When I requested this title from Netgalley, I did notice the shortness of the work (150 pages is hardly a novel) and that it said EPISODE ONE in capital letters on the cover. That did not bother me. I love tv-series, don’t I? So why shouldn’t I also like serialised books?
The Last Quarrel
Episode 1
by Duncan Lay
Published by Momentum
January 22nd 2015
E-book, 150 pages
A Promising Beginning…
The Last Quarrel is a high fantasy with a bit of mystery. It has some interesting themes and some great contrasts.
The conflicts are easy to comprehend and very believable. The world is alive with poverty and superstition; brewed and enhanced by the greed and uncaring mercilessness of those who should be their beloved leaders. Still, the thing that makes the words come alive is the characterisation.
There aren’t a lot of characters, which is good considering how short it is. There are two major ones and a careful cast of minor personalities surrounding each of them, and I like the contrast between these, representing each their world.
There is the middle-aged sergeant serving in a poor fishing village and then there is the crown prince who lives in the shadow of his father, the king.
When mysterious forces begin to make people disappear both men take it upon themselves to figure out what is going on – and all the while the reader sits and waits for the two could-be-heroes and their worlds to clash.
It is an interesting beginning, promising a great story.
