“But to thrive in the wilds, you must not be rigid like the chestnut, but flexible like the willow.”
4 Stars out of 5
Well here I am once again bringing you all another book tour for a another amazing self-pub series. This time I present to you The Last Ranger book 1 in a new series by J.D.L Rosell. I will have a review and book blurb and even some art sprinkled through the post, So I hope you enjoy.
Make your way to the end of this post and find out information regarding a Giveaway
The Last Ranger by J.D.L. Rosell
Series: Ranger of the Titan Wilds
Genre: Epic Fantasy/“Bow” & Sorcery
Intended Age Group: Adult
Pages: 466
Published: December 27, 2022
Publisher: Rune & Requiem Press
Content Warnings:
Shown on Page: Racism, Sexism, Homophobia, Gore, Child Neglect, Vomiting, Animal Violence
Alluded To: Alcohol Usage
Shadow of the Colossus • Hamilton • ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’
Betrayed. Hunted. Left for dead.
But not even death itself can keep the last ranger from vengeance.
Leiyn “Firebrand” is no stranger to a fight. A brash ranger of the Titan Wilds, she takes up her bow to ward against the colossal spirit creatures known as titans, ever a threat to the colonies she has sworn to protect.
But no amount of skill can guard against treachery.
When tragedy strikes the rangers’ lodge, Leiyn vows to avenge the fallen. But if she is to succeed, she must embrace a power within her she has long denied.
Power to move mountains and rivers.
Power over life and death.
She did not choose this path, but Leiyn knows her duty. For if she fails, the legacy of the rangers dies with her — and all the Titan Wilds will fall into shadow.
Review Time
When it comes to The Last Ranger, I strongly believe the strongest aspect of this story is the care and thought that went into building the world. The amount of time that is spent slowly introducing us to this world is apparent from the start. We aren’t given info dumps about the world, instead its slowly revealed to us through following Leiyn and her travels. There is a deep level of lore that is clearly present in this world, and not all of it has been revealed to us yet. There are titans, wild beasts, magic, past wars, rifts between people, and so much more, Rosell clearly has a large idea in mind and has taken an approach that really showcases how much he has planned for this series. The world honestly feels so much more vast than the map makes it appear. I will say the layout of the land was a bit confusing for me, and I had issues referencing the map as I can’t read the font that was used on it, it’s a gorgeous map, but I really wish I could have used it to help me understand where exactly the Lodge is located, because I was mildly confused during the whole first part of Leiyn’s patrolling of the lodge.
For me the pacing of The Last Ranger was on the slower side, while there were a few action scene sprinkled throughout the story the overall pace was much slower than I was expecting. Don’t look at this as a bad thing though, the slower pace was what allowed the world to develop and fully come to life, like I said earlier the world and the idea is what truly shines in this. I will say I was a slightly frustrated with the plot but only because I was extremely interested in the opening events and the middle of the story takes this major detour focusing on one of the side characters but it did allow for more exploration into Leiyn’s character, so it wasn’t a “waste” of time, I was just really interested in the events at the Lodge and was impatient waiting to get answers haha.
Leiyn is the main character of this story and I truly feel she is a character that will fall into the ‘you really love her’ or ‘she really frustrates you’ (that’s different from hate by the way) category. Leiyn frustrated me, when we were initially introduced to her I was enjoying what I was getting and I was liking the dive into learning her past and where her hate and prejudices came from. As the story progressed though and the Natives came into play Leiyn’s hate really started to come through in both blatant and subtle ways and it made me so angry with her. I love the idea of exploring her struggles with her magic, where it came from, and her views on the natives, but I can’t help but be so angry with her for having such closed off and burning hatred in her. I am thankful she does have character growth through the story and I like that Rosell made the choice to explore these themes in his story, but as of right now I personally don’t see her a favorite character. With the final events of this book and what it’s alluding to in the follow up I am hoping she will have even stronger character growth. I also applaud Rosell for taking on making a strong female MC, I in general struggle with ‘strong female mcs’, they aren’t my favorite but I can appreciate someone who ventures into making one and remembers to include all sides of them from the good to the bad.
The Magic of this world is one of the elements that I can’t wait for more exploration into. What we got is just the right amount of information but with so much still left unsaid. Leiyn still has a lot to learn about her magic and the use of it, but also I really hope the history of it is explored more as well, because it is clear it goes very deep into the world and certain people within the lands.
*Side note: I do hope later installments give a proper age for Batu, as there was a few remarks made from Isla towards him that left me very uncomfortable due to the possibility of him being underage in relation to her age. He is never given a solid age, just an estimation of around 17 from when we first see him and I know I am bad at math but I assume Isla is around Leiyn’s age which is I believe 25. If my math is wrong I am open to being corrected but right now it’s leaving this gross feeling for me and I don’t like that.
The Last Ranger is a great start to another beautifully crafted world, that I can’t wait to see flushed out even more!
Also the art done by Felix Ortiz placed all through the story is absolutely phenomenal and really helps bring the story to life!
Josiah, aka J.D.L. Rosell, is the author of the Legend of Tal series, the Ranger of the Titan Wilds series, The Runewar Saga, The Famine Cycle series, and the Godslayer Rising trilogy. He has earned an MA in creative writing and has previously worked as a ghostwriter.
Always drawn to the outdoors, Josiah ventures out into nature whenever he can to indulge in his hobbies of archery, hiking, and photography. Most of the time, he can be found playing video games or curled up with a good book at home with his wife and two cats, Zelda and Abenthy.
Last but not least a giveaway!
Prize: A Paperback or Hardcover Copy of The Last Ranger!
Starts: January 5, 2022 at 12:00am EST
Ends: January 11 2022 at 11:59pm EST
Intotheheartwyld 
The artwork is really gorgeous.
LikeLike