The Last Ranger is one of those epic fantasy books that in theory make me drool. Look at that cover – it’s a sight! And, I love the outdoorsy adventurous setting. Love the sort of ‘back to roots’ simple lifestyle of hunting and living with meager comforts. All the more so, it makes me utterly frustrated to say this because The Last Ranger was one of those finalists I couldn’t wait to get stuck into; and whilst there were a few super interesting elements that kept me going (like the mention of dryvans, I think I could read a book just about them.), I had to accept the fact that I simply wasn’t enjoying it as much as I had imagined I would. By the time I reached 40%, the book had lost me.

For me, even though the story does progress, it does so rather slowly and it simply didn’t keep my interest. A classic case of “It’s me, not you.” There is a story here, no doubt, and the writing is solid. There are also big, impactful conflicts, and I usually love conflicts. One is the invasion of foreign forces and that turns nasty with settlements razed and people dying. Secondly, Leiyn, our main character, poses within herself another great conflict – there’s a war within her about who she is and who she does not want to be. She’s stubborn and strong and that’s surely bound to work for the good of the outcome, but it also creates further conflicts – all very good stuff for a story. But, that’s the thing about fictional characters and the humans reading about them – everyone seems to get their own perspective on things and it either wins you over, or not. Thirdly, the part that I never actually really got to – the titans.

Something in this whole book didn’t quite click with me… As separate elements, I had no issue as such with anything – the atmosphere is there, the action is there, there is a purpose, some danger… But when put all together, I was missing pure, unadulterated reading enjoyment.