving dwarf who stumbles into a war, a witch problem, and a very dangerous little Mithril box. The box holds the knowledge to train control witches to dominate dwarves, which makes it the one thing every power-hungry coven in the world wants. Hallr ends up in a reluctant alliance with Sheyla, a healer witch with a dark past, Agnarr the practical mage-smith, a blacksmith named Milfred, a giant named Kaleb, and three gifted children who are far too powerful for their age. Together they march from battlefields and refugee roads toward a lost dwarven city, a starving dragon named Xylia, and a hidden valley that could become home. This is a fantasy adventure novel, but it is obsessed with very practical questions, like how an underground city eats, and what a dragon’s hoard really means once you look at it up close.

I liked how physical everything felt. Hallr worries about boots with holes, last strips of jerky, how to haul rubble, and where to dump it, how long it will take to find and bury children’s bones in the tunnels. The fantasy is big, with witches and armies and dragons, but the moment-to-moment writing stays small and concrete. A lot of the story happens in campfire talk and evening debriefs, people poking at a fire or counting chickens after a long day. Sometimes I did feel the book lingered on logistics, but it also gave the world weight. By the time they finally open up the city and step into the fertile valley, I believed they had earned every shovel of dirt and every egg in Kaleb’s hatch boxes.

What I enjoyed most was how the book kept circling the idea of control and choice. Hallr’s hatred of controller witches comes from one of the ugliest scenes in the story, when children are forced to attack him, and he breaks in a way that never fully heals. Sheyla is running from a past where her talent for control was exploited and twisted, and she is trying to live by a different code without pretending she is innocent. The Mithril box is not just a plot device but a symbol of how knowledge can be weaponized, especially against people who are already hunted. Even Xylia the dragon has to confront the way she survived for years by letting greedy humans come die on her gold. I appreciated that Murphy lets these characters sit in their guilt and defensiveness. The conversations where everyone finally shares their secrets around a table are some of the best parts of the book, more powerful to me than the big army scenes, because you see how afraid each of them is of being rejected by this little patchwork family they built.

I felt like I had watched a group of tired, stubborn people slowly turn a quest fantasy into a story about building a community and deciding what kind of power they are willing to use. This is not sleek, poetic fantasy. It is a practical, character-focused epic fantasy adventure that cares as much about farming in a hidden valley and fixing a dragon’s wing as it does about battles and magic. If you enjoy found family, gruff dwarves who grow on you, witches who are not neatly good or evil, and you like your dragons with a bit of emotional baggage, this book will probably hit the spot. For readers who like to settle into a solid fantasy world and watch people slowly earn each other’s trust, The Last Dwarf is worth the trip.

[Yory Gyovani · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Last Dwarf was a good book, with a plain, honest rewarding story. I enjoyed the journey of our Hallr and his friends, happy for their joy, sometimes even scared because of how life in that world is unpredictably harsh. The story moves well; the characters are memorable, and events keep you turning pages excited and often afraid of what comes next.

However, not everything glitters like mithril; even a fine forging shows its seams.

Most characters are morally grey, but some feel two-dimensional—defined only by a horrible past and a stated goal, they could have being more flashed out. The antagonists aren’t that coplex but memorable in their own right, especially the two main opponents of the dwarf and his group. (I am trying my hardest to not spoil anything)

The writing is strong, yet there are passages where I don’t understand what is happening; the words describing the situation sometimes fail to reach me or make me understand what’s going on. This is more evident when the party reaches the city and moves through its many chambers and hallways.

The dialogue is lively, I enjoyed the characters’ side commentary, their banter, their criticism and even their frustration with each other. Yet sometimes lines are repeated and don’t add anything new the second time around. You see this more in the city where characters sometimes say things that don’t make sense (looking at you, Kaleb).

The editing needs work: name inconsistencies (Ulgary → Algary), missing quotation marks, typos, and some unclear passages. Personally, I didn’t care much and it was less distracting for me, but I know from experience that many readers will stop a book—even a great one—because of those mistakes. For me, I moved past them and still enjoyed the book.

The pacing is mostly works but slows down in the city; the story takes a long time to move there. I know that was intentional for storytelling purposes, but some parts could have been smaller or faster.

The book uses familiar elements we’ve seen many times and created a new tale with memorable characters you long for. I wished there was more, but what I got was satisfying.

The worldbuilding wasn’t anything crazy, but it was enough to give a clear picture of the world we were stepping into.

I liked that the antagonists suffered in the journey as much as the protagonists. This world doesn’t care which foot or which heart steps into it, and I like that.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and I hope everyone else does too. I hope you write a sequel, and if not I’m happy with what I got. Thank you for the memories.

