The Last Bastion of the Living

By: Rhiannon Frater

Narrated by: Kristin Allison

Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's Summary

A walled city surrounded by lush land, protected by high mountain summits, and fortified by a massive gate to secure the only pass into the valley, The Bastion remained humanity's last hope against the fearsome undead creatures known as the Inferi Scourge. On one fateful day, the valley gate failed and the Inferi Scourge overran and destroyed the human settlements outside the walls, trapping the remaining survivors inside the city. Now, decades later, the last remaining humans are struggling to survive in a dying city of dwindling resources...and dwindling hope.

Vanguard Maria Martinez has lived her entire life within the towering walls of steel. She yearns for a life away from the overcrowded streets, rolling blackouts, and food shortages, but there is no hope for anyone as long as the Inferi Scourge howl outside the high walls. Her only refuge from the daily grind is in the arms of Dwayne Reichardt, an officer in the Bastion Constabulary. Both are highly-decorated veterans of the last disastrous push against the Inferi Scourge. Their secret affair is her only happiness.

Then one day Maria is summoned to meet with a mysterious representative from the Science Warfare Division and is offered the opportunity to finally destroy the Inferi Scourge in the valley and close the gate, reclaiming the lost lands and energizing the populace with renewed hope for the future. The rewards of success are great, but she will have to sacrifice everything, possibly even her life, to accomplish the ultimate goal of securing the future of humanity and saving it from extinction.

©2012 Lyssa-Noel Rhiannon Frater (P)2012 Lyssa-Noel Rhiannon Frater

better than expected!

Any additional comments?

i downloaded this audio book a long time ago, but i've put off listening to it b/c of the narrator. i couldn't get past the robotic sounding narrator. i started and stopped a few times, not being able to get past the first 10-15 minutes of it. but i decided to give it one more try before returning, and i'm glad i did!

it took me about an hour to get used to the way the narrator read the book, but i was soon engrossed by the story. the dialog between the characters is read in different tones with emotion, but the descriptions are read robotically. well at least at first. either i got used to it or the narrator got better as the story progressed.

regarding the story, i ended up liking it. it's definitely different than a lot of the zombie stories i've listened to. the story takes place some time in the future. the inferi virus has wiped out the world. the last bastion of survivors live in a walled city in the mountains. it's kind of like helm's deep from the lord of the rings. the survivors have been pushed back to the walled city because one of the gates mysteriously opened one day in the past, and the infected swarmed in unannounced. ever since then, the surviving population has been trapped in their walled city. the infected now crowd what was once farmland and houses. millions of infected crowd around the 12 foot thick, 3 story walls. with supplies running dangerously low, the survivors mount one last stand to push the infected away and close the gate in order to reclaim the land.

those infected with the inferi virus are not flesh eating zombies. the inferi virus preserves the bodies of the infected, but it turns people into mindless, hard-charging animals whose only purpose is to spread the virus to the uninfected.

something strange happens during the battle with the infected that causes maria and a few others to remember the old horror stories about zombies. after narrowly escaping, maria receives a communique from the science warfare division (swd). the swd offers her an opportunity to be part of a newly created elite squad of soldiers that will be able to go toe to toe with the infected. so, maria makes a deal with the devil in hopes of helping the people of the city survive.

i actually liked this book more than i thought. once i got past the narration, it was a pretty good story. the science warfare division (swd) is a secretive group, and i think the author did a pretty good job building them up as a spooky, power-hungry group who'll go to any lengths to defeat the infected. their foil is the constabulatory. the constabulatory are the military police. they man the walls, fight the infected, and act as police inside the walled city. if the swd are like the cia, then the constabulatory are like the fbi. as the story progresses, the tensions between these 2 groups continue to rise until things come to a head. even though it was predictable, i found it entertaining.

there is a relationship between the main character, maria, and another character in the book. the author uses the relationship to tell the reader what is going on inside the city and outside the city. the relationship is also used to delve into the depths of the different ways people can start to lose their humanity.

while some of the story was predictable, there were some nice twists. the ending was satisfactory. however, the future of the city is only alluded to. i think the author should've said more in the epilogue instead of only resolving maria's story.

overall, an enjoyable story once i got past the narration. i recommend you give it a try b/c you can always return it.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Is this really narrated by a living person

What did you like best about The Last Bastion of the Living? What did you like least?

The story is a very interesting take on the usually zombie genre The narration is absolutely awful

What other book might you compare The Last Bastion of the Living to and why?

I listened to all three of her books in her series and loved them great story great characters and wonderful narration

Would you be willing to try another one of Kristin Allison’s performances?

Hell no if this is any indication of how she narrates monotone emotionless and no passion my gps sounds more human

Was The Last Bastion of the Living worth the listening time?

yes and no it was really hard to get over how bad the narration was

Any additional comments?

if you liked Fraters series The First Days/Fighting to survive/ Siege then get the actually book and read it yourself or if we are lucky they will have Cassandra Campbell narrate this

8 of 10 people found this review helpful

A breath of fresh air in the Zombie genre

Any additional comments?

As an obsessed Zombie fiction fan I will read/listen to anything Zombie. Lately they all have the same basic storyline. The dead rise , a group of well armed people try to survive.
This book is different!! I couldn't stop listening.
What an excellent ' engrosing story matched perfectly with the narrator
Well done!!

14 of 19 people found this review helpful

I couldn't get past the awful narration

What would have made The Last Bastion of the Living better?

The narrator read so fast it was hard to follow. She was very dry and offered no emotion in her voice at all. The narrator didn't sound interested in the story at all, which leaves the ready feeling uninterested. Kristin Allison should not narrate anything ever again.

