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War of the Rose #3
The Last Paladin
Averil, once hunted across the land and sea by her uncle the king, is now the Queen Lys. But if she cannot defy and defeat her late uncle's sorcerous masters, she will never live to be crowned.
Kathleen Bryan's highly praised romantic fantasy trilogy concludes with The Last Paladin .
Kathleen Bryan's highly praised romantic fantasy trilogy concludes with The Last Paladin .
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
April 19, 2023
The Last Paladin, the third and final book in the Serpent and the Rose series, is not a story with magic in it; it is a story about magic, wild and deep, and magnificently written by no better of an author than Judith Tarr with all her poetic prose under the nom de plume of Kathleen Bryan. A brilliant story! A brilliant series. My only complaint is that it was so good, I read it too fast, and now I will never have the joy of reading it again for the first time!
I still suspect that Ms. Tarr wrote this as something of an experiment and, thankfully for us, an experiment that worked! It is a mirror of our own world in the Middle Ages, except that magic stands in with faith, and the saints of the Church were once mighty paladins—heroes—who fought beside the great Young God in defeating the Serpent, and the descendants of those heroes are the lords and ladies, kings and queens of the world, and the lesser heroes as Ladies of the Isle and Knights of the Rose. All in all, delightful, and fast-paced fantasy on par with the rest of Ms. Tarr’s other medieval works… at least in my mind.
I still suspect that Ms. Tarr wrote this as something of an experiment and, thankfully for us, an experiment that worked! It is a mirror of our own world in the Middle Ages, except that magic stands in with faith, and the saints of the Church were once mighty paladins—heroes—who fought beside the great Young God in defeating the Serpent, and the descendants of those heroes are the lords and ladies, kings and queens of the world, and the lesser heroes as Ladies of the Isle and Knights of the Rose. All in all, delightful, and fast-paced fantasy on par with the rest of Ms. Tarr’s other medieval works… at least in my mind.
November 11, 2019
"He was in armor and she was dressed for bitter winter. They stood in the middle of a battle."
As the last book of the War of the Rose series, 'The Last Paladin' in my opinion was the best of the trilogy. Unlike the bridge between one and two, the third starts off right after the events of the second book. Again we follow along Gereint and Averil, as they navigate their way through the last threat the late king had along with him. Where one baddie is gone, another rose in his place to finish the job and we find our hero's fighting one last time. I really enjoyed this last of the series, I thought the pace was significantly better and I was hooked from start to finish. I started and finished this book in one day and loved every minute of it. That being said there isn't much more to say outside of the first two review, a lot of the same things apply here as well.
The world and magic here are much the same as previous entries and so all the same applies. While I enjoyed the world it could have been expanded on and the magic system still needs much fleshed out but it still held my interest. The characters are almost all the same as the previous books with a little more details coming out of the major players as well as some side characters. I still loved the two main characters and found their motives and personalities refreshing.
Although rushed and confusing, I did like the ending, as transparent and expected as it was. It was not hard to see where the story was headed and where the relationship was going, I still enjoyed myself. It has its typical cliche tropey classic fantasy ending. That said a few more pages and clarification could have been greatly appreciated. Needless to say that if you got this far into the series you would want to finish it, if you were upset at the pace of the second book I would say that it got much better in this one. while the book wasn't brimming with action or anything like that, it kept me interested the whole time. I could not stop turning the pages.
"We'll not be doing this for glory, or even for gratitude. We'll do it because there is nothing else we can do."
As the last book of the War of the Rose series, 'The Last Paladin' in my opinion was the best of the trilogy. Unlike the bridge between one and two, the third starts off right after the events of the second book. Again we follow along Gereint and Averil, as they navigate their way through the last threat the late king had along with him. Where one baddie is gone, another rose in his place to finish the job and we find our hero's fighting one last time. I really enjoyed this last of the series, I thought the pace was significantly better and I was hooked from start to finish. I started and finished this book in one day and loved every minute of it. That being said there isn't much more to say outside of the first two review, a lot of the same things apply here as well.
The world and magic here are much the same as previous entries and so all the same applies. While I enjoyed the world it could have been expanded on and the magic system still needs much fleshed out but it still held my interest. The characters are almost all the same as the previous books with a little more details coming out of the major players as well as some side characters. I still loved the two main characters and found their motives and personalities refreshing.
