Customer Reviews

The Last Protector

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Good science fiction and fantasy can be hard to come by these days and the biggest problem is a lack of characters that seem real. Too many are absurd extensions of silly comic book style heroes, all strength and no weakness and never any deeper than a cookie sheet. But "The Last Protector" does not suffer from this problem. The characters are real and seem like people you could meet in your daily life. They succeed and fail and generally live like people do. Just like us they live in a world of obvious problems and subtle causes. This is what fantasy should be, the fantastic adventures of real people. Buy this book.

"The Last Protector", Starr's first published novel, was impossible for me to put down. While reading the first few entertaining chapters you may believe you've stumbled upon a funny little light-hearted fantasy novel. But as the book progresses it draws you into it's darker, truly scifi core. Starr has created an incredible world here that, while completely realized in this book, could be continued into a groundbreaking series. I can't speak highly enough of the technological magic (magical technology?) that simultaneously makes this one of the best fantasy as well as one of the best scfi books I've ever read. If you've a fan of either genre (or even better, both!) you should read this book. You won't be disappointed :).

I put off writing this review because I was suffering from vertigo. The doctors don't know what spun my head, but it may well have been from reading the swirl of adventures of Scrornuck Saughblade, the title character of "The Last Protector."

The book's abundance of interesting characters engage in a raucous romp from the opening barroom brawl, but Saughblade is such a multi-dimensional character, he pretty much steals the show.

How to describe him? One of the many villains says, "You are a nuisance, Mr. Saughblade, nothing more than a drunken lout who distracts your betters from serious business. And yet you have made yourself remarkably inconvenient. For that reason alone you should have been quietly eliminated."

But another character says, "I sometimes think he was a Golden Retriever in a past life."

Finally, Saughblade is summed up as, "You're whatever you need to be."

So in the end, though all sorts of characters, human and otherwise, try to have him noisily eliminated, Scrornuck manages to save the world. Well, no, actually he saves at least two worlds--with never a dull moment.

At the Stuff Your Belly for a Small Copper Coin dive, Nalia the bar maid is beating the crap out of some unruly customers when 6'6 kilt wearing Scrornuck Saughblade joins her side. His companion, James Peter "call me Jape" Phelps, watches the two defeats several foes while drinking Midwestern Pale Ale. When the guards arrive to jail the trio, they leave through the back door that Scrornuck makes with his sword peeling open a wall.

Jape knows the two players he needs to prevent the annihilation of thousands of worlds as if they never existed are now with him. Scrornuck is his warrior protector while Nalia is a telepath who circumstantial evidence implies is the vortex that began the time-stream crossings changing and threatening to eradicate billions of sentient beings as if they never lived. The quest to find an artifact of an age of mad technology that may not exist is key along with Nalia; however, Jape has no idea how anything fits in a multiverse turning increasingly chaotic that he and his allies somehow must save; he does know time is running out on so many with adversaries trying to prevent their success.

The quest leads the threesome and readers to some interesting worlds where morality is defined differently than western culture; in fact it is while meeting various ways of life the readers learns how complex each of the three heroes truly is. The story line is action-packed from the onset, but what makes the mission to save worlds are two realties Jape understands: first he cannot save everyone and he and his two partners must learn to live with that knowledge; and second any means is acceptable including sacrifice of life for the better good end of saving billions. Fast-paced, THE LAST PROTECTOR is an exciting science fiction morality play

Harriet Klausner

May I just say that even though I have barely anytime to read for fun while I'm in school, I was barreling straight through this book, unable to put it down. Having taken a creative writing class in school, I can truely say that this is a well-written book. The character development is possibly one of my favorite parts: the characters are well-written and remain with you even after the story is over. The humor balanced out the serious plot line superbly and the ideas behind the plot (large corperations, religion, the dangers of time travel and greed) all play out in this amazing, captivating book. I highly recommend it to everyone!

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and couldn't help but finish the book as quickly as I could. Great character development and intriguing plot.

A fantasy novel has to transport the reader to an unfamiliar world, where the unreal appears real. Daniel C. Starr masters this technique in his first published book, "The Last Protector." Starr combines suspense and creativity flawlessly to generate an interesting story filled with relatable characters.
The three main characters: Saughblade Scrornuck, Jape Phelps, and Nalia work together to find an old building that has a mysterious object within it. On the trip to their destination, Scrornuck shares several of his battle stories. These tales of heroic events are an intellectual addition to the plot and add a great deal of action. They are foreshadowing the dangers that these loved characters will soon face. Their fate becomes reality as the group fights against microbots and a troop that devotes their lives to a fictional `saint' named "Spafu the Friendly Dragon."
"The Last Protector" is rich with magical elements that keep your attention the entire time. Starr incorporates this magical theme by discussing: boots that allow you to jump extremely high, vanishing beer containers, and an unstoppable sword that shoves out a blade when pressure is applied to the grip. All of these magical components integrate to form a compelling storyline that will impress the most critical reader. This book will fulfill the expectations of a "Harry Potter" fan and even surprise a casual reader. With its complex characters and jaw-dropping plot, you will find yourself guessing until the end. --Wade Chimerofsky