The Last Swordmage

The Swordmage Trilogy #1

by Martin Hengst

Book 1 of The Swordmage Trilogy:
2nd Edition, Revised and Expanded

As far as bad luck goes, Tiadaria's has been the stuff of legend. After being sold into slavery by her father and accused of a murder she didn't commit, she finds herself facing the executioner. The only thing standing between her neck and the sharp edge of the axe is the village Constable.

After thirty years of loyal service to the Imperium, Royce has retired to King's Reach as the village's Constable. He thought that the frontier town would be the perfect place to rest, relax, and die in peace. He was wrong. With a crooked Magistrate on one hand and a conniving slaver on the other, things are anything but peaceful. To complicate his life even further, the slave with her neck on the block seems to possess the same magic Royce has hidden all his life.

Paying off Tiadaria's bond, Royce takes possession of a slave in a land where slavery is verboten. Now he must teach her to trust him, teach her to fight, and teach her about her unique abilities before they both run out of time. An ancient menace is coming. The Xarundi have returned. They are the most dangerous enemy humanity has ever faced, and they have a thousand years of bloodthirsty vengeance to exact.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Adventure, Magic, Dragons, Amazon, Epic Fantasy

229 pages, ebook

First published December 19, 2012

About the author

I write the same type of books I love to read: tales of science fiction and fantasy where anything can, and frequently does, happen. There’s nothing better than a rollicking good adventure and my number one priority as a writer is to be an amazing travelling companion for those intrepid explorers who pick up any of my books.

I live in South Central Pennsylvania with my wife and two children. When I’m not working on my next book or story, I enjoy music, reading, and playing games.

I really like hearing from people who have enjoyed my books. Please don’t hesitate to connect with me on Twitter or Facebook. For the latest news and information about me and my books, check out my website at: http://martinfhengst.com.

Reviews

[Morgan *~devourer of words~* · Rating 2 out of 5]

Allow me to correct the synopsis for this book:

"As far as bad luck goes, Tiadaria's has been the stuff of legend pretty horrible, but not the worst ever. After being sold into slavery by her father and accused of a murder she didn't commit accused of being an accomplice to a murder she sort of instigated, she finds herself facing the executioner. The only thing standing between her neck and the sharp edge of the axe is the village Constable.

After thirty years of loyal service to the Imperium, Royce has retired to King's Reach as the village's Constable. He thought that the frontier town would be the perfect place to rest, relax, and die in peace. He was wrong. With a crooked Magistrate that Royce doesn't get along with on one hand and a conniving cruel slaver on the other, things are anything but peaceful. To complicate his life even further, the slave with her neck on the block seems to possess the same magic Royce has hidden used frequently and openly all his life, but he only told that one mage guy about, even though it should be pretty obvious that SOMETHING'S going on with Royce's fighting abilities. Because really. That ain't normal.

Paying off Tiadaria's bond, Royce takes possession of a slave in a land where slavery is verboten okay, but slaves themselves are treated as sub-human. Now he must teach her to trust him, teach her to fight, and teach her about her unique abilities before they both run out of time.

An ancient menace is coming. The Xarundi have returned. They are the most dangerous enemy humanity has ever faced, and they have a thousand years like, thirty years of bloodthirsty vengeance to exact."

[Jeff · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love sword and sorcery fantasy and the premise for this novel sounded appealing: the execution, however, was disappointing. There were numerous typos and awkward sentence structures. The character development was shallow and the plot thin. I found myself wondering if the book was originally targeted to young readers and then spiced up for an older audience. The author tells rather than shows action. Social interactions and inner turmoil are treated in a consistently cursory fashion. When a slave (slaves are despised in this world) is first introduced to the king of all humanity after being caught in what appears to be an act of murder he greets her as "Lady Tiadaria" - huh? Most disappointing is the lack of anything unique either in the plot, world building or character development. I found myself quickly skimming through the last 2/3 of the book (something that I rarely do). There is talent here, but there was a grievous need for a dedicated editor.

