2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fantastic read, January 6, 2012
This review is from: The Last Slayer (Kindle Edition)
A gripping plot, likeable characters, well written and imaginative, The Last Slayer is another terrific urban fantasy romance from Carina Press.
Ashera del Cid hunts demons for a living, but on her twenty seventh birthday she discovers that demons - dragon lords to be exact - are hunting her. Ramiel, a sexy dragon lord, offers his alliance, but he invades her dreams and gives her toe curling astral sex. Sounds good, except that only incubi can invade your dreams and she hates incubi. One of them killed her boyfriend and she's sworn revenge on all of them. She's suspicious, but it turns out that he's vowed to help her and dragon lords are sticklers for honouring their vows.
Ramiel knows her true identity, the only daughter of the last slayer, and the real reason the demigods want her dead, but he only tells her what he wants her to know and when she discovers that he has been manipulating her in her ignorance, she is rightfully pissed off. Nevertheless, he's the only ally she has and is an awesome lover, so when her plan to return to her human life falls through, she returns to his Dragonhold and works with him to battle dragons and demigods so she can claim her heritage.
This book made my imagination soar with images of dragons, castles in the air, magical portals and dragon riding. Ashera and Ramiel are both vibrant characters and I loved Toshi the little fairy dragon who looked after Ramiel's dragonhold . The touch of humour he added helped to make this a really enjoyable book. Even without him, the story avoided the overt darkness of some urban fantasy.
There was plenty of action, making this book more than just a romance and probably enjoyable for people who are cautious about that genre. The sex, though intense, wasn't overdone or gratuitous.
The ending was perfect and I thank the author for the epilogue. I really appreciated being able to leave the book having my suspicions confirmed. There wasn't anything I didn't like about this book and I hope that Nadia will bring us further adventures from Ramiel and Ashara. The story certainly left room for at least one more. I give it five stars and urge all lovers of urban fantasy to read it, especially if you're into dragons.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very unique, highly imaginative and rich fantasy story with dragons, magic and love!, January 5, 2012
This review is from: The Last Slayer (Kindle Edition)
Since I discovered Nadia Lee's writing in May I became one of her biggest fans. Her stories never fail to captivate and enchant me: Carnal Secrets was sizzling in intensity and A Happily Ever After of Her Own was original, funny and full of chuckle out loud wittiness, so I only tell the truth when I say that I had very (maybe impossibly) high expectations of her latest release: The Last Slayer. But it seems I was right not to worry, because once again Nadia Lee blew me away!
Ashera del Cid is not your usual heroine, she is plain, and is aware of the fact:
"the best I could aspire to--with hours of professional help, mind you--was maybe a five out of ten. On my own, I was a solid three."
And due to her lacking physical beauty she really applied herself to be a great student (she went to the Stanford Academy of Mageship, yep :-) and then became the best hunter. She is independent, sassy, resourceful, with a dose of feistiness and bantering wit.
"The problem with such people is that you can't cure stupidity, not even with magic."
"Hunts were great, but all the follow-up reports and forms? I was considering hiring a freelance writer to make stuff up. I mean really, how many different ways can you say, "I came, I saw, I killed"?"
"It paused, sniffing, suddenly unsure. "You're not a hunter."
"But still all bit**, baby." I opened my guard slightly, trying to bait the thing. "Don't you want to kill me? Suck my bone marrow or something?""
During one of her hunts she meets Ramiel, a stunning male specimen who oozes charisma and is plenty handsome with platinum-blong long locks! eww.. yes! That was my first reaction when I read his description: I usually don't like long hair on men, and blondes, or rather white-blonde platinum blondes even less, and yet somehow Nadia Lee managed to make Ramiel an irresistible and scorching hot hero with his intensity and unusual looks. Though I have to say his take charge attitude and confidence contributed in making him attractive. But of course Ashera being the independent and loner hunter that she is doesn't welcome his frequent apparitions:
"I glared up at him. His presence was as welcome as a cockroach in a crème brûlée."
I simply cannot do justice to the undeniable and overwhelming chemistry and sizzling attraction between Ashera and Ramiel, so I can only say it was verrry intense and tell you that you absolutely have to read it to see for yourself, just a teeny bit which gave me goosebumps:
"His magic touched my lips, opening them, and slipped inside. It wasn't a physical kiss, but the sensation devastated me, drugged me with its potency. Even with the complete lack of physicality, there was a sense of intimacy that seemed to invite him into my very soul. Tell me you want me, his voice whispered in my head."
The secondary characters were all interesting and there is especially one whom I came to love a lot: Toshi, the totally adorable and original little fairy-dragon (or as Ashera calls him "Tinker-Wrym") who is one of Ramiel's servants, the chatelaine of his dragonhold, and the most humble, lovable and funny character:
"Toshi lost a bit of altitude. "Ah...General Tso's chicken, milady?"
"Yep."
He cleared his throat. "Could you...that is if you don't mind, of course... I mean, it's not your responsibility to instruct one as slow and ignorant as I--" he cleared his throat again, "--but...could you please deign to enlighten this humble servant as to who this general might be and where I can find one of his famed chickens?" His speech became faster with each word until he sounded like a chipmunk."
