The Last of the Renshai

Renshai Trilogy #1

by Mickey Zucker Reichert

First in a bold, magical trilogy of a world living in the shadow of an ancient prophecy of war. Enemies band together to attack the Renshai, the mightiest, most hated and feared of all warrior races. One Renshai escapes, determined to keep the memory of his people alive and to claim his vengeance on the slayers of his race.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adventure, Action

Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Mickey Zucker Reichert (pseudonym for Miriam Susan Zucker Reichert) is an American fantasy fiction author of several best selling novels. Perhaps her most famous work is the epic Renshai series, which offers an intriguing perspective on traditional Norse mythology. She is also a parent and paediatrician with a soft spot for critters great and small. She has been known care for a veritable zoo of creatures, at times including mice, horses, snakes, llamas, parrots, squirrels, possums, and foxes.

Alongside her twenty-two novels, Reichert has also published one illustrated novella and fifty-plus short stories.

Reviews

[Shaitarn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another of my 'originally borrowed a copy of this from the library more years ago than I care to remember' books - I've been reading fantasy for most of my life now, so I have quite a few like that (I did return the library copy and buy my own, in case of any confusion - I didn't steal the library's book, honest). I was wondering if I'd still rate it four stars if I was reading it for the first time now, and after some consideration, I think so. This is an older book (originally published in the UK in 1993) and it shows in some respects, but not in a bad way.

Our first main character is Rache Kallmirsson, who belongs to a northern tribe called the Renshai; the northern tribes are all pretty Scandinavian/Viking in their set-up - blond, warrior types, complete with the Norse pantheon of Odin & Co to worship. It seems that the Renshai are crazy, murderous warriors even among these pseudo-Vikings (they start learning how to use a sword virtually as soon as they can walk) and have been exiled from the mainland for their pillaging tendencies, but when our story starts they're being wiped out by other tribes for reasons that become clear later on. Rache escapes and finds sanctuary in the town of Santagithi, becoming the captain of the guard owing to his crazy sword skills.

But there are wizards and a prophecy about a war that will herald the end of days in true Ragnarok style, so obviously things aren't going to stay peaceful for very long.

I don't know if I would call this an epic fantasy as such; yes, there are multiple PoV characters (not an insane number, thankfully), and magic and action, and even a bit of travelling, but this books seems to have too much of a sword and sorcery feel to it for that. It's pitched strongly in the action-heavy end of the market, with sword fight a-plenty; it's perhaps more reminiscent of the better TSR Forgotten Realms books.

This book won't win any prizes for in-depth characterization or flowing prose, but I found it an enjoyable, fast read that moved quickly from start to finish. It certainly wasn't perfect (Garn, you deserved another slap) but I found it just as entertaining as I always have.

There are nine books in this series currently, but are handily broken into three trilogies, so it isn't strictly necessary to read all nine of them. They may be worth a read if you've been drowning in flowing prose lately and want something more action orientated to cleanse your palate.

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is poor reading. I got through the first 45 pages but there were too many logic holes and problems with it to continue.
Pacing and characterization of the main character were average to poor.

If you want real fantasy, read Tolkien or George Martin or Tad Williams or even some of the better DRAGONLANCE.

Not this.

[Michael Harry · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best swordfighting scenes I've ever read. A brilliant series, I even like the norse mythology the book involves. The lead character is one of the coolest you'll read about but it's not such a straightforward book

[Barry Mulvany · Rating 4 out of 5]

So even though this book is based from Scandinavian mythology it is not set in our world which seems an odd choice but it works well enough.

One of our main POV's is Rache, the only survivor from a massacre of his people the Renshai who were renowned but hated warriors. He ends up in a town and there he trains up two other people, Mitrian the daughter of the town leader, and Garn a convicted gladiator. All the while in the background plans are brewing between the East and West and a prophesied battle looks like it's coming to a head.

This sounds fairly cliched, and considering it's from the early nineties you wouldn't be too surprised if it was either but it's actually not too bad at all. Yes there are cliche elements but the story and world are different enough that it doesn't really matter. Rache is very well written, I think the author really managed to convey a very different mindset compared to what we are used to. The Renshai basically conditioned themselves through generations to revere war and fighting to such an extent that they were basically useless at everything else. It is a very savage and hard viewpoint but the author managed to show how they didn't view it like that themselves and you could almost see the beauty in what they did. You certainly sympathised with them.

Our other two main POV's were Mitrian and Garn and I started off disliking both of them but they grew on me even if Garn didn't as much as Mitrian. Mitrian was just spoiled and Garn was so hateful due to his years in captivity that even though you understood and sympathised with him I couldn't like him. Credit again to the author, she really made me grow to like them and they went on some very cool arcs.

The world itself is also really interesting, the Scandinavian mythology is there but only in references so far, but I think it will play a much bigger role in later books. The only let down was the whole swarthy Eastern thing that seems racist and dated at this time and it threw me off a bit at the beginning. Overall though it's a very interesting world created and I am very much looking forward to seeing where it goes.

Please see this and other reviews at https://barrysbloodybooks.home.blog/

[Jonny Thomson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've somewhat broken my reviewing rules on this one. Usually I review the overall reading experience, but this time I'm trying to take an objective view of the book.
The reason this is relevant is that I really loved reading this book. The experience was great, but it was great because it was a nostalgic throwback to my earliest childhood memories and it was just what I wanted at the time. After a series of quite intense, quite involved non-fiction, this kind of mindless palate cleanser was just what I needed.

However...I only gave it 3 stars. Over my life I've read a surfeit of sword and sorcery type books, and, if I'm being reflective, this is near the bottom of those books. It fits a more David Gemmell book type style of involving ridiculously over-powered swordsmen beating all the faceless goons along their journey. The fight descriptions, I have to say, were excellent - on a par with Gemmell and the best writers here. So, three reasons for three stars:

1) Too many Deus Ex Machina moments, especially involving character insertions . For instance, the arrival of both Arduwynn and Sterrane came almost completely out of no where. Also, the idea that within 8 months a pregnant Mitrian can suddenly become the third greatest swordsman in the land stretches even the own world's rule that places the Renshai as almost supernaturally superior to all nearest rivals.
2) Shallow character and plot development. Sterrane is given no time to develop as a fully fleshed character, and we are almost left to just give Reichert the benefit of doubt that we somehow have some homely and loving history by which to warm to the character. Plot wise, the 'big bad' of the book Siderin has about 2 scenes, and the moustache twiddling evil "South" are never shown to be that at all - again, we just have to pretend this is taken as read. Which leads also to...
3) What an anti-climax! The whole book is building towards this huge battle which is over in about 3 pages. Siderin had been planning a Great War for almost a decade and is defeated in one battle in a quarry. I also found the battle itself to be rushed and poorly written - all the starker with the otherwise visceral and excellent battle scenes in the book. Wow. That was underwhelming.

However, the book does succeed in many things. I found a lot of characters evoked genuine feelings of annoyance but also warmth in me - a sign of fully fleshed out and realistic characters. For instance, I found Garn to be so bloody annoying in his childish and murderous tantrums , and thought this was a negative to the book but on reflection I think it means that the characters are formed well in my mind, and have foibles like realistic human characters.

So, the experience was just what I needed, and loved, but, in the great raft of books of this kind I've read, it wasn't objectively that good.

[Celeste · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the series that introduced me to fantasy novels. I still love it to this day. The story is based on Norse mythology, the heroes are larger than life and the story is compelling.

[Jord MiddleofNowhere · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting take on Norse mythology. Incredible sword fights. More detailed review to come.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

let this be a lesson to the fantasy writer: if you want to kill all fun in your book and leave readers wondering why they're still reading for about 250 pages, then you need to create a character with limitless potential who is physically superior to all other characters and then have that character get injured to the point where he pretty much can't do anything. oh yeah, then just kill him off because it's not like the reader in invested in his story anymore anyway.

that's not fair. i felt betrayed.

that being said, this was actually a great book. i wouldn't have this kind of reaction if it weren't.

[K.M. Weiland · Rating 2 out of 5]

Offered a few unique ideas, but never took advantage of them and otherwise effectively buried its good points under unlikable characters, a meandering plot, and a severe anticlimax.

[Shawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

So meh... About 3/4 of the way through, I really stopped caring what happened to any of the characters... WAY too much complaining and self-pity... Had potential, failed to deliver.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea.

I got 18% into this book and then stopped. I fully understand that some people love this book and that this book and series might have gotten better after I stopped.

