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Last of the Wild Days: Book One - Spring
Facing the worst winter in living memory, Brackenhal and Merralea are fleeing south with what's left of their tribe - and their last remaining cub. Plagued by hunger, exposure and opportunistic Flesheaters who are picking off their fellow Foragers one by one, there is still no sign of winter lifting, nor spring returning. Along their path, they discover an abandoned fox cub lying in the snow, yet despite foxes being among the most feared and cruel of all predators, they decide to raise the cub as their own. Meanwhile, another creature born of winter itself is uniting the Flesheaters under one creed to begin a great hunt, and while the Foragers raise their orphaned cub in little knowledge of the looming threat, the Wintergazer is ever growing in both power... and hunger.
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Published July 1, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 8, 2024
3.5 ⭐️ a lot of potential, with engaging characters and intriguing lore and story, but lots of technical errors and issues with pacing and wordiness. looking forward to more instalments, but the book is definitely in need of an editor
September 7, 2023
Highly recommended to fans of Redwall looking for something new! Loney captures the spirit of Jacques in a way that's faithful but still with plenty of new ideas and compelling world building to feel fresh and exciting. There's a sense of scale and conflict that make it great for those of us who grew up reading Redwall and want to relive the feeling, but with a bit higher level of maturity in its themes. I'll happily check out Volume 2 when it comes out!
March 23, 2025
Beautiful, tragic, haunting. It takes a little bit to get going, but the characters are charming and it's fun to follow them around while the plot slowly takes form. An absolute must-read for fans of the Redwall genre (Deptford Mice, Welkin Weasels et al). The ending is an absolute gut punch and left me both devastated and desperate for more.
I give it five stars.
It's not a flawless book by any means: the villain manages to accomplish quite a bit and is a physically imposing threat… but has a very lackluster personality. I loathed him by the end, and eagerly anticipate his inevitable demise, but he was by no means the highlight of the book.
There's a couple of fun and distinctive action sequences. I was hooked from the moment Scriff, Tobert and Lilykin fail-charged the crows, the boar fight was a delightfully wild frenzy and the eel fight was a great way to introduce the series’ protagonists!
Speaking of which… though the world they live in is harsh and cruel, the beasts of Winter’s End are charming and lovable. Scriff and Tobert’s moments of comedic relief never feel out of place, Roggin has all of the swagger, Asher plays an excellent Captain Sensible, and while little more than tertiary characters- I enjoyed all of Hanlon's verbal duels, Doreau’s excessive showbeastship and Flintheel’s timid, straight-laced drama-queenism (less goofy than it sounds).
Brackenhal and Merralea take center stage for the first half of the book before the perspective shifts a little to include their troublemaking sons, and I really liked watching them struggle to lead their little community through the Everlasting Winter and I thought the quiet moments they had with each other and the rest of The Tribe were some of the highlights of the book.
To someone reading this review without the context of the book it might seem like there's an overabundant cast, but it never feels overstuffed, it's very easy to get a grasp for who’s who and there's a real sense of warm community in the Tribe/Winter’s End scenes that wouldn't be possible without them.
Then Brookwind and Summer (the aforementioned troublemaking sons) ruin everything by being stupid kids.
I really loved this family unit and how much they all evidently cared for each other, and the way their individual dynamics were reflected in the scenes they shared together. It wasn't always smooth sailing, but they would have gone to the ends of the earth and back for each other.
As much as I liked Brookwind, especially his chapter with Asher (his little bit of self-reflection about how the Tribe treated the rat really stuck with me), Summer is the more interesting Miller’s cub in this book. Both because he's somewhat smarter and also he’s adopted and the in-universe equivalent to an orc or cave troll. There's a tangible rift between the community and the village’s only fox that rears it's ugly head from time to time, exacerbated by him and Brookwind's recklessness.
In case it isn't apparent yet, I love the series as a whole, and every book has it’s highlights. What makes Spring distinctive is the gentle pacing, the everyday, slice-of-lifey struggles of the Tribe, and the push and pull of an outsider trying to find his place in the community.
It all comes to a head in a gripping, gut-wrenching finale that paves the way for the rest of the series, but I could have read a dozen more Winter’s End books.
I give it five stars.
It's not a flawless book by any means: the villain manages to accomplish quite a bit and is a physically imposing threat… but has a very lackluster personality. I loathed him by the end, and eagerly anticipate his inevitable demise, but he was by no means the highlight of the book.
There's a couple of fun and distinctive action sequences. I was hooked from the moment Scriff, Tobert and Lilykin fail-charged the crows, the boar fight was a delightfully wild frenzy and the eel fight was a great way to introduce the series’ protagonists!
Speaking of which… though the world they live in is harsh and cruel, the beasts of Winter’s End are charming and lovable. Scriff and Tobert’s moments of comedic relief never feel out of place, Roggin has all of the swagger, Asher plays an excellent Captain Sensible, and while little more than tertiary characters- I enjoyed all of Hanlon's verbal duels, Doreau’s excessive showbeastship and Flintheel’s timid, straight-laced drama-queenism (less goofy than it sounds).
Brackenhal and Merralea take center stage for the first half of the book before the perspective shifts a little to include their troublemaking sons, and I really liked watching them struggle to lead their little community through the Everlasting Winter and I thought the quiet moments they had with each other and the rest of The Tribe were some of the highlights of the book.
To someone reading this review without the context of the book it might seem like there's an overabundant cast, but it never feels overstuffed, it's very easy to get a grasp for who’s who and there's a real sense of warm community in the Tribe/Winter’s End scenes that wouldn't be possible without them.
Then Brookwind and Summer (the aforementioned troublemaking sons) ruin everything by being stupid kids.
I really loved this family unit and how much they all evidently cared for each other, and the way their individual dynamics were reflected in the scenes they shared together. It wasn't always smooth sailing, but they would have gone to the ends of the earth and back for each other.
As much as I liked Brookwind, especially his chapter with Asher (his little bit of self-reflection about how the Tribe treated the rat really stuck with me), Summer is the more interesting Miller’s cub in this book. Both because he's somewhat smarter and also he’s adopted and the in-universe equivalent to an orc or cave troll. There's a tangible rift between the community and the village’s only fox that rears it's ugly head from time to time, exacerbated by him and Brookwind's recklessness.
In case it isn't apparent yet, I love the series as a whole, and every book has it’s highlights. What makes Spring distinctive is the gentle pacing, the everyday, slice-of-lifey struggles of the Tribe, and the push and pull of an outsider trying to find his place in the community.
It all comes to a head in a gripping, gut-wrenching finale that paves the way for the rest of the series, but I could have read a dozen more Winter’s End books.
October 1, 2024
To be continued in Book Two
Ok wow, what an ending! Left me absolutely hanging, and now I need to read Book Two, Last of the Wild Days: Book Two - Summer ASAP.
I am so impressed by this self-published debut, 'dark animal fantasy' has been something I've never experienced until now and I am hooked.
This story explores a few different POV's, but the main overall focus is on a young fox named Summer, who was found as a cub by Settkeepers (badgers) Merrelea and Brackenhal, who belong to a group of Foragers (omnivorous and herbivore animals such as badgers, squirrels, rabbits, hedgehogs etc.). Summer is then raised within their community as one of their own, this has a whole 'nature vs. nurture' aspect. We see the struggle unfold as he tries to find his way in this world chosen for him which is the opposite to his traditional nature as a 'Flesheater'.
The pacing of this story was so interesting. At times we slowed right down and ventured into the daily, somewhat mundaneness of the simple village life and its events, and at other times we speed up to a full tilt action sequence.
🦡🦡🦡🦡🦡 Stars (they're badgers, hehe, get it)
Ok wow, what an ending! Left me absolutely hanging, and now I need to read Book Two, Last of the Wild Days: Book Two - Summer ASAP.
I am so impressed by this self-published debut, 'dark animal fantasy' has been something I've never experienced until now and I am hooked.
This story explores a few different POV's, but the main overall focus is on a young fox named Summer, who was found as a cub by Settkeepers (badgers) Merrelea and Brackenhal, who belong to a group of Foragers (omnivorous and herbivore animals such as badgers, squirrels, rabbits, hedgehogs etc.). Summer is then raised within their community as one of their own, this has a whole 'nature vs. nurture' aspect. We see the struggle unfold as he tries to find his way in this world chosen for him which is the opposite to his traditional nature as a 'Flesheater'.
The pacing of this story was so interesting. At times we slowed right down and ventured into the daily, somewhat mundaneness of the simple village life and its events, and at other times we speed up to a full tilt action sequence.
🦡🦡🦡🦡🦡 Stars (they're badgers, hehe, get it)
June 16, 2024
great book
Enjoyable read, obviously to be continued (as it ended with a note to that effect). Looking for book 2 but haven’t seen it.
Enjoyable read, obviously to be continued (as it ended with a note to that effect). Looking for book 2 but haven’t seen it.
September 2, 2025
I almost dropped the book about 130 pages in, but I'm glad I didn't. The reason I almost gave up on it, is that the story really starts at chapter 10 (page 225) and everything before that is essentially a very long-winded prologue.
I'm giving this book 4 stars despite that, because once the actual story started it was difficult to tear myself away from it. I'm now reading the second book and the plot only keeps thickening. Honestly, I enjoy the story now, but the first 200-odd pages weren't my favourite part.
The wordy but poetic descriptions of nature are a feature of mr. Loney's writing style that I've grown to like, but they'll probably turn off readers, who don't want to sit through a page or two of lyrical writing at the beginning of most chapters.
In summary, I enjoyed the book as a whole, I just wish the author condensed the first 9 chapters into something a bit more concise.
I'm giving this book 4 stars despite that, because once the actual story started it was difficult to tear myself away from it. I'm now reading the second book and the plot only keeps thickening. Honestly, I enjoy the story now, but the first 200-odd pages weren't my favourite part.
The wordy but poetic descriptions of nature are a feature of mr. Loney's writing style that I've grown to like, but they'll probably turn off readers, who don't want to sit through a page or two of lyrical writing at the beginning of most chapters.
In summary, I enjoyed the book as a whole, I just wish the author condensed the first 9 chapters into something a bit more concise.
November 6, 2023
Picked this up as part of a giveaway having never heard of the author before and mainly a reader of horror, so I went into this fantasy completely blind. What begins as something almost like a children's story of woodland critters quickly ramps into a dark and fascinating setting full of relevant and relatable themes of nature, identity, life, death and morality that I wasn't expecting. After the prologue that lulls the reader into a false sense of security there's a cast of unforgettable characters who are flawed and complex, a visual writing style, an immersive concept and even a touch of horror here and there, all of which had me unable to put it down. Still reeling from the ending and cannot wait for the next volume in the series
January 22, 2024
For any Everdell fans out there, this is a must read. Unforgettable characters and mature themes in a gorgeous and brutal setting where animals have gained sentience instead of humans and survive against predators. Was quite scary imagining spiders and insects as the size a mouse would perceive them as, but the food described unexpectedly made me want to eat bugs, especially roast stag beetle. Story is very moving at times and I related to the characters in their hardships as well as their joys on their journeys. The ending caught me by surprise and sets up for the next book very well which i look forward to reading on release.
July 17, 2023
An amazing story! Really far outside my usual favorite genre but this well-written fantasy drew me in with its brilliant characters and its heartrending action. And there's more to come!
I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway for this honest review.
I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway for this honest review.
October 15, 2024
As a life long fan of Redwall, this book definitely hit the spot! Drawing from more adult themes and situation while maintained moments of “feel good,cozy” reading. It was a very enjoyable read. I’ll definitely be reading the next book!
December 17, 2025
I was surprised it was read by ai essentially so there were some places things were mispronounced or skipped but it helped to have the kindle version to read along.
The story was good! Big world and complex characters
The story was good! Big world and complex characters
November 29, 2025
Loved the story and characters very reminiscent of Brian Jacques. Probably the teacher in me but could do with an editors eye over it, but this didn't distract from my enjoyment of it
December 8, 2024
The volume follows Brackenhal's journey with Merralea and Brookwind. The world-building is visually descriptive and this is a plot-driven story. There are missing punctuation marks throughout the book. It's a bizarre story.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews