Last Dragon Standing

Heartstrikers, Book 5

By: Rachel Aaron

Narrated by: Vikas Adam

Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's Summary

Dear Listener,

There is no way to write a blurb for this final book without spoiling all of the others. Suffice it to say, mysteries resolve, dragons war, pigeons abound, and Julius must risk himself in ways he never dreamed possible as Bob's grand plan finally comes to fruition.

But the Great Seer of the Heartstrikers isn't the only one whose schemes are nearing completion. The Nameless End is coming, and even the machinations of the world's most brilliant dragon seer might not be enough to stop it. As the world comes crashing down, it's up Julius to prove what he's always known: that seers can be wrong, and Nice Dragons don't always finish last.

©2018 Rachel Aaron (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

Lots of explaining and reiterating

Really enjoyed this series, start to finish! The author does slider into quite a bit of restarting plot points towards the end of the series though. I'm sure it's for the readers benefit but after making it through the entire WOT series, I've developed a distaste for to much of that.

Great Finish

The fitting in to a great series. Very well written, with excellent naration. What a great way to relax and escape.

Overall, I'm a Little Disappointed...

My thoughts on this final book (reluctant disappointment) are vastly different from my thoughts of the series as a whole (happy feelings). The series is such a unique blend of genres and ideas, with some of the most memorable characters you’ll ever come across. No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished (Book #3) is one of my favorite books I’ve ever read. All that said, although I loved where the story ended, I had quite a few issues with how it got there and can’t help but feel let down by the overall execution of the last two novels of this series.

My #1 Issue: pacing. Rachel Aaron is also known for her super insightful 10000 words a day writing technique (one I’ve tried and it really makes a difference!). Unfortunate, I think all of that unbridled word vomit inevitably led to two final books that were unnecessarily drawn out, wordy, and dialogue-driven than necessary. At least 90% of Last Dragon Standing was strictly dialogue – rehashing ideas and other endless explanations and discussions. The 10% of actual plot advancement was amazing 5-star quality writing, it just took FOREVER to get there. I sincerely think the series could’ve turned out amazing had books 4 and 5 been condensed into a single novel. I did not pick up anything new in book 5 that wasn’t explained 10 different ways throughout book 4, and all of that endless dialogue effectively killed any momentum it had going for it coming into the finale. I maintain that a more concise flow would’ve made for an absolutely KILLER conclusion to this series. Overall, it felt very… self indulgent seems to harsh a phrase, but it definitely looks to me as though the story could’ve benefited from an more impartial outside perspective (such as a publishing house) by requiring a more intensive edit. That’s just my personal opinion on the matter based in part on comparing these last two books to her other trad-pub titles (which had perfect pacing).

Whatever the cause, the end result felt an opportunity wasted.

But is the series still worth reading? That’s an easy: absolutely!

I went into this final book with clear expectations, so I was specifically looking for things to go a certain way. At the end of book 4, I stated: “I swear if they try to rationalize and discuss things with the enemy in the final book, I’m going to throw a fit” … which I did. And: “If she can write at least 50% of the final book without endless dialogue and explanation, I’ll be happy” …which I wasn’t. So you can see how I set myself up for a bit of disappointment. However, the friends I read it with over at Fantasy Buddy Reads didn’t dive in with such a picky mindset, and for the most part loved the dialogue and character immersion this book had to offer. They had so much fun with it, and I was the raincloud on their parade (I hate it when I do that). Also keep in mind that this series produced one of my favorite books EVER (#3) and I still absolutely loved the vast majority of it. I am just feeling very over-critical of the final installment. For what it’s worth, I really like how it ended. :)

Recommendations: Heartstrikers is an excellent series to dive into if you like fun characters, dragons, great world-building, more dragons, and awesome moments. My personal issues with the final book aside, it’s a unique series well worth your time of you’re in the mood to have some fun. :)

Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller

An amazing ending to an even more amazing series!

The story and narration as always were wonderful. I'm very sad that the story has ended but all stories have end at some point. I finished it one go :$ The series is definitely worth more than a read. Looking forward to any new projects!

So much talking

Book 4 was defined by the characters talking earnestly to each other, and not doing much else. This book is no different, and caps the series in a disappointing way. Talking is not a substitute for action, and when the main character's solution to the universe-ending problems was to talk their way through, I almost stopped listening. It's such an interesting and vibrant world, it's such a disappointment that we got to see so little of it between all the earnest talking and convincing. Literally, of everyone. Every single time something needed done. I feel like I need to listen to a Dresden novel for a while, just to remind myself what action really is.

Well done.

That was an excellent wrap up the series. I enjoyed the closure on everything. Hope your next series is as good.

A perfect end to a wonderful series!

When I started listening to Last Dragon Standing yesterday I intended to listen for an hour and then put the book aside. The last Heartstrikers book was something something I wanted to take my time with. No such luck. I literally could not stop listening until the book was finished!

Excited to see what Rachel will do next!

I can't believe the series is over, but great ride

I can’t believe this series is over. It has been such a fun ride. I grew to love all of these characters, even several of the minor, secondary characters. If you are even a little bit fond of dragons (and let’s face it, who doesn’t love dragons), you have to try this series. These are some of the best dragons that I’ve read.

Now fans of the series will know who is on the cover. Yes, that is Brohomir (aka Bob, the seer of the Heartstrikers). He has had his hand in things that will come out in this book since before we were all born. We will also learn more about his pigeon companion.