This wasn't the book for me.
(1) This book didn't get me emotionally connected to the main character. This is the main reason I put it down. Usually when you start a book there is something interesting that keeps you wanting to read. Usually that is the main character or the world. In this case, the book is not going for the world, because they don't tell us things about the way works and the true politics of the country are kept secret for a long time and are bland once introduced. The characters don't do it either though since the main character comes off as shallow and irrelevant. He is a boy (although with annoying time skips he is suddenly a man) who is the last of his warrior clan and is good at fighting and wants to live and get revenge. There is nothing endearing about him and we cannot connect to his values since he is written to have different values from us.
(2) this book keeps the readers in the dark about a lot if things so that we end up having little connection to the world. The world is not important to any of the characters, and the lack of care rubs off on the audience. Also things happen with no clear reason why that is the way they had to happen, so everything feels contrived. Bad events come out of the blue, eliciting a "what the heck?!" vibe and good things all are deus ex machina because they come out of the blue and are not really worked for. Convenient cliff crumbling into the sea, convenient dude with food, convenient old guy, the list goes on.

[S. D. Howarth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personally I find this the weaker of the trilogy simply due to the fact I dislike one of the characters and it takes half a book to get going. When it does it has one of the best introductions to a character I have ever come across and one of my favourite. Dropping a star for that is harsh but with how the author raised the bar on the final two thirds of the trilogy it is easily justifiable.

I found it a very enjoyable and interesting spin on norse mythology, which was unique at the time of writing and still stands up today. The author brought a real depth to the mythical beings, yet minimised their impact on the human tale. The national divide and use of magic and Elves were also unique and become more evident later on.

I've read hundreds of books over the years and this trilogy and author are a must have on my book case, and a pity they have never made the jump to audible. They are very underrated books, which is a shame to how mainstream the fantasy genre is these days.

If you like the way David Gemmell took fantasy off at a tangent, I'm very happy to suggest a look at these books. For some reason Goodreads won't scan the barcodes of my old BCA books 2 & 3, but the Western Wizard and Child of Thunder are both 5 Stars with the writing ramping up a level and rapidly increasing pace. Even more highly recommended.

[Adrienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Last of the Renshai is the first book in the trilogy by the same name by Mickey Zucker Reichert. It was the first book I read by her. It hooked me immediately!

Mickey Zucker Reichert weaves a complicated story of loyalties of Wizards, friends, and blood along the journey to the great war. She tells the trials of Mitrian, Garn, Arduwyn, and Sterrane with their interaction of Colbey and their roles in fulfilling the age old prophecies of the Wizards for the coming of the great war. The author keeps the reader in suspense throughout the whole novel to see what twist will happen next. She also takes her time to create believable human characters.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. At first I was skeptical of it because I'm not much of a war book person. I don't like reading about battles for 600 pages. This story contains few battles of war-like nature. I was also concerned about having a strong female character and the representation of women. However, Reichert's character Mitrian is as strong, if not stronger, than the male character of Rache and most/all of the other characters.

For those who enjoy fantasy, especially stories of swords, this is a good book.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had mixed feelings about this one. It has its good points and the premise is good but there were a few parts I struggled with such as the surprising ease a para rider suddenly returned to the saddle (it usually takes them a lot longer and complete rebalancing), but this wouldn't be the first author that doesn't understand the realities of riding horses with or without a disability. I did appreciate the disability representation. Also lots of tell not show and some very annoying mage ex machina determinism made me twitchy and kinda interrupted the flow whenever there was flow to interrupt. Stylistically i considered DNF but I'm glad I finished it because the story itself was pretty great and there was some interesting resolutions and red herrings. The actual climax of the story was almost anticlimactic though. The true hero coming out of left field and the presumed heroes getting almost nothing to do... Ah well, it's an older series and a first book so I might read the next one to see if improvement happens and if there's more depth to the mystery hero than appears at first glance, but it might not be for me and definitely not for everyone.

[Jeff Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of the late great David Gemmell and any fantasy books I read are unfairly compared to his - can't help it - he set the bar so high. I've been desperately looking for a new fantasy series to get into and when I stumbled across this in a second-hand shop the other day, I was delighted and excited - at last something new to get my teeth into. Sadly the book (or at least what I managed to read of it - about 1/3) didn't live up to expectations. It had an intriguing beginning but I found it overly long with a very pedestrian plot that never really looked like picking up pace. Nor could I find a character that I could really root for. It may well improve later in the book and I have no doubt there are many people who will disagree with my review, but that is at the end of the day what a review is - a personal opinion. Really disappointed as I would love to have discovered a new author I could invest myself in, but I guess the search goes on.

[Ellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read Beyond Ragnarok as a child and didn’t know it was part of a series. I enjoyed it very much and would think about it every now and then.

So decided to start revisiting old books/series this year and begin with the very first of the Renshai books, which I’ve never read.

I enjoyed the first 20% of the book, but skimmed and skipped through most of the rest. There were very few likeable characters for me and it was difficult to be invested.

I’ve seen criticism that the story and world is simplistic, but I don’t mind that.

I think my positive experience with this book is mostly due to nostalgia and how it reminds me of the various older fantasy series I enjoyed as a kid.

With that said, I think it’s still better written than most fantasy stories available in recent years.

Will still continue reading the series because Norse mythology is cool and I like Colbey.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Renshai Trilogy are comfort food books for me. So I can never not like them, that being said this is the weakest of the trilogy as its focus on a character I could never really get into ,Rache, bogs it down a bit. I understand why the focus was there and I get what the book was trying to do but Rache never really struck me as a good character, a good concept definitely but not a good character. The introduction of the main characters for the rest of the trilogy make up for this perceived failing however since Colby and Garn are some of my favorite fantasy characters.

[Beverly K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh...3.5 stars rounded down. There were very good parts to this book, parts that I quite enjoyed, but overall, I feel like the book dragged. I didn't feel an emotional connection to any of the characters and when one of the main characters died, I didn't shed a tear.

I'd been fighting whether I wanted to DNF the book through half of it. I pushed through, but I don't think I'm reading any more of this series.

[Bob · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. It's starts off fine as you get invested in the life of the MC. About 1/3 into the book the MC is removed as MC and replaced with the stereotypical teenage-girl-turned-superhero. Can't tell you what happened after that as I'm sick of that tired story.
BTW using the pen name Mickey was a neat trick as I would not have picked it up otherwise. I just am not enjoying books by female authors as much.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't often read Fantasy, but this was on sale and it sounded interesting enough. It kept me interested and invested, though the change in protagonist focus partway through felt a bit jarring. Would definitely say I enjoyed it.

The final battle was pretty anticlimactic after such a buildup, and I didn't feel as connected to the surviving characters as I would have liked, but I'll likely pick up the next entry if it goes on sale.

[Garrett Nicolai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frankly, not quite what I was expecting. I picked this novel up because I had heard it gave an interesting interpretation of the Norse pantheon, but other than a few references to the Gods, there is little here that reflects Norse morphology. It picked up enough at the end that I'll eventually give the second book a try, though.

[James]

First in a bold, magical trilogy of a world living in the shadow of an ancient prophecy of war. Enemies band together to attack the Renshai, the mightiest, most hated and feared of all warrior races. One Renshai escapes, determined to keep the memory of his people alive and to claim his vengeance on the slayers of his race.

[Scott Hubersberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rare series that gets better every time i read it!

One of the best stories I have ever read. Timeless and Daring, a definitive must have for any library. Renews my love of fantasy every time!

[Marianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed that this book incorporates magic in a different way, and that it builds a unique world with awkward politics around an odd balance of powers.

Unfortunately I didn't enjoy the later book, nor where they were going, so I stopped on Western Wizard.

[Stuart Macmartin]

At 70% read (chapter 20). This is a tough slog but I’ve invested so much time! Who is the main hero? Do I even care? Some parts have been interesting and entertaining but I have to read something else for a while. Maybe I’ll come back to it.

[JP · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spoiler alert...
The character I liked best, gets crippled by the character I liked least, and for me things went downhill from there.

[Kristoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb

On my second outing of this series. Read them many years ago in hard back from the library. Them days with library cards and book stamps !!!

[Doug Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as a kid and it always stuck with me. The characters are vivid and the story line exceptional. I recently re-read the book and it was just as good the second time around.

[Lynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mickey comes through with an interesting set of characters and a nice twist.

[Mélie Nasr]

I reread this book because I had loved this series as a pre-teen. I wasn't so into it right now, but 'im intrigued. I'll keep reading the series just for the fun of it.