[Cedar Sanderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok, this started out ok… and then I was jarred out of the story by the girl's reaction to being sold into slavery. Sorry, but in that culture and era, this was not uncommon, nor would it have been terribly unexpected on her part to be sold, if not as a an out and out slave, as a 'bride' to the trader. So her reactions were completely wrong there, without some development of trust toward her father, which the author goes out of their way to show the opposite. Then, her collaring yielding that kind of pain… did I miss something? Is this actually SF where nerve-effects are being created by the metal? Because otherwise, that made absolutely no sense in context. If it was magical, say so, but there was no foreshadowing of magic, nor mention of it before that point in the story. Finally, the mistreatment of the girl by her fellow slave rang completely wrong. The girl abusing her had to have known that the consequences of damaging the goods would be severe. Torment and bruises under clothing, maybe. Savaging her until she couldn't stand? I was done. Look, if you're going to set a world up, do some research on parallel cultures, and stop trying to impose your mores and world view on top of them without a very good reason.

[Syberwired · Rating 5 out of 5]

Martin F. Hengst takes the reader on a dark journey of family betrayal leading a young girl into a rough life of slavery then into salvation. The storytelling is remarkable, and the character development of the main characters is well thought out. I would have liked to have known more background of the Captain (Royce), but overall well done. I liked it so much that, after just finishing it, I immediately bought the second one in the series, "The Darkest Hour", and am finding it a page turner as well.

[Douglas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Note: I listened to an audiobook but as that edition is not currently listed on Goodreads.com I am placing my review here.

Funny thing about this book- I mostly enjoyed it until I actually started thinking about the author’s reliance on stupidity and chance to drive the story. Then I hated it. So, perhaps no one should read this review since it is pretty much about what I hated and without that knowledge another might enjoy this book.

The MC is a daughter of a tribal chief who is sold into slavery by her father. Of course the slave trader is making the rounds buying young girls and so the MC is thrown into a cage with FOUR other young girls, one of whom (of course) immediately starts bullying the MC. Another girl has a breakdown and beats the bully to death.

So, the slaver who has already been so stupid as to not protect his investment in the first place makes it worse by arranging to not only have the murdering slave girl executed but the MC as well???? How does this make sense??? Apparently this slaver is fabulously wealthy to just throw away money like that, but if so then why is the slaver living so rough and working so hard at a despised profession???? None of this set up makes sense if even the slightest critical thinking is applied. The reason the author gives is that the slaver is making an example for the other slave girls but the slaver only started with 5 thirteen year olds. How does killing HALF of your surviving “stock” to set an example for girls you already have chained, caged and are just transporting to market make any sense???

Worse none of this was necessary since it is just by chance “the Captain” is at the execution and so saves the MC. The Captain saves the MC because he recognizes her as possessing that special magic that makes a swordmage. The Captain could just as easily passed the slaver’s wagon in the street, had the same realization and bought the slave girl- still would have involved the same amount of bizarre chance but at least a whole bunch of stupidity would have been eliminated from the story. The author doesn’t do this, however, because he wants to contrive conflict between the slaver and the Captain. BUT HOW DOES THAT MAKE SENSE???? The slaver, working his despised profession, is going to pick a fight with an official over a slave he was just going to throw away on a meaningless “lesson” to two other slave girls??? How is this slaver still alive to this point if he is this stupid??? The author doesn’t come out and say it but it seems pretty clear the Captain could publicly kill the slaver with little to no ramifications, and that’s without the Captain even drawing on his status as a national hero or confidant to the Emperor.

Moving on, to save the MC the Captain purchases her, brings her to his home and begins to train the MC to become a swordmage. From how it is described it seems as though two days pass before the slaver shows back up and takes the MC- not for any financial reason (seriously, HOW IS THIS SLAVER STILL IN BUSINESS AND ALIVE????) but because the slaver has now decided he wants to torture the MC to death. Why the Captain allows this is not explained, the Captain just acts as though he has no choice only to then chase down the slaver and kill him, freeing the MC again. (The author also appears to not have thought about how much faster a good horse is than a horse drawn wagon given how long it takes the Captain to catch up, but listing all the stupid crap in this book is exhausting me so I’m not going to go further into this bit of stupidity.)

The Captain and MC return home only to be notified that the evil flesh eating wolfmen have wiped out a town. Captain and MC go to capital to inform Emperor and, through yet another bizarre set of coincidences, the MC encounters a wolfman in the capital. Everyone immediately prepares for battle, including the MC who is now somehow a swordmage in spite of only having a couple training sessions.

