
I'm not sure why I had hopes for this book. The romance genre is so easy to ridicule and books such as this do it a disservice. I could write an essay about why this book didn't work for me, but you get the drift. And don't even get me started on the chapter break titles (that's right - every chapter BREAK had a title - usually involving an awful pun).

The awful dialogue, the unbelievable 'motivations' and the horrendously paper-thin supporting cast all succeeded in infuriating me, yanking me out of the story because I couldn't suspend my disbelief and invest in these characters as living creations. Meredith and Geirolf are perfectly suited for one another, in that they are both remarkably idiotic throughout this book. I can even cope with magical elements/destinies/soulmates, etc.

I can cope with plot contrivances that would never happen in real life. I can forgive a lot of crimes in fluffy romance books. I bought her a copy of The Last Viking all for herself and she gamely embraced her first ever romance novel and insisted I read it too. My cynical flatmate frequently delights in laughing at the books I read and a few months back, she stumbled across Sandra Hill's works and became fixated. On top of that, the retro-pixelated graphics go very well with the game's madcap approach.I came very close to awarding The Last Viking two whole stars, because to be fair to the book, it brought a lot of joy to my life, just not in the way the author probably intended. The Last Vikings is a game with a very simple gameplay that combines elements from different genres to provide a highly entertaining experience. but on other occasions you'll need it to win. Tap the screen at the right moment to give your warriors a bonus attack.

Once you reach an enemy village, you need to knock down their defenses and engage them in battle. Ships are an important part of the game, since they let you get closer to the enemy with all your warriors intact. They can also build different ships to sail to the enemy villages. In the village, you can choose which heroes to take into battle and equip them with different legendary weapons.

And just like any Viking village worth its salt, these fearless warriors spend their time trying to attack their neighbors. The Last Vikings is an SRPG where you're in charge of a Viking village.