What could Rhiannon Frater have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I will try to read the book myself and then maybe I can comment on it . Pick a different narrator...

Would you be willing to try another one of Kristin Allison’s performances?

No. Never. Ever. No.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I couldn't get through very much of it because the narration was so awful.

Any additional comments?

I'd still like to read this book because the premise sounds interesting. But the narration is so bad I can't listen to it on audible.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Interesting Take

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this to anyone interested in zombie fiction. The story was a little different than the many same old, same old. Sure there were some things I could see coming a mile away but the author still managed to keep it compelling. Maria, the main, is a Dominican-Puerto Rican woman. Now that's something I don't see very often especially not in zombie fiction. The author didn't make too much of that which was also good. I hate it when they go on and on about that sort of thing but I do like it mentioned enough so you know who the main is and what her/his influences were.

What other book might you compare The Last Bastion of the Living to and why?

I would compare to Rise Again by Ben Tripp to this. Another interesting take. Another strong female main. Somewhat different from Maria in this book. Certainly more flawed but still kick-ass.

What aspect of Kristin Allison’s performance would you have changed?

Her voice was a little dull, kinda flat-line in a lot of places. Overall, I still enjoyed the book.

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

I think the author struck a good balance for her heroine. She was emotional about the really important things, her family and her man but at the end of the day she was bound by her duty as a soldier. She wasn't overly guilt-ridden by a lot of what she had to do because it had to be done. I can't say I was moved, but then again, I've read so many of these.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Good Zombie Fare for 12yr old GIRLS!!!

As a BIG fan of great Zombie stories (see WWZ and Day by Day Armageddon series), I expected quite a bit. To say I was disappointed would be the year's biggest understatement. First the good; this book DOES have an original story. The setting, backstory, and technology are all somewhat new for the zombie genre.

Now for the bad; The vocabulary used in this book is on a 7th grade level. It never reaches "adult level" words, and doesn't even pretend to try. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd say this book WAS actually written by someone in middle school. If that IS the case, then BRAVO little one! The dialogue is beyond ridiculous, and boring ALL THE TIME. The description ALWAYS re-states the dialogue; a big NO NO. The book had more of a romance novel feel to it, than an actual zombie novel. Since it claims IN THE TITLE to be a "zombie novel", I do feel incredibly misled. Had it said in the title, "A Romance novel, somewhat similar to Twilight, yet much less entertaining", then I would only have myself to blame for spending a credit on this.

This book is clearly meant for little girls. Maybe pre-teen girls. There's WAY TOO MUCH sappy romantic banter throughout, which has virtually no payoff. There is no possible way that ANYONE; the publisher, the author, audible, would consider this to be an adult zombie book, or a zombie book intended for a male audience. Just no way. The best way I can describe this book is "A soap opera PRETENDING to be a zombie story".

Narrator is good. As other reviewers point out, she does mispronounce a few words.

9 of 15 people found this review helpful

Interesting concept but could not enough action

I like the twist on the typical zombie story, but this would have benefited from more action and less romance. The book was an interesting diversion, but I didn't find myself staying up to listen to the ending like I do especially gripping stories. This is a good choice if you want a volume to which to exercise or multi-task, as this doesn't make you want to stop what you are doing to listen to any passages.

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

Zombie novel with a different type of zombie.

On the whole, a fairly good zombie book, though I could have done without the mushy stuff, and the one bedroom scene. More time should have been spent on the "mission" and less on romance. In spite of this, I would recommend this book to my fellow zombie fanz.

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

Great sci-fi zombie combo!!!

Any additional comments?

The story is really interesting. I really loved it!!! Completely worth it and I would read another book from this author. My only negitive is the narrator took some getting used to. I think maybe she was forcing the american accent...maybe shes Canadian or Brittish? Oh one other thing...they never say where the city is located. AWESOME mix of future sci-fi and zombie!!!!!!

4 of 7 people found this review helpful

excellent

suspenseful and horrific, descriptions that are beautifully terribly aweful and vivid, telling an overall exciting tale, nail biting all the way! woohoo

Good Story

Would you try another book written by Rhiannon Frater or narrated by Kristin Allison?

Unfortunately the narrator sounded like a really bad Sat Nav which was disappointing as I enjoyed the story.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

A good idea spoiled by a sat nav narration

Would you try another book written by Rhiannon Frater or narrated by Kristin Allison?

I might try another book by Rhiannon Frater as the idea and plot were very interesting, however it is let down by some fairly basic writing which is made worse by a narration that sometimes sounds like my Tom Tom going through a list of directions.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Dreadful Narration

I have to agree with the other reviewers, the narrator is awful, I gave up listening and read the paperback instead, the narrator is stilted and speaks way too fast, the story is excellent however.

Starts cold, heats up high, and end badly

Any additional comments?

The book start very cold, I almost gave up. But then it gets very interesting... I didn't want to stop listening it. But the explanation in the end was too bad... didn't like it at all.

Thoroughly enjoyable.

What a pleasure to read a self contained book like the good old days before we had book 1, book 2, 3, 4 ad infinitum.
This is a good book well written with fleshed out characters, ok, so I sort of worked out the ending a while before I got there but I was so interested in the characters that I was more than happy to carry on.
The narrator took a little getting used to (maybe she was just in character) but after a short while I was hooked.
This is a proper book with a beginning a middle and an end, if this genre rocks your boat, and I love them, then give this a go.

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

uninspiring zombie stuff

Not the best zombie book on the market. A little boring at times. Adrian's undead diary or the reapers are the angels would make a much better choice.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful