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Last of the Memory Keepers
Last of the Memory Keepers
“Just because something’s forgotten doesn’t mean it never existed. History may forget our names, but that doesn’t mean we never lived.”
Rhona Farlane is among the top three apprentice Memory Keepers and an advocate for the unification of the remaining three races. But some days, she feels like she’s the only one willing to put in enough effort. Her closest friends, Finley and Ellard, are either too reckless or too reserved to make a positive impact on the world, and her uncle doesn’t even believe she deserves her apprenticeship.
Determined to make a difference anyway, she joins her father on her first diplomatic mission in the Southern Rim where negotiations are going smoothly. Perhaps too smoothly. Then a tragedy threatens to cease all negotiations within her lifetime and even start a war. Will Rhona ever be able to achieve unity when everything she believes about her world is shattered?
This complete novelette series, Last of the Memory Keepers, features vols. 1-6, the origin poem, and an all new map!
Rhona Farlane is among the top three apprentice Memory Keepers and an advocate for the unification of the remaining three races. But some days, she feels like she’s the only one willing to put in enough effort. Her closest friends, Finley and Ellard, are either too reckless or too reserved to make a positive impact on the world, and her uncle doesn’t even believe she deserves her apprenticeship.
Determined to make a difference anyway, she joins her father on her first diplomatic mission in the Southern Rim where negotiations are going smoothly. Perhaps too smoothly. Then a tragedy threatens to cease all negotiations within her lifetime and even start a war. Will Rhona ever be able to achieve unity when everything she believes about her world is shattered?
This complete novelette series, Last of the Memory Keepers, features vols. 1-6, the origin poem, and an all new map!
348 pages, Paperback
Published September 23, 2017
275 people want to read
About the author
Azelyn Klein
8 books17 followersAzelyn Klein is a child of God who likes finding the beauty in the extraordinary and the everyday alike. She enjoys ruined castles more than intact ones and mountain trails more than city parks, but she is drawn to them all. In 2015, she moved to Nottingham, England, to study for her Master’s in English Literature. From there, she moved to Vicenza, Italy, in the summer of 2016, then on to her third time in Stuttgart, Germany, that Christmas where she completed her M.B.A. She currently resides in Alabama with her bearded dragon Xephyr "Peaches" and is fighting the urge to become a crazy lizard lady.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 22, 2018
This was an enjoyable read with interesting characters and a creative worldbuilding aspect. I loved the idea of the Memory Keepers and their Gifts, as well as the shape shifters and Lightning Wielders! There wasn’t any info dumping, and I learned about the different races and the superpowers and their limits as was naturally observed through the eyes of the main characters. Kudos to Azelyn on well done info pacing!
I gave this book a 3-star because though I enjoyed the story and the writing style, most of it was very dry. I feel like a lot of what I read was about their journeys to different places and was bored when reading about the drama between the three main characters and their travels, and none of that really caught my interest or held me in suspense, and I was confused for a long time about their ultimate motives. As for the politics and what the different races were trying to do (and why they were traveling in the first place), I was kept in the dark about specifics for the first ¾ of the book.
Another thing that confused me was the POV changes with the two main characters, Rhona and Ellard. At the beginning of each chapter/section was the name of whichever character whose POV was getting switched to, but when reading, my mind always went back to the POV being Rhona. I had to keep looking back to remind myself that I was actually reading in Ellard’s POV (in fact, I was convinced Rhona had fallen off her horse AGAIN, and then looked back to realize that nope, it was Ellard’s turn).
Of course, there were some things I really liked. First of all, Finley is my favorite character. He didn’t seem to be someone of much importance to begin with, but I liked him throughout the entire story, particularly at the end---it would be spoilers to say why, exactly. But there were a lot of things that cleared up things started picking up or getting resolved towards the end, which I appreciated. I also loved Tyree, whose snarky attitude actually made me laugh out loud at one point.
All in all, I enjoyed the read (for the most part) and I feel like it does need some work in different places, but Azelyn Klein is an awesome person. I won Last of the Memory Keepers in a giveaway and I loved reading and reviewing for her.
I gave this book a 3-star because though I enjoyed the story and the writing style, most of it was very dry. I feel like a lot of what I read was about their journeys to different places and was bored when reading about the drama between the three main characters and their travels, and none of that really caught my interest or held me in suspense, and I was confused for a long time about their ultimate motives. As for the politics and what the different races were trying to do (and why they were traveling in the first place), I was kept in the dark about specifics for the first ¾ of the book.
Another thing that confused me was the POV changes with the two main characters, Rhona and Ellard. At the beginning of each chapter/section was the name of whichever character whose POV was getting switched to, but when reading, my mind always went back to the POV being Rhona. I had to keep looking back to remind myself that I was actually reading in Ellard’s POV (in fact, I was convinced Rhona had fallen off her horse AGAIN, and then looked back to realize that nope, it was Ellard’s turn).
Of course, there were some things I really liked. First of all, Finley is my favorite character. He didn’t seem to be someone of much importance to begin with, but I liked him throughout the entire story, particularly at the end---it would be spoilers to say why, exactly. But there were a lot of things that cleared up things started picking up or getting resolved towards the end, which I appreciated. I also loved Tyree, whose snarky attitude actually made me laugh out loud at one point.
