Briar is the Commander of Sunweald’s elite guard, The Shields, and has been a warrior all her life. It is all she’s known. So when she is wounded at the Summer Solstice saving the Lord Regent from an assassination attempt, Briar is left struggling with her new reality. The thought of retiring leaves a bitter taste in her mouth, but when faced with the hard truths, she realises that she needs to put the protection of those she cares about first. She leaves without telling the Lord Regent, her long-time friend, who would try to talk her out of it.

When Sunweald is viciously attacked, it’s by pure luck that Briar is still in the palace when it happens. She had planned to be long gone by then. It’s a good thing she wasn’t because due to treachery she’s the last Shield standing. She may have a shaky injured leg, but she’s got stealth, surprise and a massive amount of fury on her side. Briar is going to make the brigands pay for attacking her home and friends, or die trying.

I was expecting good things from The Last Shield by Cameron Johnston after reading The Maleficent Seven. Going in, I wasn’t expecting the protagonist to be a disabled, older female warrior. Johnston writes about Briar’s journey through injury and recovery with care and sensitivity, demonstrating lived experience or thorough research. The way that Briar refers to how difficult stars are with her injury suggests the former might be the case; stairs as an enemy is a unique experience known only to those who have lived through that excruciatingly fun time.

Briar is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. For me, though, she was right on the money. A woman who knows her place is damn proud of her achievements, and not afraid to let people know it. Despite Shields being open to men and women, misogyny is still very much alive and kicking, with several men under her command making their dislike of her known throughout the book. This just makes it even more satisfying when they realise who is lurking in the shadows, ruining all their plans.

Other than the obvious differences between The Last Shield and Die Hard (gender and genre swap), the biggest one is that Cameron has not made Briar all-powerful. Not only is she nursing her injury from the Summer Solstice, but he considers all the wear and tear taking its toll on his character’s body versus their experience. Although action films are good fun, they don’t take things like limitations or consequences into consideration. While Briar has the experience, she needs to take into consideration her limitations, and this makes for a much more interesting story.

The world-building of The Last Shield is beautiful in its simplicity. Cameron has dangled enough information about Sunweald, its history with the mysterious fae creatures the Sleaghan Mhath, and the surrounding lands of Ves and the Holy Wrendel Empire to give context. This is very much a book about the characters and action rather than lore. That doesn’t mean there isn’t any world-building or that it should be viewed as bad, but rather as a positive, as Cameron clearly knew what type of atmosphere he was trying to create with this novel.

Instead of trying to make The Last Shield too heavy with world-building, he has pulled from Celtic history and mythology, creating a world that echoes Scottish history and culture. With druids serving as the religious leaders and medical authorities, as they did in Celtic society, the Sleaghan Mhath are reminiscent of the Tuatha Dé Danann from Celtic mythology.

It’s a world that Briar and the rest of the characters fit into neatly, providing Cameron with the opportunity to introduce characters that range from the ruling family, and cast-out sons of noble families to servants. The characters are diverse and complicated, accompanied by stellar dialogue that will have you laughing. There are a few particular scenes that will keep me giggling for a very long time. There is also a brilliant animal companion that is not your typical animal companion, to say the least.

The fight scenes are well-written and diverse using a wide array of weapons, tactics and locations. A lot of fantasy books rely on just sword fighting or certain characters being experts in one particular weapon, often forgetting that shields were used for more than just deflection. The majority of the action takes place inside the palace, and Cameron has done his homework, using every single part of the palace and its grounds to get very creative. The results are some very creative and bloody fight scenes.

The level of blood and gore was deeply satisfying to read, especially as it comes from a mature female warrior avenging her people. Too often in fantasy are women not allowed to be this violent, and if they are, they are a lot younger. As some other reviews have mentioned, yes, there is a romantic subplot. I didn’t consider it that noteworthy, to be honest, and wasn’t even going to mention it until I saw other reviews referring to it in a slightly negative way – because, oh no, we can’t have a fierce tough as all hell female character AND romance, can we?! Give me a break.

The romance subplot is very minor. It is there and runs along beneath the main plot in the sense that Briar has feelings for someone and she wants to see them safe, as would anyone in this situation. There is no swooning or the like, and due to the situation, there aren’t many romance scenes at all.

If I’ve not convinced you by now, then this probably isn’t the book for you. The Last Shield by Cameron Johnston delivers a page-turning adventure with a strong female warrior who will do everything in her power to take back her home from the enemy – and she plans to make it as painful as possible for them.