The Wandering Sword

The Last Eternal, Book 1

By: Jacob Peppers

Narrated by: Michael Kramer

The hardest war is the one a man fights alone.

One hundred years ago, the Eternals, 13 men and women of immense power, closer, many believed, to gods than mortals, stood against the greatest threat the world had ever faced.

And they lost.

They died.

All save for one, known as the Youngest, who managed to flee with the enemy leader’s weapon, a cursed blade of incredible power.

He has traveled for 100 years since, alone save for his companion Veikr, the only remaining horse of a legendary breed.

The last just as he is the last.

Hunted by creatures made out of nightmares, he seeks only to survive, to keep the magical blade from the enemy’s grasp.

Not to save the world, for the time for saving it is past. Instead, he seeks only to delay its ending.

It is a battle he fights alone, for after they defeated the Eternals, the enemy used their magic to pose as their conquered opponents, taking over rule of the world in their stead.

For the last 100 years, the people have believed that the legendary Eternals triumphed, that they are safe. Only the wanderer knows the truth that the world crouches with its head resting on the executioner’s block, waiting for the axe to fall.

And the only thing keeping that axe at bay is him.

He had a name once, but he has it no longer.

He is simply the Last. The Youngest.

He is the Wandering Sword.

©2022 Jacob Peppers (P)2022 Jacob Peppers

Great rhythm of the story

Great story, a good amount of character development, to keep you engaged with the start and characters

Meh

I’m not gonna thrash the author, I just didn’t think the story had as much depth as I was hoping for… the motivations progressing the story are a bit thin

Grabbed because listening to Michael Kramer is always lovely.

A little tough read but different

The book combines some relatively unused ideas (lost war, eternal figures, dead spirit advisors on demand) with tropes (lone wandering hero, imposter on the throne). Finishing the book in two days was a good sign that the story doesn't drag and the brisk pace is in the end what makes the book enjoyable. Whenever the brooding hero would get annoying, we have another fight scene and whenever the internal logic seems questionable the world opens up a bit more revealing a new shiny feature. The whole is not necessarily consistent and logical enough to survive nit picking but interesting enough that I didn't mind.
At the end of the book I was motivated to pick up the next one without actually buying it so I hope there will be some improvent once I get to it.

Pretty good.

Wish there were less foul language. I’m not a prude (I think), but I can’t afford for that language to work its way into my professional or personal life. Hahaha

Disappointing

I usually like Peppers' work, and Michael Kramer is one of my all-time favorites. But this book is slow, predictable and full of redundancies. Too bad.

So Close, Yet So Far

Kramer is a wonderful narrator, so put the performance aspect out momentarily. This story shows many flashes of good story telling and the structure as a whole is enticing. There are a few problems I can think of off hand, but to start with the positives:

This story's main character, youngest, is very likeable and pitiable despite the fact that he is essentially a walking deity compared to mortal men. This is not as easily achieved as someone might think! I appreciated his struggle and his guilt at causing so much strife in the world.

The companion characters are solid, and the locket is an interesting item, despite never actually being explained.

The cursed blade is a wonderful "Excalibur" with a twist.

that said, there are also too many things weighing this story down.

Language: Everyone is constantly cursing in a way that makes them look unintelligent. Cursing can be a great way to add intensity, but when it's in the first 500 words, I balk. It's especially egregious in a fantasy novel.

Thematic inconsistencies: Sometimes it's hard to tell what we are supposed to take away from this particular entry in this series. The initial impression I get is that the youngest is seeking some liberation from their past, but this is usually mixed up in wantimg to protect the innocence of a family he has spent a total of 24 hours with throughout the story (granted, he is responsible for a family tragedy which occurrs). The overall impression I get is that the author could not settle between these two stories.

Antagonists: The antagonists are creatures who body snatched the other Eternals. You never see or hear from them, though. The people that are best seen as "antagonists" in this story are literary NPCs who abuse the protagonist for personal gain (robbery, extortion, stickups, etc). I could probably let it go were it not for the fact that the youngest has at least 3 fleece attempts on him by the halfway point. It's tired at the point it happens twice, but then the scenario is literally *repeated* at a different city maybe three or four chapters later.

Filler: There is a lot of rambling in the writing. I don't mind some window dressing mind you, because it's fantasy and that will happen. In this story however, it happens way too much. I zone out and can't bring myself to care about whatever self esteem issue the main character is expanding on in the third person.

Length; You probably noticed, but this book is only 9 hours long and part of a series. Not worth a credit, not worth the time getting invested in, and not worth sitting through. The author was probably advised by their editor to break it up this way too, which is a shame. The ending is not satisfactory and feels like the end of some episodic anime tv show.

overall, it's a miss but showed promise. Can't blame a guy for trying.

Very Good

Jacob didn’t let me down! Another great story and a first book that sets the hook.

too slow

the book too long to get started and spent a lot of time with the characters making vague threats and suggestions instead of just getting through that part quickly.

Very frustrating!

Don’t force a written review to leave the page! I won’t leave another review in the future.

Intriguing story!

The concepts in the story are unique and build up to an exciting ending. Thus leaving you with an extreme need to know what happens next. Excellent writing overall, however the constant use of the F-word is not unique. I don’t really feel that it enhances the story, but takes away from it. I may not listen to the next book in the series because of this.
If you can tolerate every bad guy using the F-word then I would definitely recommend this series.
Just to recap, the book is excellent in all areas: storyline, narration and concepts.