The Last Namsara: Iskari Book One (Iskari, #1)

by Kristen Ciccarelli

A gripping YA crossover series from a spectacular new voice in the genre

Destroyer. Death bringer. Dragon-slayer. I am more weapon than girl.

Asha is a dragon-slayer. Reviled by the very people she's sworn to protect, she kills to atone for the wicked deed she committed as a child - one that almost destroyed her city, and left her with a terrible scar.

But protecting her father's kingdom is a lonely destiny: no matter how many dragons she kills, her people still think she's wicked.

So to unite the fractured kingdom she must marry Jarek, her father's cruel commandant. As the wedding day approaches, Asha longs for freedom.

Just when it seems her fate is sealed, the king offers her a way out: her freedom in exchange for the head of the most powerful dragon in Firgaard.

And the only person standing in her way is a defiant slave boy . . .

THE LAST NAMSARA is an extraordinary story about courage, loyalty and star-crossed love, set in a kingdom that trembles on the edge of war.

• ISBN10: 1473222850
• ISBN13: 9781473222854
• Publish Date: 12 October 2017 (first published 3 October 2017)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 5 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Gollancz
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 432
• Language: English

Reviews

I had not expected to enjoy this book so much. To be honest, the stories in between the chapters are a nice addition, but they did take me out of the story even though they were relevant to the story. Somehow I would have preferred it if these stories were just waved into the normal chapters, but that is just personal preference.

This story felt much more complex than a lot of YA books, even though I feel as if the ending just went back to the standard YA book vibe. Happy, romantic ending. I am not the biggest fan of it. I wish the book had ended the day before her execution, keeping us in the dark if she would survive. I was also quite disappointed by the spoiler in the title. It is not until the last chapters in the book that Asha realizes this herself. I think I would have preferred to figure this out myself. However, this is mostly personal preferences and these things do not make the story bad in any way.

I enjoyed the more complex characters and the betrayal of the king, who I believe was not just plain evil, but had a twisted mind due to his upbringing.

I am not sure if I will continue this series, I really enjoyed this story, but the story also feels finished for me.

[Nessa Luna]

Actual rating: 3,5 stars.

[wyvernfriend]

Bad Decision Book Club Starting this book when you want to go to sleep early, Bad Decision.
 
Read it through when I should have been trying to sleep but it was an excellent read.

[alisoninbookland]

😆😍😵😍


Dragons! Fierce females! Dragon slaying 'princess'?! Yessssssss.

I'm happy to report that The Last Namsara lives up to whatever high expectations you have based on the above. There are a lot of tropes in this story that have been overdone. Thankfully Ciccarelli is able take them and bend them to her will in a way that seems new and fresh.

I loved, LOVED the way stories are used in the book. Stories are dangerous and illegal. Stories can be used to lure dragons. Dragons can also tell stories.

Truthfully, the less you know going into this story, the better. It's a wonderful book to get lost in with the rich imagery, fascinating culture, and edge-of-your-seat adventure. Thanks for making me read this Unicorn Crate!

For more reviews and bookish adventures, stop by Alison In Bookland.

[emruth13]

I did enjoy this book but I wanted to like it so much more than I did. I did enjoy the dragons (when they weren't being hunted) and I semi-liked Asha. But overall, I didn't love it as much as I hoped and I probably won't continue with the series.

[tweetybugshouse]

In this story we have a character who been forced to believe that she is pretty much the person who has destroyed and cursed the world.   She been told that the old stories about dragons are what killed her mother and she was the one who brought it about by whispering it to lure dragons to her.  She uses the old dragons stories to kill dragons.  Now i am a lover so why would i want to read a story about a character who hunts them and kills them.  Good question. 

That is how this story starts out but it turns out it so much more then that and you end up with love, heart ache, attachment to dragons and most of wonderful dragon stories. I love the little tidbits in between chapters that gave us those forbidden dragon stories.  

I love torwin to pieces and felt so much anguish for him, shadow the dragon is by far the best dragon portrayed in the story and warning you probably gonna shed some tears for that one at some point in the story.  I really felt for Asha through out the whole story.  This was a wonderful debut novel and excited to read The Caged Queen later in 2018. 

[liz089]

It took me a bit to get into, a lot of stuff happened and I needed a bit of time to understand what was going on. It seems like a really interesting world, but there were a couple of things that I did not really understand and made it difficult to follow why some things happened the way they did...
But on the other hand.. Dragons !! I really liked them having dragons in the story :D Though I still did not understand some things about it...
At some point, so much was happening, people fighting, plotting, revolting.. I felt like it all went a bit too fast and I did not have the time to catch up with the whole plot.
The MC and her people were interesting.. But I did not really connect to them very well..

For a debut, all in all not too bad... but I missed some things. Hope in the next book she will level out a bit more. 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3... Can not give this 4 stars, it was not good enough for that.

[Empress of Sass]

Wow. I didn't go into this book with many expectations, but I came out of it loving Asha and Torwin, and needing more. Like as in I need the sequel stat!

I thoroughly enjoyed the world, and the stories interspersed throughout the chapters really enhanced the world building for me. I'm a sucker for a "chosen" one narrative, and this one was extremely satisfying. Asha was super relateable for me, because who hasn't struggled with believing the worst the world says about you and disbelieving the good?

I enjoyed the dragons, and the way they communicated without words. Talking dragons- especially sassy ones are usually my favourite way for an author to go, but this take was very satisfying too, and the dragons still felt like they had individual personalities and were more than just giant plot beasts.

I'm definitely going to go back and give this one a second slower read through- I burned through it the first time like dragonfire!

[Joséphine]

Actual rating: 1.5 stars

Initial thoughts: Dragons aside, The Last Namsara bored me from the beginning to the end. I honestly don't see the appeal of it. I mean, I didn't hate it and it was a passable audiobook to listen to since the narrator was good but... there wasn't much of a point and the plot was overly simple for such a long book. There were stories interspersed throughout the book to add to the world building and give insight into their culture. Somehow that didn't work for me either. It felt like pieces patched together, hoping but failing to construct a grand narrative.

[Beth C.]

Review to come on vampirebookclub.net

Short version? THANK GOODNESS THERE WILL BE ANOTHER ONE! One is just not enough...