[Jorge Motta · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story of a lonesome dwarf, going from battle to battle, scrounging just enough to survive, to an adventure to a legendary city, The Last Dwarf is a fantasy adventure book that takes us on a journey with Hallr, meeting with unlikely allies due to shared interests, and perhaps a genuine wish for company, laced with stubbornness and well-placed untrustworthiness. This book was one any fan of fantasy literature might enjoy, with a few caveats.

I enjoyed the level of detail the author put into certain parts, such as how battles are fought or how mechanisms work, and the intricate details of contraptions that make you really imagine how they might look, as well as their inner workings giving vivid explanations of devices and motions. Travelling with Hallr and the gang was a nice experience, with characters who really do show growth and moments that really make them shine. You get to see how our protagonist adapts from being on his own to being part of an almost-crowded party, never really losing his essence as a hunted outcast for years, doing what he wishes while also being open to change. The main story plot to me was wonderful to go through, seeing the gang go through different situations, and how they adapt was great to read, and always made me wonder how they would react.

That said, I do have some gripes with the story. I felt the pacing was off at times, with the halfway point being where it starts to lose a bit of steam, becoming repetitive and somewhat lost in its storylines, and some abrupt tone shifts occur out of the blue, moving from serious to lighthearted and back again, this might just be me, but I found it a bit jarring. I felt the subplots didn’t progress or resolve organically and might have benefited from more time. Additionally, although I really enjoyed some of the characters, others felt a bit flat in comparison, as if they were merely there to “round out” the party. Don’t get me wrong, I feel they have good lines and moments but overall feel as though they don’t appear as organic as the others. Finally, the world or systems were a mix for me. The magic makes sense in some instances, but in others, it left me wondering how some parts interact with others, which was a bit confusing. The properties of mithril to me did not seem very consistent, specifically. Though If you are used to traditional magic systems, this might not be too much of a bother as it follows just about the same rules.

Despite this, I cannot say I didn’t have fun reading this book, as I enjoy the genre, and the story beats were very much up my alley. Thus, if you are into this type of story, I can say you should give this a shot! Though I should warn that there are some dark scenes here and there. I liked what the author made, and if he ever explores this type of setting again, I would be delighted to read more!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[The Delulu Book · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, I received this arc in exchange of an honest review.
This is one of those books where I feel so angry and so happy at equal measure.
Starting on the goods of this book, the ideas, the characters, mainly Hallr our beloved dwarf it's good, I like him.
The author answers lots and lots of questions about dwarves living in the mountains, how it was sustainable? Well, we know how they did now!
And i loved all the answers, every second of it, the ideas the organization.
This book also has this "Legend of Zelda" Vibes, where our characters have to sort out different challenges and riddles, it was interesting to read.

The bad part? The execution
There's a lot of " he said she said" at some point ( which I will not post here to avoid spoilers ) half a page is almost repeated.
Storylines that get constructed from page one that lead to nowhere, the characters sometimes they answer as some sort of NPC's, as if their conversations were chopped to get straight to the point.
There are a lot of typos, which while not unforgivable annoying, because I'm not talking about one or two, but several.
In general we get a lot of details but not enough content, it's a very weird execution as if this was a first draft. ( I don't want to jump straight to the it's written by AI because I have no proof of it )
Three starts because I honestly loved it, the ideas the concepts the answers.
But I cannot give more to this execution.
I belive this book would benefit a lot with some proffesional editing.

However, if we get a second book of Hallr adventures, would I read it? Yes.
I love that kranky old dwarf.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

This was a fun adventure! The gruffness of Hallr was endearing for me. The way the characters came together and while they didn’t necessarily like each other they aligned with a common goal was pretty cool. The world building and detail in this book was nice.

This book has magic, dragons, witches and ax wielding dwarfs!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Doris Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Last Dwarf is a book about a Dwarf who has not seen another living dwarf in many years and his journey to find the lost city created and maintained by the Dwarfs. The varied characters are interesting and keep the journey varied and riveting. It has surprises, twists and turns that keep it captivating and informative. It's a great book.

[Gary A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book kept me engaged from page 1 until the end. I could not put it down. The plot held my interest and the story and action were fast paced. All of the main characters were well developed and relatable. The descriptions of mechanical things were especially engaging for my engineering brain. I hope there is a sequel.

[Meli · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got 16% into the book and really couldn't handle the grammatical errors or lack of continuity. this book feels like it was written in a different language and then chat gpt translated into English.

it's a great concept, just terrible execution.

[Collin Laing · Rating 1 out of 5]

Grammer bad

[Susan Ferguson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read - quite enjoyable and hard to stop reading. Couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

[Gary Payeur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was very redundant on many parts could have easily been a much shorter book and faster paced