I absolutely LOVED this book!

I was first introduced to this book as part of a book tour & was asked to review. I almost passed, because I don't really read Zombie books. I've gotten into Walking Dead, however, and LOVED the cover of this book so much I couldn't resist getting a copy to read.

And I was immediately hooked, from the very first page.

I haven't loved a book this much in a long time.

Vanguard Maria Martinez has lived her entire life within an area called the Bastion. She's a soldier and has battled the zombies that surround their area before. The story revolves around Maria, her friend Lindsey who also is a veteran of zombie battles, and her boyfriend and an officer in the Constabulary, Dwayne Reichardt. Their relationship is kept a secret because of his marriage and family, but in the end, Maria's relationship with Lindsey & Dwayne is what keeps her alive.

Frater does a wonderful job of creating a whole world with rich, multi-faceted characters, and kept twisting the plot so you had to keep reading. The last half of the book I couldn't even read at night because it would keep me up at night wondering what was going to happen next! She wrote this as a stand-alone book, but I'd really love to see where Maria and Dwayne are in ten years.
( )

The last remaining humans are gathered in one place, the Bastion. The undead Inferi scourge has taken over the rest of the world and humanity is left to struggle with rolling blackouts, food shortages, and overcrowding. Maria Martinez grew up there and dreams of more. She barely survived a previous battle with the undead and came through scarred and missing an organ or two. When the government handpicks her to be part of a secret mission to destroy the Inferi, she enthusiastically jumps on the opportunity. Unfortunately, not all the details were divulged to her and the scientists perform an experiment on her. In her altered state, Maria vows to see it through to the end and do all she can to help humanity. But if the government is willing to keep things from her, who knows what else they are keeping under wraps. Maria and her crew venture out into the Inferi wasteland as humanity's last hope.

I very much enjoyed most of this book. Rhiannon Frater knows how to craft a book and succeeds in creating a unique and vibrant world. The Bastion is the last hope for humanity, but space and resources are limited. Life barely resembles the past despite the more advanced technology. The valley that provided sources food, energy, and water is now overrun with zombies. The Bastion plus the barren valley of zombies makes for a bleak setting. Even bleaker is the government. They completely manipulate their people in this enclosed setting by withholding information and spreading their own propaganda. Unfortunately, many of the government officials were one dimensionally evil. The zombies were more interesting. They are unique in that they don't decay past their death. They appear as wounded people in need of help instead of the shambling cannibalistic corpses they are.

Hope comes in with Maria Martinez, kickass soldier. She knows what she wants and will make it happen no matter what. Even after the government violated her with an unwanted experiment, Maria sees that their goals align with hers and she chooses to go ahead with the plan, but makes sure all the other participants know what they are getting into before they agree. I found this admirable. I would have probably told them where to stuff it and left, but she improved the situation for others while still agreeing to help humanity on a larger scale. Despite her fears, doubts, and insecurities, she prioritizes humanity over her own needs. Dwayne, Maria's boyfriend, is also pretty cool. He is one of the best love interests I've seen in a while. While Maria is off on her secret mission, he is gathering as much information as he can to relay to her and trying to help on his end. Even after he finds out about the experiment, he doesn't burst him to save her like a white knight because he respects her decisions. He trusts and believes in her and doesn't make rash decisions because he thinks he knows best. This was so refreshing after the typical alpha male love interest that is so prevalent recently.

The last quarter of the book is where I had major problems. It's revealed that Maria received a different strain of the zombie virus and she eventually completely heals and turns human on her own. Even her missing organs grew back and then she became immortal. What??? The virus actually came from space and that makes it ok to use as a deus ex machina to do whatever the author wants. It doesn't really make sense that it creates zombies on one hand and then creates immortality on the other. No explanation is given. It's just something that comes at the end so ham-handedly and it completely ruined the book for me after all the fast paced zombie killing action, futuristic bleakness, and pretty awesome characters. I honestly wouldn't want to read the sequel because it will inevitably be about immortal Maria and immortal Dwayne (because of course the immortality is contagious) having immortal babies everywhere. Just not interested in that. ( )

October 2012 - ★★★★★


February 2013 - ★★★★★


Just as satisfying the second time around. Review to come. ( )

I saw a review of this book on a friends book blog site and it looked really good so I thought I'd give it a try and wow The Last Bastion of the Living was literally a perfect futuristic zombie book. This was my first book by Rhiannon Frater but it will definitely not be my last.

I really don't want to even talk about the story because I just can"t think of any way to do it without ruining something and I really don't want to do that. The Last Bastion has so many surprises and turns in it and it's just one of those books that's best to experience it for the first time without any spoilers so instead of talking about the story I'll just let you'll know what I thought about it. I thought it rocked!!! What really impressed me the most about this book, other than the great storyline, the rich characters, the well thought out world or even the incredible twists and turns was the fact that it just gets better and better the further you read. It starts out really good but as you keep going the characters which you're already very drawn to become even closer, you find yourself more than just a little attached to them and the story just continues to grow in depth. The action becomes more heated and the lines between good and evil or at least good and not so good become less blurred and pretty much every time you think you have all the answers and there's just not enough room for any more surprises another one pops up. It was just astonishing to me how after every few chapters the book would just sort of double in depth, the story would grow more intense, the plot would grow thicker and what started out as a simple kind of soldier vs. zombie's turns into something so much more. The author kind of eases you into it then just kind of increases the pressure of the plot little by little until you're wound up, on the edge of your seat and it's 4:30am in the morning and you have to be up a 7:00am to work.

This was just one of those books that was impossible to put down. I stayed up way too late reading it that first night and only forced myself to go to bed because I had work to do in the morning. The author did such a stunning job creating her characters and their world. The technology wasn't too advanced even though it was in the future, after all the Bastion is pretty much on it's last legs. There was some clever plot devices concerning the scourge or the zombies that I thought were very unique and original but at the heart of this novel is a love story and I enjoyed seeing the depths that the main character as well as the man she loved would go to for each other and for the last remaining members of their race. The ending was PERFECT! Really, it couldn't have ended any better. I'm really glad I saw that review and had a chance to read this one. I can't wait to read other books from this author. I don't think you have to be a fan of zombie novels to enjoy The Last Bastion of the Living. There's just so much going on under the hood of this book and think it will appeal to a very broad base of readers. Give it a try, grab the sample but I have to warn you, once you start you won't be able to put it down and don't try to read this one late at night unless you want very little sleep. Trust me on that one. I wish I could go back and do it all over again though, it was so worth not getting much sleep : ) ( )

I enjoyed this zombie apocalypse. This book features more than one type of zombie though they go by a different name. I could see myself traveling with this band of heroes and praying everything went alright. As for the ending, I didn't enjoy it as much as the rest of the story, I was hoping for more. Still, this is a top notch story that will surprise you. Worth a read. ( )