All in all, I enjoyed the read (for the most part) and I feel like it does need some work in different places, but Azelyn Klein is an awesome person. I won Last of the Memory Keepers in a giveaway and I loved reading and reviewing for her.
January 5, 2019
2.5 stars.
There are honestly a lot of cool things about this book. The various magic systems are really cool and they work together in really interesting ways. The world feels big and the author seems to have a deep understanding of various cultures and political ideologies (in fact, there's even a lengthy poem included that goes through some mythology). And I really liked the main character - Rhona. She feels caught between a lot of different worlds and seeing her navigate difficult identities was rewarding and kept things interesting.
However, there were a couple things that kept me from enjoying these aspects as much as I'd like to:
1- Rhona and Ellard alternate narrating the story, but it's difficult to tell whose perspective you're reading from. I'd often start reading a chapter from Ellard's perspective, but continue imagining it from Rhona's because there wasn't really anything to set their lives or narration apart.
2- I had a hard time keeping up with what was going on. It's clear the author has a deep understanding of the world, but sometimes, the difficulties between groups aren't as clear to the reader. There were also some sections where things happen quickly or characters jump to conclusions that I didn't quite follow. It sometimes felt as though things just jumped to a different scene without really explaining what happened to get us there and that really distracted from enjoying this book.
All that being said, I loved the creativity and originality that went into this book and I'm excited to see Azelyn Klein continue to develop as an author. This story has a lot of potential and, with more practice, I think Klein has the makings of a wonderful fantasy author.
There are honestly a lot of cool things about this book. The various magic systems are really cool and they work together in really interesting ways. The world feels big and the author seems to have a deep understanding of various cultures and political ideologies (in fact, there's even a lengthy poem included that goes through some mythology). And I really liked the main character - Rhona. She feels caught between a lot of different worlds and seeing her navigate difficult identities was rewarding and kept things interesting.
However, there were a couple things that kept me from enjoying these aspects as much as I'd like to:
1- Rhona and Ellard alternate narrating the story, but it's difficult to tell whose perspective you're reading from. I'd often start reading a chapter from Ellard's perspective, but continue imagining it from Rhona's because there wasn't really anything to set their lives or narration apart.
2- I had a hard time keeping up with what was going on. It's clear the author has a deep understanding of the world, but sometimes, the difficulties between groups aren't as clear to the reader. There were also some sections where things happen quickly or characters jump to conclusions that I didn't quite follow. It sometimes felt as though things just jumped to a different scene without really explaining what happened to get us there and that really distracted from enjoying this book.
All that being said, I loved the creativity and originality that went into this book and I'm excited to see Azelyn Klein continue to develop as an author. This story has a lot of potential and, with more practice, I think Klein has the makings of a wonderful fantasy author.
April 2, 2019
I really enjoyed rereading this collection of short stories, and I’m a bit sad the tale is over. I got my rating for the collection by averaging my ratings for the individual stories and poem. There are some editing errors, and they are more prominent in a couple stories than in the rest.
The stories alternate between two POVs. Some people have mentioned that it’s difficult to tell them apart, but I never really struggled with that. The voices are rather similar, but in my mind, they are still distinguishable.
I love the idea of the different races and powers being based on the five “wits”, their powers being based on what they deem most noble and worthy.
The first story has the most exposition, but still have some action scenes. After that it picks up pace and is one thing after another with very few breaks for the characters. The tale covers about a year in the lives of these Memory Keepers and tracks them through loss of home, loss of identity, loss of loved ones, and loss of hope. I do feel as though there could’ve been more time spent on the drastic loss of population, as the numbers were only really mentioned in the last story and in passing.
There are some points in the series where I feel as though the characters react unrealistically, but I know people may genuinely react in those ways if they were in such situations. I just personally wouldn’t.
I rated Last of the Memory Keepers 4/5 for its fast pace, use of powers based on wits, and character development. But I would’ve like for more time to be spent on certain aspects of what losing a home and community would be like and how it would affect people in different ways. The stories could’ve used a bit more time in proofreading as well.
The stories alternate between two POVs. Some people have mentioned that it’s difficult to tell them apart, but I never really struggled with that. The voices are rather similar, but in my mind, they are still distinguishable.
I love the idea of the different races and powers being based on the five “wits”, their powers being based on what they deem most noble and worthy.
The first story has the most exposition, but still have some action scenes. After that it picks up pace and is one thing after another with very few breaks for the characters. The tale covers about a year in the lives of these Memory Keepers and tracks them through loss of home, loss of identity, loss of loved ones, and loss of hope. I do feel as though there could’ve been more time spent on the drastic loss of population, as the numbers were only really mentioned in the last story and in passing.
There are some points in the series where I feel as though the characters react unrealistically, but I know people may genuinely react in those ways if they were in such situations. I just personally wouldn’t.
I rated Last of the Memory Keepers 4/5 for its fast pace, use of powers based on wits, and character development. But I would’ve like for more time to be spent on certain aspects of what losing a home and community would be like and how it would affect people in different ways. The stories could’ve used a bit more time in proofreading as well.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews