The Last Emperor

A Progression Fantasy Epic

By: Maxime J. Durand, Void Herald

Narrated by: Peter Kenny

He has a year left to live... unless he gains the power to kill the Gods first.

Each year, the Nightlords choose a new Emperor to rule Yohuachanca. Delicious food graces his palate. The realm’s most beautiful women fill his vast palace. Four priestesses counsel him in all matters. The life of an emperor is good, luxurious, and short...

For at the year’s end, he is sacrificed to the Nightlords under the light of the Scarlet Moon.

Iztac is the piss-poor orphan chosen to be this year’s emperor. A sacrifice bound for the altar.

But the Nightlords have made a mistake this time. For Iztac is a sorcerer, whose soul journeys into the secret underworld to plunder the secret spells of the dead. There, in the darkness, hides the power to drag the Nightlords off their throne.

He has a year to find it, or perish for good.

Iztac may not be the first emperor, but he will be the last.

Don't miss this action-packed Progression Fantasy saga with a unique spin from Maxime J. Durand, bestselling author of Vainqueur the Dragon, The Perfect Run, and Apocalypse Tamer.

©2024 Aethon Books (P)2024 Aethon Audio

Slow and steady

I found this book really slow, and it did not keep my interest. I will keep reading this series mostly because I want to know if it gets better.

When it gets there it’ll be great

The plot is enjoyable when you step back and look at it from an objective lens, but there’s so much needless gore and violence to the point where it just gets to the background noise. Some of the characters are fun, but all the dynamics feel kind of hollow, I think once it gets built upon more, it might be a good series, but we’ll see

One of their best books yet

I’ll start this out by saying this book won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Its themes and tone are very dark and the main protagonist might just be in one of the worst situations imaginable, from a moral standpoint at least. There are no right choices for him. All he can do is pick between lesser and greater evils. That being said, his shift throughout the series from an optimistic boy to a cruel and calculative man is expertly written and very interesting to see. He’s up against complete and total evil, and that makes every choice he makes, no matter how heinous, seem reasonable in comparison when the end goal is the defeat of that evil.
I’m currently well past book 1 and am reading book 3 as the author posts it chapter by chapter. I can say with confidence that it only gets better. I highly recommend checking it out.

Better than most of their other books. SPOILERS

I just finished apocalypse tamer and was about to write off these authors, but this book made me think again. Its more closer to kairos with the dark and edgy story which i really like and appreciate. Im supprised this book doesnt have more of a following. The mc has to find out a way to survive his sacrifice by the 4 vampire overlord sisters, which is planed to be at the end of the year. He chooses to take the easy way out and finds himself in communication with the soul traped, severed heads of all the predecessor emporors designated for sacrifice each year by the vampire nightlords. While dead/undead he travels to the afterlife learns of his magical blood/nature and understands that he is bound to the sacrifice ritual and will not die till the time of his sacrifice and is revived by a nightlord. Denied his own death till the day the nightlords take him he discovers that in his sleep he can return to the underworld and starts to plan a way to survive the 4 nightlords and their unending demand of blood of as much as 10,000 bodies a year. In the process he discovers of his mother who passed down his magical abilities and other secrets which will involve him decending ever lower in the stratums of the underworld each night to discover. From whom the nightlords pay worship to and serve to how he may gain more power to survive them.

This book has a really nice take on ancient mezoamerican gods and lore. I am interested in seeing how it all plays out and how this story develops. 5 stars definately worth the credit.

Of course there is gore and brutality. It is literally in the title.

Copying from my book 5 review: I don't know how to say this without sounding slightly edgy, but I'm going to argue the opposite of what I assume many people have an issue with. I love the setting. Mesoamerica is such a unique and brutal culture, and I love how Durand committed to it.

This should be textbook on how authors world build. Not the necessarily the content, but how a culture and realistic setting is created. I think it shows immaturity in a writer when modern day ideas bleed into their worlds. This world is both alien and familiar, and I can't give enough props for choosing to use such an under utilized culture as the influence. How many books just slap a new coat of paint on the same reused tropes (corrupt church that definitely isn't Catholic or evil cultivator sect hiding under the veil of the righteous faction)?

And the brutality fits the story so well. A Messiah isn't required to save a just world.

Which brings me to the MC. He fits the world like a glove. He has flaws and failings. He struggles with morality, but without feeling like he fell 700 years out of the future. If you're looking for a milquetoast, self-insert protagonist that never faces adversity, you're going to have to try a different series.