Book Review: The Last of the Atlanteans by P. L. Stuart

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: P.L. Stuart was born in Toronto, Canada. He holds a university degree in English, specializing in Medieval Literature. P.L. is an assistant editor with Before We Go Blog https://beforewegoblog.com/ . The Drowned Kingdom Saga chronicles flawed and bigoted Prince Othrun's journey towards change, and his rise to power in a new world after the downfall of his homeland, which is based on Plato's lost realm of Atlantis. The Bestselling A Drowned Kingdom is mentioned in the esteemed Kirkus Magazine’s 2021 Indie Issue among “Four Great Examples of the Genre” of fantasy and won the 2022 Picky Bookworm Award for Best Indie Book Based on Mythology.

Publisher: Friesen Press (March 22nd 2022)

Length: 534 pages

Formats: Paperback,Ebook,Hardcover

ABOUT THE BOOK: PL Stuart’s The Last of the Atalanteans is a triumph of genre storytelling, eagerly recommended to fans of Game of Thrones, Sons of Darkness, and all other deliciously dark political fantasies. 

Fiercely compelling, the sequel jumps out the gate with a snarling lioness roar, pounding the way onward from the devilish cliffhanger he left us with in A Drowned Kingdom.

Prince Othrun is a man on the edge. Having lost his Kingdom not once but twice, through exile and eradication, he is *not* prepared to lose another chance to seize the birthright he believes is owed. Together with his Atlantean brethren, and heathen allies; the ever faithful King Hert, the slyly treacherous Centi seeking royal redemption, and the deposed King Wely ,the lioncrest himself, Othrun is embarking on an ambitious reclamation of Wely’s divided Kingdom.

Yet as we learnt in A Drowned Kingdom, Othrun is an ignorant, unseemly ignoramus of a man. Why would such an arrogantly ambitious character want to help foreign rulers he sees as backwards and beneath? Well, this book goes a long way to answer such questions.

For Othrun is the type of compelling character that makes for some of the best in fantasy. Othrun is a man in the process of change.

At times this can be excruciating in all the best and wrigglesome of ways, as the reader squirms at some of his openly bigoted statements.

However Othrun is not above ingratiating himself to his potential neighbours, as long as it gets him to the status he believes is rightfully his.

It is through this that he begins to open himself to the possibilities that the people of Acremia were not as he thought. Not wrong though! Oh no, never wrong. But an acceptance of their differences with equinimity. This, in itself, is progress. A complicated man indeed. Perhaps each aspect of himself not fully known, even to himself.

In fact, one could say progress is the theme of the book. I shan't spoil the twisted delights to be found along the way, but I will say that by the end you will feel that this chapter has closed, and a new stage is set to begin. The dust has settled, and yet our characters are not. Such is the genius of PL, to never leave his characters in a comfortable spot for too long, for uncomfortableness makes for great conflict.

OVERVIEW/SYNOPSIS: In The Last of the Atalanteans  PL fully delivers on that front (war pun not entirely intended :D)

You of course have the return of the ever great pairing of Lysi and Othrun woven throughout. PL's devilish take on a ‘will they, won't they’ dynamic will leave you squirming in delight. Of course Othrun views all women as beneath the hierarchy of God and man, but in walks the sensual seductress Lysi. Now here is a woman Othrun can admire as an equal, a powerful and political force of nature.

Pared back so she appears at all the right (or perhaps worst!) moments, their dynamic was a true highlight everytime they filled the screen with oozing, electrified energy.

How a heathen can be such a powerful, imposing, and self confident lady is beyond Othrun, causing him to re evaluate how he can maintain his monotheistic beliefs in the face of such tempting power. Accepting help once was bad enough, but can Othrun receive once again, especially with his potential new Kingdom at stake? These are the delicious maggots of doubt worming their way into Othrun’s mind and you'll have to read on to find out how he resolves this one!

Then you have the central conflict of King Wely fighting to retake his rightful Kingdom. With his malicious brother stealing the throne along with his marriage to the mage Syda, Wely has an almost herculean task on his hands, with only a small band of loyal troops, along with Othrun's remaining Atalanteans to enact his daring plans. With his own Kingdom believing him dead, allies will be hard to find and far and few between, especially when one never knows how far friend or foe goes.

Their arduous journey will take them zealously into the heart of the Lioncrest's Kingdom, desperately cobbling together Wely's true believers as Syda's forces relentlessly hunt them down.

At the start PL lights the fuse, and when that bomb explodes, my goodness is it glorious. Battle speeches Shakespearean in their generous grandiosity; bone crunching, blood spewing, nose curlingly, toe curlingly voracious conflict dripping with consequence. Do not hold onto characters too tight my friends, for PL writes with one mighty fist.

With Othrun the star of the show, miscellaneous characters can often take a bit of a backseat. As this is Othrun mythologising his own history, this approach works very well for the story PL is trying to tell, an excellently unreliable narrator. However two characters in particular (aside from Lysi, my magnificent Lysi) got more depth in The Last of the Atalanteans.

First and foremost King Wely, perhaps the most sympathetic character thus far in this woefully sorry saga. One truly understands his struggle, and the deeply personal pain of such a close betrayal. Out of all the characters, despite some personal missteps which led to his downfall, Wely might just be the most centrally ‘good’ of them all. He is a good king, a well liked king, a just king, simply guilty of being a poor husband and a fallible man. Perhaps Centi, his former betrayer and current protector has more in common with him than he dares in his anger to realise. I was desperately hoping beyond hope that Wely would pull through somehow, fully invested in his reclamation and ready to fist pump if the time came. I shan't say if I got what I wanted (and often that';s a dangerous gift for authors to give their readers), but what occurred was fitting to his tale and true to his character. Long live King Wely, the true lioncrest!

Secondly, uncle Yedwol began to worm his way into the narrative. I will say that this one was

much less satisfying due to the heavily expositional nature of his arc. In fact, it did feel a little out

of step with the rhythm PL had previously set, treading water somewhat.

Readers will learn of Yedwol’s less than savoury past, and see how this affects Othrun and his view of kingship. Whilst certainly interesting, it didn't quite feel like the right space for these developments and I was eager for the story to move forward a little after the previous thrusts of momentum. It's a shame because Yedwol is a fantastic character and I look forward to learning even more in the future, it just paled in comparison after the adrenaline of the preceding sections.

By the conclusion PL signals the exciting directions the series will take us next, with the potential for new conflicts appearing on the near horizon tantalising us for more pulse pounding battles and rich examinations of kingship.

Whilst the somewhat episodic nature of each part did leave me slightly wanting at first, by the end I was fully onboard with the way PL is developing his world. An good author's work is never fully what the reader wants or expects, so once I reminded myself to check my expectations at the door and surrendered to PL's exceedingly good writing, I was having a great time. It's just so exciting to see a new Kingdom come into formation! I don't think I've read a fantasy where I've seen one built from nothing. Shades of Bernard Cornwell begin to creep in, with elements of classics such as Le Mort D'Arthur in the structure. Once the inspiration for PL’s unique structure and prose became clear, best read like a medieval tome, I fell in love with it all over again.

CONCLUSION: Startlingly brilliant, PL is helping give fantasy a fresh shot in the arm with his ambitiously crafted A Drowned Kingdom Saga. Readers will delight in the morally grey characters, and marvel at the stirring battles PL effortlessly paints onto the page. Fearless, ferocious fantasy destined to stay atop your TBR and reread piles.