The Last Protector
Daniel C. Starr
Twilight Times, May 2008
ISBN: 9781606190012

At the Stuff Your Belly for a Small Copper Coin dive, Nalia the bar maid is beating the hell out of some unruly customers when 6' 6 kilt wearing Scrornuck Saughblade joins her side. His companion, James Peter 'call me Jape' Phelps, watches the two defeats several foes while drinking Midwestern Pale Ale. When the guards arrive to jail the trio, they leave through the back door that Scrornuck makes with his sword peeling open a wall.

Jape knows the two players he needs to prevent the annihilation of thousands of worlds as if they never existed are now with him. Scrornuck is his warrior protector while Nalia is a telepath who circumstantial evidence implies is the vortex that began the time-stream crossings changing and threatening to eradicate billions of sentient beings as if they never lived. The quest to find an artifact of an age of mad technology that may not exist is key along with Nalia; however, Jape has no idea how anything fits in a multiverse turning increasingly chaotic that he and his allies somehow must save; he does know time is running out on so many with adversaries trying to prevent their success.

The quest leads the threesome and readers to some interesting worlds where morality is defined differently than western culture; in fact it is while meeting various ways of life the readers learns how complex each of the three heroes truly is. The storyline is action-packed from the onset, but what makes the mission to save worlds are two realties Jape understands: first he cannot save everyone and he and his two partners must learn to live with that knowledge; and second any means is acceptable including sacrifice of life for the better good end of saving billions. Fast-paced, 'The Last Protector' is an exciting science fiction morality play.

Harriet Klausner