The Last Dragon Slayer by Martyn Stanley Series: Deathsworn Arc #1
on September 15th 2014
Genres: Epic, Fantasy
Pages: 288
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Saul Karza, wizard of the Empire, has been given a quest by the Empress herself: To find and slay a mythical noble dragon - said to be near invulnerable. Instead of leading a large band of soldiers, archers and spell-casters; he sets out with two immigrant dock-workers and a homeless dwarf. What Saul needs is the legendary ‘Last Dragon Slayer’ on his side, because on this deadly quest, it’s not only Saul’s favour with the Empress that’s at stake - but also his life. The Deathsworn Arc Series of Epic Fantasy Novels:- Deathsworn Arc : The Last Dragon Slayer Deathsworn Arc 2 : The Verkreath Horror Deathsworn Arc 3 : The Blood Queen
Years and years ago, I might have really enjoyed this book. It’s a very, very lighthearted fantasy. It’s from the days of old school fantasy where a group sets out on a task. They pick up companions along the way, they talk, and run into a few bandits and towns with problems. The tone is incredibly light. Not humorous, just light and airy. It’s not what I’m in the mood for as of late, unless it’s blown out of the park. Meaning, I don’t mind a light story, mixed with humor, and lots of action. I don’t mind quest driven stories. This simply fell a little flat for me.
First off, the world and storyline are very standard. An emperor sets a wizard on a quest to kill a dragon. There’s unrest with orcs invading and the kingdom is stretched too thin to give up troops to assist said wizard. So he finds his own would-be-heroes, saves some elves along the way, and voila! We’re on our way. There’s not much more to the world than that. Those not heavy into world building will find this just fine.
If this maybe had humor, I could have gotten more involved. If it had way less dialog, I could’ve been drawn in. With a quest type storyline, I thought I would have had some great character moments, but they all seemed flat. I never felt like I knew any of them. One elf undergoes training a human, and that seemed to take up way too much page time, for me. I got bored and found myself skimming. The magic of whispering was pretty nifty. The elf “whispered” to heal the body, to take control over someone, to turn the tides in a fight. The way it was described a few times kept my interest in it.
Another thing that was distracting was all the head hopping. Again, very reminiscent of old fantasy. I like to stick with one character until there’s a clear break, so the head hopping definitely pulled me out of the book several times. There’s some poor comma usage, like not using it around names. That’ll always slow down my reading.
Overall, I think many people will like this book. For me, I like a little more darkness in my story, characters that struggle with their past, and a lot more action or movement. This has received a very decent rating on Goodreads, which goes to show that it’s just not up my alley. Others have found it enjoyable. So if you want a light read, you should check this one out.
About Martyn Stanley
Martyn Stanley is the author of the ‘Deathsworn Arc’ an epic fantasy adventures series with dragons. He lives near the Staffordshire/Cheshire border in England, with his long suffering wife and two small children.
Martyn has always enjoyed epic fantasy novels and began reading them at a young age, starting with ‘The Hobbit’, ending with ‘The Inheritance Cycle’ and including everything in between.
His ‘Deathsworn Arc’ is more than a hack and slash, swords and sorcery series. It examines, faith, companionship, morality, pragmatism and more. If the characters of ‘The Deathsworn Arc’ come across as strange, it’s partly because they’re intended to. It isn’t a series which will be dragged out indefinitely, it has a beginning, a middle and a definite end.
He already has the plot for his second series forming in his head.
To write is to create characters and to have freedom for them to succeed or fail and to travel wherever you want them to, and meet who ever you want them to meet.
He sincerely hopes you enjoy reading his epic fantasy adventure series ‘The Deathsworn Arc’ as much as he enjoyed writing it.