Though The Last Slayer is marketed as urban fantasy, despite it being set nowadays, somehow I rather thought of it as contemporary fantasy. It is different from the usual UF stories as about 90% of the story takes place in an imaginary, fairy-tale-like place with magic gardens, enchanted forests and dragonholds instead of the nightly big city streets.
The rich and layered worldbuilding of The Last Slayer was spellbinding. Nadia Lee gripped and kept me fascinated with the nuanced and layered societal hierarchy, how there were different tiers and species of dragons (amphiteres, wyrms, drakes and wyverns) all with their very distinct physical traits and powers, and the political structure of the created world (how humans and the different kinds of supernaturals coexist) and of the complex alliances and traditions of dragonholds, triumvirates and slayers kept me riveted. Due to the colourful descriptions of the exotic and foreign places, the lush and strange plants and vegetation Nadia Lee wonderfully conjuring up a vivid picture of the setting.
It was not only the worldbuilding that was fantastic, Nadia Lee also created a complex plot and I can't wait for all the additional twists and turns we'll see in later books. The novel was full of action scenes which were fast paced and thrilling, and yet Nadia's descriptions captured the unusual beauty of sword fights:
"We danced a complicated series of steps, leaving dark impressions on the grass. Most people don't understand--they think you only need skill and a strong arm to use a sword. But it's more a dance of life and death. Win, you live; lose, you die."
Verdict: The Last Slayer was a very unique, highly imaginative and rich story which I found spellbinding and riveting. The universe Nadia Lee has created is breathtaking. I was blown away with the lush colours, rich and layered traditions and complex hierarchy of supernatural species in the story. At times I had to try to keep up with all the unfamiliar species and connections, but as The Last Slayer is the first book in the series I understand Nadia Lee had to include a lot of introductory information to lay the ground for the story. The Last Slayer is a wonderfully captivating, rich and colourful story that I enjoyed a lot, while I was reading it Nadia Lee took me to some faraway and extraordinary places and now my only complaint is that I have to wait long months before I can return and read more about Ashera, Ramiel and their fights! A smashing debut to a thrilling new series!
Plot: 10/10
Characters: 8/10
Writing: 9/10
Ending: 9/10
Cover: 9/10 - at first I was a bit undecided on how I liked the picture of Ashera, but after having read the story I have to say, the cover is perfection! I especially love the gothic castle and the dragons! :-D
I give The Last Slayer 4.5 stars!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Highly enjoyable fantasy, December 29, 2011
This review is from: The Last Slayer (Kindle Edition)
Ashera Del Cid is a demon hunter who works with her foster family's company that defends humans against demon dream attacks. When Ashera deals with a case that quickly turns ugly she comes across the mysterious and seductive Ramiel who claims that he is there to help and guide her because she is no ordinary demon hunter, but is actually a Slayer and the last of of her kind. With her life thrown in disarray, she is drawn into a web of intrigue and warring dragon lord factions because of her mysterious origins which she discovers brings major revelations.
You have to love an opening of a book where the heroine has to drink an energetic drug potion called Sex (which doesn't taste as delicious as it sounds) to get a boost of preternatural energy to battle demons. Ashera is a smart and independent heroine who has some great wise-cracking lines and kick ass scenes. Although she is wary to get to close to many people, because of being abandoned as a baby and thrust from foster home to foster home, she is close and loves her foster sister and foster father who are also her co-workers, but she has always felt like an outcast and an outsider.
The romantic subplot was also a real joy to read and I really loved Ramiel who I think was pretty sexy and charismatic and the scenes he shared with Ashera oozed with sexual tension. I especially loved their first love scene which was very sensual and the imagery depicted was imaginative and erotic. I really liked how their relationship progressed in the book which had its fair share of road-bumps and especially how it tied in with the development of Ashera's character who undergoes a real metamorphosis throughout the book. I also felt that the romance evolved naturally with real tension but without any forced angst and I look forward to see how it develops in future books to see how it further develops.
I also really loved Nadia Lee use of mythology which was really vivid and full of rich details. The world she created of dragons and their dragon lords, and other demon beings was very memorable, and it had a dreamy descriptive feel. The different types of dragons such as the wyrms and wyverns in the action scenes was tense and creepy. But I have to say I really loved the tinker wyrm who plays a butler type role for the Dragon-Lords, and I especially loved Toshi, who was Ramiel's servant who gave real splash of humour to the story who was pretty neurotic about his domestic duties for his master.
I wished there was more time spent on Ashera's feelings towards some of the revelations she uncovers especially the scene that is integral about her mother. And I did feel the pace slowed in the middle of the book whilst the ending was rushed and a bit anti-climatic with the lead up to the big battle, although that final scene felt really epic in scope and filled with high octane action. But nonetheless, it was a fulfilling ending to a highly enjoyable book.
The Last Slayer is an imaginative and action packed Urban Fantasy that I immensely enjoyed with its premise of dream demons and dragon-lords. For a genre that I have been kind of burned out on the past year or so, it really felt refreshing from the all the usual vampires, werewolves and witches and tropes that is usually featured in Urban Fantasy. The underlying erotic tone also adds a touch of heat but doesn't overpower the story or characters but really adds to the book. With an engaging wise-cracking heroine and a smouldering hero, and epic fantastical tone, I highly recommend The Last Slayer if you fancy something new.
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