Beowulf meets Percy Jackson in Sam Subity’s brand new middle grade fantasy novel The Last Shadow Warrior, which derives inspiration from the Norse myths. If you have read a few of the many middle grade mythological fiction novels out there, you’d find that The Last Shadow Warrior follows a familiar narrative formula with the protagonist teaming up with unlikely friends and going on a quest to save the world. While there were some fun parts in this story, it ended up feeling unoriginal in places, and ultimately caused some mixed feelings.
The Last Shadow Warrior follows twelve-year-old Abby Beckett, who is a Viking and one of the Aesir—elite warriors tasked with hunting down the monsters called Grendels, who have been enemies of the Aesir race since forever. When Abby gets attacked by what she thinks is a Grendel at her home, she and her father are forced to flee to the state of Minnesota, where Abby would attend an elite private school called Vale Hall. However, everything goes wrong when they are again attacked on their way to Minnesota, and Abby’s father falls into a strange coma.
After a Valkyrie rescues Abby and her father, she discovers the secret Viking headquarters at her new school. However, when she tells the Grey Council about the Grendel attacks, they refuse to believe her, since nobody has seen a Grendel in centuries. Now it’s up to Abby and her new friends Grimsby and Gwynn to find a cure for her father’s mysterious coma, as well as stop a Grendel.
The plot of The Last Shadow Warrior is pretty simple and straightforward and while the author introduces some quirky monsters that Abby and her friends have to contend with, like a rogue Valkyrie who loves the game of Bingo or a sea monster who plays ping-pong, the narrative fails to engage the reader. Even if the stakes are raised pretty high here—what with the fact that Abby’s father would die if they fail to find the cure for his coma in time—you never really do feel the urgency despite the running timer, and the story falls flat.
Among the prominent characters, aside from Abby’s father and her little group of friends, we have the usual middle school bully and the teachers at Vale Hall—some of whom provide Abby with some much-needed support and guidance, and that one teacher who seems to really despise all kids, but especially the protagonist. Abby is a fierce protagonist and out of the other main characters, Grimsby is a lovable goof, even though Gwynn—the only POC in the book—feels pretty one-note. Dr. Ruel, Abby’s mentor, is the character I found to be the most interesting, and Abby’s relationship with her father was also quite well-written, even though the two get very few scenes together.
The Last Shadow Warrior is an entertaining, action-packed story that you can just sit back and enjoy, but it doesn’t delve too deep into the themes it brings up, like the exploration of grief and loss, and dutifully follows the well-trodden path many a middle grade fantasy novels have taken to date. However, the novel will still serve to pique your interest in the Norse myths and Beowulf, which is a good reason to pick this one up. If you have liked Maya and the Rising Dark by Rena Barron or the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series by Rick Riordan, you might just end up enjoying The Last Shadow Warrior too!
The Last Shadow Warrior is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Twelve-year-old Abby Beckett is proud to come from a long line of elite Viking warriors known as the Aesir. She’s spent her entire life training to hunt the horrific creatures known as Grendels – the ancient foe of the Aesir – just like her mother did before she died. But there’s just one, small problem: No one has seen a Grendel in centuries, and the Viking Council wants to disband the Aesir . . . forever.
When her father is injured in an attack that leaves him in a coma, Abby is forced to take refuge at Vale Hall, a mysterious school in Minnesota where nothing is quite as it seems. She soon discovers the tables have turned and a Grendel is hunting her, but when she tries to alert the Viking Council, they accuse her of making up stories for attention . . . just like her mother did.
Desperate to protect her father and clear her mother’s name, Abby goes on a dangerous quest to discover the truth–a journey that brings her face-to-face with some unlikely foes, including a Ping-Pong-playing sea monster with a wicked backhand, and a dark Valkyrie with a fondness for bingo. Abby quickly realizes that someone at the school is trying to stop her progress and destroy the Aesir for good. And only she can unravel the sinister plot before it’s too late.