Stupid as it was to just have the MC become a swordmage, what is even worse is the MC’s refusal to have her slave collar removed TO HONOR THE CAPTAIN EVEN THOUGH HE IS THE ONE TRYING TO GET HER TO REMOVE IT AND IT CAN BE READILY USED TO KILL THE MC AT ANY TIME. This one scene is so stupid words fail me. I mean picture this: the MC holds a child on her lap and that child accidentally hits the collar in just the right way so the MC is choked to death. Plus this is the stupidest possible way to honor someone. Plus the MC has just spent days dealing with issues arising from being a slave in a city that disapproves of slaves as evil competition to established locals. There is just no way that this makes any sense, well other than the author has some story idea that hinges on this monumental stupidity.

Bottom line: Too much stupidity.

[Leanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

After a long and joyless stint of reviewing bad erotica, returning to good ol' fantasy with The Last Swordmage felt like coming home again... to busted pipes and water in the basement. But hey, home is still home, right?

The premise is simple, but it did catch my interest. The unique elements are few and far between, though. Don't expect anything too fancy or original from this book; it's a straightforward, typical, and pretty predictable piece of high fantasy. I guess it's somewhat of an example of the classic "Hero's Journey", but it lacks the epic feel that usually accompanies such a tale. It's a sword and sorcery story which--despite it's title--is sorely lacking in the sorcery department, and somewhat lacking in the sword department as well.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a terrible book, but there were plenty of spots in it where... how should I put this... where it was obvious that it could've used a good, thorough editing. I have no wish to offend self-published authors (especially since I myself have often considered self-publishing as a possible option for the future), but what I mean is that there are many pitfalls throughout the story that could've been avoided if he hadn't been so eager to publish right away before putting it through another round or two of serious edits. It's not terrible as is, but if I was editing it, I would've definitely cautioned him not to publish it without some serious revisions. Typos, repetition, confusing grammar, awkward and long-winded descriptions, inconsistencies in the passage of time, inconsistencies in the rules of magic, and clunky sentence structure all crop up very frequently. Oh, and improper word usage, such as "the nape of the blanket", more than one instance of people "scrubbing" their faces when they're just rubbing them, "doorway" to refer to the actual door, and the words "infusion" and "somnolence" used completely wrong.

The issues of quality run deeper than that, however. At only 229 pages it's a lot shorter than what readers have come to expect from the typical high fantasy novel. The length by itself is not a problem; however, Hengst lacks the skill to tell a complete, fulfilling fantasy in such a succinct manner. Almost all of the problems with this novel can be summed up in one word: unpolished. It comes across as the first draft of a NaNoWriMo novel that Hengst wrote on the fly with limited time to crunch out so many words, and then gave it the bare minimum of revisions before deciding to publish. Again, nothing wrong with Nano or self-publishing (because both are pretty great), but the general feel of the narrative is one of flying-by-the-seat-of-his-pants carelessness. There is definitely promise here, though, which I'm sure a good bit more time and effort could have allowed to shine through.

In a lot of ways, The Last Swordmage feels like only half a novel, 2/3 if I'm being generous. Sure, there's a clear and complete plot structure in place, but it never really feels fully fleshed out. The worldbuilding is shoddy, the history of the setting and the backstories of the characters seems incomplete, magic and mages are never fully explained, tons of questions go unanswered until way late in the novel, some questions never get answered, and a bunch of new elements get introduced almost at the very end. It was very frustrating that a novel with the word "swordmage" in the title devotes precious little time to what it actually means to be a swordmage, or even a mage in general. Nor does the novel ever really explore what magic itself is in much detail. We only ever see Tia and Royce use magic in one specific way, and the few other mages we're introduced to more than halfway through the story get a single paragraph of very generic descriptions of spellcasting. It also isn't until near the end that we get a glimpse of the place mages hold in society, but it's still incredibly vague and would've been fascinating to learn about much earlier in the story.

On the other hand, though, when the story wasn't rushing through important details or skipping over them entirely it dragged. I had though that this would be a quick read, but it took longer than I had anticipated because I was so frequently putting it down out of boredom. It's very rarely that I encounter a novel that seems simultaneously too short and too long. But Hengst seems to have the unfortunate habit of cutting corners when it comes to the important things that make a story seem fully realized while at the same time going overboard on extraneous details. This book needs to be 50 pages shorter in terms of filler and 100 pages longer in terms of the details that we actually want to read. It doesn't help, either, that we don't meet the main villains until about a third of the way in, and the actual plot doesn't really get started until nearly halfway. Look, a short fantasy can be good, but if you're going to limit yourself to 229 pages you can't fuck around.

