Title : THE LAST KINGDOM

Author :  johnnyboy1989

Synopsis : 
"A bottomless curse, born from a bottomless sea. Accepting of all that there is and ever might be."--- The Wandering Scholar, Nicholas Saintcrow; Year 248. Age of Fire

A cursed soul starts on a journey across a desolate land and fights to save his world, friends, and maybe even himself. But nothing is free and some prizes are worth any risk, even ourselves.

Status : Ongoing, 19 parts

Link : https://www.wattpad.com/story/68163610-the-last-kingdom-wattys2016

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The things about fantasy books is, when they're written in a saga form - think Harry Potter, Lord of The Rings, The Mortal Instruments and The Belgariad - is that it brings to the readers this whole new world, along with a whole new bunch of jargon and slang that we know nuts about. You get strange beasts and weird phenomenon, along with equally exotic names. And sometimes when all the characters and thingamabobs pile up, it leaves the reader extremely confused. Who is this dude again? Should I care what this creature does? Who died? 

With this book, the author has done a pretty solid job of keeping the readers on track. He made sure that when a new element is introduced, it gets explained in the same chapter. Only one or two elements are deliberately left unknown and unrevealed to keep the suspense. However as the chapters progressed, more and more new terms and new words are thrown into the mix, so I would advise the author not to put in more than what is necessary. To better explain what I mean, I'm going to take a jab at the story "The Giver" - fans beware! 

In the book "The Giver", newborn children are called newchild and toys are called comfort objects. To me these embellishments felt unnecessary. Newborn children are newborns and toys are toys. Why add on some fancy term that means the same thing? I do admit that some of the fancy terms are necessary - such as birthmother, stirrings and sameness, but too much of it makes the story feel draggy. So just a word of caution here to the author.

Other than that, there aren't much problems detected. The characters are well-developed, their mannerisms corresponding to their personalities. I also like the little quotes that start off each chapter, they give a touch of realism to this work of fantasy.  

Wrap it up now - stars or stones? I CAN'T FIND A PUN! WHY CAN'T I FIND A PUN??

But anyway. More stars than stones for this one. 

I know I know, I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel here.....

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Disclaimer : This review is not a personal attack on the author, and is merely a reader's honest opinion. No offense is meant.