Review: Last Stand of the Stone Fist by Michael R. Miller
Blurb:
A troubled past. War in the present. A dark future.
Brode grew up a bastard in Athra, looked down upon as a child of chaos. Sent away to the dragon riders as a squire, Brode counted it his luckiest day when Silas Brightbark of Coedhen vouched for him to join their ranks. Now a Champion in the Order he faces the largest incursion the world has ever seen.
Sent on a far flung mission to the Disputed Lands, Brode and Silas discover a remote town not on any map. It's a town of outcasts, of broken people, of folk that order has forgotten. As a scourge swarm gathers nearby, Brode and Silas face the toughest fight and decision of their lives.
This print edition also includes a bonus second novella called The Huntress set in the world of my first trilogy, The Dragon's Blade. There are also map images of both series, as well some concept sketches for The Dragon's Blade.
“I am the first stroke and the last shield.
No life will be beneath my aid.
When death comes, I will make it wait.”
Review:
I read Ascendant a few weeks ago and absolutely loved it. I think I’ve already driven all those around me crazy with my incessant praise for it. But if I’m honest, I was a bit nervous that this was going to be a one-off. There was going to be some magic in the first book that struck me in the moment but that wasn’t maintained over additional books in the series.
And then I read Last Stand of the Stone Fist. In the forward to this novella, Miller states that while this book happened years before Ascendant, that it was best read between Ascendant and Unbound. I went into this novella with some trepidation.
Lucky for me, Miller knocked this novella out of the freaking park! I devoured this book. Fantastic. Phenomenal!
Last Stand of the Stone Fist follows a main character from Ascendant—Brode—on one of his early missions with Silas. For those of you who have read Ascendant, this particular mission is one that is hinted at and briefly described, but most of the details were left out in the main storyline. So, there was the potential for this story to have minimal emotional impact since the majority of people reading it will already know the final outcome of the mission.
The fact that I read this novella with a literal, white-knuckled fury, getting chills during multiple scenes, is a testament to Miller’s mastery of pacing and storytelling prowess.
“Brode heard her true dragon song return: bright, melodious, and as unwavering as she was kind, and brave, and good…His world became the song, became Erdra…With her dragon song still in his mind, Brode picked up his blade and got to his feet.”
Chills. Chills again as I reread those lines while writing this review.
Brode was a fascinating character in the original series. However, much of his background was shrouded in mystery. He was the distant, hard-nosed mentor with a soft core. As a reader, you could sense that he had lived a hard life. But this novella does a phenomenal job fleshing this character out, drawing important parallels between him and Holt which provides increased meaning and additional layers to his decisions during Ascendant, and explaining why he is the man we initially meet at The Crag.
Again, I knew what was going to happen in the last few pages. I wasn’t sure if Miller was going to try to surprise me with an unexpected twist. But he didn’t. No slip-and-twist sucker punch. He held his ground and popped me right between the eyes. Its this candor and heart that won me over in Ascendant and left me cheering at the end of Last Stand of the Stone Fist. All I can say is: he’s done it again. Last Stand of the Stone Fist is an action-packed expose of the genesis of Brode, with all the heart and emotional impact we can expect from a master like Miller. 100% recommend as the perfect bridge between Ascendant and Unbound.