There are other nits to pick, but most of the other issues I found are at least tangentially related to what I had to say above. Thank God for the highlight and note features for Kindle, because I was highlighting and note-taking on almost every page. It's almost a shame I decided to do a plain review of this book rather than a full sporking/chapter-by-chapter recap for my blog, because I really do have a lot more I could say. I almost don't think that would be fair, though, partially because this book is so short and partially because I don't think it's bad or entertaining enough to spork. Oh well, I think I'll save that for something special in the future. For about half the time this was an entertaining enough read, but it didn't draw me in enough for me to want to read the sequels. I'm not saying that others might not want to, though; I meant it when I said that there's promise here, and that there are some interesting details that could develop into something more in the next two books. But personally, I'm just simply not invested enough to care. Final verdict: two and a half stars

[Leif Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found myself rolling my eyes a lot during this novel. It was pretty predictable in places. I also didn't like the flow of time. It seemed like often characters would stop and reflect about relationships that were only a few minutes old, reading too much into a handshake or a hello. There also wasn't really any exploration of the magic paradigm. It had neither the cool mystique of something unexplained, nor the functional niftiness of a seamlessly integrated part of everyday life.

[Andrew Claude · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book held a lot of promise, and seemed to deliver well in the first 40-50% of the book, albeit with some predictable plot turns. Unfortunately, the author seemed to hurry to his ending, short-cutting the development of relationships and characters in a way that seemed as if he was working against a word count.

[Ron Sturm · Rating 5 out of 5]

A unique story of a young girl and her trials and tribulations. I don't want to give anything away, but it does have an interesting way of putting things together that make the story come out. I will be getting book two when it comes out!!

[Jay · Rating 1 out of 5]

not actually a novel. more like a sketched outline for a trilogy, without any of the hard parts like character motivation or development put in.

[Mihir · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an impulse buy on Amazon as the blurb really seemed interesting and the excerpt was good enough. The story is about Tiadaria who is a young girl sold into slavery and who realizes that she will probably be killed. Royce is a local constable that buys her from her slavers to stop her death. What Tiadaria later realizes is that Royce is not just a constable but also an accomplished sworsperson and a swordmage. He finds in Tiadaria the requisite talent and latent ability to carry on the position of the swordsmage.

This story was a decent one and while it started out nice, the ending kind of fizzled out. The author has set up an interesting world and the backhistory, plus the villains of this world are a bit different. However the story just ended on a very weak note as the climatic fight ends just after it starts and the author definitely needed to flesh out the characters and climax to better this book. This book had a great idea but the author's execution didn't match up .

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book and a good read for those who enjoy fighting and magic. Especially awesome for those who enjoy characters who do both those of those things. The story is told through three different characters: Tiadaria (main character), Royce AKA the Captain, and the antagonist Zarfensis.
Most of the true action is during the last quarter of the book, where the story really starts rolling.
Be prepared to read some sappy stuff (But heartwarming stuff, not ooey gooey romance that makes you want to skip ten pages) though, because that's how the character really develops.

All in all, a good book. Definitely worth the read.

[Sarah Ropson]

This was a short book. (ETA: I am not rating this 0 stars, I just don't like to rate them! I did enjoy this book) Well written though there could have been a bit more character development and telling the stories that were described as being told instead of just saying that stories were told. There wasn't much suspense or tactics leading up to the battle either, which honestly can get boring however I am used to them being there in these kinds of books.

[Ken Lozito · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Fantasy Book

The story was immediately engaging and pulled you in right from the start. Throughout the story I found myself rooting for Tiadara and her coming of age story. The world building left you curious and wanting to know more. You get a sense of justice,but without things being too perfect. I'm looking forward to reading the other books in the series and would highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of fantasy.

[Douglas Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of a trilogy. Nicely written story of a soldier training his protegee in magic powers.

First paragraph
Winter had come to the Frozen Frontier and with it, hunger and desperation. The autumn harvest had been meager, marred by drought and constant incursions by rival clans.

Hengst, Martin (2012-12-19). The Last Swordmage (The Swordmage Trilogy) (Kindle Locations 46-47). . Kindle Edition.

[Slipperyvowels · Rating 4 out of 5]

i thought the concept and idea of the book were quite good. I think though that parts of the book was rushed anda little ellorabtion of certain aspects would have been good. i did enjoy the over book and look forward to reading the otjer books in the trilogy. Overall it was a really good read.

[Rob roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Swordmage

Swordmage

This is a very very good read it starts off and keeps your interest from start to finish. If you like fantasy and adventure this is a book to grap you and keep you. Kuds to Martin Hengst

[Patty winrod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awsome

this is an excellent book fantasy readers will enjoy the adventure excitement,and emotionally involvement of the two main characters. story line well written and keeps u wanting to know what is going to happen next

[✨ Gramy ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

.
I really liked this story. It was very well written and compelled the reader to want to know more.

There was a climatic achievement, but I was not totally overwhelmed with enough awe to rate it higher.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish. Could not get past the 'virginity test' in the first few pages.

[Jesse · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little rushed and somewhat shallow.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed reading this book

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This first book was very enjoyable with a fast paced plot and great characters.

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light and easy read with a somewhat exciting story. I enjoyed it and would like to read the next in the series.

[Daniel Schultz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

loved it a lot. the bond between them in that short time is.amazing .. great story so far. the end

[Susan Warren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite an absorbing story, just frustrating in the details.

[Jessica Bronder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tiadaria is sold into slavery by her father, abused by the other slaves, and involved in a murder. She is in King’s Reach and finds herself facing a chopping block. But it will be up to Royce, the Constable to decide her fate. Royce notices that Tiadaria has the same abilities he has. Royce can’t let her be killed and purchases her. Royce then has the task of trying to gain Tiadaria’s trust then train her to use her abilities. But the Xarundi, enemies of the land, have gathered and are planning on an attack. It will be up to Royce and Tiadaria to stop them.

This is a short start to a trilogy. Tiadaria does not have a happy home life and quickly finds herself being solve into slavery before she can even register what is happening. There the other slaves beat her, which I have to say confused me since I’m sure a slaver would not let such things happen to the merchandise.

The story flowed well from there with a couple other hiccups in it but I didn’t have a hard time reading it. At the half way point the action picks up and we start the fight scenes. I have to say that the ending did feel a little rushed. I do think that this story could be fleshed out a little more and it would be a lot better. Over all, I did enjoy it and I would be happy to read the next book in the series.

I received the Last Swordmage from Silver Bullet Book Tours for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.

[Stephen Saxton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Put it down once, but couldn't do it twice.

I was looking for a new series to take my mind off of unpacking the many boxes from my move. I found it. I started reading Magic of Solendrea at lunchtime, and my lunch got extended a little bit. After emptying a few more boxes, setting up a TV set downstairs and starting to setup a computer work station, supper called. Time to continue with the story. Again, the story sucked me in and I was immersed with the land of Solendrea and the new characters that grew in my mind. My plate is now empty, some food was eaten not as warm as when I sat down, but I also finished this story; I just couldn't put it down. I now have to go and find book 2, cause I really want to find out what happens next. I do wish that the story was a bit longer, but I definitely am glad I finished it as well as my supper.

[Epper Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

closer to 2.5, the story was moving along at a decent pace then started jumping around. First training she did well, later she was unable to stop him at all, then the main enemy emerged from nowhere with no warning/build up. Then they went to the capitol (abandoning the other towns?) where some of the enemies were already in the walls but then they were at the pass attacking later? Her master and her ability allows them to use magic and go fast yet somehow only one other person knows their secret but they fight at the front line with mages around?

[KelticKat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is evil ever really defeated?

This was a great start to a fantasy trilogy.

Love how the author turns all the bad events heaped on to Tia’s head into something good to be molded into something even better.

The story is not revolutionary by any means - evil that once was defeated is back to reek havoc on the kingdom.

Meanwhile, Tia is saved from death by Royce - aka “the Captain”.

While I really enjoyed the character of Royce - Tia was a bit of a mixed bag for me - she was a bit whiny and sullen for me .

Over all good story - not sure if I will continue series.