Although rushed and confusing, I did like the ending, as transparent and expected as it was. It was not hard to see where the story was headed and where the relationship was going, I still enjoyed myself. It has its typical cliche tropey classic fantasy ending. That said a few more pages and clarification could have been greatly appreciated. Needless to say that if you got this far into the series you would want to finish it, if you were upset at the pace of the second book I would say that it got much better in this one. while the book wasn't brimming with action or anything like that, it kept me interested the whole time. I could not stop turning the pages.
"We'll not be doing this for glory, or even for gratitude. We'll do it because there is nothing else we can do."
September 25, 2024
And thus, the realm was through Sort of depends on how you analyze that scene of awkwardness. Whichever interpretation you chose, was not where I anticipated this novel ending, and frankly not something I would have begun if I had know where it all ends.
August 4, 2009
A little more "out there," even for fantasy. I still don't understand how the ending was realized.
December 10, 2023
Overall flowed well even when action was confusing to the characters. The two main, Geraint and Averil, meshed as a team and worked well together even though there were parts the other night not understand.
The main issue for me was the obvious parallel to Christianity and the faiths that have grown up through the years. It also reflected the types of people for the various realms. These weren't badly done but just mildly tugged that unconscious thought process.
This is the third and final book in the series. I may have read the second but don't recall it. However the tale jumps easily from book one to book three leading me to wonder if two was needed.
The main issue for me was the obvious parallel to Christianity and the faiths that have grown up through the years. It also reflected the types of people for the various realms. These weren't badly done but just mildly tugged that unconscious thought process.
This is the third and final book in the series. I may have read the second but don't recall it. However the tale jumps easily from book one to book three leading me to wonder if two was needed.
November 12, 2018
Fun trilogy, hated the ending.
September 28, 2009
#3 in the triology was better than #2, pacing was better and with the main characters more fully developed and coming into there own they weren't so annoying and seemingly stupid. Why is we as readers can see so much more clearly what needs to happen than the characters in the books? Anyway - the ending was a HUGE dissapointment. So I was left less than satisfied after enjoying the book as much as the first up to that point.
September 14, 2009
I was disappointed with this book, especially since I had so enjoyed the first in this fantasy series. I felt that the resolution was too contrived and that the description didn't use enough imagery (i.e. rather than just describing a magical moment the author literally wrote "the moment was magical").
July 14, 2016
A pretty good conclusion to this romantic fantasy trilogy. I still think the first book was the best, though that is not unusual for me, I love the set up and not knowing what will happen.
This did feel rushed, or that so much was happening and then it was done. All wrapped up in a neat little bow. But still entertaining and good as a quick and easy read.
This did feel rushed, or that so much was happening and then it was done. All wrapped up in a neat little bow. But still entertaining and good as a quick and easy read.
May 4, 2015
The Serpent king is dead but Averil discovers her kingdom is still much in danger as she makes her way back to be crowned queen. Gereint is always there by her side and they hope to overcome the danger that is invading and overtaking her kingdom. Great third book of the trilogy.
April 5, 2009
The ending was strange and confusing to me. I still am not sure what I think of it. I liked the other two books, better especially the first one.
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January 9, 2010Amazon preorder
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February 18, 2010I tried to read it but was put off by it's terrible timing.
July 20, 2010
The foreshadowing was practically seamless in this series. Things hinted at throughout the three books just came together. It was awesome!
September 18, 2010
Completely inoffensive, but pretty average as far as writing goes. I think I liked the first one best, but even that one wasn't great. Okay to read, but I don't feel any particular desire to revisit.
February 8, 2012
It was good, but not the kind of book you could just sit and read. Though, I honestly enjoyed the satirical take on Christianity. Well played Ms. Bryan, well played.
July 15, 2012
I'll have to agree with those who have already reviewed this book and say that I didn't really understand the ending. I was pretty disappointed.
November 24, 2012
Averagely-interesting book, but the ending fell completely flat. I thought it needed another 20 pages at least.
August 26, 2013
Not quite as good as the other 2 - seems a bit predictable at times.
February 14, 2016
A little too much unexplained magical occurances for my tastes. Seemed to stretch the imagination to the limits especially toward the conclusion of the series.
August 24, 2014
A little sloppier than the first two. Not a bad conclusion, though.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews