The Last Cleric

The Blackwood Saga, Book 3

By: Layton Green

Narrated by: Peter Berkrot

Trapped in a world where wizards rule, the Blackwood brothers from New Orleans have become entangled in events that threaten to upend the Realm.

Oldest brother Val, sentenced to die in wizard prison, is forced to undertake a quest for the Congregation to try to win his freedom, but it might cost him his soul.

Reunited with an old companion, Caleb must overcome his personal demons as he braves the dangers of the Barrier Coast to warn his ancestors of the coming invasion.

And in a distant unexplored jungle, Will must find his warrior spirit as he and Mala lead a party of adventurers in search of the Coffer of Devla - a fabled artifact thought to reside in the lost pyramid of Yiknoom Ukab K’ahk, the most powerful sorcerer king who has ever lived. Used to annihilate the enemies of its possessor, the coffer might be the only hope for the struggling revolution.

Yet, even if Will’s expedition is a success, prophecy holds that the coffer can only be used by a cleric of Devla. And no true cleric has walked the Realm for centuries....

©2018 GryphonWorksLLC (P)2019 GryphonWorksLLC

sick

I've been breezing through these books and all I can say is I've been spreading my hands/using my palms more to communicate.

Highly recommend!

This series just keeps improving. The complexity, the devious twists and turns... it’s incredibly entertaining and engulfing.

As with the previous books in this saga, as a movie this would likely have a rating between PG13 and R depending on what is abridged (think Lord of the Rings) in terms of violence and “shower scenes.” While scenes of intimacy are more present in this particular book, they are not super descriptive or erotic.

Parents: like I said, most things of an intimate nature are left to the imagination of the reader. There is basically no fowl language in this series thus far (Bastard is used once in this book). The movie rating would be mostly due to violence, gore, and the vivid descriptions of mortal wounds.

Highly recommend reading this saga, I cannot get enough of the Blackwood Brothers and the insanity that is their reality. Well written, fast paced, and packed full of action and power.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

The Last Cleric Book 3

The Last Cleric Book 3 of the Blackwood Saga is the continuation of this great fantasy series. If you have read and enjoyed the first 2 books, Book 3 will not let you down. The Blackwood brothers and friends have been through a lot and with this book they go through even more and really begin to find themselves. Val is in Wizard Prison and must find a way to get out and find his brothers, Will must go on a quest to the Mayan Kingdom with Mala and friends to find the powerful relic the Coffer of Devla(and that is one crazy journey and trial) and Caleb must come to terms with his life and his purpose with the help of an old friend.

There is a lot of action and adventure going on in this book and there is never a dull moment. It generally switches between the 3 stories of Will, Val and Caleb who are all on separate 'quests' or 'paths' in this book with some small overlap. There is a lot that happens to develop the characters, especially Val and Caleb and each story is entertaining. The narration again by Peter Berkrot is very good and he continues to knock it out of the park.

I definitely recommend this book and the series as a whole and think it is a great addition to the fantasy landscape and is also appropriate for most younger audiences as it doesn't really have bad language or any gratuitous sex. It does have quite a bit of violence but even that isn't too bad.

"Please note I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

the editor needs to be fired

after listening to these books I noticed that there's a lot of things that were not caught when Val was caught at the pool of souls they called him blackwood but afterwards it starts going back to his alias when questioned by the queen he said he was looking for his father but later it says the queen said he told the truth when he was looking for his brothers the story has many inconsistencies.

Nice addition to the series

Good entertaining book. For some reason, I felt like they should have made more headway with the plot but the progress that was made was interesting. I kind of hate the drunk brother and did not like that he got more attention in this book. The other plot lines are really good though. Solidly narrated.

Third Book - draaaaagggging it out

I like the Series, but come on... how many fight scene fillers can you have? If I had a dime for every time the author used "just" (as in just in time) or "almost", I could probably buy out every overpriced drink at Starbucks. I mean, 70% of the book had our outnumbered heroes fighting hoards of bizarre an unmemorable mutant creatures, only to be saved "just as the creature was poised to deliver the final blow", etc. etc.etc. I found myself for the first time ever hitting the 1.5x speed "just" to get through yet another ridiculous fight scene. And don't get me started on the poorly setup and written "boo hoo" scenes when one of heroes accidentally kills an innocent.

As typically happens in these types of books, the first book is good and sets up many possibilities. If the second is successful, then the author tries to cash in by stretching it out. Few are talented enough to develop the characters and plot enough to keep our attention. Unfortunately, The Last Cleric falls into this latter category.

should have stopped on 1st book

I wish I had stopped on the first book. This book was awful. I loved the first one. Every 5 paragraphs some tragic battle took place. No one ever dies just horribly injured then magically recovered.