The Last Pendragon (The Last Pendragon Saga) [Kindle Edition]

Sarah Woodbury (Author)

Book Description

From Darkiss Reads (darkissreads.com): 

Sarah Woodbury weaves a tale of Myth and Magic in The Last Pendragon ... [she] brings together the Arthurian and Welsh myths, while adding her own style to this story. As a lover of historical fiction and fantasy genres, I quickly found myself immersed into the story that contains a bit of both. We see Cade the last of the Pendragon line trying to take hold of his destiny as King. The theme is non traditional and sets it self apart from most Arthurian legends and stories. 

I could not put this book down and read every chance I had, even losing sleep to finish the story. 

All in all this was a great story to read. I felt my love for the Arthurian era come alive again. I would recommend this book for anyone who would like to venture out of the norm when it comes to the tales of King Arthur and his descendants. I for one am looking forward to reading the next two books in the series. This book is worthy of 4.5 Stars!

___________

What if the myths and legends were once real?  What if gods and demons really walked among us?

He is a king, a warrior, the last hope of his people--and the chosen one of the sidhe . . .

Set in 7th century Wales, The Last Pendragon is the story of Arthur's heir, Cadwaladr ap Cadwallon (Cade), and his love, Rhiann, the daughter of the man who killed Cade's father and usurped his throne.

Born to rule, yet without a kingdom, Cade must grasp the reins of his own destiny to become both Christian king and pagan hero.  And Rhiann must decide how much she is willing to risk to follow her heart.

The Last Pendragon is a 98,000 word (430 page) tale of the supernatural set in Dark Age Wales.

Editorial Reviews

Review

From Darkiss Reads (darkissreads.com):

Sarah Woodbury weaves a tale of Myth and Magic in The Last Pendragon ... [she] brings together the Arthurian and Welsh myths, while adding her own style to this story. As a lover of historical fiction and fantasy genres, I quickly found myself immersed into the story that contains a bit of both. We see Cade the last of the Pendragon line trying to take hold of his destiny as King. The theme is non traditional and sets it self apart from most Arthurian legends and stories.

I could not put this book down and read every chance I had, even losing sleep to finish the story.

All in all this was a great story to read. I felt my love for the Arthurian era come alive again. I would recommend this book for anyone who would like to venture out of the norm when it comes to the tales of King Arthur and his descendants. I for one am looking forward to reading the next two books in the series. This book is worthy of 4.5 Stars!

From the Author

Books by Sarah Woodbury

The After Cilmeri Series: 
Daughter of Time (prequel)

Footsteps in Time (Book 1)

Winds of Time (novella)

Prince of Time (Book 2)

Crossroads in Time (Book 3)

Children of Time (Book 4)

Exiles in Time

The Gareth and Gwen Medieval Mysteries:

The Bard's Daughter

The Good Knight

The Uninvited Guest

The Fourth Horseman 

Arthurian and Paranormal Historical Fantasy:

Cold My Heart:  A Novel of King Arthur

The Last Pendragon

The Pendragon's Quest

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 558 KB
• Print Length: 432 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: The Morgan-Stanwood Publishing Group (December 28, 2010)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004HFS448
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,340 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #14 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Fantasy > Arthurian
  • #40 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Fantasy > Myths & Legends

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Just Another Arthur Retelling May 21, 2011

By Steven Drennon

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Being a long time fan of everything related to the King Arthur legend, I was anxious to read this story, which promised to be about the "heir to the throne of Arthur". I was very pleased to see that this was more than just a retelling of the old King Arthur stories and instead featured a whole new set of characters. The two primary characters are Cade, the grandson of the legendary Arthur, and Rhiann, a woman who would love him, even if the fates would not allow it.

One of the most interesting aspects of this book for me was the way the author alternated each chapter from the perspectives of these two star-crossed lovers. It was something completely different to be allowed to get so deep into the thoughts of the two main characters, even as they related to one another. The author did an excellent job of giving each of them their own, unique voice and made it easy for the reader to relate to the different emotions that each experienced.

Of course, there were a number of other characters in this story as well, and the author did a great job of weaving them into the story along with Cade and Rhiann. There were different chapters where each of these two primary characters interacted with the same supporting players at different times, and it helped to give this reader a more well-rounded view of the supporting characters, certainly more so than usual in most books.

Naturally, this tale would not be complete without a sizeable portion of magic, demons, and swordplay. "The Last Pendragon" delivered nicely on all counts. I would have liked to have seen perhaps a little more magic from the wizard, but the little he did was instrumental to the story. I thought his character overall could have used a little more development, but the rest were very well done.

Perhaps the biggest drawback of the book was the difficulty in pronouncing some of the names and locations. While the book does contain a guide, I'm not certain that most readers would bother with it. By the time I got to the third or fourth chapter, I quite trying to figure out the proper pronunciation and just satisfied myself with acknowledging who or what the author was speaking about, and from then on I never gave it a second thought.

I would give this book 4.5 stars out of 5, and I would strongly recommend it to anyone who is fond of historical fiction or fantasy novels.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fantastic Tale of Myth and Magic ..! April 24, 2011

By Rayven

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Sarah Woodbury weaves a tale of Myth and Magic in "The Last Pendragon: A Story of Dark Age Wales." The author brings together the Arthurian and Welsh myths, while adding her own style to this story. As a lover of historical fiction and fantasy genres, I quickly found myself immersed into the story that contains a bit of both. We see Cade the last of the Pendragon line trying to take hold of his destiny as King. The theme is non traditional and sets it self apart from most Arthurian legends and stories.

The plot is well written and moves at a pleasant pace, while bringing together a core group of characters. With the threat of the sidhe, demons, hell hounds and the Welsh Gods who try and control the outcome at every turn, the characters are tested. I found myself getting caught up in the feelings of brotherhood, loyalty, friendship and the longing of love, all while facing the knowledge that they might not make it in the end. I could not put this book down and read every chance I had, even losing sleep to finish the story.

The amount of historical research that went into this book was evident throughout the story. The author's knowledge of life during dark age Wales and the history of Wales gave believability to this story. I found myself once again on the Isle of Anglesey, seeing it from a different perspective all while reliving my own journey through the rugged country side of Wales.

All in all this was a great story to read. I felt my love for the Arthurian era come alive again. I would recommend this book for anyone who would like to venture out of the norm when it comes to the tales of King Arthur and his descendants. I for one am looking forward to reading the next two books in the series. This book is worthy of 4.5 Stars!
The Last Pendragon: A Story of Dark Age Wales

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars King Arthur's Heir is a Sidhe November 8, 2011

By Tyler R. Tichelaar

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

The title of Sarah Woodbury's The Last Pendragon intrigued me because of my long interest in King Arthur's descendants, although the title character is actually Cadwaladr ap Cadwallon, the last of the Welsh kings, as mentioned in Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain. Cadwaladr is not actually a descendant of King Arthur in Geoffrey of Monmouth, and Woodbury does not make him such in her novel, although he is continually referred to as Arthur's heir and compared to Arthur in greatness.

I assumed Woodbury would not make Cadwaladr Arthur's direct descendant, but I was still interested in the novel because few authors have tried to treat the Welsh version of Arthurian times, save for people like Nikolai Tolstoy in The Coming of the King. Woodbury does not try to recreate the Welsh world to the extreme level of authenticity Tolstoy attempted, but she introduces the Welsh gods who rarely make it into Arthurian legends. As she notes in her afterword, the conflict between pagans and Christians was more commonly a medieval issue, and I found her Welsh world and their gods a refreshing change in Arthurian fiction.

The gods play a major role in this novel. Cadwaladr, more commonly called Cade in the novel, is the son of the late king Cadwallon, who was killed by his enemy Cadfael, who then married Cadwaladr's mother. Taliesin, the bard, took Cadwaladr to safety as a child, but now Cadwaladr is grown; he has just done battle with his men against Cadfael and lost. He is imprisoned at Cadfael's court but is rescued by Cadfael's bastard daughter Rhiann, and together they escape the castle.

Following the escape, the gods enter the picture. Cade was chosen by Arianrhod, the goddess of time and fate, to be her champion so she has given Cade the power of the sidhe, the godlike beings, sometimes fairy folk, of the Celtic world. The power makes Cade stronger and gives him special powers, although he is the opposite of a solar god, being stronger at night and weaker during the day.

Meanwhile, darker problems are afoot. Teragad, another Welsh leader, has obtained Arianrhod's cauldron and used it to unleash the gods into the mortal world. A great war ensues in which Arawn, Lord of the Underworld, and his son, Mabon, enter the fight. Humans go to battle against demons and only Cade seems able to save the day, but to do so, he must reveal his sidhe power and that the price for that power has been the loss of his immortal soul. Rhiann finds herself attracted to Cade, but once she learns the truth about his powers, will she be able to love him?

I loved the concept of this book--a historical novel about a minor character in the Arthurian world who is rarely given attention to. The introduction of Welsh gods and magic into the story makes it more fantasy than historical reality, but it also offers a sort of magical realism for how the Welsh people might have viewed their world. I was not as fond of the actual writing itself, although Woodbury is a competent writer and at times entertaining, but I found the book less than gripping at times and sometimes skimmed over the descriptions. That said, the book stirred my interest in Cadwaladr and made me want to learn more about the Welsh world that preserved the Arthurian tales.

I had some small qualms with the printed book itself. I ordered a paper copy from Amazon with no knowledge that the book was part of a series. I only discovered that at the end of the book in the historical note where Woodbury referred to The Last Pendragon Trilogy. There had to have been printing or layout problems. My copy says below the title "A Tale of Dark Age Wales" but the cover image on Amazon now says "The Last Pendragon Saga: Book One" so the error must have been corrected recently. I also found the book layout a tad subpar with the left margin unjustified, some extra pages or pages where text was a line or two shorter on certain pages, and a few more typos than normal in a book, although not as bad as many a self-published book I've seen.

Overall, The Last Pendragon is a refreshing twist on the Arthurian canon without being focused primarily on King Arthur. Readers who enjoy a blending of fantasy and historical fiction should enjoy the book, although it weighs more on fantasy since so little is known of the historical Cadwaladr.

- Tyler R. Tichelaar, Ph.D. and author of "King Arthur's Children"

More About the Author

With two historian parents, Sarah couldn't help but develop an interest in the past. She went on to get more than enough education herself (in anthropology) and began writing fiction when the stories in her head overflowed and demanded she let them out. While her ancestry is Welsh, she only visited Wales for the first time while in college. She has been in love with the country, language, and people ever since. She even convinced her husband to give all four of their children Welsh names.

She makes her home in Oregon.

Please follow her online at www.sarahwoodbury.com

Sarah's books include:

The After Cilmeri Series:
Daughter of Time (prequel)
Footsteps in Time (Book 1)
Winds of Time (novella)
Prince of Time (Book 2)
Crossroads in Time (Book 3)
Children of Time (Book 4)
Exiles in Time

The Gareth and Gwen Medieval Mysteries:
The Bard's Daughter
The Good Knight
The Uninvited Guest
The Fourth Horseman (June 2013)

Arthurian and Paranormal Historical Fantasy:
Cold My Heart: A Novel of King Arthur
The Last Pendragon
The Pendragon's Quest

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#53 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Fantasy

#73 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy

#53 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Fantasy

#73 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy