The Last Blade Priest by W. P. Wiles

Book Review

Title: The Last Blade Priest by W.P. Wiles

Genre: Dark, Fantasy

Rating: 3.5 Stars

The opening to The Last Blade Priest was interesting as we are introduced to Inar who is a Master Builder for the Kingdom of Mishig-Tenh. We learn that there was a war previously between the Kingdom and the League of Free Cities and there is currently an uneasy alliance between the two factions. During the war, Inar’s father and older brother were both executed for treason solidifying his allegiance to the Kingdom but when some League Knights roll through looking to levy Inar his loyalty is questioned and he is ultimately given to the League but also instructed to act as a spy for the Kingdom. We are then introduced to Anton, the Blade Priest for Craithe, the God Mountain. Anton is a Blade Priest meaning he is supposed to take part in human sacrifices but this practice has just been outlawed much to Anton’s relief and we begin to learn about the religion of the God Mountain but not much. We switch back to Inar who has been taken by the League to a fortress where it does look like they are preparing for a second war but he and Lott have no choice but to wait and see what the League want them to do while keeping their eyes and ears open to what is going on around them. They are under the care of Anzola who seems to be a hero in the eyes of the League but her ward, Duna is more interesting right now since she seems to have an air of mystery and power surrounding her.

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As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, there seems to be a lot of information missing like we are only getting half of a story since a lot of the politics and religion happening in the present is related to things in the past which we aren’t being shown. From what I can gather there was a war with the Elves at some point and the Elves lost and were driven back into their homeland, this was followed by a war between the Kingdom and the League which the League won. Now the Elves are becoming a problem again and the League is having to gain an alliance with the God-Mountain in order to pass soldiers through there to destroy the Elves homeland but the Kingdom isn’t happy about the amount of power that the League seems to have so all in all no one is currently happy. Inar was brought to the Mountain by the League in order to show them how to get through the second, more dangerous pass and he explains it is impossible but the League aren’t going to believe this until they see it with their own eyes which would explain the fortress and the amount of soldiers present with the League. Through Anton we learn more about the religion which seems a lot like a cult who worship a Mountain, a living God and avian demi-gods which is strange as anything I have ever read but I am excited to see how Inar and Anton’s paths cross at some point. We see the main plot points beginning to emerge as Inar is leading the League through previously forbidden ground to aid in destroying a common enemy while Anton is caught between what he wants and what his religion demands of him even though he doesn’t agree with it and never has from what I can see. I have a feeling they are going to cross paths when the League gets through the Mountain pass. However, most of the action comes from Inar as he knows that his father must have given the information that led to his death to Anzola and he tries to get more information out of Duna. However, when they reach the ice sea a rock comes crashing down opening up a crevasse that swallows Duna, I don’t believe she is dead since she seems important to the story but she isn’t going to come out injured which might delay their journey.

As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, I was really liking Inar’s perspective but I didn’t really see the point in Anton’s just yet other than to give us backstories and politics which didn’t make for interesting reading but that might change soon. It is around here that things begin to get really interesting and really hooked me into the story. First of all Inar learns that Duna seems to have a similar ability to him which is pretty rare which might be why he sensed something different about her and the full extent of her ability is shown and she is called a scourge. Meanwhile, Anton learns that the alliance with the League is going to happen and he and Elecy, the Blade Priests are very important in this since Anton is going to be named the successor of the leader and Elecy is going to become the ambassador for a neighbouring Kingdom which doesn’t follow their religion but he has to keep it secret until the Conclave is finished. However, there is a divide in the religion that is getting wider and when the leader is murdered and Anton is framed I was honestly stunned. As we are getting close to the halfway mark in the novel I couldn’t wait to see what happens with both Anton and Inar as both of their stories are getting very interesting.

As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, the pace is really picking up as Anton is thrown in a cell for murder which is all part of a plot created by Ving to seize control and Elecy is the only one willing to listen to him and she eventually finds proof that he is telling the truth. Ving wants control in order to gain God like powers but the Custodians know they were wrong to grant them in the first place. Elecy helps Anton escape and sends him to find Yisho with the proof of his innocence while she stays behind and since the book is called the Last Blade Priest I assuming that she is going to die at some point leaving on Anton. Meanwhile, Inar is horrified to learn Duna is a scourge since they have the power to break stone with their minds but it is linked to their emotions making the power difficult to control and making scourges very dangerous. However, Anzola explains that Duna has been learning to control and expand her powers since she was a child and that he should stay and see for himself which I think he is going to do. It is around this point that we also begin to get Duna’s perspective a learn more about her life with Anzola and her talent as a scourge which is going to be interesting. By the time they reach the meeting point a rebellion is already going on within the Church and there is no one being sent to meet with the League as Ving wants which means the League have to turn back to the fort and proceed with plan B which is taking the Church by force. Ramnie revealed to Anzola that the Church is far weaker than anyone especially Ving believes and their alliance was the only chance they had but now it is gone. However, Anton is free now and heading to the Gull Gates where he might find help in tracking down Yisho and the League are also heading there as it is the quickest and safest route back although it is out of their way so their paths might cross now. We also learn through Inar that he and Duna have complimentary abilities which is why he was requested by the League and that Duna has been hiding the extent of her power from Anzola but he isn’t sure why yet but I hope we find out soon.

As we cross into the second half of the novel, there are plots within plots right now with little action so I am hoping that changes soon. While I love politic intrigue in high fantasy (it’s the reason I love Sanderson after all) I do need some good action to keep the story moving forward and to increase the stakes. The different people we are following are close to coming together as Inar and Franj end up following behind Anzola’s group but don’t want to get too close yet since they don’t know if they are going to help them or not. However, when Anzola’s group are stopped by zealots who follow Ving, Franj has no choice but to step in and help them revealing themselves to the League although they currently keep their identity a secret. They tell Anzola about the way the church has fallen and they are carrying a message to the loyal zealots of the true leader which is Inar although this is omitted from the conversation. They end up joining together for now but they are confronted with more horrors when they reach the Gull Gates, Inar ends up having a conversation with a Custodian who tells him that Duna is a scourge but she is going to be useful to them in this journey and not to harm her which he relays to Franj but Anzola is suspicious and curious about them and sooner or later Inar might have to reveal himself to the League in order for them not to kill him. As the continue their journey despite their suspicions of each other they end up being set upon by Elves who are the true enemy to both Inar and Anzola so they are going to have to work together. The party is small unlike the Elves so they don’t have much hope of fighting their way out of the situation and even Duna’s abilities don’t work on the Elves. If people don’t die here it will be because the Custodians might help them out since they are still within their reach for now. I personally felt we have waited far too long for some real action to happen but I am interested to see where the author goes with this now.

As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, the “battle” with the Elves if you can call it that was disappointing especially since we have had to wade through over 350 pages to see them for the first time. There is also so much going on right now between the warring factions with the church and the League making everything super confusing. I think that everyone should be focusing on the Elves since they are the biggest problem but the League is now at war with the church so Anton and Duna are both being used as pawns. Meanwhile Inar has switched from Anzola’s group to Ernesto’s which seems against his character since he has been against more war and death from the beginning much like Anton. Anton is growing as a character but not in the right way since he threatens Ernesto with violence and the death of the League supporters when he has been a pacifist for the majority of the novel. With less than 100 pages left in the novel I am not confident that Wiles can wrap up all the plot lines they set up in this novel and I honestly believe this would have been better as a series or at least a duology. I say this because a lot of the contextual knowledge we need is giving in very clunky dialogue and histories when it would have been easier for there to have been a prologue showing us the previous war with the Elves and the resulting war between the League and the Kingdom. We also could have got a lot of information about the Custodian, the Living God and the Blade Priest during this time as well which would have cut out those clunky and unnecessary scenes. I also wasn’t happy with the fact over half of the novel is spent building political intrigue then jumping straight into some action with no build up and very little in the way of resolution. Wiles is going to have to pull off a miracle to wrap with up in a satisfactory way, it has been done before but I am not getting my hopes up.

As we cross into the final section of the novel, things seemed to progress really quickly but there were a few issues I was having that I will discuss more if they aren’t resolved by the end of the novel. The last 100 pages of the novel were strange to say the least, watching the “final” battle with Duna was great as we see her really own her power for the first time but she acted a little out of character. Then there was this whole plot line with Anton and the Custodian and a realisation that he didn’t have before now despite being one of the most intelligent characters in the book. That reveal leads to something more but it doesn’t go anywhere as the ending of the novel really felt like the beginning of a second that didn’t really make much sense at all. The pacing was strange throughout the novel as the first half seemed to drag and the second half seemed really rushed. Certain elements with the history, the religion and the various magics used aren’t given enough depth meaning we don’t fully understand them. The magic was especially confusing since scourge talents like Duna and Inar’s are extremely rare but they aren’t explained very well and the limits of these abilities weren’t shown so they didn’t seem well rounded, also the difference between Inar and Duna’s abilities aren’t really explained as they are lumped together. It seemed like the author was trying to cram a lot of different elements into the novel and many of them ended up falling flat or weren’t developed enough to be great but it certainly had the potential to. I think if this book had been a series or at least a duology it would have flowed better and certain elements like the history, the politics and the magic could have been given more development. Overall, The Last Blade Priest had a lot of potential and if it is expanded into a series the issues I had with this book could be fixed but it fell really flat for me as a lot of the novel wasn’t explained properly which made it really confusing to read which meant I had a hard time getting through the book.

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