Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings. Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them. In this latest Waiting on Wednesday, I check out the outstanding upcoming dark fantasy read, The Last Shield by Cameron Johnston.
Over the last few years, I have been having an awesome time getting to know rising author Cameron Johnston who has been making his mark on the world of dark fantasy fiction. Debuting back in 2018, Johnston impressed me with his very first novel, The Traitor God, which was a clever and intense revenge filled fantasy romp. Johnston followed up The Traitor God the next year with an excellent sequel, God of Broken Things, which ended up being one of my favourite books of 2019. These first two books were very good, and I made sure to keep an eye out for any additional work from Johnston, which ensured that I grabbed a copy of his third book, The Maleficent Seven. An intense, outrageous, and over-the-top dark fantasy homage to classics like Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven, The Maleficent Seven was an outstanding book, that saw seven magical supervillains take up the good fight. All three of Johnston’s novels have been pretty damn amazing, and as such I was very excited when I saw he had a fourth book coming out later this year.
This fourth book is The Last Shield, and it is currently set for release in September 2024. Another intriguing dark fantasy novel, The Last Shield has another epic plot behind it, as a lone fantasy hero engages a dangerous heist crew in a secure palace.
Plot Synopsis:
A gender-flipped Die Hard set in a mysterious castle, Cameron Johnston’s The Last Shield is an engaging fantasy read, perfect for fans of John Gwynne and Mark Lawrence.
The ancient forest realm of Sunweald is bordered on two sides by far mightier nations – a precarious situation. At its centre, the Sunweald Palace is home to the Lord Regent and the heir to the throne, together with numerous precious and powerful artefacts. The Palace is protected by the realm’s elite Shields, dedicated to guarding the royal line against all foes.
A group of vicious brigands called the Wildwood Reivers have been stealing arcane artefacts and smuggling them across the borders, out of Sunweald. And the objects they most desire are stored in the mystical Wyrm Vault, hidden away deep in the bones of the earth, within the walls of the Palace itself.
As political and religious tensions mount, Sunweald’s druids prepare to enact rituals for the Summer Solstice – but the Wildwood Reivers and their treacherous allies have other plans. It falls to Briar, the commander of the Shields, to defend the ancient corridors and secret tunnels of the Palace. The odds may be against her, but she’ll see every enemy head adorning a spike or she’ll die trying…
Now, as a well-known fan of novels with awesome and unconventional story ideas behind them, this is obviously a book that I am extremely interested in. Set to combine Johnston’s well-established flair for dark fantasy fiction with a cool, Die Hard inspired story, The Last Shield sounds so damn epic and I love the idea of a hero facing off against a team of thieves dedicated to taking over the palace and stealing it’s ancient treasures. I am imagining a very brutal action-packed fantasy read here, filled with secret tunnels in place of air vents, and all manner of over-the-top shenanigans, which sounds very, very cool, and which I know Johnston will use to his full advantage.
Honestly, based on how impressive Cameron Johnston has been with his first three novels, I was already planning to grab The Last Shield as soon as it comes out. However, now that I have seen the wonderfully crazy and fun plot synopsis above, this has become one of my must-read books of 2024 and I am so very exited to get my hands on it. The Last Shield has so much potential, and I have no doubt it will be one of the most entertaining novels of the year.
The Unseen Library 
Hope you really love this one!
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I know I will.
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