How to write this review without spoiling this series for those that haven’t read it (or need to get caught up)? The previous book ended with quite the cliffhanger and this one picks up where that one left off. Julius and his friends are trying to save the world. And he is again able to do something that no dragon has been able to accomplish in centuries. He brings all the dragon clans together to fight for a common goal.

So I’m not going to get further into the plot of this story, because spoilers, but I will tell you some reasons why I think you really need to pick up this series. First, DRAGONS. I mean do you really need more reasons? Okay, second. The characters in this series. They are so diverse in personality. There are the dragons, Julius, Amelia, Bob, Chelsie, Fredrick, Justin and I can’t leave out Bathesda, their mother, and that is just listing the major ones in the Heartstriker clan. There’s also the Chinese dragons, the daughters of the three sisters and some others that we will meet in this book. There is also Marci, who has been Julius’s best friend and sidekick throughout this entire series. She is a mage and a pretty kickass one too. There’s spirits like Ghost, Raven, Algonquin and more. I also have to mention General Jackson, who is a very unique character who works for the UN. Myron is another mage that works with UN too. All of these characters are amazing.

Julius and Marci are the two main characters in this series. Their relationship grows throughout the entire series and comes to a climax in this book. I loved watching them support each other as they both accomplish things that one would think was impossible. So many people looked down on both of them, but they still were able to stand together to makes things happen.

The world that Aaron has built is pretty awesome. It is set in the future. Magic has made a comeback and Detroit (Detroit Free Zone, aka DFZ), which plays a major part of this story. It is almost a character in its own right. This book pretty much plays out entirely in the DFZ.

If you haven’t read this series, I can’t recommend it enough. It has action, suspense, humor, a little romance and DRAGONS. If you like Urban Fantasy series, this is one of my favorites.

Narration
If you even remotely like audiobooks, then this is a series that is a must listen. Vikas Adam does an amazing job with the narration of this entire series. He voices a large collection of male and female voices and does an amazing job with them all. He really puts passion into the voices of these characters and brings them to life. You feel their sorrow, their anger and every other emotion that the characters feel throughout the entire series. I really love his voices for Bob and Amelia.

**I like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Over too soon 😢😭

Wonderful conclusion to one of my favorite series. I'm not sure how I am going to recover from my Heartstrikers withdrawls. Vikas Adam's talent has really grown throughout this series, and he has become a narrator to be reckoned with. The personality and life he brought to Rachel Aaron's vividly written characters really made the audio versions of this series shine. Aaron is one of those writers that I own in both the print and audio, and I like to experience both versions, but of all of her series, Heartstrikers has the best audio performance. Vikas Adam was a new narrator to me when I started this series, and is now one that I will follow to other authors' works. When I reread this series in print over the years, it will be his voices I hear in my head for the characters. Rachel Aaron continues to be my favorite contemporary SF/Fantasy author, and I can't wait for her next series. I'm still not ready to say goodbye to Julius, Marci, Bob, Chelsie, Amelia, Xien, Justin, Svenna, Frederick and all the others (except Myron. UGH. I won't miss that jerk). This is a series (like all of her others) that I will be revisiting again and again. Rachel and Vikas - thank you.

Awesome ending to a great series!

Where does Last Dragon Standing rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's definitely up there, at least in my top 20.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I would have to say my favorite character this book was Bob, seeing as we see all his plans and how they came through.

What does Vikas Adam bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The awesome range of voices and the emotions behind them.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Spoiler
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When Bob gives up his powers and future with his nameless end(though temporarily) to save Julius's life.
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Any additional comments?

A good solid ending to the series. Sometimes you have to end something well rather than trying to extend it as long as possible and losing quality. This series had a nice length, quality story and great ending. What else can you ask for?

One of my favourite series.

it was always a joy to read the next book in the series. it saddens me greatly to see it go. but it was such a great journey.

A perfect ending to a wonderful tale!

Not wanting to spoiler, I can only say that love this epic conclusion to the Heartstrikers. It rounds up a series that includes some of my favourite characters and the inspired narration brings this amazing world to life.

It is a rare series where I want the story to continue but have to admit this ending is perfect ... unless you have other ideas, Rachel. :)

outstanding

one of the best book series I have followed. Not only is the story line brilliant,but the narrator was equally superb. I highly recommend this .

Brilliant Series

Exciting plot, strong well developed characters, excellent world building, slow building romance. This series had it all. The narration was excellent with distinct voices for each character. The only very small downside was a bit too much technical detail in a few places. Otherwise a really enjoyable series. I will be looking out for more from Rachel and Vikas.

What an ending!

Sometimes a series runs out of steam by book 5, but not this one. Even halfway through the last book doom still seemed certain and I was wondering how Rachel Aaron was going to pull it all together. Then the ipod broke. This caused some chaos as my two boys (aged 11 & 13) and I all wanted to listen to it together to prevent spoilers ...

I'm not even going to try and explain the plot. If you haven't read any of the others, you certainly shouldn't start here. With dragon seers using their powers to view the future to influence current events, you definitely need to read them in the correct order. Nothing is certain until it is past.

Heartstriker series for the win!

An awesome series full of moments where you’ll find yourself grinning like a fool whilst on the tube. Beautifully read, loved the narration and the voices for each of the dragons. Definitely a very happy big kid right now! I just wish there were more books...!