Last Bastion

By: Rachel Aaron, Travis Bach

Narrated by: Josh Hurley

Length: 24 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's Summary

Bastion was supposed to mean safety. It was supposed to mean a break from fighting for their lives and a chance to talk to someone who might actually know what’s going on. Access to their gold and some beer would have been nice, too.

They got none of those things. When they arrive in the capital, Tina and James find a city on fire in more ways than one. Players and non-players hunt each other in the streets, while the king who controls the city’s all-powerful artifact cowers from the chaos in his castle. Desperate to warn somebody about the Once King’s coming invasion, James wants to try to talk to the king anyway, while Tina just wants to meet the royal portal keepers who might be able to send them home.

It shouldn’t be hard to get an army of the world’s best-geared players through one city, but when they discover that the captain of the Royal Knights has been massacring low-level players in revenge disguised as justice, James and Tina will have to decide which is more important: the lives of their fellow gamers, or the stability of their new world’s last great city. Both choices deserve a champion, but with the Once King’s armies closing in, taking the wrong side may doom everyone to an eternity as slaves to the Ghostfire.

©2019 Rachel Aaron and Travis Bach (P)2019 Audible, Inc.

Expected okay, got surprisingly great!

I had read the first in the series and was satisfied enough with it that I picked up the sequel, but didn't expect that much more than a decent way to kill time during commutes. While I wouldn't call this my favourite, I was definitely surprise with just how engaging and interesting the story ended up being.

The characters were whiny at times, but overall still relatable, with problems whose resolutions I was eager to discover. The narration was also very well done. I'm a little disappointed that things weren't wrapped up, but I'll still be happy to pick up the third when it comes out.

Gack, how do I review this one?

How do I review this one? 2hrs into the book, I put it down... and almost didn't pick it up again, due in part to the fact that I was having trouble reconnecting with the characters, but mostly because of Josh Hurley's over the top narration. At the time, it just seemed like too much to take! To be fair, I quite enjoy these authors, and I had enjoyed their first book in the series, so I put "Bastion" away, thinking that maybe I'd just listened to too many LitRPG's recently, and needed a break from the genre... Finally, a month later, I was ready to tackle it again, so I girded my loins, and  picked up the book again (Josh's narration now being a known consequence). I discovered that within just a few minutes, I'd been sucked into the action packed adventure.
The story picked up exactly where book no. one left off, and again follows Roxxy (aka Tina) and her brother James... but surprisingly they're not together as I'd expected. A difference of opinion created a rift between them as they each had separate goals. I really enjoyed seeing the character development of the other members of Roxxy's raiding party, but boy there was times when all I wanted to do was to slap some sense into Roxxy! She's just so damn stubborn and pigheaded! My son (who's an avid gamer) pointed out that her rock-headedness was built into her nature as she's both a Tank, and she's wearing her character's Stonekin persona...
  ... And yeah, the ending is sorta a cliffhanger, but as with the first tale, I'm not too angry, as the main story's ARC finished on a high note...
Will I pick up the next audiobook? Yeah, especially as my son is enjoying the heck out of the series, and I've proved that I can put up with the narrator (while my husband makes fun of the narration, from his lofty position in the peanut gallery! ).

an exciting listen

this was a fun exciting listen, only down side I can say is that it felt like the characters personalities did a huge jump in development from book one to two which took some getting used to, but I can't wait to hear the third

Awesome

Love it!!! Keep it up. Can’t wait to hear what happens next. Thank you for the entertainment.

good book!

very good sequel. the ending made me curious about the next book. if you liked the first one, you will like this one as well

Really Loved This Book

If you know anything at all about gaming, you will really love this book. I recommend that you read the first book in the series, Forever Fantasy oOnline. Then reading this book would flow a lot better for you. The world building, character development and story line are all amazing.

Better than the last

last book I found myself annoyed with the raid, like they were acting unreasonable the entire time.

tlThis time that switched to being frustrated with Roxxy. It kind of felt like her character took a major and sudden shift in personality between books.

Maintains the quality of the first

If you liked the first one this one won't disappoint. Quality is maintained, characters see some growth, I constantly go back and forth deciding which one of the siblings is the one that's wrong and felt relieved at the end of the book to see them come together.

Great story and a incredible narrator.

Great story and a incredible narrator. The narrator is one of the best I’ve ever heard.

World to live in..

Just like we actually live in Forever Fantasy Online you can live in the book until it ends.

4 star's

Love this series so far can't wait for the next installment.

Narrator was great.
Story expanded on the first.
A handful of glitches but didn't have much if any effect on the story.