Just when the getting was getting good. Damn. Damn, damn, damn. I am going to start off this review with a disclaimer. This is the last book in the series, Master Willmarth will not be continuing his adventures with this world or these characters due to sales, and that is no reflection on the storytelling. This is one of the best series I’ve ever read, and a rare one in which the real world story was just as compelling, and maybe even more so, than the story set in the game. It was just intense and amazing and it gripped your attention the whole way through. Honestly, if you haven’t read there go and get them, even lacking a conclusion it is well worth it. Just please, do not contact Dave Willmarth and ask him to just pen a finale. I know, bold words for a one-eyed fatman who basically did the exact thing I caution you against to Charles Dean and his Bathrobe Knight Series. If you need to contact him, just thank him for giving us such an amazing set of books.
That said, DE 3 really does begin to blossom into a rough and tumble tale of survival, which can be heartbreaking, per the mother and kid scene, and adventure, per the MC setting himself up as the ruler of a new land. This book is like being in a knife fight. Some of the cuts are quick and painless, and others drive in so slowly that when you finally feel it it is far too late to do anything about it. Then there are stretches of furious flurries of strikes and parries that are fascinating to behold. No matter what you think the book is fun, but you are coming out of it bloody. That speaks a lot to Willmarth’s writing style. He knows just what buttons to push (Dakota) and when to hit them. He creates vibrant characters that you connect with so easily that it is scary.
This book we see the MC finally close out one of his quests, and then begin building a new homeland for himself and the oppressed people he suddenly finds himself surrounded by. Also, dangers in the outside world start getting a wee bit more dangerous for the survivors and there are a few close calls for everyone. That’s the saddest part, we were really getting some of the most intense writing in a post apoc world as you could get.
As a certified SBT product we get several incredible narrators to help board up the doors and windows against the zombie apocalypse. The first being the man known to the world as JTJ, or Justin Thomas James, the man with a voice like smooth bourbon on a chill night who narrates and voices the main male players. I personally am a huge fan of JTJ, and I am sad that he seems to be losing some of the best series. I know that this closes out the Dark Elf Series, Afterlife online is concluding soon, and He no longer does the Cherry Blossom Girls. At least he has the Hawke books and Archemi online to work with. He just does an amazing job. LCW, or Laurie Catherin Winkle as she is better known, voices the lovely ladies, and damn if she can’t be sexy or silly, or both at the same time. I always enjoy her being paired with Justin as the two have a dynamic chemistry that is hard to find. Laurie clearly has fun with the characters and is so easy to listen to. I could literally listen to her read the phone book to me. Jeff hays leaps in and plays a few minor NPC roles, and I like that he manages to keep a hand in each production of Soundbooth. Hays, as I repeatedly state is my favorite narrator and I am always overjoyed to get to hear his voice however limited an engagement it is.
Like I said, this is a sad thing to see end, but it well worth the journey. Final Score 8.4 stars. I will really miss this book.